by Heather Boyd
“You haven’t got the bollocks for it,” the man beneath him croaked. “They deserve to die; slowly and painfully for all the evil they have done.”
Leopold leaned closer until their faces were inches apart. “To think it comes to this. I’ll kill you if you harm the boy. I’ll make the old duke proud of the pain I’ll inflict on you.”
“Leopold, no,” Mercy cried out. This was getting out of hand.
“No, King Leopold, don’t kill me.” The man on the floor mocked. His head lifted. “You couldn’t kill me. You couldn’t kill your own brother.”
Brother? Mercy gaped at the stranger. Brother? Who was this? She put her hands on the floor to support herself.
“Oh, I could do that in a minute if you so much as twitch toward the boy.”
The doors burst open and Allen and Wilcox raced toward Leopold. They caught the stranger’s arms and legs and pinned him to the floor. That it took three men to hold him still alarmed Mercy. What would have happened to Edwin if Leopold had not come home before his brother?
Allen leaned down to stare at the stranger. “Bugger me, but that looks like...”
A look of disgust crossed Leopold’s face as he stood. “It is,” Leopold growled. “I’ll get something to tie him up with. Once he’s secure, I’ll decide what to do with him.”
Leopold destroyed the drapes getting the ties, but Mercy was beyond caring. While they wrestled the squirming brother into a chair and bound him to it, Mercy tried to make sense of it all. The stranger wasn’t really a stranger. He had called Leopold brother, which made this man either Oliver or Tobias Randall. Leopold’s long lost family. Mercy curled over in despair. All this time, and the danger had come from within their own family.
After much swearing, Leopold left his captive and lifted her from the floor. He held her in his arms, squeezed gently, and then guided her to a chair set at a distance from the struggling man.
Leopold’s skin was ashen. His dark eyes dim. Desolate. “I am so sorry. I will deal with him and then you will never have to see us again. I promise.”
Mercy caught his hand as his words sunk in. “Who is he?”
He glanced over his shoulder. “This is Tobias Randall, my soon to be dearly departed younger brother.”
Mercy clung to him. “You cannot harm him. Not after you’ve finally found him. Or he’s found you, in this case. Please, don’t do anything rash.”
“I’d like to know why the hell I can’t. Think of what he’s done to you. He’s shamed us all with his actions. I cannot expose the boy to the likes of him. I cannot take a risk with Edwin’s life even for the sake of my brother. We’ll be gone at first light.”
Her eyes filled and tears fell down her cheeks beyond her power to stop.
He brushed them away with his thumb. “Life will be better for you soon, sweetheart. I promise you that.”
Mercy shook her head. “It won’t be.”
“I don’t have any other choice.” Leopold left her, dragged a chair toward his brother and settled into it, sitting backward as he faced his errant brother. “What the hell do you think you’re doing here?”
A chilling smile curled Tobias’ lips. “Getting revenge for us. The duchy must fall to better hands.”
“Fool. The duchy is already in better hands. They are gone.”
“The boy is the last,” Tobias growled.
Mercy trembled at the hatred in his voice.
Leopold shook his head. “The boy is innocent of everything.”
“That will change. The evil is in their blood.”
A harsh bark of laughter left Leopold’s throat. “Not a possibility, although with this stunt, you leave me with doubts about our own purity. What gives you the right to terrify a woman?”
“Rosemary’s tender feelings weren’t spared. They dragged her away screaming blue murder. I never saw her again.”
Leopold’s head dropped low. Mercy wanted to go to him and give him what comfort she could, but she was a little afraid of Tobias Randall. She didn’t want to get too close just yet. “Tell me what happened that day.”
The pain that crossed Tobias’ face broke Mercy’s heart. Any animation that had been there before, even anger, had vanished behind a violent mask of desolation. He drew in a shuddering breath and met his brother’s gaze without flinching. “The carriage wheels broke, two of them at once, and we were pitched to the gutter. Rosemary and I scrambled out first, but Mama was hurt and couldn’t be moved. The grooms were dead on the ground. Papa sent Rosemary and I back to the last village we had passed to get help for our mother. He wasn’t strong enough to lift her out without causing her great pain. When we came back with the blacksmith, there were many horses surrounding the carriage, two men standing on top of it.”
