“Yes.”
“Did you see who it was?”
“No.” Both his sisters shook their head.
He yanked off the string securing the note to the rock, then unfolded the paper. He skimmed the few sentences, and his heart sank.Stay away from Ellie Middleton. This is your second warning. Remember the sticker weeds?
“What does it say?” both sisters chimed together.
He shook his head. “It’s nothing to worry about. I shall deal with this personally.”
As he turned back into his room, anger quickly grew inside him. Who would be foolish enough to do this?
“Vincent?” Lilly whined. “What about the broken window?”
“I said I’ll handle it,” Vincent snapped, and kicked the door closed with his heel.
Whom could he ask about this? It wasn’t like they had a houseful of servants. The only person he could think that might not want him marrying Ellie would be Adam, but Vincent didn’t believe in ghosts.
As he dressed, his mind scrambled to think of others who might not want to see him married to her. The only other person would be Lady Livingston. But she wasn’t underhanded enough to do something this vindictive. She would just move on to another man. Vincent hadn’t beenthatimportant in her life.
By the time he was dressed, his head throbbed with uncertainty. Should he make the duke aware of this? Perhaps Ellie’s father might know something. Vincent didn’t know what else to do. He could inform the authorities, but even they wouldn’t be able to find the culprit.
Skipping breakfast, Vincent wandered outside and searched around the area where the rock would have been thrown in the window. He didn’t see any boot marks in the dirt. However, there were horse’s hooves.
He grumbled and marched back inside the manor and into the dining room. His sisters must have cleaned up the glass, because he didn’t see any shards on the wooden floor. He would have to replace the window, and pray it didn’t cost too much.
Vincent scratched his head as he stared out the broken window. What if this person wasn’t someone he knew? What if this person only knew Ellie? Yet if they knew the young woman, they’dwantto see her married, wouldn’t they? Unless she had an admirer who hadn’t made his intentions known yet. But would they go as far as throwing a rock through the window? That was quite immature. So, was the perpetrator someone in their youth?
Gritting his teeth, he rubbed the back of his neck. There was no way he’d do as the note instructed. But if he didn’t follow their directions, would there be a third warning? As mentioned in the note, this unknown person had placed the sticker weeds under the horse’s blanket. Obviously, they were quite serious.
Vincent would love nothing better than to get his hands on this person. He’d show them that Vincent Wallace, Earl of Trenton, wouldnotsuccumb to threats. They needed to talk to him face to face. But even then, he wasn’t going to stop seeing Ellie. After all, it was her father who was pushing the wedding. Vincent really didn’t have any other choice.
He turned, rushed out of the room, and left the house. The only thing he could think to do was to talk to the duke. Something must be done, and quickly. Vincent prayed that Ellie wasn’t in danger. But she had been with him when the horse bucked out of control. So yes, she was in danger.
He saddled his horse before mounting and riding as fast as he could toward Ellie’s estate. Hopefully, Dominic would assist in this search to find the fool responsible for all of this. Vincent’s wedding grew closer. He couldn’t risk having another episode.
*
Ellie walked onclouds this morning. For the first time in three years, she hadn’t dreamed about Adam, and hadn’t awoken with tears on her face. And surprisingly enough, she didn’t feel guilty for betraying him by looking forward to having more passionate moments with Vincent.
Humming, she floated down the stairs and to the music room at the end of the hall. She hadn’t touched the pianoforte since before Adam died, and she suddenly felt like playing again. She sat on the bench and placed her fingers on the ivory keys. Immediately a tune popped into her head. She had played this with her mother when she was a little girl. The memory made her smile. Although she missed her parent terribly, thinking of her always brought happiness to Ellie’s heart. For the longest time after her mother’s passing, Ellie believed her mother was her guardian angel. She hadfelther mother’s presence, especially after Adam died.
Voices from outside the music room window interrupted her thoughts. Sighing, she pulled her fingers off the pianoforte’s keys and glanced toward the window. The male voice didn’t sound familiar, but the female voice sounded like Augusta. Was the woman reprimanding another servant?
Ellie scowled. She didn’t like the way her stepmother had taken over the household. The way her father didn’t notice—or acted like he didn’t care—was unnerving. And why Ellie couldn’t trust Augusta, she didn’t know. She wondered if her guardian angel was trying to warn her.
She moved away from the musical instrument and headed toward the window. Just as she reached it, the male voice said her name. Ellie froze, and dared to eavesdrop on their conversation, thankful that they couldn’t see her.
“You don’t have need to worry, my dear Edgar. Leave Ellie to me. I’ll sway her attitude toward thinking you will be the better husband.”
Bile rose in Ellie’s throat, and she placed a hand over her mouth. When had Augusta’s nephew arrived? And why wasn’t Ellie informed? If she’d known the imbecile was coming, she would have gone to stay with Aunt Sylvia in London.
“Honestly,Auntie, I don’t see how you can accomplish such a feat. Didn’t you see the way they looked at each other yesterday?”
Edgar’s whiney voice had Ellie rolling her eyes. He sounded like a boy instead of a grown man of thirty. In the little time she had known Edgar, he had proven what a spoiled, selfish, violent man he could be. She didn’t want anything to do with him.
“Be that as it may,” Augusta remarked in a haughty voice, “there are ways to sway her father. After all, the duke hasn’t signed the betrothal agreement yet.”
