Charmed By Knight (The Fielding Brothers Saga) (29 page)

Her eyes popped open, her heart taking on a faster rhythm. But Edmund was
not
a bastard like he’d thought. Phillip and Mrs. Williams were really married. The cad in this whole situation was Phillip Knight, not his son.

Moving her hands to her stomach, she covered her womb. A baby she and Edmund had created during one wonderful night of lovemaking. She frowned. She didn’t think Edmund was capable of love. Possession and control meant more to him.

“My dear, is something amiss?” Mrs. Williams asked, still stroking her cheek.

Megan met the older woman’s concerned stare. “No. I just wish the babe’s father were alive.”

Mrs. Williams nodded. “I know how you feel. I felt the same when I had my baby.”

Megan pulled away from the other woman and struggled to sit. Jake assisted, stuffing pillows behind her to make her comfortable.

“Mrs. Williams—” she began, but the older woman stopped her.

“Please call me Sally.”

Megan smiled. “Then you must call me Megan.”

“I would like that.”

“Sally,” Megan continued, “Did your husband know of your pregnancy before he died?”

“Yes, he knew.”

Megan quickly pieced together Edmund’s life, the one he didn’t know. Phillip must have been embarrassed by marrying beneath his station, so he brought his bride over here, and quickly faked his death. In England, nobody would have been the wiser. Phillip must have married a woman of nobility very soon after, and unfortunately, she couldn’t have children. Since he knew his first wife was pregnant, he must have waited the nine months until Edmund was born, then had come back to San Francisco to snatch Edmund away from his mother. Phillip must have believed the scandal of a mistress having his baby wasn’t as bad as having two wives.

She shook her head. Edmund would be furious when he discovered the truth. All this time, he was the legitimate heir to Phillip’s titles and lands.

“Megan? Can I get you anything?” Jake asked.

She smiled at him. “No, but I would like to return home, if you don’t mind.”

Sally gasped. “I’ll not think of sending you home in this condition. You shall stay the night and gain your strength.”

Megan laughed. “But Sally, if my condition is going to last several more months, I don’t think it will be appropriate for me to stay here.” She took the other woman’s hand and squeezed. “I will be all right, I assure you.”

Sally nodded. “Then I will allow Jake to escort you home.”

Sally fussed over Megan like a mother hen, which made Megan smile. If Mrs. Williams only knew she was the grandmother of her baby.

Jake also fretted over Megan, yet was this brotherly concern or something more affectionate? She must tell him before his feelings for her got out of hand. But she couldn’t tell him, not without telling Edmund first.

First thing in the morning, she would send a letter to England and inform Edmund of his impending fatherhood. After that, she didn’t know what she’d do.

* * * *

So, this is where my mother lives?

Edmund pulled his hat lower over his forehead as he studied the house across the street. He shifted on top of his horse and pulled the reins to keep the animal still. According to the solicitor he hired before he left England, this was where his birth mother resided. Sally Williams, the widow of the former mayor of San Francisco.

He shook his head. Nothing made sense anymore. His father’s ramblings had started Edmund searching for his true mother. Yet, why should he even care? She’d turned him over to his father easily enough. How much money had the uncaring wench accepted from Phillip to give up her first child? From the appearance of this house, Edmund knew his mother lived in style.

Edmund cursed his thoughts. Deep in his gut, he doubted Phillip’s story. What did his father mean when he rambled about his birth mother not knowing the truth? What was Phillip talking about when he suggested she wasn’t to blame?

All Edmund’s questions would be answered as soon as he crossed the street and stepped to the front door. Was he really ready for the truth? Was he ready to relive the scandal? Was he ready to feel again how deeply the lies had affected him?

He exhaled and ran his hand across his moist forehead, not knowing what to do. And to make matters worse, Megan was inside that very house with another man…and she used Edmund’s name.

Life was definitely not simple any longer.

Edmund had watched as Megan and the other man drove up in a buggy earlier, and Edmund especially noticed the enthusiastic grin displayed on the younger man’s face. The other man desired her. Question was, had Megan forgotten about the man she was betrothed to? And why was she telling everybody she was Mrs. Knight?

Questions that will be answered the minute I go knock on the door
.

But Edmund’s feet wouldn’t move. His mind wouldn’t command his legs to step to the house and up the five stairs to the double front doors. He was permanently rooted to his horse with no ambition to seek out the truth.

Time slipped by, and when the sky became pink with the closing sunset and the street urchins came out of hiding, Edmund noticed the lateness of the hour. Why was Megan still there?

When another buggy sped up to the house and stopped. An older man carrying a medical bag ran inside. That was when Edmund’s suspicions took a different turn. Somebody must be hurt. Had Megan gotten sick from his mother’s food?

He chuckled, wiped the grin from his face, and forced himself to jump off the horse. He had to go inside and break-up Megan’s obviously eventful evening. But of course, that might lead to meeting his mother for the very first time, and he wasn’t prepared.

Growling, he moved closer to the horse, trying to convince himself to stay. But his mind argued. He
had
to get Megan out of that house and away from the younger, smitten man.

Edmund took a deep breath and prayed for courage, then took his first step toward the two-story white-washed house, complimented with a white-picket fence. He didn’t make it across the street. Just at that moment, the front doors opened and Megan and the other man walked out. Edmund hurried behind his horse to hide. Of course, Megan’s attention was only on the buggy she was helped into. There was a different look on her face. It was a shade paler than she’d had when she entered the house. Perhaps the cook had fixed something that made her sick.

Edmund kept watching them until they drove away, then he quickly mounted his steed. He tried not to be conspicuous and kept his distance, yet he didn’t want to let them out of his sight. Undoubtedly, the man was taking her home to the little cottage he’d been watching this morning.

