‘Ah, there you are, gentlemen,’ she said, sending them a radiant smile.
‘Where the devil is Stoneleigh?’ William demanded to know, keeping Eva beside him by wrapping one arm around her waist and holding the dagger against her throat, its sharp tip piercing her skin and drawing blood.
There was a crashing sound in the hallway and Stoneleigh staggered into view, bleeding and clearly furious. Isaac, Lord Torbay and Parker had stepped far enough into the room for Stoneleigh to be able to enter it. Fortuitously they also had their backs against the opposite wall and Stoneleigh was unable to attack them from behind.
‘Just so you know whom you’re dealing with, Woodstock,’ Lord Torbay said. ‘I’m Torbay…ah, I can see by your loss of colour that you’ve heard of me. This is my colleague Lord Isaac Arnold.’
A speaking look passed between Isaac and Eva, which William clearly noticed.
‘You!’ He glowered at Isaac. ‘You have despoiled my wife. I’ll slice you in two for your impudence.’
‘I would advise against making promises you are in no position to keep,’ Lord Torbay replied in an amiable tone. ‘The guards you posted at the front have been dealt with, as have the ones at the rear. Stoneleigh here was allowed out of the kitchen to join this little party because we have score to settle with him. No other help will be forthcoming.’
‘And yet he hides behind a woman,’ Isaac said scathingly.
‘I am not done with her yet,’ William said, tightening his hold on Eva.
‘It’s over,’ Lord Torbay replied. ‘I have just sent a runner to your warehouse, where the police are waiting on my word to move in and arrest everyone, including your Sikh guests.’
Isaac stepped forward. ‘Let her go and fight me like a man.’
‘I’ll kill her.’ William’s eyes flashed with desperation. ‘I have got nothing to lose now.’
Lord Torbay yawned as though he found the entire confrontation a massive bore. ‘And then we shall kill you,’ he replied indolently.
Eva was close enough to William to see the fear in his eye. He was like a caged animal, ready to strike out randomly in the hope of escaping, and she was in the direct line of fire. She glanced at Isaac and could see the frustration in his expression. William understood the game was up and probably preferred to die here in a fight in his study, rather than be publicly hanged. The only problem was, he appeared intent upon taking Eva with him. Dear God, she couldn’t allow that to happen. She had only just found Isaac and was damned if she would part with him now.
She had her hands free but no weapon. She glanced frantically around her, seeking inspiration. Her eyes fell upon the ledger that had fallen to the floor, forgotten by Eva. It must contain the name of William’s paymaster and, if she had to die, at least Lord Torbay ought to have possession of it before William thought of it and threw it on the fire. She shifted her eyes sideways and saw Lord Torbay understood at once. The problem was, if he stepped forward, William would act.
It was stalemate.
The only sound in the room was the crackling of logs in the grate, William’s heavy breathing and the occasional snarl from Stoneleigh, pinned against the wall by Parker’s dagger.
Then the door swung open, surprising them all, and a tiny person ran into the room.
‘Mama!’ Gracie cried.
Chapter Twenty
William, distracted by Grace’s entrance, loosened his hold on Eva just long enough for her to wiggle free. With one hand she picked up the ledger and tossed it to Lord Torbay, seconds before William’s hand also reached for it. He growled with rage and turned his attention to her. She evaded him by grinding the heel of her shoe into his foot, scooped Grace into her arms and fell against Isaac, who thrust her behind him.
‘Mama.’ Grace was crying.
‘Shush, darling, it’s all right. Everything is all right now.’
Eva wondered how Grace could have found her way downstairs alone, then saw Olivia standing in the doorway, smiling at her. Eva’s heart overflowed with gratitude. Olivia had clearly gone in search of Grace, seen what was happening in the study and was quick-witted enough to plan a diversion. Grace had never been in danger, but had provided the distraction necessary to save Eva.
‘It’s over, Woodstock,’ Lord Torbay said.
Isaac shook his head. ‘No, Jake, he’s mine.’
