The Hanged Man

by P. N. Elrod

  “I know her better,” said Andrina, sinking into a chair. “Teddy struck just the right notes. She speaks of no one else.”

  “Girls in love are always fools,” he said. “Show the right kind of attention and they fall in love in an instant. Be she a princess in a gilded tower or a violet seller in the street, let a female think she’s the center of a man’s life and she’ll gallop down the aisle like a derby favorite when the tapes go up. No use curling your lip, Alex, it’s how they’re made. You’re the exception, but then you’ve always been odd.”

  “A fact I delight in.”

  Teddy opened a window with a view of Berkeley Square, lighted a lamp, and put it on the sill. A freezing draught stirred the curtains.

  “Why, that—that’s one of my gowns!” Andrina found her feet and stalked over.

  Alex almost laughed. Of all the things to fix upon. “Thank you for the loan. It fit me perfectly.”

  “You ruined it, you-you gutter drab! How dare you? What else did you steal?”

  The petty rage was refreshing. “Your peace of mind.”

  “W-what? What do you mean?”

  “I went through every wardrobe in your rooms, every drawer, every box.”

  Andrina’s face underwent a disturbing transformation, her skin going sickly green, then flushing red with fury, eyes wide, teeth bared. She lunged at Alex but Teddy got there first and half carried her back to the chair and dropped her in it. She abruptly subsided, glaring like Medusa.

  Alex’s internal armor was solidly in place. A look like that might not kill, but the emotion behind it could knock her right over.

  “You girls,” said Teddy, exasperated. “Nothing changes.”

  Andrina continued to glare. Alex matched it. Her cousin’s reaction seemed out of proportion to the crime. Considering the emptiness of her life, the outer trappings she acquired to conceal it would be of greater importance to her than to another woman. To Alex, it was just a dress; to Andrina it was part of her soul.

  Alex remembered the pity she’d felt for her cousin after picking up on the layers of emotions coating that old treasure box. It impossible to feel the same with Andrina just steps away looking ready to spit acid.

  Teddy seemed to sense it. “Andrina, show a little control. You won’t ever see her again. That should give you some satisfaction. Your old feud is over. You’ve won.”

  “I’ll have won when she’s dead.”

  The venom in that statement made him look twice. “Don’t lower yourself to her level. She’s nothing. There are more important matters to think about. Did you cover your absence from the palace tonight?”

  “Yes, it’s fine. No one questions a digestive upset. I’ll be back tomorrow right as rain. You should come. Wear your new morning suit.”

  “Dazzling young Charlotte will have to wait. I must keep things moving as scheduled and make sure Hollifield behaves.”

  “Then go. I can look after this baggage.”

  He shook his head. “I should stay. If you two start up again it’ll raise the house. I’ve a bit of a free hand with the servants, but prefer not to press things. Oh, Alex, don’t take that as an invitation to scream and make a scene. I have a most convincing story prepared about dipsomania. Your disheveled appearance will add to its credibility.”

  “Let’s leave, then. I’m sick of the sight of you.”

  “No need to be rude. We’re waiting for transport. You’ll be in a coach with one of the beasts; you won’t like it, but I’ll be certain you’ll get there. Don’t bother thinking of escape. They don’t know their own strength and could hurt you without even trying. I wouldn’t mention you killed one of its own, either. They understand a good deal more than one would imagine.”

  “How intelligent are they?”

  “They’re very bright, able to carry out complex tasks better than some humans.”

  “Why do they serve you?”

  “Why does a dog serve its master? I suggest you avoid staring. They can take that as a challenge. Don’t meet its eye and you should get on splendidly. Just how did you manage to kill one?”

  She shook her head. The less Teddy knew about airships, flying squads, and rakshasas, the better.

  “I’m not sure I believe you; it’s difficult to picture. They seem to set off some people. Is that what happened to you? Lose control, did you? Wish I’d been there to see. Your warders will need to know. Can’t have you surprising them.” He peered through the curtains when the sound of wheels and clopping hooves drifted in on the quiet air. “Here we are.”

