Something cold touched the back of my neck, and the quiet that surrounded me told me that we had been caught.
Dropping my pistol, I eased around. Luther and three guards were standing there with muskets aimed toward our heads.
“A valiant effort,” Luther said to my friends, “but foolish. Allow me to show you what we do to fools.” The guards rushed forward, grabbing Hannah and Betsy. They forced them up and toward a room past the sitting room and the gun room.
Luther patted one of the guards on the shoulder. “Dominic, here, is going to show you the proper way to carve a turkey, beginning with her.” Luther pointed at Hannah.
Dudley leapt forward but was knocked back by Dominic. “Come along, boys, the feast is about to begin.” Luther stepped behind us with his own weapon focused on us. Dudley did not have to be asked twice. He charged after his wife. I followed on his heels.
Hannah and Betsy were wrestled into the dining parlor. When I saw the table, my heart constricted as sickness formed in my gut. The table had ropes on it, and beside the table was all manner of knives.
One guard held Betsy as the other two grabbed Hannah.
She turned fierce, crazed. She threw her body around as a weapon, but she could not break their hold on her wrists. Dudley started forward and Luther’s gun fired, striking near Hannah’s feet. Dudley paused, and I could hear his breath hissing in and out.
The guards lifted a wildly struggling Hannah and placed her on the table. One constrained her while the other tied the ropes around her legs and arms.
Dominic moved to the table of wicked blades and chose a small knife.
Luther leaned close, speaking in my ear. “It is time for you to learn to accept what you cannot change.”
CHAPTER 27
GUINEVERE
Charlotte and I were led into a bedchamber, different from the one Melly had led me into, and there we were forced to remain. As soon as the door was shut and locked from the outside, I set to searching the bedchamber for a way out similar to the one in the other bedchamber.
There had to be a way out. I could not, would not, accept that my uncle had won. If he thought to use my sisters against me, he would have a difficult time persuading me, considering that Charlotte was not my sister as he believed.
Charlotte was seated upon the bed, cradling her arm, as she watched me. Her pretty face was wan, her blonde curls in disarray. She and I had not been alone together in a long time.
Guns began firing outside the house, drawing me to the window. Trying to lift it open, it would not budge. Leaning my face against the glass, I caught sight for an instant of who I thought was William, leading men toward the house.
“The battle is upon us,” I said, more to myself than to Charlotte, but when she whimpered I turned toward her.
She looked so frightened that my heart constricted and I went to sit beside her.
“Why did you do it, Charlotte? Why did you lie?”
Charlotte leaned her forehead against the wooden bed poster. “Have you ever felt useless? As if everything that you do is wrong?” She cast me a sideways glance. “Well, you would never feel that way, but I have for a very long time. And then came Lucas Marx. He made me feel special, valued, as if what I had to say was of worth.”
Hearing his name, even his supposed name, caused me to want to cringe. He had done so much evil in his short time in America, and using Charlotte had only been part. A large part, but small in the grand scheme of his plans.
“I know that I have no right to ask, but I do so hope that one day you can forgive me for the part I played in his plans.” She bit her lip before going on. “That is why I lied. To try to make amends for placing you and your family in harm’s way.”
“Charlotte, forgiveness is a choice, one that I have made. I hold no ill will against you, for that would be casting stones when I, too, have been swayed by the smooth words of a man.”
General Harvey—William—was a king when it came to convincing people to do his bidding. He knew how to turn a phrase to achieve his goals. There was a time when I had done whatever he wanted simply because I thought he cared for me, thought of me as a daughter. Then came the missions where I saw firsthand the cruelty of which he was capable. Compared to my own father, William had often acted no better than Uncle Luther when he wanted his ends achieved. He claimed that everything he did was for my good, and the good of my home, but, every time he sent me on a mission that went against my scruples, it was to protect his own children.
