“Unfortunately not, my Lord, it is a curricle that only seats two with ease,” Richard explained.
“I will ride my horse and accompany them,” Wes volunteered.
“As will Loretta’s companion and a groom,” Lord Cyril decided.
So it was that a half-hour later, Loretta was bundled up next to Richard in the curricle, and the three riders mounted and were ready to depart. They started toward the park with Wes on the side of the vehicle where Richard was sitting and the other two following not far behind.
“You are not too cold, are you, Retta?” Richard asked. The last thing he wanted was for her to have an experience she did not enjoy.
“I am well, Richard; besides the warming bricks, I have many layers of clothing to keep me warm, and how can I feel cold when I am seated next to you?” A blush spread across her cheeks as she said the last softly.
They entered the park from the west and took a route that would lead them to the Grosvenor Square gate.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Granville was pleased; the dog had taken off chasing a rabbit or some such; the companion was a little behind his intended victim, and the huge footmen were behind her. A few more minutes and his money issues would be over. He hid next to a birch tree trunk that was just off the path.
Elizabeth was lost in thoughts of the man that she loved when she heard a noise to her right. She saw an unknown man barrelling towards her. Both Biggs and Johns saw the man lunging at their charge and broke into a run. For Elizabeth, time seemed to stand still as the man was about to reach her, and from the looks of things, he meant to grab her dress. She turned to start to run, knowing that it would be futile as he was so close to her. The two footmen were still a few feet away and watched helplessly as the man was inches from Lady Elizabeth.
Just as his fingers touched Lady Elizabeth’s dress, he was sent flying back. Before he knew what had happened, he was staring into the eyes of a menacingly growling dog that was drooling all over his face. He felt an inordinate amount of pain on his chest where the beast had jumped on him and forced him to the ground with its front paws. Rather than not being a factor as he had calculated, Lady Elizabeth’s dog had thwarted him.
Just when things could not get worse, the dog moved aside, and he was lifted off the ground and suspended in the air like a ragdoll.“Good girl, Aggie,” Elizabeth petted her dog, who looked much younger than her years in that moment and was wagging her tail furiously. Just then, several horses came to a sudden stop, and Richard, Wes, and Retta appeared before Elizabeth. Richard could see that his sister was unharmed, and then he saw the blackguard, Granville.
The man used to be a good friend of his and Andrew’s until he came into his inheritance at one and twenty when his parents were killed in an accident. He had changed overnight to become the dishonourable man that he was today, causing the bonds of friendship to be broken by the Fitzwilliam brothers, who would not associate with one such as he.
“Why is Granville hanging about?” Richard asked. He then indicated Biggs should allow the man to stand on his own two feet.
“I was minding my own business when that brute of a dog attacked me for no reason,” Granville blustered.“If that was not bad enough, I was set upon by your pet giant here. I should call the runners and have the dog put down and the man arrested for accosting a peer of the realm.”
“You lie!” Elizabeth practically yelled from where she stood next to Retta.“He tried to attack me; he was about to grab my gown when Aggie saved me. He was seen by our men and Mrs Annesley as well,” she reported with anger.“I will wager the stupid man was trying to compromise me!”
“That is not what happened; no one will believe this chit over me!” Granville tried to assert, but before he could say another word, and after a nod from Richard, one of the footmen landed a massive fist in the man’s stomach. The Earl was left in more pain than when the dog felled him while he gasped for breath.
“I have heard you were deep in debt, and toThe Spaniardno less, Granville. That man will not forgive a debt, especially one of over one hundred thousand. I am confused; did you think that man would accept half of what you owe him?” Richard asked.
“Half! I heard that she…” Another blow landed.
“Lady Elizabeth to you,” Johns hissed after he withdrew his fist.
“I was toldLady Elizabeth’sdowry was over one hundred thousand.” Granville dropped all pretence.
“Unlike you, I care about others and have donated half of my dowry to charity. Even if you had succeeded, I would never have married you,” Elizabeth informed the shocked man, her voice dripping in heavy disdain.
“Firstly, her dowry would only be released if both my brother and her birth father approved of the manpriorto his proposing. Secondly, if you had compromised her, you would have done my cousin Darcy and my sister a favour; they would have married right away. You would be in the same position, about to lose your family homes to a debt collector. Notwithstanding that, you will answer to the law for attempting to assault my sister, who you may remember is a favourite of the King and Queen.” Richard demolished weeks of Granville’s delusional plans in but minutes.“Wes, will you accompany two of the footmen to the runners to deposit that with them?” he pointed at Granville with derision.
“With pleasure. It will be an honour to assist in ridding society of the cancer that is Granville,” Wes agreed cheerfully. One of the two footmen who had walked ahead of Lady Elizabeth removed a length of rope from the curricle. Granville was led away, head down, trussed up like a common criminal, while the rest moved in the direction of Matlock House.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“I did not expect you back from your walk so soon, Lizzy,” her mother exclaimed as her daughter walked into the drawing room accompanied by her son, his lady, and Aggie, who was looking most pleased with herself.
“My walk was cut short by an unscrupulous earl who believed my dowry was over one hundred thousand—the amount he needed to satisfy his creditors,” Elizabeth informed her mother, Andrew, and Marie.
“Granville! I will kill the basta…Sorry ladies, I should have regulated my words, but I will kill him! What did he do to you, Lizzy?” a seething Andrew asked, not understanding why his brother and sister looked so complacent.
“He never laid a hand on my person, brother; you can relax. For that, we have our heroine Aggie to thank. She had taken off chasing a small animal, but she must have been close enough to perceive the man was a threat because as he was about to grab my dress, Aggie came flying out of nowhere, and the man was on his back with my dog growling in his face. If he had tried anything further to harm me, he would have discovered just how powerful her jaws are,” Elizabeth explained, as she scratched Aggie behind the ears.
“Good girl, Aggie!” Elaine exclaimed,“Your father knew she would always protect Lizzy just as she did today.” Aggie revelled in all the attention and petting that she received.