Eva wanted to scream with frustration. There was no reason for Isaac to put himself in danger, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to talk him out of it. He wanted revenge on Eva’s behalf for all she had suffered at this man’s hands. They would fight to the death, she just knew it, and Isaac might not win. William was fit and proficient when it came to duelling. She couldn’t bear it if she lost Isaac, even though common sense told her they could have no future together. She looked towards Lord Torbay, hoping he would intervene. He merely shrugged and sent her the ghost of a wink.
‘My choice of weapons,’ William said, now sounding calm and supremely confident.
Well he might, Eva thought, trembling as William predictably reached for his precious duelling swords in a display case on the wall. He tossed one to Isaac, hilt first, and Isaac caught it one-handed. He tested the flexibility and weight of the blade, then put it aside as he shed his coat and waistcoat and loosened the sleeves of his shirt. Then he pulled the ascot from around his neck, sending Eva a heated look as he did so, presumably because, like her, he was recalling the last time he shed it in her company. It had been held in place by a superb pink sapphire pin. Isaac walked across to Eva, who still had Grace in her arms. He ruffled the child’s hair and then calmly inserted the pin in Eva’s torn bodice. William’s seething hiss could be heard across the room.
‘Keep it safe for me, if you please,’ he said indolently. ‘I shall not be long.’
‘For the love of God, take care,’ Eva whispered. ‘He’s no slouch with a sword.’
Isaac’s responding smile was devastating. ‘Neither am I,’ he said, gently touching her face. ‘Especially when something is so very worth fighting for.’
He turned away from her. Eva could only watch, a growing sense of unease trickling through her, as he helped to move the furniture aside and someone opened the doors to the drawing room next door, more than doubling the amount of space. It was now a large room, but was it large enough for two men with razor sharp swords to avoid one another’s blows?
‘Ah, Mr Stoneleigh,’ Olivia said cheerfully. ‘How’s your back? You did considerable damage to my table when you landed on it. I have a good mind to send you the bill. I believe Lady Eva managed to damage you as well.’ She tutted. ‘You’re really not very good, are you?’
Stoneleigh flushed and spat on the floor. Parker punched him in the gut and then bound his hands behind his back, tight enough to make Stoneleigh wince.
‘This is the woman who threw you?’ William sent Stoneleigh a scathing look and returned his attention to the fight about to take place.
‘You might be able to save yourself from the gallows if you tell us everything you know,’ Lord Torbay said to Stoneleigh in a lackadaisical drawl. ‘It’s up to you.’
Eva could see Stoneleigh knew the game was up and he was now considering his own skin. ‘I don’t owe him nothing.’ He cocked his head at Woodstock. ‘What do you want to know?’
‘You spineless bastard!’ William roared.
‘So much for honour amongst thieves,’ Lord Torbay muttered, appearing to find Stoneleigh’s attitude amusing.
William and Isaac faced one another, weapons drawn. Eva thought she should leave the room and not allow Grace to see this, but was unable to move. She had to be there. Superstition persuaded her that if she left, Isaac would fail. She saw Mary hovering in the passageway and passed the child to her, closing her eyes and praying as she hadn’t prayed in years.
A clatter of steel on steel caused her eyes to fly open again. Both men were light on their feet and they appeared to be evenly matched. A furious clash of blades, so fast and skilful Eva
could barely keep track, caused her heart to stop. She could see they were having a fine time of it, which infuriated Eva. How dare they enjoy themselves when she was near dead with fear for Isaac?
Olivia moved beside her, looking totally unconcerned.
‘Are you not worried for Isaac?’ Eva asked accusingly.
‘Not in the least. He knows what he’s doing.’
‘Is he winning?’
Olivia shrugged. ‘Hard to say. At the moment they’re evenly matched but Isaac will prevail.’
‘I wish I shared your confidence.’
‘I have fought him many times. He’s skilled, cunning and, on this occasion, has great motivation.’
Eva harrumphed. ‘Thank you for sending Gracie in. You saved the day.’
‘Yes, I thought it would give you the second or two you needed.’
‘It did. But now, if you cannot stop laughing when I am beside myself with worry for Isaac, then I shall be happy to excuse you.’