As I ran my mind over several different missions, they were each ones that would have eventually come to the Phantoms’ hands. William was trying to balance protecting me and his family. When I first realized that, I knew that he did not see me as a daughter. He saw me as a mission. He tried to spare his children the difficult missions and instead he and I, or I alone, would handle them. He was never far away in those beginning years, prepared to step in should the mission prove too much for me, but I never allowed that. I never let him see my fear, my dread of what I had to face. I wanted to prove to him that I was just as capable as his beloved children spies. That I, too, should be valued, loved, and protected. Being a princess never swayed his decision to send me on a mission. He once told me that I was his protégé. What he meant was that I was his secret weapon.
“You forgive me?” Charlotte’s blue eyes were so wide, and filled with disbelief that I laughed.
“Of course I do. But, Char,” I said, calling her by the name that her family called her, “you must forgive yourself. Without that, you will never be able to release the self-blame. You will never be able to move on.”
Charlotte considered my words, but said nothing, for the door to our chamber was being unlocked. We each rose as the door was pushed open.
“Hans!” Charlotte exclaimed and ran forward.
She was caught in a strong embrace, her lips crushed under those of my cousin’s. I felt my eyes grow large as I watched the two of them kissing. Moving my startled gaze from them, it rested upon Melly. She was standing behind Freddy, watching the two with an amused interest.
“You know my cousin’s true name?” I asked, loud enough to bring the two lovers back to their senses. Freddy pulled his head back from Charlotte’s though she was content to gaze up into his face, so much love on display.
“She has known since Savannah.” He met her gaze and his own softened so much that it was like looking at a stranger, not the untouchable Frederick Nolan. “She has known everything since Savannah.”
Charlotte had one hand holding tight to Freddy’s coat, speaking without drawing her eyes from his. “When I was a prisoner of his and George, he visited me often, telling me everything because he hoped that it would draw me away from being Lucas’s pawn.”
“Did it?” Melly asked, her hip resting against the doorframe.
“Eventually.” The two lovers smiled at each other as if sharing unspoken words.
“As amusing as it is to see my brother finally being brought to heel by a woman, there is a fight on, one which could use your skill,” Melly said, addressing her brother’s back.
“Of course,” Freddy said before kissing Charlotte again, though a swift caress, and then releasing her. “The fight has yet to reach inside, but the house is surrounded. Stay close and we will get you both to safety.” Freddy took Charlotte’s hand and we all left the bedchamber, Melly and I taking up the rear.
“You speak English so well,” I whispered to Melly as Freddy led us down the hall toward the main staircase.
“I was born in England,” Melly whispered in reply. “My mother brought me to America to escape my father.”
Freddy raised his hand for us to halt, and we could hear the sounds of a brawl happening in one of the rooms below.
“There is something that you should know,” Melly said next to my ear. “My uncle did not come to America searching for you.”
Turning my gaze upon her, my body was encased in disbelief. But he did, I wanted to say. He came
because he knew that my sisters and I were here.
“He came to find my mother. He came to find me. It was only once he had arrived that he was approached by Martha and discovered the truth that you and your sisters were here.”
My body was a block of ice.
So Martha truly was the traitor.
Guns firing in one of the rooms below had Freddy releasing Charlotte and running down the stairs.
Not to be left behind, I went after him, determined to find Martha and let her know exactly what I thought of her duplicity. Her deceit.
Running through the great room, I slid to a halt at the open door to the sitting room. Two embroidered settees had been overturned and were covered with holes from pistols being fired. The large looking glass above the marble fireplace was shattered and all that was left was the gilt frame. The built in cabinet in the far corner was bare of the small ornaments that had been there before. Shattered porcelain pieces were covering parts of the patterned carpet.
Charlotte squeaked behind me and I spun around in time to see her run into the dining parlor.
