Page 26

CHAPTER 26

I t was noon when Edwin finally pulled up to Lord Wilbury’s estate.

He was a man on a mission.

He had spent the previous hours consulting with the constables and speaking with his friends about the latest development. And now, he knew what he needed to do.

When the carriage finally pulled to a stop in front of the Earl’s house, Edwin took a deep breath and slowly climbed down.

He maintained a calm exterior, even though his blood was boiling with anger.

He was climbing up the front steps when the door swung open to reveal a smiling Lord Wilbury. The man was slim, a far contrast to Edwin’s muscular build.

Edwin stood outside the door, itching to knock the smile off the man’s face.

Lord Wilbury gave an exaggerated gasp. “What luck have I courted to have the amazing Duke of Gillingham pay me a visit?”

Edwin clenched his fists as he watched the man execute a mock bow.

“Lord Wilbury,” he uttered, taking a deep breath to control himself. He did not trust himself not to tear the man into shreds.

“Now, now, Your Grace,” Lord Wilbury drawled as he stepped right in front of Edwin, that stupid grin still on his face.

Edwin towered well over the man, who was only of middling height. He could even see the crown of his balding head and the last tufts of blond hair.

“Now, see how my title rolls so effortlessly off the Duke’s tongue. I had no idea you knew of my existence, Your Grace.”

Edwin shook his head, annoyed at the man’s theatrics. “I am here to speak with you.”

He simply could not—and would not—exchange pleasantries with the man.

“I must have done something right for a duke to appear on my doorstep—a mere earl,” Lord Wilbury said.

Edwin grimaced. The longer the man spoke, the more his anger grew.

“I am simply here to inform you that I am well aware of what you have done,” he said simply.

Lord Wilbury’s brown eyes lit up. He suddenly looked excited.

“I take it you’ve received my message then?” he asked.

“If you call that a message, then I did receive it.”

“Aaah!” Lord Wilbury waved his hand as he walked away, a glorious smile on his face.

Edwin watched him saunter right back.

“Skippy, he was a jittery one.” Lord Wilbury tutted. “I doubted he would be able to get the job done. But if you are here now, then I suppose he did the job perfectly.”

“I only want to know one thing,” Edwin bit out. “What have I done for you to send someone to my home to attack my wife?”

Lord Wilbury shrugged one shoulder. “It is simple—revenge.”

Revenge?

“I love revenge!” Lord Wilbury declared.

“Revenge for what?” Edwin was curious to know.

Lord Wilbury gasped, as though in shock. “How can you possibly not know? Have I not made it clear enough?”

“I am afraid not,” Edwin said. “I truly have no idea why you would do such a thing.”

Lord Wilbury sighed. “And I used to think dukes were some extraordinary men with great intellect.”

Edwin was even more confused. “You sent a thug after me because you are jealous that I am a duke?”

“Certainly not!” Lord Wilbury snapped, his eyes no longer playful but gleaming with malice. “What is there be to be jealous about?” he scoffed, staring off into the distance. “I could never be jealous of anyone, certainly not a duke. My father used to say, ‘Sampson! Don’t be so jealous of your elder brother.’ It infuriated me, of course, but there was nothing I could do about it. After all, my brother was perfect, and he was the heir. And just like you, my brother was not particularly the brightest; he just happened to have been born at the right time.”

He returned his gaze to Edwin.

“Now, as to your question. Indeed, I sent Skippy to your home as retaliation for ruining my relationship with…” His eyes softened. “With Margaret.”

Edwin was not surprised. The man had simply confirmed his suspicions.

“You put my wife’s life in danger simply because my mother decided to cut you off?”

He could not get over the absurdity of the situation.

“Simply because!” Lord Wilbury shouted, his voice reverberating through the estate.

He inched closer to Edwin, his teeth bared in a snarl.

“Do you even know what happened after you decided to tell your mother about me?” he hissed. “She ended our relationship immediately. It was as though I had meant nothing to her. All the years we had spent together meant nothing to Margaret. She simply dumped me without as much as letting me plead my case. Margaret! ” he growled. “Now, tell me, what man would not seek revenge?”

“And your revenge is to attack my wife?” Edwin asked, his fists twitching.

“I suppose Ava could have avoided this if she had listened to me and not married you when I?—”

Edwin snapped then. Hearing the deranged man say his wife’s name was simply the last straw for him.

