Chapter 21
Gideon was actually excited to be bringing his wife home. For a start, he could take her to his comfortable bed and make love to her for hours if he wanted. He would ring for his valet and her maid when he wanted to in the morning and he did not need to worry about anybody judging them or having to load themselves into a carriage.
Of course, he would have to drag his arse out of bed and away from her luscious warm body long enough to arrange the return of Whitsnow’s coaches. Also, to decide, along with his steward exactly what he could do with the meagre amount of food he had managed to bring south. The more he had thought on it during the carriage ride home, the more he had become concerned that this really was just a drop in the ocean.
However, it was something. His steward had said the crops had not all failed. There would be something and they had meat.
Getting through the winter would be difficult but it may not be impossible and Whitsnow had promised more food.
The carriage turned onto the long private road up to the manor in the centre of Beattie Park. Emily was practically bouncing in her seat. His hat was still on the seat in front, though Emily had on her bonnet and gloves in readiness to leave the carriage. He bent down to see under her bonnet and moved in to press his lips to hers. She squirmed away.
“Gideon, you will make my face all red and puffy with your day beard.”
“I thought you liked my day beard. I thought it was an extra sensation.”
Emily bit her lip but placed a hand on his chest.
“You can give me all the sensation you please once I have met the servants.”
“You have already met the servants.”
“As Lady Emily, a friend of Lady Rutherford. I have not met them as Viscountess Beattie, your wife.”
“Is this the same Lady Emily Beresford who was caught in a compromising position, kissing a viscount in his bedroom just over a fortnight ago.”
“She no longer exists.”
“So-o-o, Lady Beattie does not want her husband’s day beard anywhere near her skin from now on. I understand. I shall simply have to bend you over my bed, take you from behind, like a farm animal does, and never kiss you again. It is the only way to fill my nursery.”
“Gideon!” She was laughing as she punched him on the arm. He caught her balled fist and gave her a severe look.
“We discussed you punching me, Lady Beattie and your punishment.”
Her eyes flared with promised passion but shouts outside the carriage drew Gideon’s attention away from his now, obviously aroused, wife.
As they neared the Hall, he could see a crowd of people on the East side of the building—fist raised and shouting. They did not seem happy.
“Stay here,” he commanded Emily. He banged on the carriage ceiling and the vehicle began to slow. Before it was fully at a standstill, he opened the door and leapt to the ground, setting off at a run. He looked back to see Emily looking out of the carriage door, but she had made no moves to follow him. He gave her no further thought as he hurried towards the crowd.
“What the devil is going on,” he asked the vicar who was standing on the edge of the crowd.
“Oh, Lord Beattie, thank goodness you are here. I’ve tried to make them see sense but they are not listening to me. Perhaps you shall have better luck.”
“What’s happening, vicar?”
The man sighed. “Davy Matthews, Eddie Evans and Bill Veitch have been trying to stir up trouble in the village for some weeks now.”
“I heard rumblings of trouble before I left for Scotland. I did not know who the main protagonists were though.”
“They have been trying to gain others to join their cause, but most in the village are loyal to you. With the lack of food, my lord, it is becoming a problem.”
“Rev Lamb, please, why is everyone at my house?”
“Oh, I apologise, well, Matthews, Evans and Veitch decided you must be home by now so they brought a pistol and decided to come up here, confront you and demand that you do something. I’m not entirely sure what you can do. It’s not as if you can turn off the rain, but they found you from home. Instead, they stole food and took it home. They trussed up your poor housekeeper and kitchen staff.
When the villagers found out they marched them back up here en masse to untie your staff. Of course, the rest of your staff had found them and untied them, but now they want justice. They’re threatening to shoot them.”
“Shoot them?”
“Yes. I know they did wrong, but…”
Gideon held up his hand.
“Allow me.”
He started to push through the crowd. As people started to recognise him, he heard his name shouted and whispered around the crowd. When he made it to the front, he found Joseph Andrews, the pub landlord holding a pistol out and pointing it at Eddie Evans.
“Joseph, put the pistol down.”
“They trussed up my sister, my lord.”
“The vicar told me. They’ve done a terrible thing. They shall pay for their crime.”
“Too right they will. They’ll die.”
“Joseph, stop it.” It was Mrs Barrington the housekeeper and the sister of Joseph. “Put the pistol down. They only had me trussed up for a very short while. The other servants had me untied very quickly after they left.”
