Lady Ellingham and the Theft of the Stansfield Necklace: A Regency Romance (15 page)

Felicity was digesting his
words through a misty haze of anger and disbelief.  She looked around her.
‘Where is Emily, I cannot stay here alone with you, let me out of here.’  She
reached for the carriage door but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back, ‘Oh
no you do not!’ he ground out, ‘you have chosen to interfere, so you will have
to suffer the consequences.’  She began to struggle and a swift battle ensued
in the carriage.  She struck out, scratching at his face and pulling his hair. 
He grabbed her by the forearms endeavouring to gain control but Felicity was
stronger than he expected and she took him by surprise.  She managed to raise
his hand within reach of her face and sink her teeth into the padded flesh of
his thumb.  He momentarily let go cursing. He knew he only had moments to gain
control before the Jarvey became suspicious. Adrian reached back into his pocket
for the phial of laudanum and after another vigorous struggle managed to subdue
her.  Felicity succumbed and sank back unconscious into the swabs.  Entwhistle
made it to his rented cottage with no further incidence, paid off the Jarvey
and thanked God he had not noticed the upheaval with the undulating sway of the
carriage.  He lifted Felicity out of the carriage and the Jarvey gave him a
cheery goodbye. ‘I do hope you’re good Lady is feeling chipper soon,’ he
shouted and moved off.

Back at the theatre the
Entwhistle’s were quite unaware that the whole scene had been witnessed from
across the other side of the auditorium by Lady Stansfield and the Countess,
and as Lady Ellingham had witnessed the assault she was on her feet and heading
blindly into the corridor.  She bumped bang into The Duke and Alex as they were
returning with the drinks.  ‘Whoa,’ Alex, cried out endeavouring to balance the
tray. ‘What is the big hurry?’

The Countess was in
deep distress, with tears brimming in her eyes and she was breathing heavily.
‘It is Flick, they have taken her. Oh quickly we must hurry!’ The Duke gently
pushed her back into the box. ‘Who has taken her? Sit down and tell us exactly
what has happened.’

The Dowager could see that
the Countess was hardly capable of giving a coherent account and although distressed
herself, explained to her son and grandson exactly what had happened.  They
looked across to the box.  Emily was sitting there with her escort in perfect
serenity as if nothing had happened.  The Marquis quickly placed the tray on
the small table and gave his father a pointed look. ‘You stay here with the
ladies. I will go across and get the truth out of her.’  He addressed the
Countess. ‘Do not worry Lady Ellingham, we will get her back.  You have no need
to fear.’

The Countess sat down
and was hardly able to contain herself. The Duke handed her his handkerchief
and took her other hand to console her. ‘Do not worry Sophia; Alex will get to
the bottom of it.  She will be back with us before you know it.’

The party sat and
watched Emily’s box expectantly and it seemed forever before they saw Alex
unceremoniously burst in.  The gentleman with her got up in surprise. ‘Excuse
me sir,’ he said indignantly, ‘What do you mean by this!’

Alex looked threatening
as he closed the door behind him. ‘You had better ask our dear little Emily
here. She is playing you for a fool.’

The man looked from
Alex to Emily not quite comprehending the situation. ‘I think I should ask you
to leave sir and take up your grievance at some other time.  The performance
will be resuming shortly and this is neither the time nor the place.’

‘Oh but it is,’ Alex
barked menacingly. ‘We do not have the time Emily, where has your husband taken
Lady Ellingham.  I do not have time to play games, so tell me.’

Her companion gaped at
Emily, ‘husband?’ he repeated.

‘Shall I enlighten him
or shall you?’ Alex snapped.  As Emily was speechless, Alex continued. ‘Adrian
and Emily are husband and wife.  They go around the resorts finding hapless unattached
men like your worthy self and fleecing them for all they are worth.  What has
she swindled from you?  I see she wears a most expensive engagement ring.  Did
you give it to her?  Oh do not be embarrassed, I nearly fell for her charms
myself, only with me it was the very valuable Stansfield necklace.’

The man was stunned.  ‘The
Stansfield necklace!  Am I addressing then the Duke of Stansfield?’

‘No he is my father.  I
am only the Marquis, but never the less ripe enough pickings for this young Lady
here.’

The gentleman was still
trying to assimilate this information. ‘I   was ready to buy shares in a Welsh
goldmine tomorrow morning, for £3000.  We were going to see a solicitor.’ 