‘Men do so like to fight, my dear, there’s no help for that.’
Eva shot her new friend an ironic look. ‘So too do some women.’
Olivia laughed harder and spread her hands. ‘Well, you have me there. That’s what comes of having four older brothers. I insisted upon joining in their games, you see.’
Eva sniffed and then clutched Olivia’s hand, fear spiralling through her when William’s blade ripped through Isaac’s shirt sleeve.
‘It’s all right,’ Olivia said. ‘He didn’t draw blood.’
‘Not this time.’
‘Isaac’s trying to spare you the ignominy of a public trial.’
‘He means to kill my husband if he possibly can?’
Olivia shrugged. ‘It would save the state the expense of a trial and the inconvenience of hanging him. I don’t mean to be so blunt but there is really no other way to say it.’
Eva returned her attention to the fight. The antagonists were both breathing hard, no longer testing one another but clearly waiting for the chance to strike a killer blow.
‘No!’ Eva clapped a hand over her mouth and had to be restrained by Olivia. Otherwise she would have dashed forward to help Isaac. William had caught him and blood poured from a wound just above his waist. ‘I can’t stand it.’
‘Shush, it’s just a scratch.’
Olivia’s apparent unconcern helped to calm Eva. Isaac merely grinned at William, not appearing to feel any pain.
‘I will allow you that one strike, Woodstock,’ he said.
William snarled. ‘I shall enjoy finishing you off in front of my ungrateful wife.’
Isaac’s grin abruptly faded and he sprang at William in a co-ordinated move that was both graceful and deadly. William had clearly overestimated the amount of damage he’d inflicted and couldn’t stave off Isaac’s thrusting sword, aimed straight at his heart.
William was dead before he hit the floor.
***
Isaac appeared to drift in and out of consciousness while his wound was sewn up and dressed by a doctor Jake had on standby just outside. Eva wanted to hold his hand but had Gracie in her arms again and wasn’t ready to pass her to anyone else quite yet, not even Mary. She watched as men summoned by Torbay swarmed all over the house, making sure everyone inside it was taken into custody for questioning.
‘The warehouse is being raided about now,’ Lord Torbay told her. ‘I just sent word for the police to go in.’
‘And Franklin will be looked after?’
‘Of course.’
Isaac was taken back to Grosvenor Square in the same carriage as Eva. Gracie had fallen asleep in Mary’s arms and the nursemaid discreetly looked the other way while Eva smothered Isaac’s face with kisses.
‘If you ever do anything so foolhardy again,’ she scolded, ‘I will take a sword to you myself.’
‘It’s over, darling,’ he said. ‘You and Gracie are free of him forever.’
‘Thanks to you.’ She pushed the hair away from his brow, placed a hand on it and tutted. ‘You’re too warm.’
‘Stop fussing and give me another kiss.’
Eva obliged. Once they returned to Grosvenor square she handed Isaac over to Lord Torbay’s servants, satisfied he wasn’t about to die, and busied herself with installing Grace and Mary on the nursery floor. They obviously couldn’t stay here, but she would think about her future tomorrow. She was unable to stop touching her daughter, still convinced she was a figment of her imagination. Seeing her husband killed in front of her eyes hadn’t unduly bothered her. He had been an evil, manipulating individual and it would take a better person than she would ever be to mourn his loss. A huge shadow had been lifted from her life and she was now at liberty to live that life as she saw fit, free from outside interference.
Lord Torbay had only returned to the house just before dinner was announced, looking tired and drawn. She felt as though she was intruding on a relationship that neither party was yet willing to admit to and was tempted to leave him and Olivia alone. She would have done so, had she not been so anxious to hear how matters had progressed.
‘All right then, Jake,’ Olivia said. ‘Put us out of our misery and tell us who the inside man actually was.’
‘Woodstock’s code was easy enough to break,’ he replied. ‘The man is called Jennings, he—’
‘Alfred Jennings?’ Olivia’s eyebrows elevated. ‘Lord Jennings’ son?’
