Mac had not put down the poker. He’d seen men in Campbell’s state before. It was a madness that took hold of them. They were capable of anything.
“I loved her,” Campbell shouted, the words etched in pain. Mac understood. Years ago, he’d cried these same words to his brother over Moira, and now he knew the answer.
“She didn’t love you,” Mac said, as kindly as he could. “You can’t have what doesn’t want to be yours.”
Campbell’s shoulders dropped. “I can’t have her now that she is dead, either. I didn’t mean to hurt her. I forgot myself.”
“I believe you—” Mac started, but Campbell wasn’t listening to him.
Instead, he spun around and, before Mac could grasp his intent, threw himself through the window behind him. He crashed through the glass panes, breaking the wood framing, and hurling his body out into air.
Mac charged forward as if he could stop him, but Campbell was already gone. He fell heavily to the ground. Mac stared out the window at the figure sprawled on the drive. Even from here, he could see that the man was dead.
Several servants ran up behind him to peer at the body. Others began untying the earl.
Sabrina ran to Mac.
Her arms went around him, and she hugged him tighter than he’d ever been held before.
“I am so happy you are alive,” she said. “So happy. And you are safe, Cormac. Safe. Everyone knows now that you didn’t kill that girl. They can’t hang you.”
Mac nodded, momentarily overcome by both the suddenness of Campbell’s action as well as the realization that he was free.
He was free.
The gag was removed from the earl’s mouth. “He was going to murder us,” Tay said, his voice hoarse with excitement. “He wanted to butcher us and blame Enright. Tricked me he did. Told me he wanted to talk, then he set about that grisly business.”
“Why hadn’t he murdered you?” Mac asked. “When we came to the house, you were already tied.”
“His men had thought to use the knives in the kitchen. My knives. Campbell would have none of it. He feared a servant might discover them if they went down to Annefield’s kitchen. He was angry they hadn’t been prepared and that they hadn’t brought Sabrina or you to him. They were gone an hour, leaving us tied up. We heard them plotting everything. Campbell said people would believe you were out for revenge.” He took a deep breath and released it. “I need a drink.”
Mac gently released Sabrina’s hold and walked to Richard Davidson, who had almost had his brains bashed in. Mac removed the gag from the man’s mouth.
“Will you tell the truth?” he asked the magistrate.
Sabrina’s father looked at her, at his brother, and then to the floor. “Yes. Just untie me.”
Chapter Twenty
The truth.
Those words were music to Sabrina’s ears.
Mac began untying the reverend and the earl. A footman returned with the understatement that it appeared as if Mr. Campbell was dead. He also assured everyone that the men who had come with Owen Campbell were securely locked in the earl’s library to await the magistrate’s decision on what to do with them.
“Whisky,” the earl said. “That is what needs to be done now. Fetch a tray—”
“And make it tea,” Sabrina said, countermanding the earl’s order. “No whisky for you, Uncle, until we hear the story. Good, black tea, and something to eat if you have it.” She herself was starved, and she was certain Cormac was as well. The footman bowed and left the room.
Mac seemed concerned over the Reverend Kinnion. The wound he had received the night of his escape was not healing as well as one could wish it, and he was slightly feverish.
“He has been that way for some time,” her father said.
“Where have you both been?” Sabrina asked.
“Hiding. In the attic.”
Mac had Sabrina ask the servants for some black powder and clean rags.
“He sounds as if he is a physician,” her father said.
“That he is,” Sabrina said.
“Then he isn’t an earl?” her uncle asked. “He said he was an earl when he called.”
“He is also an earl,” Sabrina was happy to inform them. “Lord Ballin.”
“One with less money than the earl of Tay,” Cormac muttered as he checked the reverend’s eyes.
“Being an aristocrat is difficult nowadays,” her uncle agreed.
“Will Kinnion be all right?” her father asked.
To everyone’s relief, Cormac nodded. “We need to stop the infection, but the gunpowder should do that.” He faced the others. “What happened?” he asked. “How did this all come about? And let me warn you, we already know a good portion of it.”
“We found the gambling marker for what you owed Owen Campbell, Father,” Sabrina said.
Her father groaned. “The thing has been the bane of my life.” He looked to his brother. “It is his fault.”
“I didn’t ask you to gamble,” the earl said.
“I was trying to win back what you’d lost,” her father said. He looked to Sabrina. “He’s cost us everything. I didn’t realize how bad it was. I thought Aileen or Tara had some control over him—”
“My daughters don’t lead me around by my nose,” the earl protested.
“We’d be better off if they did,” her father said.
A knock on the door signaled that the servants had arrived with the items Cormac needed. Mac made quick work of doctoring the hapless clergyman while servants appeared with trays of food. After he had been untied, Ingold had wanted to oversee the servants, but Sabrina made him stay where he was. He’d suffered like her father and her uncle. He needed a moment to regroup.
Once the servants were gone, and everyone had food, she pressed for more information. “So, you owed Owen Campbell money that we didn’t have,” she said to her father.
“And I wanted to marry Lilly—”
The earl interrupted with a sharp bark of laughter. “I don’t know why. You don’t have to marry her.”
