Ada & The Earl (The Woodhouse Series #1)

Chapter 37

CHAPTER 37

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*Wollaton Hall, Nottingham*

I had fired a pistol.

I had never done that before.

I weirdly felt powerful - maybe this is why men duelled for their honour?

I looked at Louis who slowly stood up. He was dishevelled and a mess, His clothes dirty with blood stains down the front. His upper lip was cut and there was a faint bruise under his eye. I turned to the stairs where the hitman lay bleeding out and the chandelier was destroyed to thousands of pieces on the stairs.

I dropped the pistol in an instant. "Louis..." I came to him, practically leaping into his arms and as he enveloped me in a hug, relief sweeping through me as we held each other. I didn't want to let go.

"Ada..." He whispered gently and my heart skipped several beats.

I pulled away, my hands quickly running over his body, touching his face. "Are you all right? Are you hurt?"

"I'm good...well...as good as I can be with the circumstances..." He assured me and my hands rested on his chest, his heartbeat a steady rhythm that soothed me. "I...can't believe you are here..."

"I made a promise and I always keep them..."

Our foreheads met, in a loving embrace as a dead man lay at the base of the stairs. "We should go," I said suddenly and he nodded. As we looked down the stairs at the hitman one more time, we hurried along the corridor, Louis stopping to pick up the pistol. "How did you find me?" He questioned me suddenly.

"Your mother called our home asking for my brother..." I explained as I followed him to his bedroom. "Theodore was not available so I spoke to your mother and she said you were missing and I knew Clinton was involved as the hitman had been in Nottingham like I said he was."

Louis was flustered, trying to open his bedroom door which refused to budge. "But...how are you here in Nottingham? Did you escape prison?"

I frowned. "No. My brothers bailed me out."

A hand went through his hair. "I'm just...shocked..."

"Why?"

"That you came back after everything. I didn't stop the police or the arrest or anything and you were right about everything. About Clinton and the hitman...all of it! Why would you come back to help me when I refused to believe you and let that happen to you!"

I sighed and touched his cheek gently. "Because I made a promise I would get you to safety and I never break a promise." I dropped my hand and he took it, locking our fingers together. "Safety wasn't just about getting you home to Nottingham if the threat still existed. Clinton has been out to get you for so long. His plan was calculating and callous..." I dropped my head. "I broke my brother's trust by looking through old case files, including one that involved Clinton's sister, Sylvia and how you encouraged her to follow her heart and marry a man that her family did not approve of. I read your witness statement and even saw a police report about an assault between you and Clinton. That one was blacked out for me to read properly but I remembered what you said about how Clinton had a dark side that only you knew about and I connected the dots..."

Louis nodded. "Well...when I told Clinton and his family that I was the reason Sylvia had left, he proceeded to violently punch me repeatedly..." Louis replied. "My father called the police but I dropped the charges because Clinton was angry and rightfully so..." Louis dropped his head, looking down and turning away before he punched his bedroom door again in frustration over it not opening. "All of this because I told Sylvia to follow her heart and be happy! I told Christina the same thing! It's what brothers do! I should never have given them my blessings. I should've told my sister what kind of person Clinton was."