Honor Reclaimed (All About Honor) (26 page)

Neither Drew nor John thought that
they would ever get back to where they were before Drew slept with Eirian, but
they both hoped that they would be able to tolerate each other’s company
without making everyone in the family uncomfortable.
 
They would at least try for their ladies’ sake.

“If you will excuse me, I need to
check on Elle and I think you could stand some time by yourselves.”
 
Drew made a knee to Eirian and left the
room.

John tried to take Eirian in his
arms but she pushed him away.
 
“I
am not ready to forgive you yet,” she said.

“You forgive me?
 
Let me remind you that you are the one
that slept with another man.
 
I
could divorce you for that.” John could not believe her nerve.

“Then divorce me, but quit punishing
me for something that was not my fault.
 
I do not know any other way to say that I am sorry or that I love
you.
 
If you will not forgive me
then I will not stay around and take your abuse.
 
My father will take me back I am sure.”
 
Eirian turned to walk out the door.

“Please do not go.
 
I do love you.
 
I do not know what I would do without
you.”
 
Eirian stopped, her back
still to John, with her hand on the door.
 
She closed her eyes in effort to squeeze back the tears.
 

John walked up behind her and put
his arms around her.
 
“I can not
live without you.
 
Please be
patient with me.
 
I want to work
through this, but it is so hard to think of you in his arms, of his touching
you were only I should touch you, loving you like only I should love you.
 
I cannot get the image out of my
mind.
 
Every time I close my eyes
it is there.”

Turning in his arms she asked, “How
is that different from me thinking of you with Johane, or even Gwen?”

“Because I have not cheated on you,”
he ground out.

“Then here we are back were we
started from.
 
I cannot live like
that.
 
I am leaving you John.”
 
She turned and walked out the door.

John just stood there in
disbelief.
 
He had let the woman
that he loved more than life its self walk out of his life because of his
stubborn pride.
 
“Eirian wait.”
 
He ran out the door and caught
her
as she was about to climb the stairs.
 
“Baby, nothing else matters but
you.
 
My life is not worth living
without you.
 
Please do not
go.
 
I have never stopped loving
you.
 
I never will.
 
Just give me a little time and another
chance.”

“Oh John, if I could only believe
you really mean it.”
 
He took her
in his arms and tried to kiss away the pain.

Entering the parlor, Drew went
straight to Elle and kneeling in front of her he put his arms around her, “Elle
honey, are you alright?
 
Gwen,
Thomas, can I have a few minutes alone with Elle?
 
We need to clear up a few issues before the wedding.”
 
Drew waited until they withdrew from
the room.

“Honey, do you think I am capable of
raping someone, especially Eirian?
 
If you do then maybe we had better reconsider getting married, because
you obviously do not know me, trust me, or love me, enough.”
 
Drew was very hurt.

“Drew, I am sorry.
 
I over reacted.
 
I heard rape and I panicked.
 
I was very foolish.
 
I thought I had worked through my
feelings but, obviously, I have not.
 
I need you to help me.
 
Please hold me.”
 
Elle felt
so guilty for hurting him.
 
Loving
him as she did, she should never have doubted him.
 
Drew took her in his arms and held her close to his heart,
while he stroked and caressed her.

Chapter 13

Elle had never done anything so
daring in her life.
 
It was still
dark outside when she slipped into the kitchen door of Drew’s townhouse.
 
She quietly slipped up the back stairs
and into Drew’s chambers.
 
Closing
the door as quietly as possible, she quickly disrobed and slipped completely
naked into Drew’s bed.
 
Drew
stirred, but he did not fully awaken.
 
Having second thoughts, Elle lay still wondering if she wanted him to
wake up just yet or should she try to slip back away without disturbing
him.
 

While Elle was still struggling with
her decision, Drew rolled over in his sleep and bumped into Elle.
 
At first, he did not know what to
think, but when he realized that she was laying naked in his bed he was quick
to respond.
 
“Oh honey, this is a
surprise.
 
Come here to me
wench.”
 
He rolled over on her and
began kissing and stroking her.
 
He
knew she must
be
questioning her ability to respond to
him again.
 
After her scare last night,
she was questioning her own sensuality.
 
He wanted to assure her that she was totally engaging to him.
 

