Still Wicked

by Ayers, Kathleen

  Well, that was unsettling.

  “You’re sure they’re all dead?” Gustave asked.

  “I dumped the laudanum in while cook wasn’t looking and added a bit more spice to cover the smell. Good thing I did because Dolly, suspicious bastard, sacked me. There’s enough laudanum in there to put them all asleep permanently. I promise, my love.” Jane stood on tiptoe to pat Gustave’s cheek. “We’ve plenty of time to ransack this place. No one will stop us, except maybe the mad woman in the coach.” The pair moved through the bathing room and into Kelso’s quarters.

  She placed a hand over her mouth as a tear ran down her cheek. Jane had killed the staff? Bertie? Dolly? Cook? Elizabeth was too late. They’d all died because of her and her mother’s obsession. She carefully opened the case, her fingers running along the end of one pistol.

  Thank you, McMannish.

  A shadowy form at the door caught her eye, sliding in front of the bed, creeping silently in the direction of Kelso’s rooms. At first, she thought it could be Dolly, but no, the form was leaner, moving with athletic grace as he made his way around the side of the room.

  Kelso. Elizabeth’s heart leapt. He was alive and here. But there was something wrong. She could see the way he hugged the wall, almost using it for support.

  He’s hurt.

  A whizzing sound followed by a thump met her ears.

  “Jane!” Gustave uttered her name before his large body crumpled and fell to the floor with a thud. The contents of the sack spilled, jewelry and silver rolling everywhere. He was making an odd choking sound as his feet kicked against the floor.

  Jane put down her lamp. She shrieked Gustave’s name, her voice echoing in the still silence of the house.

  “You should put pressure on that. If you do, he’ll probably live. But of course, you know that. Nurse Croft.”

  Elizabeth watched as Jane dumped the remaining contents from the pillowcase, wadded the linen together and pressed it against Gustave’s wound.

  “You’ve killed him,” Jane screamed. “I should have murdered you myself, but she wanted to do it. I could have poisoned your food. Slit your throat while you slept.”

  “He’ll be healed in time to hang,” Kelso drawled, but his voice was unsteady.

  “Gustave did nothing.” The surly maid was undone, weeping and pressing the cloth to the now unconscious footman. “He’ll die. Gustave!”

  Elizabeth started to slide out from underneath her bed when another lamp appeared behind Jane. Skirts rustled. The circle of light grew to reveal her mother, her face and front of her gown bloodied. She set her lamp on the bed and looked down at Gustave’s prone form. “Jane, dear, I may need your assistance.” She brought up the pistol in her hand, the other behind her back.

  Jane shot Mother a look of pure hatred. “I know what you did to Abigail.”

  “And what did I do?” Mother said imperiously as Elizabeth scrambled from beneath the bed. “We were taking a walk. I wanted to make sure she hadn’t said anything about you to Mother Hildegard. You should thank me, Jane.”

  Elizabeth struggled to get out of her hiding place, her skirts catching on the foot of the bed. She tugged at the velvet, desperately trying to get loose. One of the pistols spun away from her, but she grabbed the other firmly in her hand.

  “Hello, Jeanette.” Her husband pulled a weapon from his waistband and cocked it at her mother. Even from Elizabeth’s position across the room she could see his hand tremble. “Fancy seeing you tonight. Your nose is a mess. Where the fuck is my wife?”

  “Crude, aren’t you? Elizabeth, that miserable little troll, broke my nose and ran off.” Her mother carelessly waved the pistol. “I thought I’d find her here. But, not to worry, I’ll locate her. I can see a brick to the head didn’t quite do the trick. I never imagined I’d have so much trouble getting rid of you.” She pointed the pistol at Kelso. “But at this range, I can’t possibly miss.”

  Several things happened at once. Mother threw something large and heavy at Kelso’s head. A candlestick.

  He ducked, his body moving unnaturally wide to avoid being hit, his normally fluid speed dulled by his head injury. The pistol he held fell from his hands.

  Mother smiled and pulled the trigger of her pistol, the recoil throwing her back against the bed.

  Elizabeth screamed as Kelso fell to the ground. Every bone in her body begged to run to him, but in doing so, she’d lose her one advantage. Surprise. She forced herself to remain perfectly still.

  Mother brushed off her skirts and looked into the darkness of Elizabeth’s room. “Come Elizabeth, dear. Come see if I’ve made you a widow.”

  Jane was sobbing loudly, completely oblivious to Mother, pressing the bloody pillowcase to Gustave, Kelso’s knife protruding from his chest.

  “Now we’re ready to go. Elizabeth, please don’t be difficult.” She shook her head as Elizabeth refused to come any farther. “Jane, please grab hold of my daughter and we can depart. Do you know how to drive a coach?”

  “I’m not leaving him,” Jane snarled back at Jeanette. “You can bloody well grab her yourself.”

  Elizabeth walked forward, careful to hide the pistol she carried in her skirts. She moved to stand over to her husband, relieved to see him move.

