The Last Kiss

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

Several hours later, while Lindsey lay asleep in his arms, Ashton was awake with his thoughts. He knew certain things had to be taken care of before he and Lindsey could ever be perfectly happy. One of those things being her blasted husband. As Ashton fumed over the troubles Lord Payton had caused and the ways to take care of such troubles for the future. If he did end up taking care of Lindsey’s husband the way he had hoped then what would he tell Lindsey or her children. Despite anything that might happen it would have drastic effects on Lindsey and her children.

Earlier he had set Lindsey on the bed and she slipped under the blankets, after tossing his shirt to the nearest chair he did much the same forgetting his breeches. Not wanting to stir Lindsey from her rest, Ashton gently slipped his arm from beneath her head. Resting his feet on the cool floor, he grabbed his shirt and slipped it back on.

Once again it was just about time for him to go down to his resting area, the one place he knew for certain he could rest without any fear of the sunlight seeping in. He hoped that one day soon Lindsey would share his dark chamber below the rest of the house. Opening the door he turned and glanced back one last time, she was still resting with one hand slid under the pillow. Just then she gave a faint smile and Ashton smiled back at her even though he knew she would never know. Closing the door behind him with a soft click he paused taking a deep breath. This was the woman of his dreams and now that he had her within his reach he would have to find a way to keep her there.

***

The next morning Lindsey awoke by the smell of fresh baked biscuits and the aroma of the tea seemed to linger in the air. Inhaling deeply she wondered for a moment how the staff knew to bring a tray to this room and not her own. Perhaps Ashton had told them or left a note that she was in his room instead of her own. Of course right now such a thing didn’t matter, what did matter was she was extremely hungry. Besides she wouldn’t be able to ask Ashton about it until tonight anyhow but right now she could enjoy the food that was just sitting there. Sitting up she noticed that she still didn’t have any clothing on and then smiled at remembering the way she and Ashton had spent the night completely wrapped in each others arms. It had been the most peaceful evening of her life.

Wrapping the sheet around her cloaking her from the chill in the room, she sat down and started to spread some jam on one of the biscuits. She wasn’t sure why but in the past few days she had more of an appetite, of course if she kept eating this way she wouldn’t be able to boast about keeping her figurer after having two children. She took a deep breath in and slowly exhaled, her children. She hadn’t came up with a plan to get them back. What sort of mother would allow her children to remain with such a horrid monster. That would be her goal for the day, to devise a plan to get her children away from her husband but first she would need her energy so she concentrated on that first.

Many hours had past and she still hadn’t come up with a plan that would work. At first she had thought about posing as a servant looking for employment since his mistress didn’t know what she looked like. This would have been perfect but the servants that where already there knew her and would surely give her away. No that would not due at all, there had to be something, some way, that she could go unnoticed until after she safely found her children and was long gone. Staring out the window eased her mind until out of the corner she saw a rider coming toward the house, pushing his horse as if he were in a race against death. Lindsey saw him slow just as he reached the door and she quickly rushed over to the door so she might listen to see what this was all about.

At first all she heard was a muffled voice of the butler stating that his master was currently unavailable but then the rider almost yelled stating that the note had to be delivered that moment.

Lindsey began to wonder just as panic crept into her heart. What if it was a note about the children? Had they fallen ill or worse, had her husband hurt them in any way? The panic that had been in her heart turned to stone cold fear, she pressed her ear closer to the opening of the door hoping to hear more of what was going on.

“List you, I told you Lord Manning is not here at the moment but as I said I will be sure that he gets the note just as soon as he returns,” the butler said with a slightly raised voice.

“Yer had better make sure he gets it, I wot paid fur him not to,” the rider said.

Just then she heard the door shut with a loud thud and the hurried foot steps of the butler. Pushing the door open, she rushed across the foyer following Judd as quickly as she could without trying to warrant any curious eyes from the other members of the staff. As it was he was walking with a steady pace, which as luck would have it was quicker than hers. Long legs be damned. Thankfully he slowed as he reached the passage way door and turned his head to scan behind him for others when he spotted Lindsey fast on his heels.

“Judd, just the man I was looking for,” she said as she caught her breath.

“Me, ma’am?” he turned so he was fully facing her, hoping she hadn’t noticed what he was about to do.

“Yes. I was hoping for a message today,” she lied.

Giving him a curious look, she waited for a reply but when he didn’t offer one quick enough she asked, “did anything come for me?”

“Oh no ma’am, a message came for Lord Manning a moment ago but nothing else has arrived today. If something does arrive shall I bring it to you immediately?”

For some reason his tone didn’t seem as panicked as she felt which somewhat eased her fear. She didn’t know why his lack of worry calmed her but whatever the reasons it seemed to do the trick. Maybe there was nothing for her to be worried about after all. Yes, that was it. She had let her emotions run wild with ideas over nothing. The note was probably from his solicitor of for all she knew it could have been his estate manager.