“Shut your mouth,” his brother said.
Sabrina stared in surprise at her father. Everyone did. He never talked back to the earl.
But he had this time. “I’m done with your nonsense. I don’t care any more if you take us all down, but you will not speak of Lilly that way. She’s a good woman, something you wouldn’t recognize unless it came in a whisky keg.”
“You’ve been courting her longer than I suspected,” Sabrina said quietly.
To her surprise, tears filled her father’s eyes. “I’d had my eye on her, especially after this one tossed her aside the way he did, but I’d been afraid to approach her. Lilly has money. It hurts a man’s pride for the woman to have more. When Tay told me how much he’d lost, I knew we were ruined. I thought to win some of it back. Campbell knew my plan and advanced me some funds. I believed I could use my intelligence and win. However, I lost my own blunt and didn’t know how I was going to repay Campbell.”
“Until he asked you to witness against me,” Mac surmised.
Sabrina felt her heart ache as her father wrestled with what he’d done before slowly nodding. “Yes, he asked me to perjure myself. I was in Edinburgh the night of the murder, but I didn’t see you with that girl or see you hit her. She was already dead when Campbell came to me. I’d spoken to him earlier about the marker. I’d begged him to give me time to pay it. I was afraid of going bankrupt, which he promised would happen. Then, a few hours later, he came to me and said he’d give me the marker if I served as a witness against you.”
“Was the marker the only thing Campbell offered?” Mac asked.
“No, he returned most of the land he’d purchased from Tay. Some of it is lost. My brother has sold bits and pieces of it all over England. He’s sold most of his soul as well.”
“Here now,” the earl said. He set his teacup into the saucer he held with one hand. “It’s mine to do with as I wish.”
“Of course,”
his brother answered. “More the fool we.”
“So, who planned the escape?” Sabrina asked.
“I did,” her father said. “My conscience was heavy with what was going to happen. You heard Campbell. He was in love with the girl, mad for her, but she didn’t notice him, and you can imagine what that did to a man with his conceit. From what I understand, he offered to keep her. He told me he poured out his heart. Of course, she refused him. She may have said something about the Irishman, and Campbell hit her. He didn’t stop hitting her until she was dead. He was wild with grief. He claimed he hadn’t known what he was doing. He is the one who had the idea of accusing you,” he said to Cormac. “He’d also be punishing you for being a rival.”
“He was not a good man to have as an enemy,” Cormac said.
“No, he wasn’t,” her father agreed. “I found I couldn’t be at peace with the hanging of an innocent soul. I truly hadn’t believed you would receive a death sentence,” he tried to explain. “In my testimony, I attempted to make a point of its being a crime of passion. Do you remember?”
Cormac frowned. “She was well liked, and passion is no excuse for murder.”
“The law takes it into account,” her father said, “but the judge didn’t. At the most, I had assumed that you would be transported to Queensland. I didn’t believe you would receive a hanging sentence. It was the papers’ fault.”
“Yes, the papers,” Cormac echoed with disbelief.
“Well, if they hadn’t called you the Irish Murderer or any of that nonsense, then no one would have paid attention, and all would be well.”
“Actually, it wouldn’t be well,” Cormac pointed out. “I’d be on the other side of the world.”
Her father made a dismissive sound. “It is better than hanging.”
Sabrina had an urge to box her father’s arrogant ears. Her gaze met Cormac’s. Thank heavens, there was a glint of humor in his eyes. She couldn’t believe he was enjoying himself. Then again, he’d just been handed a reprieve from death.
“When they sentenced you to hang,” her father said, continuing his story, “I couldn’t live with myself. I wrote what friends I had in London, trying to convince them to not approve the death warrant. You see where that took me.”
“Well, I appreciate the effort,” Cormac answered dryly. “However, I truly valued your sending Mr. Kinnion to my cell.”
“That was a disaster,” her father said. “I had bribed the guards to help with the escape. Everything was set. However, they cheated me. They were planning to recapture you and make themselves the heroes of the day. It was all a game to them. Ingold saw one of the guards take aim at Kinnion.”
“I thought the guard was there to help see the escape through,” Ingold admitted. “But then he shot Mr. Kinnion before I realized what was happening and could stop him. I believe he thought the reverend was you,” he added sheepishly.
“It is a wonder I am alive at all,” Cormac observed.
“Fortunately, the guard was not a good shot and I gave him a good solid knock in the head. Mr. Kinnion and I had a harrowing time escaping Edinburgh ourselves. Of course, once the guards discovered that the reverend wasn’t their prisoner, no one cared to keep us. They were afraid we’d let word of the bribe slip.”
“Your escape cost me a fortune,” her father complained. “You can imagine my fury over hearing the money had gone for naught.”
Money they didn’t have, Sabrina realized . . . but this time, the thought didn’t create a tightness in her chest. She took a step toward Cormac, startled by a new realization. She didn’t feel responsible for her father. It was a heady thing to release years of what had been an unhealthy habit.
“The one lucky thing,” her father was saying, “is that the bullet meant for Enright—”
“Ballin,” Cormac said, interrupting him.
“What?” her father questioned.