  “Elizabeth,” Kelso’s voice rasped. “Your mother’s a terrible shot.”

  She leaned over, her hands running over his chest, her eyes never leaving where Mother was snarling wildly as she looked in Kelso’s direction.

  “My leg, little nun.” He sucked in his breath. “Christ, Elizabeth, move back.”

  “I am having the most unbelievable run of poor luck. I suppose if I slit your throat, Kelso, that may finally do the trick.” Mother leaned over Gustave, her fingers sliding over the hilt of the knife sticking out of his chest. “Gustave won’t mind, Jane. At least, he won’t mind much longer.”

  “No!” Jane slapped at Mother while trying to keep the pillowcase pressed to her lover’s chest. “If you pull it out, he’ll die. Please.”

  Mother grabbed Jane by the collar of her dress and cracked the maid’s head against the foot of the bed. “I always found you insolent, Jane,” she said as the nurse slumped to the floor. Mother then turned and pulled the knife from Gustave, who made a terrible groan of pain as the knife left his body. Once the blade was clear, the footman’s mouth opened and shut as he gasped for air.

  Mother shook her head and stood, lips curling in a maniacal grin. Her body twitched oddly as she held up the knife, walking purposefully toward Elizabeth and Kelso.

  “I’ll be quick, Elizabeth. But you need to stand back. I don’t want you to get blood on you. Oh,” she batted at the air around her, “I suppose it doesn’t matter. We’ll have you change clothes before we go to Langford.”

  “Elizabeth. Run.” Kelso tried to grab her hand, his fingers slick with blood. “You’ve got to go. Please.”

  “She’ll kill you.” Elizabeth glared at her crazed mother who was swinging the knife around as she approached. “And I can’t live without you. Mother, please put down the knife.” Her voice was clear. Determined. She wasn’t afraid.

  Jeanette halted. “No. I don’t think so. You need to be a widow or Langford won’t take you. Move aside, darling. One slash across the throat and it will all be over for your husband. Quick. Or we can watch him bleed out slowly from his leg wound. Your choice.”

  “Please, Elizabeth. Go.” Kelso tried to squeeze her hand.

  “Don’t worry, Kelso,” Elizabeth said under her breath. “I’m an exceptionally good shot. For a nun.”

  “Novice,” he choked out before his head fell to one side.

  “Stop, Mother.” Elizabeth lifted her pistol, watching her mother’s eyes widen in surprise. “While Kelso is certainly unpleasant at times, I’ve no desire to be a widow.”

  “You won’t shoot me. I’m your mother.” Jeanette danced forward, her lips pulled back from her teeth, looking like the feral, crazed animal she was. She lifted the knife up and
ran at Kelso.

  Elizabeth fired.

  Epilogue

  “I’m not certain this is a good idea, Elizabeth.”

  Elizabeth cast a sideways glance at her husband, dashingly handsome in a coat the color of chocolate. He hadn’t shaved, which she was certain infuriated poor Minnow. Her heart fluttered looking at him.

  “I didn’t ask whether you found this to be a good idea or not.” She lay her palm against his thigh. “I have to do this.”

  He gave her a lecherous wink, moving her gloved hand up farther.

  “Stop distracting me, Kelso. I’m going in,” she said as the gray stone walls of the asylum rose up before them.

  “Disobedient little nun,” he grumbled. “We’ll have to discuss your rebellion in our rooms when we return to Beckford Abbey. It may take several hours.” He raised her hand to his lips, pressing a kiss against her wrist. “I may even need to explain your disobedience while soaking in a bath.”

  Elizabeth smiled before turning back to the building before her. By all rights, Mother should be incarcerated in Newgate for the things she’d done. Jane had been. She’d confessed to the murder of Herbert Reynolds, and the attempted murder of Kelso’s staff, screaming all the while that Mother had planned it. Jane and Elizabeth had also told the judge Mother had killed Abigail, but Mother had been deemed insane and not aware of her actions. So Jane had gone to await her sentencing while Mother had been sent here. The judge was a friend of Langford’s.

  Sutton was furious his stepmother wouldn’t pay for her crimes, until Nick had a rather pointed conversation with Langford. Mother wouldn’t be receiving any more help from that direction. Elizabeth wondered what Nick had threatened Langford with but decided it didn’t matter. She didn’t want to know.

  What mattered most to her was her mother, Jeanette Reynolds, would never be permitted to leave the Pritchard Asylum. She wasn’t even allowed out of her cell.

  The coach rolled to a stop before the gates. The walls surrounding Pritchard Asylum were nearly twenty feet high, the gates watched over by guards. If one overlooked those facts, Pritchard Asylum would appear to be no more than an isolated country estate.

  Kelso limped out of the coach, his cane in one hand as he assisted her. She need never worry he would return to running ‘errands’ for the Crown. Her mother’s poor aim had given Kelso a permanent limp, spoiling the athletic grace he’d been known for. That grieved Elizabeth far more than it did her husband.