“Joseph, you do not want to shoot a man in cold blood. You shall hang.”
“I won’t, my lord. All these fine folks will say I was at the inn serving drinks. No one will be a witness.”
Gideon drew in a deep breath. “I shall be a witness and I shall be the one to choose your sentence. If I see you kill a man, I shall have no choice. Besides, would you have all these people swear an oath on the Holy Word of God and tell a falsehood?”
Joseph glanced at him and then back to Eddie. “They would do it. God would surely understand. Who trusses up four women and a young lad to steal food?”
“Someone who is desperate.”
“WE’RE ALL DESPERATE, MY LORD!” Gideon stepped back slightly as Joseph bellowed in his ears, but Joseph’s resolve was crumbling. Gideon could tell. The pistol was shaking and he glanced uncertainly at his sister who raised praying hands to her lips, pleading with him to listen to reason.
“I make no excuses for what they did, Joseph. They shall pay. Lower the gun.”
It seemed as though all the fight left Joseph in that moment. “I’m sorry, Lottie,” he whispered in the direction of his sister.
“Bring those men over here.”
The men were duly brought to him.
“I am going to sentence each of you to one month in the village prison and….” While he had been speaking there had been noise but there was now a deathly hush. He suspected it was nothing to do with his commanding presence. He looked to his side and his heart dropped into the pit of his belly. Cold gripped him at the sight of Emily held with a filthy arm around her beautiful throat and a pistol pointed directly at her head.
It appeared that the villagers had not tied up Davy Matthews particularly well and he had got free of his bindings. Joseph, in his relief at not being the one to kill other human beings, had let his guard down. Matthews must have taken advantage.
“I want to be let go with food and money. I want a carriage and a couple of horses. All three of us want to go.”
“What about your families. You’re leaving them here to starve,” Gideon asked. He watched Emily closely. Her gaze was determined. Her lower lip trembled slightly but trust was the overwhelming emotion he read in her expression. She trusted him to get her back safely.
Devil take it. He was making this up as he went along.
“I… we… we’ll wait until someone gets them from the village.”
“That’s a terribly long time to wait.” Damn it, think man.
There was a slight tug on his coat tail and then his hand was pulled behind him and something cold and metallic was placed in it. A pistol. Was that Jack?
Instinct told him he was right, just at the same moment that he saw the scruffy messy brown hair of Gerald behind Emily’s shoulder. What the devil was the lad doing?
“Let Lady Emily go or I’ll shoot you. She’s been nice to me and my brother and if you shoot her, I don’t mind ‘angin’ to get rid of you. Drop the pistol.”
Gideon slowly lifted his own pistol and aimed it at Davy. “I won’t wait for you to shoot her, I shall just shoot you now. Drop it now or I shoot. Three, two. w…” the pistol dropped to the ground. Gideon dove for the pistol but Gerald kicked it out of the way. The vicar picked it up.
Gideon then grabbed Matthews around the feet and felled him, crawling up his body before planting him a facer with his balled-up fist. His other hand came up to punch the other side of his jaw and Davy grabbed at his face, yowling with pain. Gideon hit again. When he went to land the fourth blow, he was prevented. The smell of lavender surrounded him and she was clinging to his back.
“Gideon, stop! You’ll kill him.”
“He deserves it,” Gideon spat out.
“Maybe so, but you do not deserve to hang, my love.”
That pulled him up short. He rocked back on his heels and Emily stood, walking around him and helping him to his feet. She gave Matthews a little prod with the toe of her half boot.
He looked at the man lying supine in the grass. What had he done? He had never lost his temper in such a manner before. Then he turned to find all the villagers watching him, astonishment on their faces.
“Where are the pistols?” There had been three.
“I have them.” It was Leishman, his steward. Gideon nodded. At least they were in safe hands. He then turned towards the house, stumbling around the corner at the back of the large mansion only to be stopped by Emily.
“Gideon.”
“God dammit, Emily, what is it?”
She did not flinch, nor did she back away when he rounded on her. She lifted her hand and cupped his jaw and smiled oh so sweetly at him. She had seen him behave like a wild animal but still she had a tender smile for him.
“You have to go back and explain your plans for the food and the vicar to hand it out. You explained it to me in the carriage, but I cannot do it.”
