Trapped with the Earl of Sin

Chapter 18

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“ I … I am just taking a walk,” Edwin stammered, causing Martin to roll his eyes in frustration. “I am a little drunk. I had far too much to drink tonight, and I am trying to sober up. You know, because the wedding is tomorrow morning.”

“And you need a gun for that?”

“I am just carrying this for my own protection. You never know what nefarious people might be loitering around at night.”

“Well, you are the only person I can see walking around with a weapon,” Martin snapped. He was tired and impatient with this man, and could not stand his disgusting attitude. “So I do not think that there is anything I need to worry about aside from you.”

“Well… well…” Edwin staggered backwards, but Martin was not going to let him go anywhere. “You are also loitering around. Is that not suspicious? Should I not be worried about whatever you are here to do to Luke? Are you jealous of him? Do you want to harm him? Perhaps you do not wish to see him married because you are worried about losing your drinking buddy. Yeah, I bet that is it…”

If Edwin wanted to try and prod Martin, then he could certainly do the same thing. Maybe if he irritated Edwin enough, he could force him to confess. He was going to have to let all his suspicions out to see how Edwin reacted. Luckily, his eyes had adjusted to the darkness now, so he could see much more of the man’s expression.

“I am not the one who is clearly in love with Mary,” he growled. “I am not the one who has shown to everyone around him that he has an utter obsession with the bride-to-be. That is you, Edwin. It is utterly pathetic to see you trailing after her like a little, lost puppy.”

Edwin’s jaw slackened. He had clearly never had anyone confront him in such a manner. “I… I do not know what you are talking about.”

“I will go further,” Martin continued, stepping closer to Edwin. He wanted the man to feel like he was cornered. “Since there are some secrets that you think you might have hidden, but you have not. Because I can see right through you.” He jabbed his finger into Edwin’s chest. “I know that you have been so in love with Mary over the years that it utterly infuriated you to see her falling in love with your best friend. You could not stand the idea of them getting married, could you? It ate at you. I can just imagine what it was like for you. Seeing Duncan with Mary, watching them fall in love… it angered you so much, you could not stand it. You wanted him dead, you needed him dead, you could not stand to see him living the life that you have always wanted to live.”

Edwin seemed gobsmacked by this. It was written all over his face. Martin knew that he was on to something because Edwin had no response.

“Is that what you are going to do to your own cousin as well?” Martin continued, raising his voice a little in the hope that someone might hear him. The more people who overheard his confession, the better. “Do you intend to kill the boy you grew up alongside? The person you have been close to for your whole life? Are you going to take that gun and kill Luke in the hope that Mary will finally look at you?”

Edwin shook his head, but Martin was not done.

“She did not look at you once when Duncan died. She did not show you any attention. She did not respond to the countless times you tried to show your interest, she did not like all your visits to her home…”

“You do not know anything about my visits to see Mary,” Edwin growled. He could not control himself, the anger was clearly bubbling up inside of him. “She did like all of my visits. She was always polite and sweet to me. Mary is always polite and sweet…”

“Which does not mean that she has any affection for you!” Martin insisted. “Because that is how she treats everyone. You should not read too much into it. Especially now that Mary has very clearly moved on after Duncan’s death, and not with you. With your cousin. With Luke, who she clearly loves very much.”

“But she… she just did not know that I wish to be her husband. As soon as she knows…”

Martin clucked his tongue and angrily shook his head. “You are utterly delusional, Edwin. I have never met anyone as delusional as you. You cannot honestly believe that Mary will ever look your way. Do you truly think you are so discrete that she did not know what you were doing? Edwin, of course she knew what you were doing. Of course she knew that you were interested in her. She just did not want you.”

Perhaps the way that he said those words in such a blunt manner was a little harsh, but someone needed to speak so clearly so Edwin would finally get it. Martin needed him to accept the words he was saying, so he would finally back off.

“She did not want you…”

Edwin looked like he was going to be sick. He bent double, clutching his stomach. Martin could hear a string of curse words coming out of his mouth, but none of it was making much sense. It was as if he was in the process of losing his mind, and Martin was the only one to witness it. But he did not feel any kind of sympathy for Edwin, not at all. If Martin had not stopped him in his tracks, there was no telling what Edwin would have done to his own cousin.