Tobias closed his eyes. “They shot into the carriage where our parents lay trapped. They didn’t make another sound. The blacksmith we’d brought with us to help disappeared into the trees.”
When Tobias opened his eyes, they were as cold as a midwinter blizzard. “Rosemary ran at them, shrieking like a fiend. One of them, a groom from Romsey, caught her and tossed her up onto his horse, slung over his thighs like a common trollop. He took her away, screaming at the top of her lungs.”
Leopold’s hands had curled into fists on the chair. “And you.”
“Impressed.” Tobias’ jaw clenched tight on the word and Mercy had the distinct feeling that so much more had happened to the young man than he was prepared to admit to. Her heart ached for the grim picture his single word evoked. A life lived onboard ship was cruel if you were not well connected. Men who were impressed didn’t often survive. According to Leopold, Tobias had been only thirteen at the time he disappeared. It didn’t surprise her that Tobias Randall had grown into a bitter man. Not after seeing his parents murdered, his sister taken by force. The old duke had truly been an evil man to have done this to his own family.
The difficulty she faced was deciding how deeply Tobias’ resentment, his need for revenge, was planted. Would he be safe around Edwin if his bindings were untied?
Leopold’s head bowed and then he tossed it from side to side, as if he was trying to dispel the image Tobias’ words painted. Mercy wished him luck. She doubted she would ever sleep well until Rosemary was found, whole and sound again. Safe here with them.
“When did you return to Romsey?”
“Last new moon.”
A heavy frown marred Leopold’s face when he raised it. “You’ve been prowling the estate for weeks? Why not just knock on the door and make good your threats? Why behave so sickeningly?”
Tobias lifted his chin defiantly. “Wanted to make sure who was who around here. You were dead, too, or so I was led to believe. Never expected to see you dancing to their tune. “ Tobias sneered in Mercy’s direction and she shrank away from him. “Or is it her tune you’re dancing to now. The rose arbor is a lovely quiet spot for a quick tumble, not that you were quick or quiet. Voices carry well across water.”
Mercy winced as Leopold cuffed Tobias across the jaw. “Speak ill of the duchess again and I’ll drown you.”
Tobias tossed his head to shake off the pain. “Won’t drown. I know how to swim now.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” Allen snorted. “Last time I had to fish you out by your boots.”
Mercy stared at them. Now the Randall’s were together in one place, there was a definite resemblance between them. It still astonished her Allen, the old duke’s illegitimate son, was here at all. But since he had been no trouble for her, she had no good reason to turn him away. Others might look down their noses at a duke’s bastard but he was still family. His boys were the only children near Edwin’s age and they played well together. And Allen did love working with the horses. There was no reason to make a fuss.
Tobias threw Allen a dirty look. “Who the hell are you?”
“Our cousin, Charles Allen. Remember him? He saved your life. Isn’t having the family all together positively grand?” Leopold mutte
red sarcastically. He looked over his shoulder at Mercy. “Your Grace, I am confident this is your stalker. Our problem, if you will. Would you mind giving us some privacy? I’d like a few moments alone with my youngest brother. He needs to learn his proper place again before it is too late for us.”
Mercy could understand Leopold wanting some privacy with his brother. He had been searching for him a long time. But she did wonder at Leopold’s eagerness to get her out of the room. What was he going to do when she had gone? “I’ll check on Edwin, and then return. I’d like your assurance that you will both be here and he will be breathing when I get back.”
Leopold shook his head. “I cannot make a promise about the latter.”
“Then I am not going to leave,” Mercy replied sweetly. She sat back in her chair and clasped her hands in her lap. She hoped she was giving him the impression that she was not going away anytime soon. He could not harm his brother. He’d never forgive himself.
“All right, all right. I won’t harm him as much as I would like.”
