Page 29 of A Lady’s Guide to Murder
CHAPTER 28
Two Hearts, One Hand and a Key
‘Miss du Pont is Eliza King, Theo,’ Henrietta said as they cantered along the lane leading to Enberry. Sam, who seemed gleefully keen on their deaths, had told them the estate gates were a mile up the river road and that the manor house was a half mile beyond that. With time being of the essence, Henrietta had decided not to stable their horses. ‘Not only does she have black eyes, like the song, but she’s been to Millford before. The purple handkerchief was proof and she became cagey when I asked about it. Then she refused to answer my question.’
‘But you said she was the daughter of aristocratic refugees?’ Theo asked. ‘With the way Jim King spoke, I assume she’s a relation and he’s no Frenchman. I wager his ancestors were working this land long before the Conquest.’
‘Recall what he said about outsiders not judging a marriage? Perhaps he is her husband. Clearly, he loves her dearly – or he once did. Maybe he married a much younger woman he thought to be sweet and mouldable who turned out to be much more trouble than he’d expected, like I was to Edmund.’ A lump rose in her throat. Oh, how she missed her husband, even while loving Theo. Her sentiments weren’t contradictory; both men belonged in her heart, her love for them different but boundless. ‘I suspect,’ she continued, ‘Miss du Pont deduced during our conversation that Marlow is Edmund’s killer, since she knew of Perceval’s innocence. She informed on me to the Runners, perhaps for the reward money, and then headed to Surrey to deal with Marlow.’
‘If she intends to kill him, perhaps we had better leave her to it, rather than risk our lives to save him?’ Theo said. ‘The world won’t mourn his death.’
‘No, we cannot. If Marlow dies before I irrefutably prove his guilt, I will hang for this crime. If Miss du Pont succeeds in killing Marlow, she won’t afterwards come forward in my defence with what she knows – both because it will incriminate her and because she doesn’t like me. If I hang, I will just be one more dead aristocrat, as Jim King said. In fact, it might even aid her goal – it will show the people that even the nobility can hang.’
‘You won’t hang,’ Theo said.
‘The odds are against me.’
‘You won’t hang. Henrietta, let us turn around before we risk our lives with whatever awaits us at Enberry.’
His confidence was beginning to annoy her. ‘Your advice is shockingly ill-considered, Theo. My danger is very real. You yourself have said so numerous times.’
‘You won’t hang,’ he said again, with a note of finality. ‘I promise.’
Henrietta pulled up her horse’s reins, stopping to scowl at Theo, who likewise halted his mount. ‘How can you be so complacent? Until now, you’ve shared my concerns. What has changed your mind? Because in case you hadn’t noticed, I appear guiltier than ever after fleeing the Runners!’
He lifted his chin and shifted his gaze towards the moon, his mouth set in firm lines, his expression full of high-minded determination. Henrietta knew that look. It was the same look Edmund would get when he was set upon doing something he deemed noble and sacrificial, and Henrietta suddenly knew exactly why Theo was so confident she wouldn’t hang.
Fury consumed her and she tightened her fists over her reins until her knuckles ached. ‘Damn you, Theodore Hawke. You intend to do something thoroughly stupid, don’t you? You plan to confess to Edmund’s murder to clear my name. No doubt your sordid imagination has already cooked up a salacious tale of murder, scandal and abduction, all designed to make you look like a heinous villain and me like a persecuted, wronged angel.’
His brows lifted. Clearly, she was correct and he hadn’t expected her to guess. ‘If it comes to that,’ he said, adopting his expression of martyrdom again, ‘of course I shall give my life to save yours.’
‘You stupid, stupid man!’ Fury hazed her vision. ‘And this great falsehood is to be told by the truth-seeker of Mayfair. What happened to your steadfast devotion to truth ?’
‘It was supplanted by an even greater devotion,’ he said, so nobly Henrietta wanted to scream.
The confession of his feelings only angered her more. If they loved each other, they must fight for a life together . ‘If you dare to attempt such a thing, you won’t make it to the gallows, because I shall kill you myself first. Damn you for even thinking it, Theo. Damn you for making that plan. Damn you for imagining you can leave me.’ Her voice cracked. ‘Did you even consider how I would feel about the matter? Do you think I lost Edmund, only to find you and then have you torn from me as well? Do you think my heart could handle that, you beast? Are you so cruel?’
His expression softened, almost pleading. ‘My darling Henrietta, you cannot die. You have so much to share with this world.’
‘You’re damned right I do!’ She blinked back hot tears. ‘And so do you. I don’t want either of us to die. Not me, when I’ve only just begun to live, and not you, when you are on the cusp of the brilliant article that will change your life. No, Theodore, you’re not allowed to die for me. We both must live. We may have made mistakes in the past, but we have attempted within our confines to do the best we can – and we bloody well have done nothing to deserve the gallows. Therefore, we are going to ride up to Enberry Abbey and we are going to stop Miss du Pont from killing Marlow, so we can have the answers we need to prove my innocence. And we are doing it now.’