“She does want me,” Edwin finally muttered. “You have no idea what you are talking about. She just does not know it yet, that is all. She does not know a thing. But I can change that, I can prove it to you. All we need to do is go to her bedchambers now. Wake her up and then I will finally confess my love and change everything.” He nodded to himself as if he wanted to encourage himself to go forward with such a mental plan. “Yes, perhaps that is better. I do not need to do anything with this gun. I can see that now, it is clear.”

“What on earth are you talking about, Edwin?” Martin asked in disgust and horror. “Of course, you cannot go and wake her up. It is the middle of the night, the night before her wedding.”

“Yes, and the wedding is exactly what I need to stop.”

Edwin turned on his heels and stalked off. Well, as fast as he could move in his intoxicated state.

Martin was not going to let Edwin anywhere near Mary, he would never allow that, but the man still had his gun clutched between his fingers. When Mary inevitably rejected him, if he got that close to her, then there was no way he could have a weapon with him.

“Edwin, do not be ridiculous,” Martin snapped as he followed Edwin down the hallway. He was becoming increasingly convinced that others would join them soon, so he would not be alone as he witnessed Edwin finally confessing all. He had not denied anything that Martin had accused him of, but he also had not confessed. “You cannot seriously think that Mary wants to hear from you right now. She will be in her nightwear, she will be sleeping, she will not want to be disturbed by you.”

“But she needs to know how I feel,” Edwin shot back. “I cannot let her marry Luke without letting her know that she and I can be perfect together. I am sure it will change her mind about everything if she knows how I feel about her.”

“And how do you think she will feel, knowing that you killed Duncan?”

Edwin halted, but only for a moment. He did not give Martin the answer that he so desperately needed.

“Come on, Edwin, let us talk about what you did. Let us talk about how you murdered a man who was supposed to be your best friend. The man who Mary thought that she was going to spend the rest of her life with. I think it is time for you to be honest about what you did and why you did it.”

“Shut up,” Edwin murmured. “You need to shut up, Martin. You do not know what you are talking about.”

“Oh, I think I know exactly what I am talking about. And I think it is time that you finally get it all off your chest.”

Edwin finally spun around to look at Martin, with flames of anger in his eyes. “I am not going to talk to you about anything. There is only one person I wish to talk with right now, and she is lying in her bed. She is waiting for me, and I do not wish to keep her waiting any longer. She needs to know exactly how I feel.”

Martin stepped forward and grabbed Edwin’s arm before he could get away. “No, you are not going to talk to anyone. The best thing you can do right now is go to bed.”

“You do not know anything about me, Martin. I have told you to leave me alone. You need to stay out of this. It has nothing to do with you.”

“Luke is my best friend. Unlike you, I actually care about my friend, and I will not allow anything to happen to him.”

“Duncan did not know what he had. He did not appreciate Mary,” Edwin scoffed. “Luke is the same. He has not got a clue. If I were lucky enough to be with Mary, then I would ensure that she felt like a princess every single day of her life. I would treat her as she should be treated. I would give her the best life. She at least deserves to know that I can do that for her.”

Martin stepped back a little as the power of Edwin’s obsession struck him hard. It did not seem to matter what he had said to him, Edwin had not heard a word. He did not want to hear it because it did not fit in with his own little fantasies. This was a man who truly believed that Mary belonged to him.

All Martin wanted was a confession from him, but now he was utterly terrified as the man’s desires flickered right through him. He felt ice cold, and a little helpless too. He truly did wish that there was someone else around, anyone, to assist him with this utter madness.

“Edwin, please,” Martin started, trying a different tactic. He thought that being calm might make Edwin calm down a little. “Please just take a moment to think about what you are doing, and how you are feeling. Please, do not do anything rash. Think about Mary for a moment, and how she will take this. This will not be good news to her.”

All of a sudden, Edwin flicked the gun up once more, this time into Martin’s face.

“I am thinking about Mary. I am always thinking about Mary. You do not understand at all. In fact, you have been nothing but a problem to me. I think it might be you who has been in the way the whole time. Perhaps it is you who I need to get rid of.”

With that, before Martin could get yet another word out, Edwin did the worst thing that he could—he squeezed the trigger.