“Drew, please make love to me.”
 
She asked one more time.

“Sweetheart, I do not want to chance
a pregnancy.
 
We need to
wait.”
 
Drew thought he might
burst.

“Do you not desire me?”
 
He knew she
was
doubting
herself.

“My God Elle, how can you doubt
it?”
 
He took her hand and wrapped
it around himself.
 
“Does that feel
like I do not desire you?
 
I want
you so bad it hurts, but I want to wait until after we are legally wed.”
 
He rolled over on top of her
again.
 
“Let me hold you and kiss
you.”

They were both shocked when the
bedroom door flew open and the room filled with men.
 
Drew was pulled off of Elle, leaving her exposed to the
whole room and sending her into a flash back of her rape.
 
She began to scream hysterically until
one of the men slapped her across the face and yelled at her to shut up.
 
Drew was fighting like an enraged bull
to get back to her and to protect her, until he was clubbed over the head and
dragged from the room.
 

“Woman, cover yourself, have you no
decency?”
 
The man handed her the
blanket, which she clung to as if her life depended on it.

Drew awakened as he was being
dragged down the stairs of his residence.
 
“Elle, where is Elle.
 
What
have you done with my bride?” he asked.

“She is your wife?”
 
The largest man asked.

 
“We are to be married in the morning.
 
Who are you and where are you taking
me?” he demanded.

“You are under arrest for the rape
of Mistress
LaDonna
Jacobs, the daughter of Nicholas
Jacobs, Lord
Barkridge
.” The constable informed him.

“You must be in jest sir.”
 
Drew could not believe his ears.
 
“Please listen to me.
 
My fiancé is in a delicate condition.
 
Please be gentle with her.”

“I am not surprised considering how
we found you.”
 
The man laughed at
his own joke.

“She is not pregnant, she is
emotionally fragile.
 
She was
abducted once a few years ago.
 
She was terrified by your men bursting in our room
, it
brought back horrible memories for her.
 
Please let me go back to her for a few minutes to calm her”, he pleaded,
but his pleas fell on deaf ears.

“She won’t be harmed”, he said
flatly.

“Where are you taking me?”
 
Drew demanded.

“You are headed to
Newgate
Prison”, the constable growled.

“Can I at least have my
breeches?
 
You are not going to
carry me out of here naked are you?”
 
Drew demanded.

The constable turned to one of his
men.
 
“Get his shirt and breeches
and get the women dressed and escort her home.
 
Make sure her family knows how we found her.
 
They may want to press charges as
well.”

Drew felt sick.
 
What would Elle think when she heard he
was being charged with rape.
 
Her
family would never forgive him for putting her in this position especially after
the confrontation last night and the tenuous reconciliation with John.

He wanted so badly to comfort
Elle.
 
She must be going through
hell right now.
 
Her reputation was
ruined and he was not sure what it would do to Alexander.
 
Damn, he should have taken her straight
home when he found her in his bed.
 
He had restrained himself at great effort in order to protect her, but
for what purpose now.
 
He did not
like to feel sorry for himself, but it did not seem to matter how honorably he
tried to act, he always found a way to foul it up.

The constable loaded Drew into the
cart he brought from the prison for that purpose.
 
“Constable, can we not call for my carriage?
 
I assure you that it would be much more
comfortable.”

“Yes, and much more private for
you.
 
That is not the idea
sir.
 
You are to be on display for
the public as a reminder to respect the law.
 
No one is above the law.
 
Not even you, your Lordship.”
 
The constable sneered.

“Will you at least request my
carriage be brought around for my fiancée?
 
None of this is her fault.
 
Please do not expose her to undue embarrassment”, Drew
pleaded.

The constable turned to the other
man beside him.
 
“See to it,” he
said.

A maid was called to her master’s
chambers to help Elle to get dressed, as she was unable to function well enough
to complete the task herself.
 
Once
she was dressed, the man assigned to her demanded to know where and with whom
she lived.
 
She gave them the
direction and Thomas’ name.

“So this little slut is the sister
of the attorney, Sir Thomas Lewis,” he said to his comrade.
 
“I guessed the upper crust have their
crosses to bear as well”.
  

They arrived at the residence and,
despite the early hour,
they were met at the door by
Jefferies
.
 