“Enright is my family name, but I have the title Ballin. Lord Ballin,” he reminded them. “I’ve denied it for too long. But it is my heritage and my right.”
“Another penniless earl,” her uncle opined. “We are a growing company.”
Cormac didn’t even spare him a glance. Instead, he addressed the Reverend Kinnion. “You are fortunate you were not killed.”
“Yes, fortunate,” the Reverend Kinnion echoed weakly.
“I had nothing to do with any of this,” the earl of Tay said. “Nothing. May I have a drink now?”
“No,” Sabrina and her father said in unison.
“Very well,” the earl responded, and launched into his own version of events. “Ingold brought Kinnion here. I hid him. I was going to say something to Richard, but before I had the opportunity, my brother arrived, telling me about the botched escape. So I hid both of them.”
“How long were you going to hide them?” Cormac asked.
Her uncle frowned and scratched his chin. “At least until Owen calmed down. He was not happy you didn’t hang. Until your neck was stretched or you had a bullet in your back, he feared someone might realize he’d killed that girl. Funny what men will do for a woman, isn’t it?” The earl clanked his cup on his saucer as if pointing out it was empty. Sabrina ignored him.
Instead, she said, “I was very worried when you left without a word, Father. I thought you were with Mrs. Bossley. She thought you were with me. Can you imagine what would have happened if you’d had an accident, and neither one of us knew where you were?”
Her father didn’t take the chiding well. “I was trying to save my neck.”
“How did Campbell know you were all here?” Cormac asked.
“He didn’t,” the earl said. “That is the damn funny thing of it. He came here tonight to murder me, then he found the others. So he decided to finish us all off. He didn’t want any witnesses. You know, murdering that chit really was a crime of passion. He probably could have been excused for doing it.”
Sabrina didn’t know how to justify such a comment. She gave her uncle her back. “Mr. Campbell sent his men for Cormac,” Sabrina said. “Our house is in complete disarray.”
Her father shrugged. “It is small matter, considering.” And he was right. “I feel a fool.”
No one argued with him, not even his brother.
“Well now,” Cormac said, “the time has come to undo it all. I expect you gentlemen to confess to the Edinburgh court.”
There was a moment of stunned silence.
The earl spoke. “We can’t do that. Why, we would find ourselves in trouble.”
Sabrina’s temper rose, but the Reverend Kinnion saved her uncle from the tongue-lashing she had in mind as he said, “Absolutely. It must be done. Confession is good for the soul. I’m finished with this sort of adventure.”
She looked to her father. “Sir?” she prodded.
“We have no choice,” he admitted. “I pray they understand. At least now I don’t need to worry about paying off Campbell.”
“Ah, there is that,” the earl agreed, and repeated with more enthusiasm, “There is that. How lucky can we be? I’d like to drink to our luck. We should celebrate it.”
Everyone ignored him.
“Will I be in much trouble?” the Reverend Kinnion asked. “I’m certain the bishop will not be happy.”
“Don’t worry about the bishop,” Sabrina said. “You have a wife who will be overjoyed to have you home. And as for you,” she said, reaching for Cormac’s hand, “a new life is beginning for you. One where you will wear your title proudly.”
He nodded and, for a second, appeared almost overcome. She could understand why. He was free. He’d wanted freedom, and now he had it.
And then he surprised her by lacing his fingers with hers. He looked down into her eyes, his serious, somber. There was a moment of hesitation, as if he was about to do something over which he was uncertain.
He spoke. “Sabrina Davidson, will you be my lady? Will you marry me?”
For a second, Sabrina was unsure she’d heard him cor
rectly. “You are asking for my hand?”
Cormac nodded. “If you will have me. I’ve little to my name, but I have skills, and I want to build a life with you—”
“Is this just because of what has happened between us?” she asked, needing to know if his feelings were true or if he was doing what was honorable or what he believed was expected.
But before he could answer, her father’s harsh voice broke in. “Take your hands off my daughter. I’ll be damned to hell before I allow her to marry an Irishman. Earl or no.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Mac couldn’t remember a time when words had ignited his anger into a rage. He was tired and covered with bruises from saving these men’s worthless hides.
He hadn’t even considered asking Davidson for his daughter’s hand because Sabrina was his. They belonged to one another, and he’d run through the man who would say him nay.
But then there was the voice of doubt. He’d never loved Moira as much as he did Sabrina. She was fire to Moira’s ice. However, what if she agreed with her father? What if she obeyed him—?
“I’m going with him, Father.” She faced her parent, her head high, her stance determined. “I love him. I don’t want to live my life without him.”
Mac could have fallen to his knees in gratitude. Her love was not false. And it had to be love and love alone she felt because he had nothing else to offer her.
He swept her into his arms. Her eyes shone with the truth of her love. “You are so beautiful,” he said. “So incredibly wonderful. And I love you, Sabrina Davidson. Do you hear me? I love you.”
And then he kissed her with all the passion of his being.
She kissed him back. Thoroughly.
Their kiss broke, and Mac had to say, “You are becoming very good at this.”
“I pray to become better,” she answered, and he laughed. No matter what challenges were in his future, he could overcome all with this intelligent, vibrant woman by his side.
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