Richard returned to his childhood home and entered the Manor like a typhoon in a teacup. "Mother! Where are you?"

Albert had come rushing over. "Lord Bentley, we had no news. We did not know you were due to arrive." Albert was in a panic as it is very infrequent he is ever caught unaware. He took Richard's cape and gloves from him. Richard was soaked to the bone but he did not care.

"My Mother, where is she?" Richard demanded, storming through the foyer.

"She is a... she is not here, sir," Albert said meekly knowing this would not be the answer Lord Bentley would wish to hear.

"WHAT?" Richard said he stopped so abruptly that Albert who was scrambling to keep up suddenly slammed into the back of him.

Richard whirled on Albert. "What do you mean, she is not here?" he said with a dangerous calm.

Albert felt like he somehow entered the center of a hurricane and but took this moment of peace to explain. "Lady Catherine was quite distraught over the news of Miss Cecilia's death. My condolences, sir. So she left on holiday the day after the funeral."

"Holiday?" Richard laughed without mirth. "Unbelievable! Well, I am in no longer doubt of her foul play. Her choice to escape will be short lived I assure you. She could not possibly show me her guilt in this matter any clearer than if she got down on her hands and knees and begged for forgiveness. I should have known that would not be her way, she once again chose herself."

Albert did not know what to say as he understood none of Richard's ranting other than to assume Lady Catherine was not on his good side at the moment and perhaps had something to worry about upon her return. So, in place of saying anything, Albert just stood and waited for the next instruction he knew would be coming shortly as Richard seemed to be thinking of something very intently.

"Albert, I am going to change. I am soaked through. I will not need any assistance but ask you to have Mr. Dooley meet me in the Library. I have some business I need to discuss," Richard said taking the staircase two steps at a time.

"Yes, sir," Albert said watching his retreating form at the bottom of the stairs, happy he was not expected to follow.

An hour later, Mr. Dooley stood before him. He too was wet from the rain and sneezed into his handkerchief. "You wished to see me, Lord Bentley."

"Yes, have a seat here by the fire and warm yourself. Thank you for coming so quickly. Albert, we will need some tea." Albert nodded and exited from the room.

Once the doors closed Richard turned his attention to Mr. Dooley once more. "I need to pull the funds that Mr. Chase has given us to secure the betrothal. I do not believe it is right to keep such a large sum under the circumstances."

Mr. Dooley frowned, "That may not be so easy, Lord Bentley. I have already begun making the repairs to the village you requested and I must say they are gaining you quite a following. Up until your appearance, I feared there would be little left for you to come home to as we were losing tenants and the land was being seriously underworked."

"I understand but I must stand firm on this point. We will find the resources some other way. Now that I will not be marrying Cecelia I wish nothing more than to dissolve this relationship so I may move on," Richard said.

The new maid, his mother hired to replace Juliana entered with tea. Juliana? He wondered how she was faring. Hopefully, Annabelle is keeping her busy planning their wedding. His heavy heart felt suddenly lightened by the thought. "I plan to investigate Cecilia's death. I want to have a resolution on this entire matter before I wed Juliana."

Mr. Dooley nearly dropped his tea the maid had handed him. "Miss Juliana Wadsworth?" he repeated wanting to make certain he did not mishear.

"Yes, she is alive and well, and in light of the fact that I am no longer tied to another, I wish nothing more than to be bound to her as soon as possible," Richard said. "I have asked Cyril Kane to procure a special license for me and once I have concluded all business here I plan to get back to her."

Mr. Dooley was smiling a bright, brilliant smile. Something that looked rather out of place on his face as he would be described as a rather somber, sober, personality. "Mr. Dooley?" Richard said in a way of asking for an explanation.

"Miss Juliana Wadsworth is currently in possession of an inheritance of thirty thousand. If you marry her your money problems are solved as Cecilia dowery was only about a sixth of that." Mr. Dooley said quite happy with this new circumstance.

"How is that possible?" Richard said shocked to know Juliana had more wealth than he had himself at the moment although his potential for making more is far greater it would take time to rebuild what his Stepmother neglected.

"Her father had settled a large amount with us shortly before he died to secure a promise of marriage to you. He knew this to be her one wish and forced your Father's hand in the matter. Your Father knew you would be seeking her out upon your return and did not believe it was necessary but Mr. Wadsworth said things may change as you get older and experience more of the world and he had to be sure.

We took the funds but your Father put them in a Trust for Juliana so your Stepmother could not have access to it or would even know of its existence, keeping the amount safe. When she came to work for the Manor, your father made it quite clear that those funds were to stay secured for her future. If you were not to have her, she would be bequeathed the full amount her father left in our care."

Now the large deposit in Wadsworth's name made sense and so did Juliana's story.

"Her life was to be one of misery and misfortune until the day her knight returned but should he not want her she could have all the wealth she wanted but never was she ever to have love. She was doomed to wait for him forever."

"I will have the note for you ready in few hours," Mr. Dooley said putting down his cup and then asking, "Is there anything else?"

"Yes, where has my Stepmother gone and how much did she take with her?" Richard asked.

"She is currently in Bath. She was uncertain to the amount of time she would be there so I had set her up with an account she could withdraw on when needed," Mr. Dooley informed him.

"Perfect. Leave enough to cover her expenses for a week and then cut her off." Richard said a slow smile crept over his lips.

"Sir?" Mr. Dooley seemed shocked by the request.