“Yes, would you please, I shall be in the library if it does arrive.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said.

Pausing for a second, she opened her mouth as if to say something more but then decided against it then turned and walked away. Walking into the library she plopped down and took a deep breath. All that over nothing. How had she allowed herself to get so worked up over nothing? Of course she would ask Ashton about the note later tonight among other things. Thoughts of nightfall seemed brighter than ever bringing a smile to her face. She laughed softly as she thought of how she had a list of questions to ask him and if she could think of a few more it might as well be an interrogation.

One thought burned its way to the front of all the others, how was she going to gain entry to her husband’s home and escape with her children. She started to wonder if maybe Ashton would be able to help her in this, he had ways of getting what he wanted. Including her love. Was that something he had wanted from the beginning? Or was that just something that happened along the way. No he had said before that he had known her parents before their deaths.

All sorts of thoughts entered her mind, so many that it took a moment to sort through them all. Somehow it seemed as Ashton had planned this from the very beginning. Which would also mean that she was a key piece to a big puzzle. But what was it all leading to?

Maybe she did need to interrogate Ashton. Find out what exactly was going on. She knew that when she was with him his attentions were all on her and hers on him but was that her true feelings or had he installed those feelings within her? Sucking in a deep breath of air she slowly released it, hoping to clear her thoughts. In order to for her to know her true feelings toward Ashton she had to know what games he was playing and where it was all leading. With another sigh she went back to reading her notes only to spend the time staring off into nothingness.

Down below the foundation of the house, Ashton was pacing across the damp floors. The message from London had disturbed his slumber. As if that didn’t cause his temper to shorten the contents of the message lite the fuse to pure hatred. He should have known that things were going all too well. Lindsey was finally coming around to his attentions and even he had almost forgot the other details that must be handled with before they could be together. Taking a deep breath he cursed as he let it out. Ashton had never counted on things to come to this.

“I should have known,” he growled.

Taking his aggressions out on the paper, he crumpled it up and he tossed it to the floor. As he watched it roll under a chair that sat by a writing table he checked the clock cursing again that the sun still shown outside. It was times like this that he grew the most angry at this curse. He felt helpless. Here he was in the bowels of his home, a home he had owned for centuries and not even able to protect it.

Striding over to the writing desk snatching up the messenger of troubles to come and read its contents again.

‘Ash,

Dearest friend, I only write to say that you should be expecting some un-welcomed company soon. A certain acquaintance of ours that we play cards with is most displeased that his wife is away from his control. I understand that he quit London about three nights past. If you are in need of assistance do not hesitate to send for either myself or Thomas. Of course, if I know you as well as I believe I do, you will not be asking for any such thing. Needless to say the offer above was more of a pleasantry but know we shall be arriving tomorrow.
I do know we got a head start on our friend, merely because we arranged for him to be detained for a day. Be prepared for war my friend, our friend doesn’t travel alone, hence the reason Thomas and I jumped into action.
Alex’

Ashton was exactly sure what he had hoped to gain by going over the letter again but whatever it had been, it hadn’t worked. Instead it only flamed his rage even more. How dare that stupid coward threaten to come to his house? Was he truly that ignorant? Rethinking that last bit Ashton came to the conclusion that indeed he was. If he was stupid enough to leave Lindsey and take a mistress he truly be one of the most brainless men in all of London. No, in all of Europe. Lindsey had the most fire and more passion then any woman he had ever known. She was indeed one of the most beautiful that he had ever seen and he had seen a great many during his time.

Wadding the letter back up once more he tossed it on top of the other papers that littered the top of the desk. Resting his head in the palm of his hand he took in a deep sigh. He hated having unwanted guest but perhaps it was time to finally deal with Robert. After all he had caused enough trouble in Lindsey’s life. His own as well, since there was nothing more important that Lindsey. Without her he was just a lost and lonely creature of the night that could never die. For the first time in centuries he had found what his heart had been longing for the most. True love.

After spending most of his years in the shadows of balls and other high society events he had never once found any of the chits appealing. Some of them were breathtakingly beautiful but their beauty was their only charm. The new debutantes that filled the balls each season were born and breed to be dull there was no change in that through all the centuries. It wasn’t until Ashton had just about given up that he met Lindsey’s parents.

He was in one of the card rooms when a young couple came in. There was a different sort of air about these two. They looked at each other with passion and love. When the man kissed his wife on the cheek her eyes caught fire. Taking a seat at the card table the man glowed, which wasn’t unlike anything Ashton had ever seen before. In all the years the couples he had encountered could hardly stand to be in the same room as their partner. Not these two.

After engaging in conversation with the man Ashton soon learned that the couple were expecting their first child soon and that he already knew the family. He had been close friends to the woman’s grandfather a small fact he should have seen when he first saw the woman. Unlike most noble men he was hoping for a girl child. That was when it started, a friendship that was tried and true. Not only with the man but with the woman as well. Ashton was often invited into their home and to share in all the joys their life had to offer. Ashton’s friendship with the Dixon’s had grown so much that Patrick sent notice to him at once that Matilda had given birth to their first child. A healthy little girl, surely the pride and joy of her father.

