“Lorchester, I heard everything between you and Smithson. We shall be taking you into custody. I hope you enjoy your stay in prison.”
Epilogue
It was the middle of the night but Minsbury Park was alight with activity, the servants of both the Duke and those from Ranhold House busily running to and fro to cater to their masters.
After the constable walked in on the Duke of Lorchester and Smithson discussing whether they should kill them all off or wait to get more of the Rowley inheritance, there was no way they could weasel their way out of it.
The evidence against them both was too damning.
That and the fact that the constable and his men also managed to capture most of the bandits behind the kidnapping. Under the firm hand of the constable, they all confessed to their part in the abduction of the Slades and the Rowleys, as well as the murder of their footmen and coachmen.
Lord Draydon was caught in the middle of it all and he had no idea where to turn next.
His sire faced spending the rest of his life paying for his crimes. Confronted with the possibility of the rest of his sorry existence spent behind bars with other criminals, he had fought against one of the constable’s men, getting free only to grab the man’s pistol and shoot himself in the temple.
Artemus was now the Duke of Lorchester, heir to a crumbling, decrepit estate and a mountain of debt his father owed to numerous shady people.
He was so embroiled in his thoughts that Artemus never noticed the soft footsteps behind him.
“What are you looking at?”
He turned around swiftly and found Lady Suzanna looking at him with a frown on her smooth brow, her green eyes marred with worry.
When he first clamped eyes on her in that ballroom months ago, she had stolen his heart. Even when his father forced him to shift his attentions to Claire, her presence had been the sole reason he managed to drag himself back to the townhouse day after day after day.
“I was thinking,” he told her softly, “what a mess everything has become.”
Lady Suzanna smiled at him. “Nothing too difficult for the Marquess of Draydon.” She paused and tilted her head at him. “Now, Duke of Lorchester.”
He shook his head and looked away from her. “An empty title. I would need an entire lifetime to undo all the wrongs my father committed.”
“But you are not your father.”
He turned his gaze back to her and found her green eyes looking at him resolutely.
“You are not your father,” she repeated, her voice firm with a hint of the steel that made up her backbone. “And was not half the man you are. You are more than capable of repairing all the damage he has done.”
“I doubt I will ever be able to show my face in a London ballroom again,” he scoffed. “My reputation has been ruined beyond imagining.”
“So what do you plan on doing?”
He shrugged. “I could go back to India and carry on with my business there. I could even settle in the colonies, where they have no knowledge of the blemish on my name.”
“Or,” she said with a mischievous smile, “you could stay in London and marry a wealthy young lady who is willing to repair and build with you.”
He frowned. “Like I said, My Lady, I may never be able to show my face in a London ballroom again. I will not be surprised if Almack’s strikes me off their lists as an eligible bachelor, title or no.”
“You do not have to step into another ballroom,” she persisted, smiling hesitantly. “There are young ladies who do not care for those things, if you but know where to look.”
He looked at her in confusion and she dipped her head at him with another mysterious smile.
“Good night, Your Grace,” she murmured, before leaving him to his thoughts once more.
As he looked at her retreating back, he could not help but feel a wild hope in his heart.
Was she indicating that she would consider me as a suitor?
With a fresh resolve, Artemus faced his uncertain future and vowed he would make himself worthy of Lady Suzanna, the only lady he would ever love in this lifetime.