  She stood next to him and slumped at the sight of the closed coach. “Damn you, Teddy.…”

  He looked down. “There, now, it won’t be too awful—”

  She threw the whiskey into his eyes and slammed an elbow strike just under his breastbone with all the force she could muster. He gasped and grunted, lashing blindly out, the back of his hand whipping past just short of her head as she dodged.

  Brook instantly engaged the other guard, and they proceeded to make a deal of noise and cause breakage.

  Alex kicked sideways to break Teddy’s knee, but caught only his shin with her heel, and the blow lacked strength. Her dress was too cumbersome for wide moves. He was much taller with a longer reach and twice her weight. She didn’t dare risk getting struck, and fought defensively, backing when he lunged, slamming sharp, fast deflecting blows when he tried to grab. A cricket bat on a wall display proved to be a temporary deterrent, but when he wrenched it from her hands she seized a golf club from a bag by the door.

  Andrina kept her distance, but flung a vase. She yipped and dove behind a chair when Alex started for her. It was a feint; Alex reversed and swung hard at Teddy.

  He went low, grasped a handful of her skirts, and pulled hard, hanging on even when she brought the driver down on his near shoulder with a bone-bruising thump. He grunted, but kept pulling. Her instinct was to resist and back away, but she turned his ploy against him. She let herself be drawn, pushing off as though diving into water. He turned his head aside, but got a palm slap square in his ear, then a fist in his throat. He gagged and fell over backward, with Alex on top.

  She didn’t let up, drilling her knuckles into the nerve points of his arms and elbows. Master Shan taught that fighting fairly in the English way was not fighting to win and live. Another strike under the rib cage, and a knee driven into a very vulnerable spot indeed put Teddy past movement. He lay curled in agony, wheezing and moaning.

  A thrown book pelted Alex, catching her in the midsection. It was a light volume, causing more surprise than damage. Andrina wasn’t strong enough to shift anything heavy.

  She bolted for the study door and escape, but did not reach it. Dress and all, Alex got in between and tackled her like a rugby player, lifting her from the floor, then down they went. Andrina clawed and slapped but with no more effect now than ten years earlier when they’d fought. Two swift knuckle jabs and she went limp.

  Alex pushed off her, catching her own ragged breath and vowing never to wear anything but trousers and the most minimal of corsets ever again.

  Mr. Brook had achieved equal success with his opponent, though not without acquiring permanent damage to his habiliments and wrecking half the room. With two grown men thrashing for their lives in a limited space, it was only to be expected. Their masks were gone, flung away in the first seconds so they could better see. His nose was bloodied, but his head unbowed.

  “You are unhurt, Miss Pendlebury?”

  “Yourself, Mr. Brook?”

  He wiped blood from his upper lip, further ruining a once-white evening glove. “I may have another black eye.”

  The Hollifield butler, with two footmen and some frightened maids to lend support, opened the door that was not disguised as a bookcase. Shocked gaping ensued until the man found his voice.

  “Lady Pendlebury? May I inquire as to what is going on here?”

  “Sebbings, thank God! His lordship asked me to do an errand for his royal si
ster-in-law and these bounders”—she indicated the human debris on the floor—“attacked us. My colleague and I were forced to defend ourselves.”

  “But, your ladyship, how did you get inside?”

  “How do you think?” She had a sharp watch on his reaction. His gaze did not go to the bookcase, but the open window, his eyes widening. He must not know of the secret entry. “The front door, of course. Lord Hollifield gave me a key, but heaven knows where it is now. These three must have come in by the window and were waiting for us.”

  “Why did you not ring the bell?”

  “Lord Hollifield wanted discretion and still does. Please send a man to summon the police. These criminals must be taken into custody before worse happens.”

  The mention of the police reassured him. A moment later a footman was outside, blowing a whistle and making the devil’s own racket with a police rattle. The sinister coach with its covered windows began moving. She caught no sight of any bestial occupant within.