Watching how the family interacted with each other reminded Ashton once again that he longed for such a connection. So once again he was in search of his own lady love as Patrick had once said about his loving wife. After a few years of seeing the Dixon’s in their tight knitted family each visit grew farther and farther apart.

The last time he had seen the family was when the Dixon’s daughter had her fourth birthday. They had planned a very special dinner party just for Lindsey. It had been so darling, the young girl came down in her very best blue dress with her hair tied in ribbons. That was the moment that Ashton desired children of his own and being near this family full of love was more than he could withstand any longer.

Of course, he kept in touch through letters. Each year that passed he would get updates on how things were getting along. It wasn’t until Patrick had sent a letter asking for Ashton’s help that he finally returned to the London he had once loved. Things had changed so much including his dear friends. The couple that had once been so young were now seeing the silver touch their hair. Everyone had changed, that is except for Ashton.

Many years had passed, thirteen in fact. Sitting at White’s Ashton learned exactly when he had been sent for. Lindsey had her cap set for Lord Payton and he had already asked for her hand. At first Ashton thought it was some sort of joke since it was every parents dream to have their daughter wed to someone in such a high social standing. A marquis none the less. Had it been any other simpering miss their marriage minded momma’s would have had them at the alter in no time. Lord Dixon on the other hand wasn’t one to be taken in with the title.

Having been asked to find out what Lord Payton’s dealings were and if his intentions toward Lindsey were as honest has he swore them to be. Ashton quickly found that Robert’s holdings had been gambled away and he was in the market for a young miss with a large dowery. That’s where Lindsey’s role in the whole matter came to play and Lord Payton set forth with all the charms that any young debutante would love to hear. Reporting back to Patrick the findings on Lindsey’s beau that left a dirty taste in her father’s mouth.

It hadn’t became personal until Ashton had attended one of the balls that the Dixon’s were also at.

That’s when he saw her. A young woman dressed in the deepest blue gown cut in the latest fashion. Ashton’s breath caught in his throat. Whoever that woman was, she was his missing half. The person he had been looking for all this time. She was perfect.

Just then she smiled and greeted some of the matron’s that had come toward her. He just stood there and stared at her in complete awe. Her smile radiated such energy that he was lost in into her spell. He was well aware that through the years he had longed for such closeness but it was something that had only been a dream. Never even once during the years in the past had he been so drawn to a single woman. Could this one be the one he had been looking for all these years?

A few days later he met with Lord Dixon at White’s gaming hall to report all his findings on the elusive Robert Payton. Neither of the men felt it would be good for the very young and somewhat naive Lady Lindsey. Ashton wasn’t sure if now was the appropriate time to even mention his interest with his friends daughter. This meeting would be the last time he would ever see his good friend alive. Of course looking back he should have used that moment, it might have saved his friend from meeting his end at the wishes of Lord Payton.

Ashton had known that Lord Dixon was going to confront his daughter’s admirer and do his best to dissuade him from pursuing her further. Lord Dixon wasn’t at the agreed meeting point but instead his hired assassins were lurking in the shadows waiting for the most opportune moment to strike. Taking Lord Dixon by surprise he was able to take one of the men down but the other man was not so easily beat. After finding out about the murder Ashton had wanted nothing more than to go to Lord Payton and return the favor but at the time there wasn’t enough evidence to prove he had anything to do with his friend’s death.

As would be expected the family went into mourning for their loss but Lord Payton kept his intentions perfectly clear. Not long after the death of her husband Madeline fell into the grips of depression and would lead to her own death. Not able to deal with all the grief Ashton had left England in hopes of repressing his sadness. It had proven to be one of the biggest mistakes of his life. During his travels Lord Payton had used this time to his best advantage.

Not long after Lindsey’s mourning period was over for both of her parent’s she was wed to the devil himself. It was upon his return that Ashton had learn the news of their marriage. Well beyond shock he decided then that he would lay low and wait. Waiting had been the hardest thing to do in all his life. He was forced to sit back and watch the woman of his dreams endure the tortures brought on by a man who did not love her. In fact after she had borne him an heir she was no longer of use for husband. Robert had everything he needed to secure himself in society; money, a wife, an heir. Now he was free to entertain himself with games and affairs with lightskirted women.

That had been when Lindsey was discarded and was no longer useful and in truth in the way of complete freedom. In the beginning the abuse had only been verbal but it didn’t take long for Robert to start being rougher with her. It pained Ashton to know the cruelties that Lindsey was having to face. When Robert had taken to living with his current mistress it was time for Ashton to get the woman he wanted before she ended in the same fate as her parents.

Bringing himself back to the current problem Ashton sighed aloud. It was time to put this game to an end before anyone got hurt or even worse, killed. Now was that time. Now!