He swung his fist and punched the man right in the face.

Lord Wilbury staggered backward, doubling over as he clutched his nose in his hand. He looked up in shock, but then his face broke into a smile as he straightened up and lowered his hand.

Blood gushed from his nose and sprinkled his shirt, but he did not seem to care. The center of his face was red from the punch.

“You are truly your father’s son,” he jeered, nodding with approval.

Edwin frowned in confusion. “You knew my father?”

Lord Wilbury chuckled. “Who did not know him? Your father was an obnoxious one. Most heirs usually are. My brother was obnoxious, and he was the heir to only an earl. Now, your father was already a duke then, and he never let anyone forget it. He walked around as though he owned the town. All of that did not matter to me until he took the one thing that belonged to me.”

“My mother?”

“See! You are smart, after all.” Lord Wilbury let out a derisive laugh. “James was a charismatic one, and he married Margaret. What could a mere man like me do? Moreover, I was not titled. Only a foolish man would give his daughter to a non-titled man when a duke is an option.”

“So, you blame my father for your failure?” Edwin taunted.

“Not only him,” Lord Wilbury snarled. “I also blame my brother for not dying earlier so I could become the heir and win Margaret’s heart before your father even came along.”

“I do not quite understand. You have been enamored by my mother even long before I was born?”

Lord Wilbury nodded. “She was the fairest lady in all of London,” he said, a smile creeping onto his face. “My heart skipped a beat when I first laid eyes on her at her debut. She was the Diamond of the Season, no doubt.” He shrugged. “But a woman like that is reserved only for dukes, not a lowly man like myself.”

“I still don’t get it. You never made your intentions known to my mother or her father, and yet you are angry with my father for marrying her?”

“Certainly,” Lord Wilbury snapped, fixing Edwin with a scowl. “I could certainly understand James marrying the woman I wanted, but what I simply could not forgive was your father’s mistreatment of her. He was a twisted man. Seeing him treat her so coldly annoyed me, but there was nothing I could do. She belonged to another man, after all.”

“Then you must have been happy when he finally died.”

“The happiest day of my life. I knew that I was finally free to pursue her. It was not easy, of course, but I was unrelenting. I pursued your mother until I wore her down. And it was all beautiful and fine until you came along and ruined everything .”

Edwin looked at the man in disbelief. “If I am not mistaken, Wilbury, you tried to kill me because of my mother?”

“Not quite,” Lord Wilbury said. “Now, don’t paint me as such a monster. When I sent one of my men to the masquerade ball, that was simply because you continued to steal business from me and I could not take it anymore. And then, the Italians came, and even they chose you.”

He rounded on Edwin with a wild look on his face.

“It should have been me!” he bellowed, thumping his chest.

“I simply cannot believe that you tried to kill me, and then you sent a man to attack my innocent wife simply because of money.”

“No, no, no.” He wagged a finger in Edwin’s face. “I sent the man to knock you out. However, for your wife, I simply wanted you to have a taste of what it feels like to lose someone you love. Margaret is the only woman I have ever truly loved, and having her taken away from me was worse than losing her to death.”

Edwin’s eyes widened in shock. “You wanted to kill my wife?”

Lord Wilbury chuckled. “I suppose I did not tell Skippy to kill her. I simply gave the instructions to scare you in every way possible.”

Edwin’s blood boiled.

The Earl shrugged. “If he took it far and decided to kill her, then you simply cannot blame me for that.”

Edwin ground his teeth so hard he thought they would crack. It took all his self-restraint not to lunge at the man and beat him to a pulp.

“ You ,” he growled. “I will make sure you do not get away with this.”

Lord Wilbury regarded him with a disdainful look before he barked out a laugh. “You are quite the jester, boy.”

He doubled over again from laughter.

“I am certain you will laugh even harder when I throw you in prison.”

“Prison?” Lord Wilbury snorted. “I think you’ve forgotten that you need evidence for that to happen. Do you truly think the court would take your words simply because you are a duke and I am an earl?”

Edwin sighed. “You are right, Lord Wilbury. I need evidence to throw you behind bars for good.”

Lord Wilbury shrugged, a triumphant smile on his face. “I know this must hurt you greatly. Now you know how I felt when you took Margaret from me.”

Edwin chuckled in satisfaction. If only the Earl knew.

