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Caroline gasped again when she whirled about and gazed at Mr. Lockhart. “You are part of this?” I knew there had to be two people involved! “Why would you jeopardize your future for this madwoman?”

He looked past her shoulder to grin at Miss Perkins. “She is my future. And her plans are sound. How could I not?”

Somehow, she suspected he wasn’t doing this of his own freewill.

Had she threatened to kill him or his friends, even herself, if he didn’t fall in line?

She wasn’t allowed to ask, for Mr. Lockhart was obliged to tackle the driver to the ground—he’d tried to run for escape—and then he used a coil of rope attached to his waist to secure the poor man.

While that was occurring, Miss Perkins grabbed Caroline’s upper arm and marched her to the folly’s door, that stood slightly ajar.

Where had they procured the key? Taken it from the housekeeper’s office? Convinced a maid to steal it?

“Inside with you, and don’t do anything stupid.”

“Stupider than turning to murder?” Immediately after the words sailed from her throat, she knew it was a mistake, for the sharp bite of the blade’s tip sliced into the ribcage on her right side. Pain screamed from the wound and brought tears welling into her eyes.

Miss Perkins prodded her back with her free hand. “You have no idea what drives me.”

“Tell me so I can understand.” Caroline tripped on one of the stones in the floor as she was guided to the stairs that circled the narrow structure. She barely regained her footing and prevented herself from crashing into the stone wall.

“No harm in it now, I suppose, since you won’t live to tell the tale. ”

Before they started their ascent, Caroline jammed an elbow into her captor’s stomach. Just as she turned to run while Miss Perkins sucked in a breath, the woman darted out her free hand, yanked off Caroline’s bonnet, and then grabbed a handful of her hair.

“Do that again and I’ll stab you right here.” Her eyes glimmered in the gloom as the skies opened and rain came down. “At least in the way I’ve planned your death, you might survive. From a stabbing, you won’t.”

Icy fear twisted along her spine. “Why must you kill me anyway? I have nothing to do with whatever warped problems have brought you to this pass.” Not that the madwoman would walk away from this without consequences.

Surely Felix would figure this out and come looking for her—Caroline.

Her heart pounded as she was marched up the stairs.

After tripping on her hem and hearing the sound of tearing fabric, she managed to grab her skirting and hike it to her knees while maintaining forward movement as pain skittered along her scalp.

“Because you and that impossible major refuse to keep your nose out of things that don’t concern you.

” Miss Perkins kept a death grip on Caroline’s hair, which forced her head backward.

Step by step, the pains on various portions of her body made themselves known.

The gloom brought on by the rain and impending twilight barely illuminated the slits of windows staggered here and there in the brickwork.

“If you two had just left well enough alone and had stopped asking questions, none of this would have happened.”

“Why are you doing it at all? The murder, I mean?” It made no sense.

“It’s simple, really.”

That depended on the perspective. “How?” They’d gained the second floor and kept climbing. Not that there was any furniture in the small, shallow rooms at the landings of the tower. The interior was hollow with the stone stairs spiraling over the walls.

Ultimately, the folly had been built for esthetics only. It was never intended to provide a residence or place to live.

“My father’s shipping business failed, so in recent years, he’s taken on questionable cargo with his three ships, smuggling in tea and opiates amidst bolts of silk from the East.”

“Ah, and those investors demand that he sells the drugs at inflated costs. Did your father not make the payments?”

“He did at first. Then he and my mother got greedy. The men who wanted the money were a world away; how would they know? My parents funded a lifestyle they couldn’t sustain with those funds, completely ignoring the fact that eventually those decisions would have consequences. ”

“And that’s why you need to marry a duke.” Each step made the pain worse, but she had to garner whatever time she could.

“Yes.” Miss Perkins nodded. “Since Papa has connections, he somehow heard the rumors of Kingston’s impending death and that he’d found his heir.”

“Was it your plan to seduce and encourage Lockhart to marry you?”

The other woman nodded. “He only needed a bit of prodding; I do adore a man who is biddable. When there are tears involved, a trembling chin, a catch in the voice, whispered promises, those types of men will do almost anything.”

Unfortunately, they’d reached the third story of the folly. Bits of rubble that had once been the roof littered the floor. The stonework around the arched window that overlooked the wooded area had crumbled with age.

Time was running out.

“Can I assume yours isn’t a love match?” What a joke it was to think of it now. “You certainly had me fooled.”

A delighted laugh came from Miss Perkins.

“Well, I did always wish to be an actress, but my mother refused to allow it, saying I needed to conduct myself as a lady and not a harlot like many actresses are.” She shoved Caroline from her, laughed when she tripped over her skirting, and then landed on the debris-strewn floor onto her backside.

“Love match? I’m not certain, but he’s easy on the eyes and I want that title. Love can grow.”

“That’s not fair to him, trapping him like that.” Though she didn’t want to show weakness in front of this woman, the pain going through her body stung, and tears kept coming to her eyes as she slowly shoved to her feet.

“It’s not fair what my parents did to our family either, but here we are. And frankly, I thought this was a better future than being sold to some rich man in the East for my father’s debts.”

Drat it, the woman had a point.

Slightly.

“But why kill me?” Caroline asked as the sound of footsteps sounded somewhere on the floors below. Was it Felix coming to rescue her?

“As I said, you and the major have become a nuisance. I tried to warn you off, had Devon throw that brick into the library, and when that didn’t work, we locked you in that vault, but the pair of you are far too stubborn.”

