Page 83 of Taken By the Dangerous Duke

“Yes, my parents,” she confirmed.

“Hold on,” said the constable. “You are telling me that you are accusing them of the same crime that they accused Miss Lancaster of? I don’t understand.”

“I believe that is why they did it,” chuckled the duke. “They thought that with the confusion surrounding the previous case, they could get away with it, but they had no evidence in that case, and I can assure you that I have a lot of evidence.”

“Please go on, Your Grace.”

“For a start, there is a paper trail of my money. We can go into the holes in their case all we want, but I am not here to accuse them of fraud, nor to prove it. I can provide you with a receipt of my withdrawal from my personal account, and if you call my business manager, he will tell you that I had an appointment to deposit the money in my business account. Most telling, I have brought a witness—the maid from the Wellington house.”

“You are the maid?” he asked, turning to Lucy.

“Yes, sir.”

“I will take your statement later, but you saw the crime being committed?”

“Yes, sir. I was upstairs when I heard talking outside. I looked out to see two men fixing the wheel, and His Grace taking a stroll close to the carriage. My employers were returning home, and they walked by the coach. It was opportunistic at best, and I am not sure they knew what they were taking, but I witnessed them taking the bag from the coach and returning to the house with it. I can tell you where they hid it too.”

“I have other witnesses too,” added Arthur. “There are at least three more who have come forward to say that they saw the couple taking my bag. And, I am sure that if you search the house right now, you will find the missing money. In fact, it might be the easiest case you have ever taken on. You can confirm the location, the amount, and there are four witnesses.”

“Well, I will of course follow this up right now, Your Grace. I don’t like how this is turning out, but I agree with you that the previous case was dubious at best. I could not say that until it was all over, but something was not right.” The constable looked back at Margaret. “They are your parents, Your Grace.”

“I know,” said Margaret. “But, they are not above the law. Besides, you don’t know what they are really like. Not only are they capable of this, but they deserve to be punished for it.”

“I will take a team down to their residence. Your Graces, are you both happy to stick around a moment longer to give a formal statement to my colleagues?”

“Whatever you need,” said Arthur.

“And, we will need a statement from you too, so please stay here for now,” said the constable to Lucy.

She nodded in response.

Arthur took Margaret’s hand. “It is happening.”

“We are finally going to be free,” she said, holding her belly.

CHAPTER40

The Final Obstacle

It was the final night in London, and if all had gone well, they would be hearing about the arrest of James and Eleanor soon. They had been taken in for questioning, and everyone hoped that Gerald would get himself involved somehow. It didn’t matter too much—with Margaret’s parents gone, Gerald would have no choice but to move on.

Arthur sat back in the large armchair and sipped at the brandy. There was a feeling of quiet anticipation and celebration around the room. Parker and Elspeth had joined them, and Cynthia too. Cynthia would not travel with them tomorrow, but she was going to cut her ties with London and follow along soon.

Arthur had gotten more than he had ever hoped for. He thought he was not destined for love, but he had it now in abundance, and there was no need to worry about whether or not he and Margaret had a boy or a girl, or whether they would be together in bed again. They would have lots of children, and they would have lots of fun along the way.

“Well, are you going to deal the cards or not?” asked Parker.

They were not playing whist tonight, but a game that Parker had learned from a Frenchman, and even though he had explained the rules three times, no one had the faintest idea how to play.

“I am still not sure how many cards are supposed to be dealt,” laughed Arthur.

“It’s simple, good chap. There are an odd number of players, so each gets seven cards, but you are the dealer, so you get one extra, and whoever becomes your partner will also get one extra, and that card will be played face up and becomes the trump card.”

“But not if it is an eight,” blurted Cynthia.

“See, someone was listening when I was trying to explain the rules,” said Parker with a smile.

A knock came from the front door.

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