  His big hand brushed possessively against her stomach as she stood next to him. “I worry—”

  “Don’t, my love. We are fine.”

  Kelso nodded and took her arm as they entered the building. After signing the visitors book, they were directed to one of the wardens, a brutish looking woman who introduced herself as Mavis. She led them up a flight of stairs and down a hall.

  “Don’t get many visitors for the marchioness. Or any at all.”

  Elizabeth only nodded, deciding it made no difference to point out Mother wasn’t actually a marchioness any longer. What did it matter in this place?

  A gate stood before them, which Mavis unlocked and went through, waiting for Elizabeth.

  “Stay here, Kelso,” Elizabeth implored her husband.

  Her husband’s lips drew into a tight line. He was not happy with her decision, but he nodded curtly to Mavis. “I’ll wait for my wife. Guard her as if your life depends on it, because it does.”

  “I’ll be with her, my lord.” Mavis pulled a large bludgeon out of her pocket, not the least put off by Kelso’s threat. She probably thought he was only being overprotective, but Elizabeth knew better.

  Elizabeth followed the warden through the gate, Mavis pausing to lock the gate securely behind them.

  They walked down a long hall before stopping before a wooden door covered with another metal gate. Mavis unlocked both, swinging the door open wide, bludgeon held high. Her eyes searched the room before she nodded and stepped back.

  “Ten minutes, my lady.” She left the door open but locked the gate and stood to the side. “I’ve strict orders in regard to the marchioness.”

  “Thank you,” Elizabeth murmured as she walked into her mother’s cell, carefully stepping over a pile of white blonde hair.

  A woman sat at the window looking down on the courtyard below.

  “I saw you, Elizabeth. I was surprised to see Kelso. I thought I’d killed him.” She laughed, the sound sending a chill up Elizabeth’s spine. “I wish I’d slit his throat, loathsome creature.”

  Mother turned in her direction and Elizabeth immediately took a step back, horrified by her mother’s appearance.

  Jeanette Reynolds was a shell of her former self. Her once porcelain skin was covered with scratches from her own hands. Patches of her hair were missing. The tic near her eye had become much worse, twitching repeatedly at the sight of Elizabeth. Her once perfect, patrician nose was now crooked, broken by the heel of Elizabeth’s slipper.

  “Elizabeth.” Mother tried to lift her right arm, but the limb only flailed against her side, useless. The pistol shot to the shoulder had damaged the bone and nerves, the doctor said. “Are you here because you’re finally ready to accept Langford? I will write him this instant.”

  “No, Mother. I came to tell you I forgive you,” Elizabeth said, impressed she could keep her voice calm under the circumstances.

  Mother’s eye twitched. “Ungrateful troll. I wish you’d never been born. I should have drowned you once I saw you weren’t a boy. Oh, how I wanted a male child. The heir to Cambourne once I’d rid myself of Sutton. And all I got was you and your worthless sister.”

  Elizabeth watched silently as her mother flailed about, continuing her hate-filled tirade. She walked back to the door. “I believe I’m finished, Mavis.”

  Mavis nodded, turning to lock both door and gate before walking Elizabeth back to Kelso.

  Her husband was pacing, his handsome face full of anxiety. He rushed forward, ready to pull her back into the safety of his orbit. He pressed a kiss to her temple. “Little nun,” he whispered, relieved to have her in his arms.

  Kelso hadn’t liked the idea of visiting Jeanette Reynolds, but he had understood why Elizabeth needed to see her one last time.

  Monsters were real. It did no good to hide from them. Elizabeth had tried. But monsters could be vanquished, so that they no longer held any power over you.

  “I love you,” she said to Kelso as her fingertips passed over his hip, to the spot where the Sanskrit symbols decorated his skin.

  Fear nothing.

  * * *

  I hope you enjoyed Still Wicked – if you did – I would be deeply appreciative if you left a review or rated the book.

  Stay tuned for the next in my series Wicked Again. Marissa is thrice-widowed with two grown sons when she begins an affair with the much younger Lord Haddon. Will she allow herself to love again?

  Alexandra Dunforth doesn’t mean to start a scandal, but then she meets the infamous Marquess of Cambourne in Wicked’s Scandal.

  Jemma Manning has no idea she’s just saved the man who will ruin her and her family in the name of revenge in Devil of a Duke

  Do you believe in second chances? Lady Miranda Reynolds, scandal-ridden and a spinster reunites with the man who ruined her in My Wicked Earl.

  Lady Arabella Tremaine is unpleasant, disliked and devious until one man sees past her hard exterior in Wickedly Yours.

  Lady Petra Grantly has always been the perfect young lady, until she crosses paths with an earl who is definitely no gentleman in Tall Dark & Wicked.

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  Copyright © 2020 by Kathleen Ayers

  All rights reserved.

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  Editing:Midnight Owl Editing

  Cover:Covers & Cupcakes