Elizabeth was frozen as the face she had not been able to see came into focus. “Yes, I can see the face now, it was Icky,” she said as the tears fell. “Why would he do that to me? What did I ever do to him? Did he hate me so much that he almostmurdered me?”
“Ellie, dear, these are answers I hope we will gain once we have had achatwith that bas…blackguard,” Wendell soothed his daughter. “The men will arrive with him soon.”
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Wickham was grabbed and lifted from below the straw, none too gently. A sack was placed over his head, and he was dragged. He felt himself being lifted and thrown onto a hard surface. He heard doors close; there were feet placed all over his person, and he felt the jerky movement as a conveyance began to be pulled.
He was beyond scared.
Chapter 29
Until the men entered the barn, all looking like they wanted nothing but to see him dead, Wickham had not imagined things could get much worse. The men who had taken him had him standing, with his arms suspended above his head. There was nothing Wickham could do to change his position. His wrists were bound together, and the rope had been thrown over a beam and pulled tight. All he could do was stand there. If he lifted his feet, all his weight would be on his arms and shoulders.
At first, Wickham believed he was to be taken back to Dadlington, which would have been the lesser of two evils now that he saw who was before him. Instead, he had been delivered to the men who, if they discovered what he had done all those years ago, would see him hang without blinking, or they would likely kill him in a much more painful manner.
Then things did get even worse. The men moved apart to reveal a lady. On seeing her, Wickham knew who she was based on how similar she looked to her mother and aunt. Ellie bloody Wendell!
“Icky, it seems that our roles have been reversed. You are the one who is bound and restrained now. I suppose all that is missing is the laudanum,” Elizabeth spat out at the miscreant. “Another difference is you are a man fully grown while I was a helpless babe of not yet three when you stole me away and left me to die.”
She—they—knew it all. He had been right to worry. It seemed she had remembered him. He was forming a lie in his mind when Wickham noticed Mr Wendell open his hand andthe gold fob watch tumbled out and stopped when it reached the end of the chain. He began to shake with fear. With such proof, he was finished, and nothing he could say would change that.
“I gave you so much laudanum! How is it that you survived?” Wickham managed. If he was not trussed up in that manner, he would have run for all he was worth. He saw Richard Fitzwilliam advancing on him.
Richard could not stop himself; the bastard had the temerity to ask such a thing. He stood before the waste of a human being, pulled his fist back, and unleashed it into his belly. If they had not decided to leave Wickham to the hangman, Richard would have ended him now without so much as a thought.
The force of the punch caused Wickham to cast up his accounts.
“Although you had seen where the bottle was stored in the pantry, what you were not aware of was that the laudanum we kept at Willowmere was seriously diluted by a factor of twenty to one,” Wendell barked. “We welcomed you into our home, treated you well, and allowed you to be with our boys regardless of your station. Why did you need to steal from us and attempt to murder our daughter?”
“Because ever since that little br…” Wickham killed the words in his throat before he finished what he was about to say when he saw Fitzwilliam draw his fist back again. “Ever sinceMissWendell was born, rather than spend time together, my so-called friends catered to her every whim. The money and watch were the penalty for ignoring me. It was not my fault Miss Wendell wandered into the study. What was I supposed to do?” Wickham asked bitterly.
“Supposed to do?” Lord Matlock boomed. “Not robbing anyone, let alone those who were hosting you was what you should have done! Do not attempt to blame youractions on anyone but yourself. For a moment, I considered transportation for you; however, you do not deserve that option. You will stand trial and face a judge. Even hanging is too good for you. I should allow those you have wronged to have at you.”
“Where did you secret the money and watch you stole? Your chamber, like the rest of the house, was searched and nothing was found,” David demanded.
“On the way back from Matlock, I found an oak with a hole in it. It was not on the estate, so I secreted everything there,” Wickham owned. He hated pain being inflicted on his person. He was also aware that if he did not give them the information they were seeking, his end would be more painful than he was able to imagine. He held out a sliver of hope that if he cooperated, the Earl would reconsider transportation rather than a trial and certain death.
“Because you were a petulant child, you chose to rob my parents, and when I found you stealing from the safe, you decided that I needed to go,” Elizabeth summarised.
Wickham nodded, his eyes downcast. He did not know how much longer he could bear having his arms pulled above his head like they were.
“Did you tell me that my parents did not want me, and they were getting rid of me because I was bad?” Elizabeth demanded. She saw Wickham nod. She walked forward and slapped his face with all of her considerable force. “You made me think my parents did not love me! That they wanted me out of their lives!” The tears fell freely as she spoke.
“Ellie,” Darcy said gently as he turned his crying fiancée towards himself. “He is not worth the anguish. He is the worst kind of man possible, and he will pay the ultimate price. He has confessed to the theft and attempting to cause your death. Either one on its own would be enough to have him hang. He will never bedevil anyone ever again.”
Several of the men offered her a handkerchief, but Elizabeth accepted William’s. She dried her eyes and stiffened her spine before turning back towards the criminal and felt a sense of satisfaction at seeing her handprint on his left cheek. “You failed. I am alive and well. I was discovered by, and raised in, a loving family and have been reunited with my Wendell family. After today, I will never think of you again, but I am sure that for however many days remain in your wasted life, you will think of me every minute.” Elizabeth paused and then turned to the Biggs brothers. “There may be consequences from his seduction of your young sister, is that not correct?”
“Aye, Miss Wendell,” Brian confirmed.
“In that case, go and fetch your sister. We will find a tenant at one of our estates who will agree to marry her and lend her respectability. It is not ideal, but it is better than her bearing the name of a hanged criminal,” Elizabeth suggested.
None of the men disagreed with her. If the two men had been selfish, they could have said nothing and made Wickham marry their sister. That would have left the danger to Elizabeth intact. Instead, they chose to save her life. What she suggested was a good solution.
The Biggs brothers felt a weight lift off their shoulders.
“You will take one of the Bennet carriages. By the time you return, we will have some options for you and hopefully Miss Biggs will be sanguine with one of them,” Bennet stated. He had a man in mind, a tenant of his. He was in his twenties still and had lost his wife in childbirth, but his son had survived. Jimmy Peterson was a good man and hard worker, if they both agreed, it would be a good match.
“We thank ye, Guvnor,” Brian responded gratefully for his brother and himself.