‘The very same. He is, or should I say was, a newly elected member to the House and one of the people whom I suspected all along. He was tipped to go far as a Whig but was actually a secret supporter of Marx. It was easy enough for him to convince the Sikhs the diamond belonged to their country. He was planning to make away with it himself, of course, and leave evidence leading to your husband, Lady Eva.’
‘Harrumph.’ Olivia elevated her chin. ‘I never did like the man and I can’t abide people using positions of power to undermine the monarchy.’
Lord Torbay sent her a smile that heated the air between them, causing Eva to feel even more like an outsider than she already did. ‘Jennings has been arrested and no longer has any power to usurp.’
‘And Eva has her daughter back, so everything worked out for the best.’
***
Isaac insisted upon dressing the following morning. His wound caused him some discomfort, but was bearable. Jake was at the Home Office, making his report, leaving Isaac free to seek out Eva. He knew exactly where to find her but was only able to negotiate the stairs to the nursery floor frustratingly slowly.
She was playing with her daughter, singing to her at the same time. Isaac remained in the open doorway, drinking in the sight of their laughing faces. She must have sensed his presence and turned towards him, a question in her eyes.
‘What are you doing out of bed?’
‘Looking for you.’
‘You shouldn’t be up yet.’
‘Come and walk in the garden with me, Eva. I want to talk to you.’
She glanced at Grace, then back at him, and nodded. She kissed her daughter’s soft curls and stood up. They walked side by side in the gardens for some time without speaking. Isaac knew precisely what he wished to say to her, but now the time had come, he was nervous and unsure of his reception.
‘Jake mentioned this morning that your husband had made no will,’ he said, watching her closely to see how the mention of that odious man affected her. ‘That means you inherit everything and are a rich woman.’
Eva shuddered. ‘I want nothing to do with his ill-gotten gains.’
‘Think carefully. You have your daughter’s welfare to consider.’
‘That is true, but even so—’
‘Not all of his fortune was amassed illegally.’
‘No, I suppose not.’ She absently plucked at a leaf, shredding it to pieces and then allowing it to flutter to the ground. ‘Perhaps I could put something aside for Gracie and give the rest to charitable causes.’
Isaac smiled. How typical of her generous na
ture. They reached a bench overlooking a pretty bed of spring flowers and Isaac invited her to sit.
‘This is hardly an appropriate time,’ he said, claiming her hand. ‘But my heart is too full to allow for delay. I love you, Eva, and it would make me the happiest man on this earth if you would agree to be my wife.’
She sent him a bemused look. ‘Your wife?’
‘I know I should have waited to ask you. You’ve been a widow for less than a day, but you must forgive the little foibles of a man who is violently in love.’
‘Our feelings for one another are passionate.’ She smiled. ‘Thanks to you, I am now an expert on the subject of passion.’ She wouldn’t look at him. ‘But consider, Isaac, my situation makes Olivia’s appear respectable by comparison. My husband was a traitor.’
‘But you were not.’
‘I will be your mistress, if you’ll have me. I cannot bear to give you up altogether, but I won’t bring shame upon you by marrying you.’
‘Mistress? I don’t want a damned mistress, Eva.’ He grabbed her shoulders. ‘I’m proud of you and want the world to know it. I want you for my wife and won’t settle for anything less.’
Her eyes brimmed with tears. ‘Your family would despise me.’
‘They only wish to see me happy and will come to love you almost as much as I do.’
‘Think about what you are asking me. I know you believe you love me, but when you have had time to reflect you will realise I’m right.’
‘I haven’t evaded all the match-making mamas all these years only to toss my freedom away on a whim. What I feel for you is in here.’ He thumped his chest. ‘I knew it the moment I first saw you. Something changed inside me and I sensed I had finally met the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.’ He ran a hand distractedly through his hair. ‘I’m begging you, Eva. We have come too far, overcome too many obstacles, to allow society’s view to prevent us from being happy.’
‘Well…’ She bit her lower lip, clearly conflicted, giving Isaac hope.
‘Do you love me?’ he asked.
Saving Grace (Victorian Vigilantes Book 1) Page 22