Second last chapter, seriously can't believe I ever got this far!

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Lafferty Cottage was almost eerie in the twilight of the September evening. The thatched roof that had been partly torn away by a storm several years ago made it look almost haunted and the windows that had been smashed by many young children while making a wish made it a cold and uninviting place. But Caleb wasn't cold. His blood was boiling in red hot anger. He had already assumed that this must have been Judith's doing. No one else was this mad or desperate.

He tied his horse to a branch nearby and dismounted, making sure his sword was placed correctly and that the pistol he had taken from his aunt's house was in its holder in his belt. He had determined to finish Judith's madness once and for all. Tonight, he would leave with Lavinia and never let her out of his sight again.

He walked up to the door and knocked, unsurprised when it swung open at his touch. The floorboards creaked as he stepped further into the decaying house and headed towards where a strip of light was glowing underneath a doorway.

Before he entered, he took a deep breath to cool the boiling rage he felt. He wouldn't help Lavinia if he couldn't think straight because he was angry. He opened the door and was shocked at the sight before him.

Lavinia sat in the centre of the room, hands and feet tied together and a blindfold stopping her from seeing. Her caramel hair was sticking out around her head and her cheeks were flushed with the cold air.

Behind her stood Judith, pointing a pistol directly at Lavinia's head and next to her was Mr Colin Black, looking smugly at him.

"Well if it isn't Lord Caleb Alder," Judith began, she was looking forward to this. Tonight she would get Caleb for herself, trap him into a marriage with her and get rid of Lavinia once and for all.

"Caleb?" Lavinia whispered, her fear dripping from her words.

"Shut it," Judith hissed, nudging the pistol closer to her head. Lavinia shied away from the cold metal and her face creased in fear when she realised what it was.

"What do you want Judith?" Caleb demanded, trying to stay calm. "Why are you doing this?"

"I only want what should have been mine," was Judith's reply. "What was mine until this brat came along. You." She pushed the pistol closer to Lavinia's head and Lavinia gasped in fear.

"I was never yours Judith, we were never promised to one another," Caleb tried to speak reason. This only angered Judith even more.

"You were mine!" she screamed. "We courted for over three months, we shared many wonderful days together, you chose me to dance with you over all others - how more promised do you think we had to be?"

"We were never engaged, you flirted with other men as well and we never officially courted," Caleb counter argued.

"Well we shall remedy that now," Judith said in a voice so calm it sent chills down Caleb's spine. "You will marry me Caleb and I will let Lavinia go. She can go back to her brothers and prepare for her second season and live her life. Or you can not marry me and you can live the rest of your life knowing that it is your fault she died."

Caleb's heart turned to ice. How could he get out of such an ultimatum? Lavinia was everything he holded dear, but how could he live knowing that she died to give him his freedom? But his life was worthless without her anyway. He loved her and that was never going to change.

Lavinia felt tears prickle at the edge of her eyes. She couldn't live without Caleb, but she also could not bear it if he threw his life away for her. "Don't do it, Caleb, my life is worthless without you," she told him, wishing she could see what was happening and that she could convince him with her eyes.

"I'll do it," Caleb said and Lavinia's heart tore in two. "You let Lavinia go right now, she gets to my horse and leaves for London tonight. You take me wherever you want, but you let Lavinia go." His voice was strong and commanding, surprising even himself.

"I knew you just couldn't resist being the gentleman Caleb," Judith gloated. "It's one of the things I like about you."

Caleb wasn't listening to her though, Lavinia's cheeks were wet as tears streaked down them in silent sobs.

"Don't Caleb," she whispered in vain. "You can't do this."

"Brother," Judith addressed Mr Black. "Take her to his horse"

"Brother?" Caleb asked in surprise. "You two are related?"

"Indeed we are, he is the illegitimate son of my father's but he had to take his mother's name. We are closer than many other siblings, but we couldn't show it. I knew he would help me though, he has always been such an attentive brother to me. When he tried to distract Lavinia from you though, you were always there, getting in the way. They would have been happy together and so would we, but you rebelled against it all. You have no one to blame but yourself for this," Judith explained as Mr Black undid Lavinia's ankles and pulled her outside to take her to his horse.