  “They’re getting away,” murmured Brook.

  “For now. I’ve a feeling we’ve been exceedingly lucky in our encounters with those things, and it’s better to err on the side of caution and let this one depart.”

  “Lady Pendlebury,” said the horrified Sebbings, “this is a fearful mess.”

  “I’ll apologize to his lordship when next I see him. If you want to clear things up, please do so, but keep away from those three. Have you any rope in the house?”

  “Rope? Some twine, perhaps. Perhaps in the mews…”

  “Never mind. I require a knife.”

  “Indeed?” he said, a touch alarmed.

  “Nothing desperate, I assure you.”

  “There should be one in the desk.”

  She rummaged in the center drawer and found a more suitable tool: some very sharp scissors. Alex attacked the hampering skirts of her gown, cutting the heavy silk from waist to hem into a strip half a foot wide. She tossed it to Brook.

  “Twist that a bit and secure that one first, would you?” She indicated Teddy, who was sweating from pain but trying to get up.

  “That will be my very great pleasure, Miss Pendlebury.”

  The maids left to fetch brooms and dustpans. Sebbings made a cautious circuit, righting tables and chairs and tch-tching at the damage.

  Alex cut two more strips, which served as a blindfold and gag. It would not do to have Sebbings recognize one of Lord Hollifield’s cronies. She quietly asked, “Lieutenant, why did you leave us without a word?”

  Brook grimaced. “It’s hard to explain. I just knew I had to not be there. It was important that I be someplace else; I was overwhelmed by the feeling.”

  She paused. “Your precognitive ability?”

  “It’s never taken me like that before. Other times I’ve not been aware, only after the fact, but this was so strong I hardly knew what I was doing. The next thing I knew I was outside that meeting room. It occurred to me that someone in a mask might emerge sooner or later. I could cosh him and take his place with no one the wiser. Which I did. I was mistaken about the meeting being boring. I learned a great deal of interesting information while standing in the background.”

  “You couldn’t have left me a note?”

  “The feeling was overwhelming, as I said. If I’m unable to control the ability, I’m not fit for duty in the field.”

  “Lieutenant, you avoided capture and saved me no end of bother and danger by being in the right place at the right time, however awkward things were initially. Have you any idea whether James and Dr. Hamish got out?”

  “No. But they would be hampered by those crowds and all the stairs.”

  “Unless they were captured, too. We must get back. Fingate and Benedict are prisoners.”

  He finished the last knot. Their captives were trussed hand and foot in mauve silk, blind, gagged, and unable to move. Little was left of Alex’s skirt but the lining, which was rather shredded due to her haste with the scissors. The petticoat beneath showed through in spots. She felt extraordinarily proud of the damage.

  When a policeman arrived he was not overawed by Brook’s Service credentials, and looked ready to arrest everyone and let a judge sort things in the morning. Sebbings vouched for Lady Pendlebury, and Alex dropped the names of several detectives she’d worked with on cases, including Inspector Lennon.

  “You know ’im?” asked the representative of the law, fixing her with a suspicious glare. “So do I. Peaky lad with a moustache.”

  “No, he’s a great bear of a man with a voice and temper like the wrath of God. He’d as soon throw you through a wall as buy you a pint.”

  “Huh. You do know ’im,” he stated with certainty, then began considering the removal of the prisoners.

  “Does your station have a telegraph with a line to Psychic Service headquarters?” she inquired.

  “You know we do.”

  “I should say, have you an operator on duty?”

  “Always.”

  “Then I’ve an urgent message about these three that must be sent immediately—”

  “That will wait, Alex.”

  She whipped around.

  Lord Hollifield stood before the open bookcase door. He had a pistol in hand, not one of the air gun models, but no less deadly.

  “Lord ’ollifield,” said the policeman, straightening to attention, goggling along with the servants at the trick door.

  “Yes. These intruders have taken liberties with my hospitality. I must ask you to place them under arrest for trespassing.”

