Page 18 of Trusting Miss Austen (Miss Austen #3)

Dorian’s countenance hardened, and fury flowed off him in waves. He was going to make a scene. I just knew it.

Scooping up a bewildered Freddie, I dashed out of the ballroom. Where should I go?

Following my instincts, I set off at a fast trot towards the kitchen, which was closer than the bedrooms. It was located on the lower floor at the back of the house and contained a lockable pantry.

‘Stop, Felicityyy!’ came Dorian’s voice behind me.

In fright, I increased my pace until I was sprinting down the stairs, breath forced out of my lungs, trying to maintain a grip on Freddie, who was squirming in my arms.

Bursting through the kitchen door, I looked around, wild-eyed, for Maurice. He was at the range, stoking the fire. Two maids were at the table, prepping food for tomorrow, while the rest had retired for the evening.

‘Mo Mo!’ cried Freddie, reaching for him as I rushed past. Maurice gave me a startled look.

‘Dorian!’ I gasped. ‘Behind me—put him off!’

There wasn’t time to say any more. I dashed to the pantry, took the key out, and locked the door from the inside. Freddie, by now, was grizzling and wanting Papa, not his awful Mama, who had taken him to this small ice-cold stone room filled with sacks of flour and shelves of preserves. I cuddled and soothed him as best I could. We only had to wait until Max came and rescued us. But at least Freddie was safe.

A sudden commotion outside the door caused my head to jerk up. ‘Let me pass, damn you!’ I heard Dorian shout. There were various muffled sounds: a chair scraping across flagstones, something wooden being knocked over, a kitchen maid screaming, running footsteps. Then nothing .

Has he gone? Or is he still there? Is Maurice all right?

Freddie whimpered, and I shushed him, straining to hear.

An almighty pounding on the pantry door made me jump out of my skin.

‘Felicity, open the door!’ Dorian roared.

I clutched Freddie to me with trembling hands.

‘No! Go away!’ I yelled.

There was muttering, footsteps and a brief moment of blissful silence.

Then came a loud clang, and the pantry door shuddered under the blow. Then came another and another until my ears were ringing with the noise of it. Freddie started wailing. What the hell was Dorian doing?

Fearfully, I watched as the pantry door creaked and groaned. Then to my horror, I saw the edge of a sharp blade slice through the wood.

Oh dear God, he was chopping at the lock with an axe!

Grunting noises came from outside the door as the axe sliced and diced. With one final chop, the door swung open to reveal Dorian. He was red-faced and breathing heavily but looking pleased with himself. There was no sign of the life-threatening injury he had borne from the carriage knocking him down. Thanks to my care and attention, he was completely healed .

Slowly, I backed away into the farthest corner of the room, holding on to Freddie with one hand and reaching for a jar of peaches with the other.

‘Now, now, Felicity,’ Dorian cautioned, seeing I meant to use it as ammunition. ‘There’s no need for that. I just want to meet my son.’

I eyed the axe he was holding, which had a cruel-looking sharp blade.

Oh god, where was Max? Hopefully, Maurice had gone to fetch him and he arrived before I was chopped into little pieces!

‘Put the axe down, and I’ll let you meet him,’ I said, trying to buy myself some time.

Dorian nodded and leaned the axe against the wall.

I bent down to Freddie and gently wiped his eyes and snotty nose with my gloved finger. ‘Darling, this nice man wants to say hello to y-you,’ I said, my voice choking on the last syllable.

Freddie gave me a disbelieving look. Even at nearly 1, he wasn’t stupid.

Dorian had knelt to Freddie’s height. ‘What’s your name, little man?’ he asked softly.

‘Fwed’ came the reply.

I blinked at that. He’d never spoken his own name before!

‘Fred?’ enquired Dorian in a placating tone. ‘Is that short for Frederick?’

Freddie nodded.

‘That’s a good manly name.’

Dorian put his hand in his jacket pocket, and my shoulders tensed. But it was only a small toy horse, not a pistol, that he drew out.

‘I’ve been visiting some other children, and one of them gave me this as a present. Would you like it?’

He stretched out his palm with the wooden horse on it. It was intricately carved and had a red wool mane and a leather saddle fitted to it.

Before I could stop him, Freddie pulled his hand out of my grip and ran over to Dorian. He grabbed the horse, and Dorian rose to his feet, easily picking him up like he weighed nothing.

Freddie dangled from his forearm, happily looking at his toy, blissfully unaware that he was in any danger.

‘You ... you bastard!’ I cried tearfully. ‘Give him to me at once!’

Freddie waved the horse at me. ‘Papa,’ he said.

Dorian’s eyes met mine. ‘Yes, Fred. I’m your papa.’

I swallowed nervously and clutched the jar of peaches in my sweaty palm. There was no way I could throw it now, not with him using Freddie as a human shield.