Chasing after her, I slid to a halt just inside the room. The table was overturned and knives were scattered upon the floor. Dudley and Hannah were huddled together in one corner, with Jack and Freddy standing before them. Three guards were upon the floor, looking very much deceased. There had been a great battle waged in that room, but that is not what drew my attention away from Jack.
In the opposite corner of the room stood Martha.
She was facing Freddy and Jack, holding Betsy before her with a knife to Betsy’s neck. Betsy’s friend James lay unconscious upon the floor beside Martha’s feet.
Caution was required, for Martha appeared as a cornered rabbit surrounded by hounds. Easing into the room with slow, steady steps, I made my way to Charlotte’s side against the wall to my right.
Jack was speaking to Martha in consoling tones, but it was Freddy who had my attention. Freddy was slowly reaching his hand down to his hip where he had a smart looking pistol. His hand touched the engraved handle and he glanced over at me out of the corner of his eye. I gave an infinitesimal shake of my head. If he spooked Martha, she could hurt Betsy. We could not risk it.
“Let her go, Martha, and we will be lenient with you. Harm her and it will go ill with you,” I said, drawing her attention to me.
Martha looked past me, toward the door, and then jerked Betsy with her back a step. Melly came in with a pistol in hand.
“You will never win. You will never defeat Luther. Leave while you can. If you will go, I shall release your friend, but only then,” Martha retorted.
“You cannot expect us to believe you. Not when you have betrayed us,” I said.
“Betray you? You are the one who betrayed me, and everyone who served your parents. Luther will usher in peace. Luther will never abandon his homeland. But first you girls, you children, must be removed before you can do more harm.”
Martha’s wide eyed stare and rising hysterical voice was increasing my alarm about the situation. We needed to get Betsy away from her and get Martha under restraint before she became desperate.
When she met my eyes, I knew that we were in the basket. Martha had already reached desperation.
“Martha, I beg you, release the girl,” I said with my hands out unthreateningly before me.
Martha’s response was to pull Betsy closer to her chest.
“You do not know what you are aiding in aligning with William Martin,” Martha said. “You do not know of what he is capable.”
“Do we not?” My voice was scornful. Martha knew better than anyone the tasks I had done for William. “We are not aligning ourselves with William. We are trying to find our way home. A way that does not include allowing a tyrant into power.”
Martha did not look as if she believed me. There was accusation in her eyes as if she knew something that I did not.
When Betsy’s hand gently moved, Jack and I both saw what she was doing, for Jack began to tell Martha exactly what he thought of William and why we would never side with him.
Betsy was reaching into her pocket without moving her upper body. When she pulled out her hand, there was something clenched in her fist.
“Why, if it was William you were wishful to conquer, you would have found an ally in me, but by siding with Luther you are making yourself our enemy. We do not want that. Side with us, please,” Jack said.
One moment Betsy was standing perfectly still, and the next a snapping sound came as Betsy flipped open Rose’s oriental fan and threw her hand up to smack the fan against Martha’s face.
Martha’s pain filled shout and hand raising to her face gave Betsy the opportunity to break free from Martha’s hold.
Betsy ran across the room to stand beside Charlotte.
Martha righted herself quickly though she held her hand over her nose. She moved her gaze between all of us, before she began to smile. The effect was marred by her nose that was bleeding, but whatever had made her smile was behind us. Slowly turning, my stomach felt as if it had dropped to my feet. Nell was standing in the doorway. The right side of her face was battered and quickly swelling, and a frightened look was in her open left eye. Behind her, with a pistol in each hand and the barrels against Nell’s neck, was Luther.
Though I wanted to rage at him, I had to remain calm. I had to keep my mind devoid of weighty emotions. Jack would not thank me for allowing my thinking to be impaired and allowing the others to be harmed.
“I believe that is quite enough of your lies, Jack Martin. Your brother also had a way with tale-bearing,” Luther smiled, “but I have taken care of that. For one cannot lie when one has stopped breathing.”