Mercy squinted at him. That was at least a fair concession. “Good. I’ve no desire to face questions should a body be found in the woods. We will keep this matter within the family and, since I am the nominal head of the family until Edwin comes of age, I say he lives. There are many more ways to punish him. A haircut and bath would be a very good start.”
Leopold smiled; his dimples as deep as ever Mercy had seen them.
Although she was attempting to make light of the danger that was Tobias Randall, Mercy climbed unsteadily to her feet and left them alone, her thoughts churning. To think Leopold’s own brother, a man he had been desperate to find, had been at fault all along. What would Leopold have done if he’d had his pistol in his pocket? Would he have shot first and asked questions later. Mercy had read his intent in his eyes the moment before he had leaped forward. He had meant her to escape, leaving him alone with the stranger.
But he surely would not have been at peace with the guilt of killing his own brother. Perhaps Tobias could be persuaded the threat from the old duke’s line was gone from the earth. Well, except for Mr. Allen and his sons. Since it seemed Leopold trusted Allen, Tobias might do the same given enough time. What would it take to make Edwin safe around Tobias Randall?
There had to be a way to salvage this rather than rip the family apart any further. Perhaps he needed to hear and see the truth about Edwin. But that would require Edwin’s presence and two sets of dimples on display. If Tobias could be appeased then they both might feel more comfortable around his brother.
She would find Edwin and after a little bit of time had passed, and tempers had cooled considerably, Mercy would introduce Tobias Randall to Edwin properly. His cousin. His nephew. Mercy was not sure what to call their relationship. But if Tobias could see Edwin’s resemblance to Leopold, maybe he would calm down much more quickly.
“Do you know where my sister went, Wilcox?”
“I’m afraid not, Your Grace. She sped past us with the boy in her arms and fled upstairs. I was distracted by Tobias Randall’s arrival. Now that you mention it, it has been very quiet up there. Shall I fetch her for you?”
“No, I can manage. I shall find them myself.” She glanced into the room she had just left. “Perhaps, it would be better if you were to stay close to the discussions taking place in there. Leopold is in somewhat of a temper with his younger brother. I should not like anything unfortunate to occur in my absence.”
A slow smile spread across her butlers face. “I will ensure no lasting damage is done. It will depend on whether the lad will be reasonable.”
Mercy shook her head. Men. Why were they so eager to do things the hard way? She’d never understand them. She doubted she should try. The only two males she had to worry about were Edwin and Leopold. They were more than enough of a challenge for now.
Mercy hurried upstairs and along to the family wing, mind whirring with plans and hopes for the future ahead. She slipped inside Edwin’s room, expecting to hear his greeting, but was met with utter silence. Although she searched every room in the family wing—including her husband’s and Leopold’s bedchamber—she found no trace of them.
She headed downstairs to the kitchens, wondering if Blythe had taken Edwin there for something more to eat. It was out of the ordinary for Blythe to visit the kitchen, but it had been that sort of a day. Her heart pounded, however, when she saw no sign of Edwin or Blythe at the end of the long table in the cavernous kitchens.
Cook wiped his flour covered hands on a cloth and came forward. “Can I help you, Your Grace?”
Mercy swallowed the lump in her throat. “I’m looking for the duke and Lady Venables. Have you seen them?”
“No, I’ve not.”
Mercy turned around in a circle to peer into each doorway, hoping they were approaching from another direction. Blythe knew the danger was caught and captured upstairs. There was no need to hide now. But they had vanished into thin air as if they were still in danger. They couldn’t be gone. They just couldn’t. There must have been something they had overlooked.
Mercy took a step backward. There was no other reason for Blythe to be so hard to find. Panic gripped her. Tobias must have an accomplice in the abbey. They must have taken her son and Blythe away from her while she and Leopold had been distracted by Tobias’ return.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Leopold paced the drawing room, glancing occasionally at his youngest brother with competing feelings of alarm and joy. He wanted to embrace him, welcome him home properly but it was unsafe to loosen his bindings. He would hurt Edwin if he was released.
