Rescuing Lord Faulkner: Regency Redemption, #4

By Tess St. John

10,000 WORD SHORT STORY!

 

Love cannot survive without trust in full measures.

 

Five years ago, when Lord Faulkner returned from the Napoleonic War to find Scarlet Cason had abandoned him, he vowed to never trust another woman. He made a life for himself taking dangerous commissions until six months ago when he gave up that life to raise his sisters after their parents' sudden death. Now tragedy has struck again, and Scarlet's mother is gravely ill.

 

Scarlet is shocked when Faulkner tracks her down and tells her the news of her mother. She anxiously accompanies him to Murdock Castle, the very place they fell in love, and the home she fled years ago to hide a dark secret. She prays going back will not expose it.

 

The more days Scarlet and Faulkner spend together, the more they realize they are still in love. When Scarlet's secret is revealed, only time will tell if they can restore their faith in each other. But they are out of time when Faulkner's treacherous past threatens - they must completely trust one another or die.

 

Rescuing Lord Faulkner ~ Short story ~ is the 4 installment of the Regency Redemption Series. All the others in the series are full-length books.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tess St. John
• Release date: Dec 14, 2020
• ISBN: 9780986220562

Book preview

Chapter One

Worthing, England ~ Summer 1821

The gloomy dusk covered Worthing in a grey haze. People hustled here and there on the downtown street, most certainly hoping to reach their destinations before the sky opened up and drenched the city. Scarlet Cason sat against an abandoned storefront surrounded by her paintings. Oh, how she needed to sell one, or two, or three.

As if the gods heard her, a man dressed in upper-class finery stopped and picked up a seascape. She created art from her memories of Murdock Castle and the Seaford coast.

Each time she sold one, a piece of her heart went with it.

The gentleman flipped it over and checked the price. He pulled a few pounds from his pocket and handed them to her.

Thank you. She stuffed the notes into her skirts, so grateful she was closer to getting the money for her trip to Paris.

As the man walked away, she stacked the paintings in her wagon, grasped the handle, and started down the street. She turned at the nearest corner and entered an alley, hurrying southward. Halfway through, she realized it was deserted. Hadn’t she learned her lesson about taking abandoned thoroughfares?

She spun around to return to the busy street. Two men in tattered, dirty clothing blocked her way. She could certainly outrun them, but not with the cart.

Hell and blast.

We jus want yer blunt, one man said as they stalked her. We seen the dandy pay ye.

A streak of terror spiked through her, the same as it had the other times she’d been attacked. She tamped down her fear and took a calming breath while sizing up her assailants. The man slurred his words, and both men’s eyes appeared glassy. They were half-sprung.

They charged toward her.

No time to grab her knives, she kept her back to the brick building. She lashed out with her hands and fingers, gouging the men’s faces as she kicked their shins. The vagrants grunted curse words at her every jab. She kept struggling, in hopes the drunken men would tire of her and go on to their next victim.

They’d have to kill her to get her money.

The taller man yanked a knife out from his coat.

If you so much as nick her, I will kill you both.

She jerked her head toward the deep voice and couldn’t believe her eyes.

Tomas.

Lord Tomas Faulkner, Earl of Cochran, marched from the corner with a gun aimed at the men.

Already breathing hard, Scarlet’s breaths became even more erratic and her throat tightened. He’d lived through the war.

Thank you, God.

But what was he doing here?

Her attackers scrutinized him, undoubtedly assessing if they deemed him a worthy opponent. Little did they know, Tomas trained in military school and served as an intelligence officer in the Royal Army. He could more than likely kill them with his bare hands.

Drop the knife, he said in a low, lethal growl.

The men glanced at each other. The one holding the