Charlotte released a little gasp, but Jack charged forward with his hands clenched. Freddy reached out and grasped Jack’s arm before he could move three steps.
“Who should go next? Martha, what say you?” Luther asked.
Martha took a wide berth around us as she began to move toward Luther. In Danish she told him who he wanted, and it was none of the Phantoms.
His response was immediate. If the Phantoms were gone, they could no longer stand between him and his nieces.
“In that event,” Martha said, giving us each a calculating glance before smiling with intent. “Shoot Jack.”
One of Luther’s pistols removed from Nell’s neck to point straight at Jack’s head.
“He has caused us the most trouble,” Martha told Luther. “If he is gone, the rest of them will crumble. Especially Bess.”
Luther nodded. “As you wish, my dear,” he said to Martha and his finger moved over the trigger.
“No!” Charlotte screamed as she threw herself before Jack and Freddy, covering them with her outstretched arms. “You will not harm them!”
“Charlotte,” Freddy and Jack said at the same moment, reaching for her, but she refused to move aside. She stood before them like a warrior, not a hint of fear in her voice. Luther’s pistol switched its direction to point at her, but she did not flinch. She made no sign of inward or outward qualms, though Freddy and Jack were each itching to move her out of the way. Freddy had inched closer to her side and near enough that he could pull Charlotte out of the line of fire should Luther try anything.
“Mary,” Luther murmured as his eyes narrowed at Charlotte. “I should have known you would prove to be a thorn in my flesh, for you show the same aggressive, headstrong tendencies as your sisters.”
Dread quickly filled my soul for a madness crept into Luther’s eyes as he gazed at Charlotte as if he had found something of his that had been stolen.
“I am not Mary. I am Charlotte Mason,” Charlotte retorted in haughty disdain.
“Of course you are. Arabella would never allow you far from her, so she had you take the same name as Samuel Mason and claim to be his sister. I see how it has been.”
“You see nothing beyond your own evil intentions,” Charlotte countered. “I am Charlotte Mason, daughter of the late Rector a
nd Mrs. Paul Mason, sister of Samuel and Bess Mason, whom I live with in Charleston until I marry.” Charlotte looked to her right, straight into Freddy’s eyes.
His mouth slowly opened in a sign of awe before he smiled at her, and in that moment I had never seen Freddy so happy, peaceful, and content. The stress that was like a cloud around him disappeared and his entire demeanor changed to a man who had just been given the one thing above all others that he needed to complete his happiness.
“Lies will get you nowhere, Mary. Now that I have you and your sister, I shall not allow you to deceive your way away from me,” Luther said curtly.
“She is not Mary,” Nell tried to say, but Luther shoved the barrel of the pistol harder into her neck.
“Be silent, you!” Luther hissed at her. “If I did not love you as I do, I would shoot you first. Instead, I will settle for your bastard of a son.” Luther’s finger twitched over the trigger, and Charlotte screamed again, as she started to run forward.
Martha threw herself before Charlotte, cutting her off from Luther’s path.
“My dear, they speak the truth. She is not Mary. Any more than Constance is the queen. That note of marque was a ploy created by Constance and William Martin. A last effort to keep you from power. If you should shoot anyone, it should be Constance.” Martha met my gaze. There was a plethora of anger and bitterness there. She was no longer my ally, my companion. She had changed sides.
Luther watched Martha with a calculated gaze, and then he relaxed, removed his finger from where it was beginning to press the trigger.
“Marta, Marta,” Luther murmured, speaking her true name. “I do believe that you have outlived your usefulness,” and with that said, he jerked his pistol toward her and fired.
Charlotte, Betsy, and I all screamed different things at the same moment while Freddy ran forward. Charlotte had grabbed Martha’s arm and they both toppled to the floor. Freddy reached Charlotte first, and rolled Martha off of her. He searched Charlotte first, but she said that she was unharmed and begged him to check on Martha.
phantom knights 04 - deceit in delaware Page 27