Alex gave a throaty
laugh. ‘It would do you well to investigate further.  I think you will find
that the gold mine in question is nonexistent and that the solicitor is a
crook.’  He turned to Emily, ‘you are branching out: I see that you are no
longer satisfied with jewellery and fine expensive gifts. That husband of yours
is getting ambitious.’

Emily’s companion who
had harboured genuine feelings for her, stood silent in utter and total shock. He
watched haplessly as Alex turned his attention back to Emily.  ‘I take it
Felicity came over here and threatened to expose you, so your delightful
husband has taken her hostage somewhere. If you do not tell me where he has
taken her I swear I will not be able to guarantee your safety.’

The gentleman stepped
forward, but most half-heartedly, ‘now look here,’ he blustered, ‘there is no
need to threaten a lady, whatever she may have done.’

Alex looked at him, ‘I
have no grievance with you sir.  I suggest you leave us and if you take my advice
I would recommend that you take that expensive bauble with you.’ He pointed at
the beautiful diamond and emerald ring on Emily’s finger. ‘It must have cost
you hundreds.’  The man stepped forward and held out his hand. Emily looked at
him giving him her most beseeching look. ‘You do not believe him do you Andrew?’
she implored.

Andrew looked at her,
his eyes full of hurt and his voice full of mortification. ‘You know Emily I
think I do. Your uncle, if that is what he is, should have been here by now, which
adds weight to this gentleman’s account.  I must insist on my ring back.  I am
not an ogre and under any other situation I would have allowed you to keep it
but I do not like to be taken for a fool.’

Andrew turned to the
Marquis, ‘I cannot thank you enough you’re Lordship, but all the same I cannot
walk from here and allow you to hurt this woman, no matter what has happened.’

‘Rest assured Sir, I
have other means at my disposal, but you must also understand me. This ladies
husband has abducted one of my guests and I intend to get her back. I will do
whatever is necessary. My father the Duke is waiting in the box across the
auditorium waiting for the outcome of this interview.’ He pointed over to the
party who were anxiously watching them as they spoke and Andrew looked over.

‘Very well sir I can
see you are respectable.  I will trust you to act honourably and I will take my
leave of you.’  Without a word to Emily, he turned and left the box, a very disappointed
and wounded man.

Alex picked up Emily’s
pelisse and handed it to her. ‘You and I are going to walk out of here as if
nothing has happened and you are going to lead me to your husband.  If you do
not, my father will ride out to collect the magistrate and we can do it the
hard way, with plenty of spectators present.   You will act in an agreeable
manner and do nothing to arouse suspicion.’ He smiled, ‘It can be like the old
days when you pretended to love me.  You are an excellent little actress; I trust
that this will not be too difficult a request.’ Emily nodded and took his arm
and he escorted her back to the Stansfield box, to be greeted by a very
agitated Lady Ellingham.

Alex gave the Countess
a reassuring smile. ‘I have persuaded Mrs Entwhistle to take me to Felicity. 
You must go home Lady Ellingham and wait for my return.  I will be back before
midnight.’

‘She is my daughter, I
must come with you.  Oh I cannot bear it,’ she sobbed.

‘I think it best Lady
Ellingham if you leave it to me. I promise I will not let you down,’ he
reassured her.

Alex nodded to his
father’ ‘take them home; I will be back with Felicity as soon as I can.’

The Duke was not to be
dismissed so easily. ‘I am sorry to disappoint you son, but I am coming with
you, things might get dangerous and you may need my help.  John can take the
ladies home; I will go and collect him.’  Alex escorted the ladies to the coach
while the Duke went to collect his coachman from the tavern,   Alex reached inside
the coach and retrieved the large pistol he kept in the door pocket as a readiness
against highwaymen and clipped it to his belt.  The Countess looked dismayed at
the sight of the weapon and gave Alex an anxious look.  He patted it and smiled,
‘it is only for insurance,’ he reassured her, ’it does not hurt to be prepared.’ 
He turned to the Dowager, ‘I rely on the pair of you to stop Richard from doing
anything silly, and tell him we will be back with Felicity before midnight.’

John, having been
summoned from the inn jumped onto the box and looked questioningly at the Duke.
Felicity was nowhere to be seen and in her stead was a strange young lady.  ‘Is
Lady Felicity not returning with us Your Grace?’ he asked looking curiously at
Emily.  ‘Lady Felicity will be returning with us, the Marquis replied. ‘I rely
on you John to look after the ladies.’

‘No sooner said than
done Your Lordship,’ he replied and at that, John moved off.