‘W-what do you want?’

‘You,’ said Dorian, adjusting his grip on Freddie.

Whatever I had been expecting to hear, it wasn’t that.

‘Pardon?’

‘Come with me now, to London. You, me, and Fred—we can be a family together,’ Dorian said in a low urgent voice.

My mouth fell open.

‘I thought you were engaged to Rosalind Whiteley?’

Dorian shook his head impatiently. ‘That was a mistake. I don’t love her, not the way I love you.’

I sucked in a deep lungful of air, let it out slowly, and tried to think of how best to deal with this .

Clearly, it was all my fault. If I had not gone to London and helped Dorian regain his health out of the kindness of my heart, I would not be in this position .

‘You need to make up your mind quickly,’ said Dorian, looking over his shoulder. ‘I’m taking him anyway, so it’s up to you.’

This is it, I thought. This is Mrs Busby’s prediction. I have a choice to make.

But I couldn’t go with Dorian and leave Max, and I couldn’t stay behind and let Dorian take Freddie—he was just a baby! It was an impossible choice! But I had to make a decision, even if it led to certain death!

Feeling like I was in a bad dream, I said, ‘All right, I’ll go with you.’

Dorian’s smile was one of triumph, and still clutching Freddie, he held out his other hand to me. Our trio emerged from the pantry as Lucinda came dashing into the kitchen. Behind her were Harry, Seraphina, and Tobias. Maurice must have fetched them instead of Max.

I pleaded for help with my eyes.

‘What’s happening here?’ Tobias demanded, his attention fixed on Dorian’s hand clasped with mine .

‘I’ve discovered I have a son. That’s what’s happening,’ said Dorian stonily, squeezing my limp hand. ‘And I have a good mind to go out into the ballroom this minute and tell everyone he’s a Hart and not a Fitzroy. ’

Lucinda gasped, and I shook my head slightly at her. I didn’t want Dorian to get riled up again, not with the axe still within reach. It could be an Anne Boleyn moment for me if anyone challenged him.

‘Use your common sense, man!’ said Harry sharply. ‘You would ruin this family and ours. Do you want that on your conscience?’

‘Stay out of it, Harry! You are as much to blame as everyone else since you obviously knew about it!’ snarled Dorian .

Harry’s jaw tensed, and he didn’t reply.

Collecting himself, Dorian took a deep steadying breath and started moving our trio towards the door. ‘Now if you will excuse us, we’re leaving for London forthwith.’

But Tobias hadn’t said his piece yet. He scowled at me and clenched his fists. ‘I always knew there was something suspicious about that birth of yours! Now I know what! Does Max know that Freddie isn’t his? That you’ve cuckolded him?’ Unbelievably, he spat at me.

‘Calm down, Tobias,’ said Seraphina, hurriedly placing a hand on his arm. ‘Felicity hasn’t betrayed Max.’

‘Then what the devil is this fellow going on about?’

Lucinda lifted her chin, and I saw her entire body was quivering. With rage or fear, I wasn’t sure.

Oh no, she isn’t going to ... I shook my head at her furiously. ‘Lucy, don’t—’

‘Freddie is mine, Papa. I gave birth to him at Godmersham last February.’ She spoke firmly and clearly. ‘Uncle Max and Aunty Fliss are raising him as their own—to protect me. But yes, Dorian Hart is his real father.’

Tobias’s face turned ashen. ‘ What? Why am I only finding out about this now?’

‘So you wouldn’t do anything rash, dear,’ said Seraphina soothingly, but there was an edge of panic in her voice.

‘ You knew too? My own wife!’ Tobias’s eyes went dark. ‘And you! ’ He turned to Dorian. ‘You who dared to touch my daughter, my little girl out of wedlock. I’m going to kill you with my bare hands! ’

Several things then happened in quick succession.

Having entered the kitchen, Rosalind Whiteley heard the conversation, put two and two together, and screeched at the top of her lungs .

Tobias stepped towards Dorian, growling.

Dorian let go of my hand.

I tried to wrest a bawling Freddie from his arms.

Dorian fended me off, gasping, ‘No, he’s mine!’

Before anyone could stop him, he rushed out the side door with Freddie into the falling snow .

** *

‘Nooooo! Bring him back!’ I screamed at his disappearing form.

But Dorian was gone, swallowed up by the darkness. He didn’t hear me or, more likely, chose not to hear me.

Tobias grabbed my arm, but I shook it off and shot out the door after Dorian before he could restrain me.

As soon as I took two steps onto the path, my thin dance slippers were soaked through, and my arms erupted in gooseflesh. But I ran anyway, ignoring the biting cold. Freddie was wearing only a thin nightgown and pantalettes. He didn’t even have bootees on. He was going to freeze to death!