With that, she spurred her horse, leaning forward into the uphill canter – but with an aching heart, she realised the chances of them both surviving the night were slim and she couldn’t let her last words to Theo be words of anger.
She turned her horse. He was still at the bottom of the hill, alone in the moonlight. Their gazes locked and he wore his heart on his sleeve as much as she must be wearing hers. She hurled herself out of the saddle as he did the same, and they ran to each other, their arms outstretched.
They collided in a fury of passion. He drew her up to him; she threw her legs around his waist. Then they kissed. Oh, how they kissed. The kiss to end all kisses, full of all they felt but hadn’t yet expressed to each other. When they broke away, she pressed her cheek to his.
‘Thank you,’ she whispered into his ear. ‘Thank you for being beside me every step of this dangerous path. Thank you for holding me, and for protecting me, and for comforting me, and thank you for your wisdom, and thank you for letting me lead this investigation, and thank you for … for sharing your body with me. Thank you for being my dear, my dearest friend.’
She didn’t meet his gaze as she broke the embrace and returned to her horse. Her emotions were so close to the surface they might boil over at any point, and for now she must be brave and focus.
Her life depended upon it.
Not only her life, but her hopes and dreams as well.
And the life of the man she loved.
Adoration surged inside Theo as he followed Henrietta through the Enberry Abbey gates and into a wooded area where they could shelter their horses.
She was her own woman in a way she never had been before. No submitting to a father or a mother or a brother or a husband or a lover. Henrietta Percy knew exactly what she wanted and she wasn’t going to accept failure.
And she’d spoken as if he had a place in her heart. She’d kissed him in a way that felt … if not like love, then something very close indeed. She’d called him her dearest friend. Whatever happened at the end of this investigation, when they parted ways to live in their separate spheres, the Duchess of Severn would carry tender sentiments for Theo into her future. And if he could make something of himself, he might, one day, win her heart fully. It was an almost impossible dream, but it was real enough to give his life new purpose.
No lights shone from within Enberry Abbey as they approached. The huge Gothic towers, relics of the medieval church, rose silhouetted against the silvery sky. The entrance faced the west, with the vast, arched double doors locked and ominous. The moon provided sufficient illumination to edge their way to the south side, looking for other doors or open windows, but nothing presented itself until they rounded to the east. The river side. There, a Palladian wing faced the tiered back gardens, with a row of French windows glinting in the moonlight on the ground floor. One door was open; thin white drapes covered the entry on the inside and fluttered in the breeze, breathing in and out of the house.
Henrietta stopped him by placing a hand on his chest. ‘Eliza King must have entered through that door. We are searching for two dangerous quarries, so I think it best if we divide our efforts. That way, if one of us lands in trouble, the other can come to the rescue. Whichever of us finds Eliza King first must convince her to stay her hand until we can gather proof of Marlow’s guilt. Whichever of us finds Marlow first, keep him alive and try to get him talking. I shall enter here. For now, please hold back or look for another entrance into the house.’
Theo agreed with reluctance. The plan was sound, though he disliked the idea of her being out of his protective sight. ‘I insist you carry the pistol,’ he said, reaching into his coat pocket where he’d put the weapon after extracting it from his saddle bags.
She took it, checked its ammunition and cocked the hammer. ‘I have one shot.’
‘Use it well.’
She nodded, glanced to the house and made ready to move, but Theo placed a hand on her shoulder. ‘Wait, Henrietta.’
Her beautiful eyes met his. ‘Yes?’
He couldn’t let her go yet. Not without expressing the sentiment in his heart. So he drew her closer and pressed his lips to her forehead, and he said words he’d never uttered to any person, ever before, because, as a street orphan with no family and few friends, there had never been anyone for whom he’d felt the sentiment. ‘I love you.’
She pulled back slightly, her gaze locked with his, perfectly solemn. ‘I know.’ She pressed his hand between her breasts. ‘I can feel your love, here , and after this is over I have something to say to you as well. But first, I must find justice for Edmund and prove my innocence.’
‘Say it now?’ he asked, hoping against hope.
She shook her head. ‘Not yet. I want to be a free woman when I say it, but you know what I feel.’ And she kissed the palm of his hand and kept it held to her lips, her eyes tightly closed until he could be in no doubt that she returned his love, as fantastical as the notion was.
There were so many things he wanted to ask, to share, and to marvel at with her, but now was not the time, and then she was gone, releasing his hand, dashing towards the house and disappearing into the curtained door as Theo watched.
He held his breath, intent on catching any glimmer of movement from the house interior or from the gardens. He counted the seconds. One. Two. Three …
A gust of wind swept up from the river. The French door slammed shut.
He stiffened. Watching. Waiting. Had the wind closed the door? Or a person?
When the answer came, it stilled his heart. Stealthier than a shadow – and almost as hard to discern in the nighttime, even with his eyesight – a hand reached between the drapes from inside the house. It was the slim hand of a woman, but it wasn’t Henrietta, for the arm attached to it was bare and Henrietta had been wearing his wool coat.
Then the hand turned a key, locking his love inside.