Lady Adalyn (The Saga Of Wolfbridge Manor Book 1), Sahara Kelly [the best e book reader .TXT] 📗

“She is acceptable?” Giles glanced at Adalyn as he took his seat at the table.

“Indeed yes.” She nodded. “I’m sure you’ve seen her though. And you understand why she cannot work elsewhere?”

Trick spoke. “Jane is a lovely girl. I used to see her quite frequently before she left the Barnsley cottage. It’s a damned shame what was done to her…pardon my language, Adalyn.”

“No pardon necessary. I feel the same way, Trick. And I’m glad she will be able to work here because I know we can cope with her wounds without comment, and with friendliness. I could not vouch that she would receive either at other houses.”

“Indeed.” Giles nodded in approval.

The others settled themselves, and a brief silence fell.

“It’s time, Jeremy,” said Adalyn quietly. “Please. Tell us what is happening?”

His shoulders rose and fell with his deep breath. “Very well. You’re right, Adalyn, it is time.” He looked around. “Giles, you and my friends here know that I was at Cambridge for several years. I’d hoped to become a Fellow…”

Adalyn gasped. “Goodness. What were you studying?”

He smiled briefly. “The classics, Adalyn. Always a passion of mine.”

“I see,” she swallowed, struggling to equate a Cambridge Fellow with her footman.

“My family was sufficiently well-to-do that this was an acceptable plan. They raised me to be kind and courteous and gave me a good foundation from which to approach the world.”

“What happened?” Evan asked.

“One evening, I was returning to my rooms quite late. I’d lost myself in a new translation of Homer’s Iliad and stayed longer than usual. It was well past midnight, as I recall, when I set out.” He reached for his tea and took a long swallow, as if fortifying himself.

“It was no more than a ten minute walk, but halfway there, I heard what I thought was a dog whimpering. Or perhaps a cat…it was one of those noises that makes you stop, but you’re not quite sure what it is?” He glanced at them.

“Yes, I can imagine,” said Adalyn. “Go on…”

“I followed the sound around a corner and into an alley. It was so dark, but the noise got louder and…and as the moon came out from behind a cloud, I saw them.”

“Saw whom?” Daniel leaned forward.

“A man. And a woman. He had his hand over her mouth and was pulling up her skirts…” Jeremy’s voice tapered off.

“Oh God,” said Adalyn. “He was attacking her?”

Jeremy nodded. “Yes, Adalyn. Clearly he was intent upon rape. There was no doubt about it. Forgive these details, but it’s important you know everything. He had his breeches loosened and although she was struggling, his strength had overwhelmed her.”

His hand shook as he reached for his cup, but then changed his mind. “I didn’t think, I just acted. I remember grabbing for his collar and getting some of his hair as well. I pulled hard, almost lifting him off the woman, and then I threw him backwards. I suppose I was so angry that I used more force than I realised. I didn’t even look at him, I just wanted to get the woman out of there before he did the unthinkable and suffocated her.”

“How brave of you, Jeremy,” Adalyn whispered. “You saved her life.”

“But at a high cost,” he replied. “I got her to her feet and she was able to reach the end of the alley, and then…and then I turned to deal with the man.” He swallowed. “He hadn’t moved. And his head…it was at an odd angle.” Jeremy wiped his hands over his face. “I realised that I’d thrown him backward with such force that his skull had smashed into the brick wall behind him. I saw the dark stain of blood dripping down over the bricks…”

His voice faltered and Adalyn reached out to lay a hand on his arm. “Jeremy…”

He drew a shaky breath. “I tried to find a pulse. There was none. He was dead. I’d killed a man.” He stared at his hands as silence fell around the table. “I took a life. Something I would never have done in a thousand lifetimes, but that night…”

“You saved the girl, though,” said Giles. “You did the right thing there, Jeremy.”

He looked up. “That’s not quite how the authorities saw it.”

“Oh dear,” Trick winced. “Trouble?”

“Yes.” Jeremy shrugged. “I was arrested and tried for murder.”

Gasps of surprise echoed around the table.

“What?”

“I don’t believe it.”

“That’s outrageous…”

He waited until the outburst died down. “It is true. I went immediately to the authorities and told them what had happened. The young woman, a brave and courageous girl, corroborated my evidence.”

“I sense there’s a but coming…” Evan frowned.

“Yes, you’re correct. The man I killed was a senior diplomatic attaché, assigned to the Prussian Envoy in London. The matter was kept quiet, but the trial was a political necessity, you see. The Prussians were most insistent. It was held and I was convicted.”

“Jeremy,” whispered Adalyn. “How awful for you.”

He stared at her, his eyes deep with remembered anguish. “I was sentenced to death, Adalyn. They found me guilty of murder.”

“No, no, that’s wrong…” she ached for him.

“My parents were distraught, but there was nothing they could do. The entire business was kept buried beneath the diplomatic rules of secrecy.”

“You escaped?” Daniel asked.

“In a roundabout way,” Jeremy replied. “My lawyer was a canny fellow. He poked into some dark corners, and found that the man I killed had a reputation for assaulting unwilling women. He was also quite highly positioned in the Prussian circle of diplomats and aristocrats. To have such an affair broadcast outside the inner workings of Prussia House would have been devastating and a huge black mark against the entire Prussian contingent in London.”

“He was a miserable excuse for a man and deserved what he got,” said Adalyn through clenched teeth.

“Hear, hear!” Evan added his endorsement.

“Well, with my lawyer’s information in hand, we were able to petition for a reduction in sentence, and wiser heads prevailed over angry politicians and diplomats. Probably from the upper echelons of Prussia