“So, what? You think to bind him to you by threats? Keep him with you by force? Eventually, the love he holds for you will fade and resentment will take its place. He’ll leave you, perhaps divorce you, since as a duke he’ll have the funds and the motivation to do so.

” As the sound of footsteps approached, Caroline’s muscles went taut, ready for action.

Miss Perkins chuckled. “Once I’m with child, things will be arranged. After all, accidents do happen, and sicknesses arrive.”

“Even if you kill me, the major will demand your life in return. He’ll see you sent to Newgate to await trial and eventual hanging.”

“I rather doubt that, for once I wed Devon, we’ll go away on a wedding trip. By the time we return to England, he will be approved as Kingston’s heir, and we will both be shielded from any sort of prosecution. It’s bad form to hang a duke, you know.”

Dear heavens, how long had she thought upon this demented plan?

There was no time to reply, for Mr. Lockhart joined them on the third floor.

“The driver has been secured and the luggage loaded. Was it necessary to tie him up?” Though he gave Caroline a cursory glance, most of his attention landed on his bride-to-be.

“We don’t want him running back to the house and tipping our hand prematurely, do we?” Miss Perkins’ voice switched to a purr as she glanced at him. “You did well, Devon. Did you bring the pistol?”

“No.” He shook his head. “I wasn’t able to retrieve it from the passageway. Major Kourier caught me in the orangery before I could access it.”

“We need a pistol.” While Miss Perkins’ attention was temporarily distracted, Caroline wrenched her arm from her hold and then bolted for the stairs, but hadn’t anticipated how docilely and blindly Mr. Lockhart was under her thumb.

He stepped into her path and dared to put a hand on her shoulder, his grip surprisingly strong.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you leave.” A trace of regret scudded through his eyes.

“We need you as bait for the major.” With a shove, he forced her back toward the arched window.

Since there was no glass, the rain-cooled breeze came into the room, and Caroline welcomed the reprieve from the heated ache of her wounds.

With a huff of annoyance, Miss Perkins scooped up a length of an old ratty rope left on the stone floor.

“I have a spare pistol in my luggage,” she said as she rested the knife on the window ledge.

With a few tugs and yanks of the rope, she wrapped the frayed length about Caroline’s wrists and secured them tightly in front of her with a few neat knots.

Then she glanced out the window. “Drat. The major is entering the wooded area on a horse; he’ll be here within minutes. ”

Caroline’s heart leapt. Felix is coming! Then it dropped into her stomach. Would one or the other of them shoot him with him unawares ?

Miss Perkins transferred her glance to Mr. Lockhart. “Do not let her leave. We want them both here together, and with any luck, the major will be dead in the saddle before he can dismount.” Without another word, she flew down the stairs, presumably to retrieve said pistol.

“Why are you letting her do this?” Caroline asked him as her heartbeat pounded wildly through her veins. “Why do you follow her dictates when you know this is wrong?”

“I don’t have a choice.”

“Has she threatened you?” Her gaze dropped to his hand. No longer did he wear a length of linen wrapped about it, but there was an angry red scratch that ran the length of his palm. “Hurt you to make you follow her bidding?”

“It’s her way of showing affection, I think.

” Lockhart shrugged. As he tightened his grip, he moved her to the window.

Sure enough, he caught a glimpse of Felix mounted on a dappled white horse coming through the woods.

Occasionally, he was visible through the tree leaves as he trotted over the path.

Coming through the woods was the more direct route than going over the roads as the carriage had.

Caroline frowned. Had he developed some sort of bond with his abuser?

Fallen for the bits of affection she’d shown him while ordering him to do horrible things?

It could be so, if he came from a family who didn’t show physical affection to each other or allow emotions to flow freely.

“Did you shoot Mr. Blythe under Miss Perkins’ order? ”

His hand on her upper arm tightened. Pain flickered in his eyes. “I didn’t want to; he was a friend regardless of what he’d done, but she said more harm would come from him if he wasn’t stopped.”

“And he’d already told you he wouldn’t quit pretending to be you,” she added in a soft voice.

“Yes.” He nodded. “But I love her; I know I can change her, make her be a good person. Perhaps once we’re married, things will change.”

“Only if she wants to change.” But people like Miss Perkins, once they had a taste of power and realized the high from killing, grew further from sane.

It was entirely possible she might see her own parents in death merely to take control of the shipping business and the distribution of opium.

Was that what she wanted the title of duchess for?

To help integrate those things within the beau monde without scrutiny?

The window ledge was so close. Could she manage to kneel and grab the knife before he would come after her? There was no time to find out, for Miss Perkins returned. She stalked across the floor and shoved the pistol into Mr. Lockhart’s hand.

“Make sure your aim is swift and sure, Devon. We’ll only have one chance.

” Then she bounced her glance between Caroline and the knife.

“The moment the major is shot, she goes out the window. Understand? She’ll be so distraught at seeing her lover killed by a stray hunter’s ball that she’ll throw herself to her own death.

That’s what it will look like when they find her and the major. ”

Caroline rolled her eyes. “This is hardly a Romeo and Juliet scenario. Eventually, someone will figure out the mystery and unravel the lies.”

Mr. Lockhart nodded. “There must be another way, Samantha. So much violence…”

“Don’t let her twist your thoughts, darling.

We have already talked about this. These two are the only people standing between us and the life we both want.

” She drew the tip of the knife gently along the side of his face without cutting him.

“You deserve every good thing, Devon. Take them. We’re nearly done. ”

He gave himself a shake. “Right.” Then he strode to the window, sighted the major, raised the pistol with an unwavering gaze, and took aim.

Bang!