by Anne Mallory
Logan spat. “No, Thomas was a gem. Idiot boy, pliable. Thomas was perfect. I could rule through him. He made the perfect duke, keeping everything in order and letting me make all the decisions. But he had to go and get killed in that riding accident. I should have crippled him, so he’d be bedridden.”
“You’re horrible,” Audrey breathed.
He shot her a nasty look. “All good leaders seem horrible to those that don’t understand them or stand against them.”
If only they could stall him, surely Roth or Angelford would appear around the corner at any moment? Stephen continued to look bored, but she could feel the tension wafting from him. No, his friends were on their way back to London. They had left Audrey and Stephen alone to talk. No one was returning.
Stephen stepped away from her, drawing Logan’s attention.
Logan turned to him. “And then you came along. The worst sort. A free-flying, carefree gallivant who could care less about the title.”
Audrey gripped her knife. “That’s not true, and you know it.”
“Perhaps, but he would actively manage the estate and be overly generous with the tenants, thus cutting into my profits. I gave him a chance to stay his execution,” Logan said.
“By marrying Clarissa?” Stephen asked as he inched forward, trying to keep Logan’s attention away from Audrey.
“Yes. I control Bessington. It would have been genius.”
“And then after producing an heir, l would have had a small accident?”
“Oh, most definitely” Logan said with relish.
Audrey pulled her knife into position. “It surprises me how poorly you underestimate your foes. Did you really think Stephen wouldn’t discover what you were doing?”
Logan snarled at her. “Look at you defending him. You’re just a two-bit thief and probably a whore as well.”
Stephen launched himself at Logan. Everything seemed to be happening in a speed so slow that Audrey could hear the scrape of Logan’s finger pad over the trigger as he pulled it back. But Audrey was already in motion, throwing her knife in a practiced line.
“Argh!”
Stephen grabbed Logan and slammed his arm against the wall, causing the gun to fall to the floor. But Logan wasn’t paying any attention to Stephen or the gun. All of his attention was focused on the knife blade embedded in his hand. Blood spurted from the wound, and he screamed again.
Faye came tearing back inside, Roth and Angelford hot on her heels.
Conversation erupted from everyone at once.
There were ten minutes of explanations and disgruntled looks before the others left with Logan. Stephen peered under the bed and announced that he and Audrey were finally alone.
He put his hands on her shoulders, and she leaned into him.
“So what happens now?”
“Logan goes to prison. They won’t be kind with his sentence since he murdered a peer of the realm.”
“Travers?”
Stephen sighed. “l don’t know what to do about Travers. Maybe we should foist him on the Americans or Australians.”
He said it jokingly, but she flinched. She had been planning to foist herself on the Americans, but it was going to hurt to hear him say it.
“What about me?”
“I suppose that depends on you, Audrey.”
“You talk in riddles again, Stephen.” .
“What would you like to do?”
Her insides coiled. “I suppose the best thing would be for you to send Faye and me to the Americas as well. You would have no further worry of the two of us pillaging the countryside.”
He pulled back from her and ran a hand through his hair in an agitated manner. “Is that what you desire? To leave for a distant shore? Is there nothing for you here?”
A strange clenching began in her stomach. “You know there isn’t. That there never can be. I will never be able to escape my past here.”
“No, Audrey, I don’t know that at all.”
“You would tire of me quickly. You would want me to change.”
“Not change, bend, adapt to new circumstances and challenges. Be willing to take a partner.” He sighed. “Audrey, I know life hasn’t been easy for you. But we can work through that.”
Hope bloomed, and she tried to tamp it down. “We can?”
He smiled his rogue’s smile. “Life is unfailingly kind to me; so as long as you stick by me, we’ll do all right.”
“You deserve someone better.”
“I deserve someone I love, and that’s you.”
The bonds around her heart cracked, and she quickly tried to reconstruct them. “You mistake infatuation, Stephen.”
“Do you love me?”
Her brain was scattered. “It doesn’t matter. You are a duke. I’m a soon-to-be-re-retired thief. You need to marry for money and prestige and all of those things. Oh, I suppose you weren’t offering marriage.” She bit her lip in embarrassment.
“Do you remember what you wrote on the parchment you left for me last night?”
“I said I would not run.”
“But aren’t you running now?” He lifted her chin and leaned his forehead against hers. “Didn’t I once tell you that the prickly plants were my favorites? Or how much I love ferns, with their ability to survive no matter the condition?”
She nodded, and he kissed her.
“Will you marry me, Audrey Kendrick? I swear our life will not be dull.”
“I’m scared, Stephen.”
“I know. As I said, we’ll work through it.” He rested his chin on top of her head.
She cleared her mind and took a deep breath. “l do love you.” She peeked up at him. “l had even admired your very fine assets last year while tending you.”
Stephen laughed and kissed her forehead. “Let’s go back to town. I have a fancy to admire your very fine assets as well.”
She stopped him and placed a hand on his chest. “l will marry you, Stephen Chalmers. And in so doing place both myself and my sister into your care.”
He smiled at her gently. “And I will take every care of the trust you place in me.”
He slipped his hand into her trousers and she gasped. He withdrew it just as quickly. A heavy weight remained, and she realized he had just given her the pocket watch.
He lightly touched her cheek, and tears sprang into her eyes. And when he took her in his arms the darkness vanished completely