The constable
demanded to see Sir Thomas immediately.
 
Jefferies, understanding that something was terribly amiss, escorted
them to the study, and then asked the man to be seated while he informed Sir
Thomas of his presences.
 
Jefferies
look at Elle’s disheveled appearance and her red swollen eyes, “Madame, is there
anything that I can do for you?”

“No
Jefferies,
thank you.
 
Please, just fetch my
brother as soon as possible.
 
I
need him.”
 
Her voice cracked but
she managed to hold her emotions in check.

“As you wish Madame,” Jeffries gave
her a slight bow and went immediately to fetch his master.
 
Something was terribly wrong.

“Madame?
 
I thought you were a spinster lady about
to be married”
,
the constable challenged her
.

“I am a widow, Sir,” she answered.

In an amazingly short time Thomas
presented himself to his study.
 
“Elle honey, what is wrong?”
 
He held his arms out to his sister and she ran into them clinging to
Thomas as if she were hanging on for dear life.

“They arrested Drew.
 
The constable clubbed him and dragged
him away.
 
They say he has been
charged with rape.
 
Thomas you have
to help him.”
 
Elle was on the
verge of hysteria again.

“Husband, what is going on?
 
Elle, honey…
”
 
Gwen rushed to her sister in-law
and, putting her arm around her, followed her husband’s non-verbal signal to
remove her from the room.
 
“Come
with me dear.
 
Let’s get you up
stairs right away and you can tell me all about it.”

“Sir, your sister was caught in
flagrante-
delicto
in the bed of Sir Andrew, lying
naked in his arms.”
 
The constable
was surprised by the lack of response he received from his announcement.

“Constable, my sister is a grown
woman and a widow.
 
She
is engaged to be married
, tomorrow morning, to Sir
Andrew.
 
While I would have
preferred that she wait until after the wedding, I am not too terribly shocked
by their behavior.
 
Since when did
the city of London take it upon itself to check the beds of its citizens to see
if they are occupied only by persons with a marriage license?
 
I do not understand how my future
brother in-law was arrested when we made no cry of rape.”
 
Sir Thomas was visibly upset by this interruption.

“Sir the warrant was made by Sir
Nicholas on behalf of his daughter La Donna Jacobs who has accused him of rape
and has named him as the father of her unborn child.”
 
The sheriff informed him.

He now had Thomas’ attention.
 
“Did you say La Donna Jacobs?”

“Yes sir.”
 
He replied.

“While I do not like to slander any
lady, I have heard rumors of Miss Jacobs’ loose morals for at least two years,
every since her debut.
 
She has
earned herself quite a reputation.
 
Her father and you may be the only gentlemen in London not aware of
it.
 
I am not saying that my
brother in-law has never known her in the carnal sense, but it certainly would
not have been rape.”
 
Sir Thomas
was somewhat relieved to find out who was bringing charges, although any
accusation of rape was not to be taken lightly.
 
Rape was a felony punishable by death.

Drew was transported to
Newgate
Prison where he was to be held until the
trail.
 
When they arrived, he was
led to a small room where he spent the next hour having the charges read to him
and being questioned.
 

“Andrew Braybrooke, Lord Moxley, you
are charged with the crime of rape upon the person of La Donna Jacobs,
spinster.
 
How do you plead?” the
warden read the warrant.

“I am innocent of the crime of
rape.”
 
Drew was adamant.

“She claims that you raped her and
names you as the father of her unborn child.”
 
He was informed.

“If she is with child, I can not
deny that it is possible that it could be mine, but I did not rape her; there
was no need, in fact…” Drew stopped because he was tempted to say slanderous
things about this woman.

“Your lordship, you did not finish
your statement.”
 
The warden
encouraged him to continue.

“No, I did not.”
 
Drew confirmed.

“I would like for you complete what
you were about to say.”
 
The warden
ordered.

“Sir, a gentleman does not say the
things I wanted to say about a lady.
 
It is better left unsaid.”
 
Drew countered.

“You have already established that
she is no lady.
 
You do realize
that in a few short days you will be on trial for your life, do you not?”
 
The warden challenged him.

“Yes sir I do.”
 
Drew could not help but be
frightened.
 
“How do I contact my
attorney?” he asked.