“I happen to have information that states you are a well-known and wanted thief,” the Earl said, smirking. “I have already sent word to the constable, who will be arriving shortly.”
“Why do you despise me so?” Beatrix demanded, narrowing her eyes in defiance. “What offense have I committed that has caused you to seek me out with such singular attention?”
“Your very existence disgusts me!” the Earl roared. “Your kind have succumbed to the mistaken belief that you are on par with your betters, you have no notion of keeping to your place. Worse, you would seek to trap a man such as Lord Bellton with your cheap ways, ruining his reputation and his future in the process.”
“I do not have to stand idly by and allow yet another silk-gloved do-nothing speak to me thus! You have no right to hold me captive,” she stated, throwing her shoulders back and holding her head high. “If you’ll kindly move aside, I will be on my way.”
“You’ll do no such thing!” he answered, retrieving a small pistol from his pocket and pointing it at Beatrix. “You shouldn’t even be here. You should have never been here! It is all for naught if anyone discovers…”
“Discovers what?” she whispered as the Earl’s voice trailed off. “I have committed no offense! I was not even a willing accomplice in my arrival here!”
“Excellent, then surely no one shall miss you,” he answered, aiming the gun even higher.
Before he had a chance to render her any harm, a streak of shadow burst through the open door. A man landed atop the disadvantaged gentleman and began pummeling him about the face. The Earl, still taken by surprise, cried out in alarm, begging anyone near to assist him.
After the soundest thrashing the Earl had likely ever received, his attacker pushed himself up off of the man’s prone figure and stood back apace, breathing heavily as he sought to control his rage. His fists clenched and released over and over, and anyone nearby would have seen that his most fervent desire was to kill this horrible excuse for a man.
Through it all, Beatrix stood mute, too astonished by the attack to intervene. Now that the newcomer stood over the Earl and paused his assault, she stepped forward and placed a hand on his arm.
“Father? What are you doing here?”
“My child, I’ve come to save you from this place!” Prince Aaron said, taking Beatrix in his arms and holding her close. “Are you harmed? Did they hurt you?”
“No, Father,” she hedged, avoiding describing her first days at the estate. “In fact, I had intended to be on my way home just this morning, but an accident here prevented me.”
“An accident? What happened, are you hurt?” her father demanded in alarm. He shot an angry glance where the Earl still lay on the ground holding his battered face.
“Oh no, I’m not harmed. It was the very carriage driver who was to bring me home!” Beatrix explained what had happened and how she had cared for the man until the physician could arrive.
“That’s my brave girl, always so tender-hearted!” Prince Aaron said, smiling sadly. “They who do not deserve your kindness and goodwill have reaped the benefits of your generosity! But I know you would naw have it any other way!”
“Tis true if you say so!” she answered, falling against his chest and resting her head against him, safe in his embrace at last. “But how did you manage to find me?”
“Daughter, you will never believe who your truest champion is… none other than Cooke!” Her father laughed, a rich, deep sound that she had missed so much. “He managed to follow the villain who stole you away, then came back to report on your whereabouts. He shall be handsomely rewarded for his effort.”
“Cooke, are you sure?” Beatrix asked, smiling at the picture in her mind of the very simple but very loyal man. “I did not know he had it in him!”
“When he saw you bound and taken away, he flew into a temper that no other man could have withstood. He gave chase—on foot, no less!—and came back with Pencot to seek your whereabouts. I’m sorry that I was not here for you sooner, my child,” Prince Aaron said, kissing the top of Beatrix’s head.
“It is all right, Father. The first day and the second were most unpleasant—” She stopped when she saw her father’s expression turn to anger once again. “—but soon after, the master of the house had a change of heart. I must tell you all about it as we travel home, but I am much obliged to assist him and to beg you to overlook his crime.”
“Overlook it? I should think not!” Aaron said loudly. “After he stole the most valuable thing in my life without so much as a care for your wellbeing? Never!”
“Father, only promise me you will listen. There is a great misunderstanding, I’m afraid,” Beatrix implored, “and when you learn of it, you will understand better.”
Her father was quiet as he thought it over, but soon he nodded sagely. “I will listen with full attention and reserve my judgment until you’ve finished. That is all I can promise you. But tell me, who is this worthless wretch whose life I should have ended the moment I laid eyes upon him?” Prince Aaron demanded, kicking the Earl in the shin.
“Ugh, a most insufferable piece of rot!” Beatrix said. “I know not why he has such disdain for me, for I’m certain I have not wronged him in any way.”
The Earl rolled to his side and pushed himself up to a seated position, mopping the blood from his face with a silk handkerchief. He looked up at his assailant with a fierce look of fury.
“You!” Prince Aaron exclaimed. “But how is it possible? And what business do you have with my daughter after all this time?”
“Your daughter?” the Earl demanded, scoffing as he spit a clot of blood from between his teeth. “Dare I say, you mean the child you stole from her cradle!”
Chapter 23
Rather than challenging the man as Beatrix expected, her father was silent. The blood drained from his face as recognition dawned. Beatrix clung to Prince Aaron, looking between the two men as they stared at each other in anger.