Caleb stood in shock, digesting this new information. So much made sense. Mr Black's harsh forcefulness of Lavinia stemmed out of a need to please his sister and her lack of care for Lavinia had only stemmed out of hatred.

A loud bang coming outside aroused Caleb from his thoughts and he took that as the signal he had prepared. He ran at Judith, taking her by surprise and wrestled the pistol from her hand, knocking it away to the other side of the room. She screamed in frustration and pushed against him, but he was stronger. He pushed her against the wall and, offering a prayer of repentance for what he was about to do to a woman, struck her on the head, causing her to fall to the ground unconscious.

***

Lavinia jumped at the sound of a pistol and felt the bullet fly just past her face and heard the dull thud as it landed in a nearby tree.

"Run Lavinia!" Mr Thomas Jackson's voice called as Colin's hold on her loosened momentarily. It was enough, she pulled out of his grasp and ran, pulling the blindfold off and rubbing her wrists together again to try and loosen the rope. She got to Caleb's horse before she looked back.

Mr Black had drawn his sword and turned to Mr Jackson and Mr Henry Thomson where they were fighting, swords clashing hard. Lavinia couldn't tell who had the upper hand. Thomas and Henry were strong, but Colin was fast, he clearly had more practice.

Lavinia found a dagger in Caleb's saddle bags and she finally managed to free her hands. Her wrists were red, raw and bloody, but she was safe and for that she was grateful.

Caleb appeared at the cottage's door and took in the scene in front of him. The three men were fighting hard but Caleb knew that Colin had the upper hand. He drew his own sword however and joined the fight, his controlled anger drawing strength he didn't know he had.

He quickly took over the fight and duelled Colin, but Colin was certainly the better practiced swordsman.

"You're a little rusty Caleb," he observed, taunting his anger. "Your footwork could certainly use a little work." And he skipped over some tree roots backwards, causing Caleb to follow him.

"Stop playing around Colin," Caleb snarled through his teeth. "That's all you ever seem to do. You play around with people. You've convinced Judith that she is your sister, you tried to force Lavinia into courting and marrying you - you are nothing but a piece of scum that can never win."

"Oh, but I can Caleb. Don't you see?" Colin replied. "Once Judith married you, I would marry Lavinia. Her dowry would keep me going for a while and once she died of a broken heart over you I would be left to marry any other rich young woman with a title and money."

Caleb felt sick at the prospect. He had planned on marrying and then killing Lavinia? He was certainly crazy.

"You're crazy," Caleb hissed. "She would never have married you."

"That's where you're wrong Caleb, she never loved you. You left her after Judith had her little tantrum and you chose Judith over her just there. She doesn't like you, and she never will," Colin jeered. It was this that Caleb had been waiting on, overconfidence always clouded a man's judgement when duelling. He managed to take him by surprise as he leapt closer to him, twisted his sword away and crashed the hilt of his sword against his head.

Colin fell like a puppet who had had his strings cut and Caleb stood there, relieved that it was over. He looked around at Thomas and Henry. When Caleb had turned up at their homes distraught and angry they had calmed him down and agreed to help him. They had helped form the plan and they had put their lives in danger to help Lavinia and himself. For that he would be forever grateful.

Lavinia was standing next to his horse, her slight frame shivering in the cold night and her tear stained face a mixture of relief and gratitude.

"Caleb," she called and ran to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in his chest. She could hear his rapid heartbeat and his strong arms enclosed around her.

"Are you alright?" he asked, holding her at arm length and examining her in concern. She could only nod and he pulled her close again.

"Thank you," she whispered and he knew she meant it.

Thomas and Henry took the rope they had brought and tied up Judith and Colin, leaving them in the cottage. They would alert the police once they got back to London and they could deal with them, but for now, they were all safe and exhausted from the events of that night.

"Let's go home," Caleb whispered in Lavinia's ear and she nodded against his chest. He lifted her up into his saddle and swung up behind her, guiding his horse towards London.

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