  “But those two are with the Psychic Service, your lordship.”

  “They are imposters with forged identification. You need not be troubled; they took me in, as well.”

  Sebbings, startled at this unexpected appearance of his master along with the untrue statements, opened his mouth but snapped it shut again. Contradicting a peer as well as his employer was not the done thing. He glanced at Alex, but her attention was on Hollifield.

  “You’re mistaken, Lord Daniel,” she said steadily. “If you look closely, you’ll see the man who was so unforgivably boorish toward you and Lady Lindsey has been dealt with. He poses no further menace to you—or to her.”

  Hollifield looked closely. “I see,” he said at length. “I stand corrected, but this is a … complicated situation.”

  “Not at all. It’s as simple as the divide between black and white and which side you choose to stand upon.”

  “You oversimplify.”

  “As have you. You are in place to make history, sir. What kind remains to be determined. You can induce a change, but you know in your heart it’s not right, else you would have acted sooner. This evening your control was usurped by a lesser man. There will always more where he came from.”

  “It’s begun. It’s too late to stop.”

  “I do not believe that. Inform your order of the threat held over your head. If they truly are honorable men, they will understand.”

  “You’re a witch with words, girl, but it’s out of my hands. They’ve left to do what must be done. You removed a viper from our midst, and I am deeply grateful, but things must and will proceed.”

  “What does her ladyship think of this? Does she approve? Does she know people have died and that more will follow? That families will be torn from their homes and cast into the cold to starve? That’s what happens in revolutions.”

  He shook his head. “It’s the price that must be paid.”

  “She will pay, too. Your name is her name. It is not you alone. This is also Lady Lindsey and your children. They share in all you do. The blame and shame will haunt them and their children down through history.”

  “There is no shame in this!” he bellowed.

  “Sir…” she answered firmly, “you know better. I saw your face when Teddy threatened her. You are her protector, first and foremost. You are the center of her world. Will you rip that from her? Is this what a loving husband and father does to his family?”

  �
�It will turn out all right in the end.”

  “Not for you. Not for her. She’s a woman of honor, too. Will she ever look on your face again with loving eyes? With eyes that see her husband rather than a traitor to all she holds dear? She will see the man who betrayed and shamed her children and grandchildren. This will kill her and you know it.”

  He dropped his gaze, shaking his head, but kept the pistol aimed toward Alex and Brook. “You don’t understand.”

  “But I do. Most clearly. One of your order murdered my father without a second’s thought. It was not a necessity of war, but a foul and vicious act. Those are the people you are aligned with: murderers and traitors. If Lady Lindsey got in their way, they’d serve her the same.”

  “That won’t happen.”

  “You can’t know that. You are an honest man, sir. You expect people to be as honest as you are. That makes it hard to determine when they lie to you. As a Reader I always know when someone lies. I always know their true feelings. You should know what I learned from just a few minutes in that room. There was fear, envy, and greed for more power. They claim loyalty to England, but the rot is just under the surface. No mask can hide that from me.”

  “They can be controlled.”

  “That is exactly what they believe about you.” Alex held her breath. Popular myth held that Readers could pick up thoughts. She would have given much to have that ability right now.

  He raised his head, eyes kindling with anger. “They wouldn’t dare.”

  “You know they would. England won’t be defended by the British lion, but torn apart by carrion crows. It is the way of such men. England deserves better. So does your wife, your family.”

  “I do this for them!”

  “They won’t thank you for it. Given a choice between you and England, they will always pick you first. What is your choice, sir?”

  He kept the internal agony from his features, but she felt it cutting him like sharp knife. “I have no choice. It’s over. It’s done.”

  “Would you undo it if you could?”

  “Yes.” His voice cracked. “A thousand times yes.” He lowered the pistol.

  Sebbings and the policeman, though they couldn’t have much of an idea of what was going on, each relaxed and breathed again as did Alex and Brook. On the floor, Teddy gave a disgusted groan.