“Now, I would love to stand here and continue to taunt you. However, I have other pressing matters to attend to.”

With that, Lord Wilbury turned on his heels and walked back to his house.

Edwin smiled. He was definitely going to enjoy this next part.

“Wilbury…” The Earl stopped and turned around. “What if I told you that you will be leaving with the constables right now.”

Lord Wilbury sighed and rolled his eyes. “Edwin, truly. You need to admit that I have won. Now, go home and spend the rest of the day with your wife—or whatever is left of her.” He chuckled.

Edwin took a deliberate step towards the older man. “What if I told you that I caught the man you sent to attack my wife?”

Lord Wilbury’s face paled with shock.

Edwin smiled in satisfaction. “It may interest you even more to know that your boy, Skippy, is now with the constables and is eager to confess.”

“Uh… that does not bother me.” Lord Wilbury shrugged. “All I have to do is deny Skippy’s claims and the constables will let me go. Who would they believe—some scoundrel who is probably a known criminal, or me, a renowned businessman and an earl? Even you are not powerful enough to get me imprisoned over that.”

Edwin deliberately schooled his features. “I suppose you are right, Lord Wilbury.”

“I know,” the Earl declared proudly. “I have given this a lot of thought before I did it.”

“Then you must know that I have thought of that as well. I knew you would simply deny all the things you have done,” Edwin said as he strode to his carriage. “And that is why I came with”—he yanked the carriage door open—“the constables.”

Two constables climbed out of the carriage.

“Now, they have listened to you confess your crimes. And since you have admitted to having sent thugs after me twice, I cannot help but think you will spend the rest of your life in prison.”

Lord Wilbury gasped rather loudly, his mouth falling open in shock.

Now, it was Edwin’s turn to laugh.

“You must see the look on your face,” he said, pointing at the man’s face. “It is simply priceless. Oh, Wilbury.”

The Earl, who had been rooted to the spot, suddenly seemed to regain his senses. He closed his mouth and slowly walked back into his house.

“Now, you do not want to add escaping to the charges, do you?” Edwin taunted.

Lord Wilbury then broke into a run. The constables charged after him.

Edwin chuckled and shook his head as he watched it all unfold before him.

Lord Wilbury had barely reached the door when the constables pounced on him.

“Do you know who I am?” he bellowed as he struggled against them. “I am the Earl of Wilbury. You shall show me respect. I am a peer of the realm!”

The constables all but dragged him back to the carriage. Once they had finally restrained him inside the carriage, they sat on either side of him so he would not escape.

Edwin peered into the carriage so he could have one last look at the man who had nearly taken the love of his life from him.

Lord Wilbury now looked nothing like the man who had confidently confessed his crimes. His shoulders had sagged, and he looked downcast.

“How long do you think it will take for my mother to hear of your arrest?” Edwin drawled.

Lord Wilbury’s head snapped up as he regarded him bitterly. “You are heartless… just like your father!” he spat.

Edwin nodded. “And just like you lost to my father, you now have lost to me.”

Lord Wilbury gave a guttural scream. “You—you—you will pay for this!”

“It must really hurt you,” Edwin said, smiling at him, “knowing that even though my mother has no love for me, she still chose me over you. You truly mean nothing to her.”

Lord Wilbury’s face contorted in anger. “You will pay for this, boy,” he repeated in a low, menacing voice.

Edwin shrugged. “I shall spend many happy years with my wife while you rot in prison.”

“Do not be so cocky!” Lord Wilbury snapped.

Edwin glanced at the constables. “I suppose we all heard him threaten me just now.”

The constables nodded.

Edwin turned his gaze back to the Earl. “Now, I must congratulate you for adding another charge to the one you already have.”

“What?” Lord Wilbury looked around, confused.

“You threatened me time after time in the presence of these fine gentlemen. You certainly do not think you will get away with it now, do you?”

“You tricked me!” he shouted.

Edwin raised his arms in mock innocence. “Now, gentlemen, kindly take him to the station.”

“You will not get away with th?—”

The carriage door slammed shut, cutting the Earl off. However, Edwin could still see him thrashing and screaming.

He waved cheerily at the man as the carriage pulled away. Then, he finally heaved a sigh of relief.

It’s over.

For the first time in a rather long while, he knew that he and his wife were safe.