"Do not ask. Just do," Richard informed him. "All will become clearer when she comes home."

"As you wish, Lord Bentley," Mr. Dooley said.

"That will be all, thank you," Richard told him, now he needed to prepare for his meeting with the Chase family something he most definitely was not looking forward to.

Mr. Dooley was true to his word, and Richard now was in possession of Cecelia's dowery and standing on the doorstep of the Chase family home. He had sent word he wished to meet with Mr. Chase so his visit would be expected.

Upon handing his things to their butler, Richard was led to the drawing room. He could not imagine the loss this family must feel and he knew his offer to return the money for Cecilia's betrothal would bring them no comfort but it was something felt he must do.

"Lord Bentley to see you, sir," the butler announced. As Richard entered the room he saw a very frail looking woman dressed in all in black seated by the fireplace. This must be Cecilia's mother as their pale beauty and golden hair was the same. She turned to look at him as he entered and her beautiful skin was marred by the tracks of tears shed over days that reddened her features. His heart broke for her. Mr. Chase crossed the room from his position at the mantle to greet him.

"I am truly sorry for your loss," Richard said in earnest as he took the man's hand. "I should have been here, but I was in London trying to procure the marriage license."

This started Mrs. Chase weeping again. "She would have made the most beautiful bride," she cried.

Mr. Chase said in his usual abrupt business-like manner, "She has killed under our care, not yours. You have nothing to be sorry for. You were only trying to do what was right by her."

"I wish to return to you the money for the betrothal."

"Money!" Mrs. Chase spat at him. "You never cared for Cecilia. You just used her for your own means and once what you had done to her came to light you tried to do what was best to save your family's precious name and sooth your conscience. She was my only child. I am unable to have more. Now she's gone, gone forever." The woman's whole body shook as she was racked with sobbing.

Richard knelt before her. Desperate to comfort her in some way but not knowing if he had the words. "I will not insult you by lying to you Mrs. Chase. You are correct I did not love your daughter."

Mrs. Chase slapped Richard's face as hard as her frail body would allow, letting him know just how much regard she had for him and his admission. Richard had continued as if untouched. Knowing that the woman was acting upon her grief. "I have told your husband I would do right by her. It was not I that killed her. And I swear to you as I had promised to do right by her in life, I will do right by her in death. She was the mother of my child and I promise you Mrs. Chase that I will not rest until her murderer is found and brought to justice."

"Oh Richard," she said as she threw her arms about him and cried soundly as he held her. He held her till the weeping ebbed and finally she let go of him. "I am sorry I struck you," she said touching the handprint she left on his cheek.

"Some things are deserved Mrs. Chase and do not need an apology. May I speak to your husband alone for a moment?"

"Certainly," she said with much grace and dignity, she rose to leave them to attend to business.

Richard took some time to explain what he believed the true story to be. At first, Mr. Chase had been furious that Richard would imply that his daughter was sleeping with another man. He was even more furious that Richard was implying a level of deceit he did not believe his daughter capable of. Richard spoke of his Stepmother's involvement and upon further discussion, Mr. Chase had to admit he had noticed changes in his daughter prior to the Bentley dinner dance.

She had become more emotional of late, her body had seemed to fill out more and he was informed by one of the servants that she had taken ill quite frequently. Of course, by the time he had gotten the nerve to confront her, she confessed she and Richard were intimate and that she was with child. If he were honest with himself he knew Lord Bentley could not have been the father and after he had spoken with Richard something did not settle right. When Cecilia was examined by the family doctor he believed her to be at least three months along and Lord Bentley had only been home for less than two, but he just figured the doctor was wrong about how far along she was.

Richard asked as respectfully as he could if Mr. Chase knew of anyone else Cecilia may have been interested in. "Well, there was the groom at my stables. Marcus was his name. His father is the local farrier. He shoed many a horse for me," Mr. Chase said after giving it some thought.

"One day when I was at his father's shop he asked if I had a position that his son might fulfill. Said the boy was working towards an education and needed more money then he could provide. So I took him on. I noticed Cecilia took to riding more often once Marcus was taking care of the horses. I thought it a mild infatuation until I caught them kissing in a stall one afternoon. I relieved the boy of service but out of loyalty to his father I sent him away with a letter of recommendation so he could find employment elsewhere. I really could not blame him. My Cecilia was a beautiful girl, she would have been hard to resist and she seemed pretty willing from the looks of things."

"How long ago was this?" Richard asked. The answer seemed to come as a shock to Mr. Chase as he thought of it, "My God" he said. "It must have been about three or four months ago." Almost exactly as far along as Cecilia was in her pregnancy. Mr. Chase suddenly felt the urge to sit down. Richard fetched him a glass of brandy.

"Thank you," he said taking the glass from him. "Tell me something," Mr. Chase asked, "you had already suspected the child was not yours but yet you did not deny it to Mrs. Chase. Why?"

"The woman has been through enough pain and as far as I am concerned she need never know the truth. I was serious when I told her I would bring Cecilia's killer to justice and you now have given me a good lead as to where to begin looking."

"You think Marcus killed Cecilia?" Mr. Chase asked in disbelief.

"I think it is a place to start. If Marcus had learned of my marriage to Cecilia he may have killed her in a jealous rage. If he could not have her no man would."

"You will keep me informed?" Mr. Chase asked.

"You may be certain of it," Richard told him.

"You are a good man Lord Bentley." Mr. Chase said. "I am sorry I had ever thought otherwise."