A wagon full of hay pulled in front of him, separating him from the others. Edmund cursed at the foolish man and shook his fist. “Get out of my way, you imbecile.”

Impatiently he waited for the old man to move his wagon before Edmund maneuvered his horse around the wagon. He glanced up the street where he’d seen Megan and the younger man turn, but there was no sign of their buggy. Edmund panicked.

* * * *

The two-seat buggy crossed the bridge as horse’s hooves echoed in the quiet night. It was too quiet. A chill ran up Megan’s spine. She listened closer. Shouldn’t she hear frogs or crickets since they were near the creek bed? Through the trees, she searched the shadows. Something moved. Her heart leapt to her throat, and she scooted closer to Jake.

“Did you see that?” she asked.

“See what?”

She pointed in the direction, and opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a gunshot. Their horse danced in fright while Jake pulled on the reins, trying to control the animal. She clung to his arm and kept herself from falling from the buggy.

Three men jumped over the bridge’s wooden railing in front of the horse. Each had a pistol pointing their way.

One man took a step forward. “
If’n
I were you, Mister, I’d control
yer
horse.” He adjusted the red bandanna over the lower half of his face.

Jake cooed soft words to the animal. “What do you want?” He pointed his question at the bandit.

“All your money.”

Jake shook his head. “Do you know who I am?”

“’Course I do. You’re the mayor, which means you’ll have a lot of money on your person.”

“And what if I don’t have money on me?”

“Then I’ll have to shoot
ya
.” The thieves’ attention moved to Megan. “And without you as an escort, this
purdee
lady will be mine.”

Megan gasped, tightening her hold on Jake’s arm. “Jake, give them your money,” she whispered.

“Hold tight to my arm,” he muttered.

Her heart dropped. He was going to try to be heroic.

She did what he asked, winding her arms around his for protection. Slowly, he reached in his coat jacket, and yanked out a pistol. She gasped and closed her eyes.

His gun exploded, and the piercing cry of one bandit echoed through the night just before he fell to the ground. The startled horse leapt, causing the buggy to jerk, and she was thrown back into the seat. Pain shot up her neck, and when her back hit the seat wrong, she loosened her hold.

The vehicle lurched again and she opened her eyes. The horse jumped into action. They nearly ran over the two men still standing. The buggy hit a rock, tipping her to the side. She reached for Jake’s arm, but didn’t get a firm grasp.

She fell toward the ground, screaming. Her arms sliced through the air, hoping to grab onto something. The ground came upon her quickly, and her body landed with a hard thump. Pain in her head rang loud, her vision blurred. Off in the distance, she heard more gunshots. More voices. A man yelling her name, but it wasn’t Jake.

It sounded like Edmund. Darkness pulled her into its lair again, but this time she welcomed it because she knew Edmund had come for her.

* * * *

They could have killed her!

Edmund cursed under his breath. The man she’d been with had acted foolishly for shooting his pistol. The mayor should have had the smarts to turn over his bloody billfold.

Pushing his fingers through his hair, Edmund surveyed the two dead bandits on the road. The third had run like a coward when Edmund made his presence known. Megan’s escort would have been dead, too, if not for Edmund.

He ran to Megan’s limp form and knelt by her side. Carefully, he picked her up, cradling her in his arms. The shoulder of her dress had been ripped, and blood surrounded an opened wound.

Swiping away the tumbled locks of auburn hair from her face, his finger brushed by a goose egg the size of a silver dollar. Her chest heaved with life, which reassured him.

The crunching of rocks sounded behind him, drawing his attention to the man running toward them. Edmund cursed again at the foolish man.

“Is Megan all right?” the blond man asked, kneeling on the other side of her.

“Yes. It appears as if
Mrs. Knight
is still alive,” Edmund grumbled. Why was the young man so personal with her name?

Megan stirred, and he glanced down at her. A shaky hand came up and touched the bump on her forehead. She winced and moaned softly. Her hands then moved down to span out over her abdomen.

Edmund stroked her cheek. “Megan, my dear, open your eyes.”

She groaned again. “Edmund?” Her voice squeaked in a whisper.

The loud gasp from the man across from him didn’t pull his attention away from Megan, but her companion fell back on his heels in the process.

“Yes, honey, it is I,” Edmund answered softly.

Her forehead creased, her nose wrinkling that cute way he’d always liked.

“My...husband?”

Slowly, her eyes flitted open, and she stared at him. Thankfully, the moon gave enough light to shine on his face. Her eyes widened and he smiled. “Hello, my love.”

She gasped and threw a quick glance over at the man next to them, then back to Edmund. Shaking her head, she reached out to touch him, hesitantly at first then resting her opened hand over his cheek.

“You are…here! You are…alive?”

A soft curse came from the man next to him, but Edmund kept his attention on his so-called wife. He held back the laugh threatening to escape his throat. Her mind must be coherent enough to know what was going on now. She was such the little actress, just as he’d thought her to be when they first met.

“Yes, my love. I’m alive.”

She turned her head and buried her face into his chest. “I cannot believe it’s you. Am I still dreaming?”

Her companion finally stood, smacking the dust from his trousers. “If you don’t mind me saying, I think she should have a physician examine her.”

Edmund nodded.

“If you will carry her to my buggy, we can drive her to my mother’s house, and her physician will care for your wife.”

Megan jumped and pulled away from Edmund’s arms. “No, Jake.” She reached out and touched the other man’s trouser leg. “I will be fine.”

“But your condition—”

“I’m fine, I assure you. My husband can attend to me.”