And then Leopold would kill him.
“I cannot believe you told the duchess about me,” Allen growled.
“You try keeping secrets from her,” Leopold muttered. “She’s a force of nature.”
Allen scowled. “Will you be needing me much longer? I’ve got duties out in the stables that need attendance.”
“No.” Leopold held up his pistol—he’d taken it from Mercy’s pocket as he’d helped her to a chair—and turned it this way and that. “I can manage him if he becomes difficult.”
Allen’s frown grew. “You’re not cold-blooded enough. Neither is he, by the way. He wouldn’t have gone through with it.”
“How can you be so sure?” Leopold asked.
“He’s been full of piss and wind since he was a boy. He and my sainted brother, Edwin, had that in common. Some things never change.”
Tobias looked as safe as a pirate standing before an open chest of gold bullion. His hair was long and unkempt, skin deeply tanned. Clothing aged and untended with a definite seaman’s aroma. Leopold’s nose twitched. But did those things make him dangerous? His eyes were the same ones he remembered, golden brown in a tanned and scarred face. Once they had been trusting, if slightly mischievous. Life had not been kind to Tobias and Leopold’s heart ached for what appeared lost.
Allen left and they were alone.
Tobias tried his bonds one more time. “Untie me and we can end this. You deserve to be duke.”
“I deserve nothing of the sort you idiot,” he growled. “I cannot untie you. You cannot be allowed free inside the abbey. I don’t trust you.”
Tobias scowled. “But you trust them. She might look like Christmas morning, but for all you know she could be bringing reinforcements.”
“Mercy wouldn’t harm you. And she’s had other punishments for me and plenty of time for it.”
Tobias rolled his eyes. “She got you hooked all right, but wasn’t talking about the duchess. It’s the other one I’d be watching.”
“Other one? Lady Venables?”
Tobias shrugged. “If that’s her name. I’ve seen her about. Always talking to herself and the dead. Roams the forest leaving carrots in her wake for little bunnies to feast upon. Mad as a hatter, she is. If I was sleeping here I’d do it with one eye open.”
“Gray rabbits?” A feeling of dread crushed Leopold’s chest. He yan
ked his brother’s chin up and held his gaze. “When did you spy on Lady Venables? When, damn it?”
“Here now,” Tobias protested, “don’t you be getting rough with me. If you’re bedding them both, you’re a lot braver than I gave you credit for.”
Leopold squeezed Tobias’ jaw between his fingers. “I swear to God I will kill you if you do not answer my question.”
“Last week. Maybe Thursday morning. As the sun rose.”
Blythe could have had ample time to capture the rabbits, secret them into the abbey, and leave the dead creatures to be found. The woman had free reign inside the abbey and grounds. Mercy would never suspect her sister.
He shook his brother. “Did you or did you not slaughter animals and leave them inside the abbey to frighten the duchess? Your answer will decide the fate of your miserable life.”
Tobias’ eyes widened. “I’m not mad.”
“But you could threaten a boy.”
“I was threatening our slimy cousin to begin with. I did not know he was dead until I returned to England and came back to Romsey. There’s not much news to be heard in the places I’ve been sent to. It’s not like anyone ever wrote back to me. When I found him gone, I settled on giving the duchess a good fright and taking a look at the boy so I knew who’d be coming for me later.”
Leopold slumped and did a quick calculation. The first dead animals had been left well before Tobias had returned to England, if he could be believed. Would he lie about it?
Leopold wasn’t sure, but if Tobias hadn’t been the culprit then there had been two threats to the boy all along; the letters from Tobias and the other grim business from someone infinitely more cold blooded.
The door burst open and Mercy raced across the room. “What have you done?” she shrieked.
Tobias recoiled. “Nothing.”
Leopold caught Mercy and held her back as her fingers stretched to claw at Tobias’ face. Mercy struggled toward Tobias. “Where are they?”
“Who are you talking about?” Tobias squeaked. “I’ve been tied up here for the past quarter hour.”