I could hear him crying out to me somewhere up ahead, ‘Mama! Mama!’ And it spurred me on. Rounding the side of the house, I saw a Dorian-shaped figure reach one of the carriages, rouse the driver, and bundle a squirming Freddie inside. The carriage took off down the drive, and I let out a scream of frustration.

Wiping snowflakes from my eyes, I whirled around on numb feet and stumbled towards the stables .

George was not pleased to be woken from his doze.

He was even less pleased when I began saddling him. He snorted and moved around to make it difficult .

‘Yes, yes, I know. It’s warm in here, and you don’t want to go outside. But ... but we have to save Freddie!’

My fingers were so stiff from the cold I couldn’t do up the buckles, and the saddle slipped off his back onto the stable floor. I burst into tears.

The next thing I knew, strong arms were around me, and I was enveloped in a familiar masculine scent.

‘Hush, dearest,’ said Max, kissing me on the temple. ‘Tobias told me what happened. I’ll go after him on Apollo. He hasn’t had much of a head start.’

I sagged against him in relief. His voice was calm and confident. The way he was talking, it was a done deal: Freddie would be coming home if Max had anything to do with it.

‘It’s my fault. I never should have gone to London,’ I gabbled guiltily.

Max sat me down on a hay bale while he quickly saddled Apollo, who was much more cooperative than George, I have to say .

‘There is no point blaming yourself, Fliss,’ said Max, swinging into the saddle. He was bundled up in his greatcoat, but he was still wearing his mask, so he looked like a highwayman. ‘Go inside now, before you freeze. I’ll bring him back safely.’

I stood on shaky legs, feeling helpless. ‘Is there anything I can do?’

‘Yes, look after our guests and deflect any questions they and our families may have about our absence. It’s important to act like nothing’s wrong. Our reputations depend on it.’

I nodded. ‘All right.’

Apollo was stomping and pulling at his bit, eager to be off on the adventure.

Max gave me a wry smile, as if to say, ‘Look at the pickle we’ve got ourselves in.’

‘I love you, Fliss.’

‘I love you too.’

Then Max was away, speeding down the snow-covered drive, white flurries kicked up by Apollo’s hooves and his black greatcoat billowing out behind him. The drama of the scene wasn’t lost on me.

‘Godspeed ... and please, please be careful,’ I whispered, feeling scared, but also a tiny bit elated by Max’s daredevil rescue attempt.

***

Limping back to the house, I managed to take a couple of steps into the heavenly warmth before collapsing on the flagstone floor. Perhaps this is my ‘certain death’?

Concerned voices muttered over my head, and hands grasped me by the arms and waist and helped me over to the chair by the fire.

‘Must ... get back to the ball,’ I gasped.

‘You’re not going anywhere, Flissy, until you’ve warmed up. You’re the same colour as your dress.’

I cracked open an eyelid to see Jane at the fire, dipping a ladle into a pot of hot water.

‘I promised Max. We need to protect—’ I sneezed. ‘Our reputations.’

‘Your reputations can wait for half an hour while you recover. The guests don’t suspect anything. I sent Lucy back upstairs with instructions to say, if anyone asks, that Freddie is ill and you and Max are attending to him. Seraphina has taken Tobias to their room to “talk”. But you will need to speak to Harriet at some point. She’s deduced something is going on because Rosalind was hysterical and had to be “contained”. She’s with her now.’

I huddled into the blanket Jane tucked around my shoulders. It smelt faintly of horse, but it was warm and comforting, and I started to feel like my limbs were thawing.

‘Thank you.’

Jane placed a bowl of steaming water by my feet, poured some cold into it from a jug, and swirled it with her hand. ‘This might hurt a bit.’ She took off my sodden slippers and plonked my feet in the water one by one. I reared up like an untamed colt. The pain was excruciating! But slowly, the feeling returned to my feet, and I could wiggle my toes.

‘I suppose it was a bit stupid of me to run outside,’ I muttered.

‘It was purely a mother’s instinct,’ replied Jane. ‘You didn’t think about yourself. Freddie’s well-being was your only concern.’

‘Do you think Max will bring him back safely?’

‘He will do everything in his power to,’ she said. ‘He loves that boy.’

One of the maids poked her head in the door, looking fearful. ‘Has the axe-wielding maniac gone?’ she asked.

We reassured her that he had, and it was safe to come back into the kitchen. The maids came sidling back in and returned to their duties. No one said anything about why I was sitting by the fire wrapped in a horse blanket, or commented on the destroyed pantry door. But I knew that as soon as I left, there would be much whispered conversation. We needed to contain that too!

Maurice crouched down beside me and patted my hand.

‘Are you all right, madam? Can I fetch you anything?’

I shook my head. ‘Not right now, thank you. But we may need some hot tea with lashings of rum later on in the parlour, depending on what occurs.’

My stomach knotted at the thought. Had Max caught up with Dorian? Had he rescued Freddie? What on earth was happening?