After receiving
directions from Emily, Alex hailed a carriage.  The three of them climbed into
the cab and the carriage moved off.  Alex turned to Emily, ‘describe to me your
lodgings. I need to know the layout of the premises as I want no surprises.’

Emily’s lodging was a
small cottage situated a quarter of a mile outside of Harrogate on the
Harrogate approach road.  It was a single story building with a thatched roof
and had only three rooms.  To the left of the front door was the kitchen and to
the right was the sitting room. You had to walk through the sitting room to
reach the bedchamber at the far end. The only other feature was an outhouse to
the rear in the garden.  The cottage that went by the predictable name of Ivy
Cottage was just a simple construction but Alex made a mental note anyway. He
would need every detail at his fingertips when he arrived there.

Back at Ivy Cottage
Adrian was unaware of the events unfolding behind him. He had moved like
lightening and it had not occurred to him that there could have been witnesses to
the abduction. Entwhistle therefore was not expecting any kind of pursuit. 
After entering the cottage, he walked through the sitting room, into the bedchamber
and placed the unconscious Felicity on the bed.  He removed his cravat that he
suddenly found restricting, kicked off his boots, then walked over to the occasional
table where he kept a decanter and poured himself a stiff drink of cheap brandy. 
Flopping down into a chair, he downed his drink watching Felicity as she slept.
Damn the woman it could not have come at a worse time.  He was frustrated as
this was a development that he could have done without. He was only hours away
from signing a crooked deal worth £3000.  He only hoped that Emily would keep
her head until tomorrow when their fraud would be over and they were well away
with Mr Maitland’s money. 

Adrian could not afford
for anything to go wrong as they were running short of funds.  Their last
confidence trick involving the Marquis of Thorndale had gone seriously wrong.  He
cursed to himself.  He should never have allowed Emily to keep the Sapphire
necklace but she particularly liked the piece and he had agreed to let her keep
it until necessity dictated its sale. How was he to know that the necklace was famous?
He had retrospectively looked it up in a reference book and an illustration of
it glared up at him from the page.  He had been a fool; the money from the sale
of that necklace would have kept them in luxury for well over a year. As it was
his funds were dwindling, Adrian looked around him; he had already been reduced
to hiring this little cottage instead of staying at one of the more exclusive
hotels in Harrogate, where he could be waited upon hand and foot. He looked at
his empty glass in disgust; this cheap brandy was not to his liking either.  This
latest swindle had to succeed.

After Emily had given
the game away that day in the Prospect of Whitby so Adrian had decided against
Paris and headed straight for Harrogate.  He knew it to be near the Stansfield
family seat, but as he knew Alex to be in London for the near future, he had
not anticipated a problem, in fact it was an ideal time to come to Harrogate. They
had been lucky; Andrew Maitland had fallen for Emily within days of arriving
here.  Maitland was not a member of the ton but had made his money as a
shipping merchant working out of Whitby.  Perhaps it was just as well, as being
reduced to such straightened circumstances, a member of the ton might not have
given Emily a thought. They were due to sign the contract tomorrow morning at
10.30, with a rogue solicitor, a deal that would have defrauded Andrew Maitland
of £3000. Straight after, they were intending to make a quick getaway and head
for the delights of warmer climates.

Adrian poured himself
another large brandy and glanced across to the bed.  Felicity was still out for
the count. He watched her as she lay there, unconscious of his lazy gaze.  Unlike
Emily who had a deceitfully cherubic sort of prettiness, Felicity was a classic
beauty.  Every feature of her face was in regular alignment, her skin was like
porcelain and her golden ringlets lay in wild disarray across the pillow.   She
was wearing a low cut gown of orange blossom sarcenet with cream lace overlay,
a high waistline and puffed sleeves, and on her forearms delicate gloves of
fine cream lace. His eyes lowered to her breasts has they rose and fell with
her laboured breathing, and as he watched, his languid gaze turned into lust.
Adrian downed his second glass of brandy and glanced at the time; it would be
two hours yet before Emily returned home.  He walked across to the bed and sat
beside her, stoking the soft skin of her upper arms with the tip of his forefinger. 
Her skin was soft and smooth as fine satin and the touch of it made his loins
ache with desire.  He sat for a long time caressing her soft flesh and admiring
her beauty and the longer he sat, the more intense his desire grew. She was out
for the count and easy pickings and he thought to himself, that there was no
reason why he could not wile away the next hour pleasurably.