He waved a hand. “Tell the vicar my plans then and he can explain it.”
“No Gideon.” He had moved to turn and leave but her tone arrested him. “No. You have to go back and do this. They will only listen to you.”
She gave a mirthless chuckle. “Not after that display of brutality.”
“He deserved it.”
“I was an animal.”
“You were defending your wife. They will all understand that. Gideon, I thought… I th… Gideon, I thought I was going to die.” A tear slid down her cheek and she raised a trembling hand to wipe it away. He pulled her into his embrace. “It was my own fault. You told me to stay in the carriage. Even though I was a ninny and disobeyed you, you saved me.”
“Actually, Jack and Gerald saved you.”
“All three of you saved me. B-b-but you knew he wouldn’t go through w-w-w ith it. Thank you.”
“Shh. All is well.”
“No Gideon.” She pulled out of his embrace and swiped at her eyes. “Your people need you. This happened because the food is scarce and they need you to guide them and tell them how you plan to rectify the situation.”
Dash it all but she was correct. He needed to do this.
“I have been telling you since I woke up that you are clever and wonderful and I have been proved correct. I love you, Lady Beattie.”
With that, he turned back to the crowd at the side of Beattie Hall to explain his plans. The vicar would give out the grain to the needy according to the size of their family and how poor they were. He would also organise for the opportunity for all with excess food to donate it at the church every day. While going through this difficult spell they would work more as a community than they ever had. The Beattie estate would also give all excess food to the church to distribute among the poor. He explained that he would be sending coaches back to Cumbria and asked for volunteers to guard the coaches there and back against highwaymen. He had a few good men willing to give their time.
The three men who had caused today’s furore would each serve a month in prison, with Davy Matthews serving two months. They would do hard labour in the fields in that time, working on drainage in the hope that the fields in and around Beattie estate would still manage some kind of harvest. They would be fed and their families would be cared for from the food supplies.
When all questions had been answered and the crowd of people started to head back towards the village, the prisoners in the care of people whom Gideon trusted to be handed over to the prison keeper. Gideon knew they had been given a very light sentence for their misdeeds but he had known these men all his life and it was indeed trying times. He would not think twice about handing down a much harsher sentence if any of them came up against him again for anything more than a drunken brawl.
He turned to find his wife and the two heroes of the hour, Jack and Gerald standing beside Mrs Barrington.
“Well, Mrs Barrington, I understand it has been a trying day.”
“It has, my lord, but we have food all prepared.”
“Do you now? Well, might I suggest that we find some food for these two young men and beds for them to sleep in? Tomorrow, I intend to take them to the schoolhouse and enrol them, then I should like to find some work for them to do around the estate.”
“I can do that, my lord. When would you like dinner served.”
He looked at Emily who looked all wide-eyed innocence but there was a gleam in her eye.
“Oh, I think my wife needs a short nap before dinner. Shall we say in two hours?”
“As you wish, my lord.”
He was sure he saw mirth in the older woman’s features. He supposed they were not fooling anyone.
He drew Emily’s hand through his arm and led her around to the front door.
“I believe that while the drama unfolded here in our own version of Drury Lane, the staff were unloading our valises, unpacking our things and preparing our rooms. I think it wise for you to have your nap in my bed, Lady Beattie, do you not?
“My dear Lord Beattie, I do have the most wonderful memories of your bedchamber. It was where I had my first kiss.”
“But alas, my love, you only woke a viscount, not a prince.”
“I may not have fallen in love with a prince though. You did not get a princess, just the clumsy, outspoken sister of an earl who asks impertinent questions about Byron.”
“You know what happens when you mention Byron, my love.”
“Why do you think I mention him?”
They were nearly at his bedchamber. He looked about him but no one was around. He bent and lifted her over his shoulder giving her a swift smack on the bottom as he did so.
“Gideon!” she giggled.
“You really are the naughtiest fairytale princess ever, Lady Beattie,” he said as he deposited her on the bed then came down on top of her.
“I think you’ll find, my lord, that in this story, I was the prince.”
He pulled his head away from her neck which he had started to kiss and looked into her blue eyes which sparkled with merriment. “I suppose you are.”
He glanced around his bedchamber where it had all begun. He smiled at the thought that he had a lifetime of mornings when Emily, Lady Beattie would wake him with a kiss.