Page 13 of The Beast of Barendale Manor
Colin’s fingers were painful as they dug into the flesh of her arm. He dragged her into the room as Timmons looked on. Edmund’s man of affairs was a weak man and listless. It was no wonder had had been manipulated by Colin for years.
Evangeline had little hope that he would help her now. She stared into Colin’s angry expression and looked about the room for any way to escape.
“You will say nothing of this to Edmund, do you hear me?” Colin spat. “You have known him for a matter of weeks, and I have been waiting for this my entire life. If you don’t want to meet the same end as Adelaide, you will keep your mouth shut.”
“Then you did start the fire,” Evangeline breathed, horrified.
“I had not intended for anyone to be hurt. It spread more rapidly than I planned, and by then, it was too late. I had certainly never intended to hurt Adelaide, but her death has led to a better future for me. I must thank you; your dowry will be most useful.”
Evangeline pulled at her arm, but he had a grip of iron. “You have betrayed your cousin, all for a title?” she demanded.
There was a dangerous light in Colin’s eyes now; he looked almost mad with it. He stared down at her as though he was considering how to do away with her that very minute.
“A title which should have been mine . I would have revolutionized this estate. Edmund is weak. He allowed his grief and his melancholy to lead this place to ruin.”
Evangeline tugged at her arm again. Timmons was a passive force in her peripheral vision, staring at them uselessly as he allowed Colin to do what he liked.
“ You are the one who has led this estate to ruin,” she snapped. “How could he manage things if you were stealing from him for all these years?”
Colin scoffed. “It is money that should have been mine,” she winced as his fingers tightened around her arm. “Edmund was always the perfect son. He could never put a foot wrong! When my father died, I was supposed to be treated like his brother, but the late earl never gave me a penny. I had to scrimp and save, mired in my father’s debts, living like a pauper when Edmund had everything handed to him on a silver platter. I have spent years ingratiating myself with him. And for what? Only to have it all snatched away by a simpering nobody.”
He was leaning into her now, his other hand coming up to grip her fiercely. She held her head high; she would not be intimidated by a man like him. But the silence in the halls around them was becoming oppressive; she knew that he could hurt her if he chose to.
Timmons was backing away from them, looking for a place to run.
“You are the reason my hopes have been dashed to pieces,” Colin snarled. “Your dowry will pay for all of the repairs to this house, but now Edmund has a new lease of life with his perfect new wife. I should just do away with you, too, and then I am sure he will wither to nothing.”
And at those words the door beside them was pushed back on its hinges and Edmund was revealed standing in the doorway, his eyes wild, his teeth bared as he stared at Colin with a look of rage and betrayal Evangeline would never forget.
For a broken moment, Evangeline’s eyes met Edmund’s, and the fear in them erased all her doubts in an instant.
His scarred hand clenched at his side, and he set his jaw. Time seemed to stand still as all the affection she had seen in him before returned, and he looked at her with the kind of care and love she had yearned for.
Then his gaze fixed on Colin, and any affection drained away, replaced by abject fury.
Colin, too, had been frozen in place, but now he knew his schemes had been uncovered. He shoved Evangeline from him, lifting her and throwing her against the room. She fell awkwardly to the floor with a cry of pain and could only watch as Colin lunged at Edmund with a growl.
Colin was well-built but not as tall as his cousin. The two men grappled with one another, grunting angrily as Edmund laid a solid punch to his jaw. The strength hidden in his big body was now on full display as he wrestled against Colin’s wild movements.
Edmund was poised and calm as he countered every blow from Colin with one of his own. His cousin was panicked and erratic, and Edmund was by far the superior fighter, knocking the wind out of him with a thundering fist to his stomach.
“You should have died in that fire!” Colin screamed, and for a second, Edmund faltered, the same haunted look coming into his eyes.
Colin seized the advantage, and Evangeline’s stomach dropped as he forced his hands around Edmund’s neck. Edmund’s hands came up to try and drag his wrists away, but Colin’s fury had given him strength he had not possessed before, and suddenly, the tables had turned.
Evangeline knew she would have to act. She pulled herself to her feet, looking around for anything she could use as a weapon, when her eyes alighted on a candelabra on a table further along the wall.
She seized the opportunity, grasped the candelabra, and hurried towards the two men. With a swift motion, she swung it to distract them, aiming for Colin, who had been holding Edmund. Colin stumbled back, surprised, his hands instinctively moving to the back of his head as he sought to steady himself.
The sound of thundering feet came from the corridor, and a multitude of servants ran inside, staring about them wildly in consternation. Colin lurched at Edmund again, but the butler, Croft, and a burly footman restrained him effortlessly, forcing him to the floor.
Edmund rubbed at his scarred throat, clearing it a few times, but seemed unharmed. His eyes alighted on Evangeline in silent thanks as he walked to her. It seemed he was about to embrace her when Timmons stepped forward.
His lip trembled, and he looked terribly afraid, but he stared down at Colin with pure contempt before turning to Edmund.
“My Lord, I have no illusions that you will keep me on after this. I have allowed myself to be manipulated by this man for years. He learned of my own debts and offered to settle them for me two years ago. I agreed. I was desperate and had a young family. Since that day, he has held the money he gave me over my head and forced me to be complicit in his plan. My fears of debtor’s prison and the pain it would cause my family left me no choice.” Timmons swallowed and stepped back under Edmund’s dark gaze.
“I know I have made many mistakes, and I have betrayed you in the worst way, but believe me, my Lord, I had no knowledge that he was responsible for the fire. I never intended to hurt you or her ladyship, and I will do everything I can to make this right.”
Edmund’s gaze was fixed on Colin. The betrayal in his eyes was almost unbearable to see. As a man who had been through so much already it was a cruel twist of fate to be betrayed by none other than his own cousin. Evangeline could not imagine what he must be going through.
“Restrain this man,” Edmund snapped, and two more footmen gripped Timmons’ arms as he collapsed into sobs.
“You have been handed everything your whole life,” Colin screeched at Edmund as Croft dug his fingers into the man’s shoulder. “I would have been revered as the Earl of Barendale, but you were too proud, too conceited to ever give me a penny!”
“And now you have nothing. You are nothing,” Edmund said darkly. “And I will never have you darken my door again as long as I live.”
He was quivering with anger, and Evangeline stepped up to him, laying a gentle hand on his arm.
For the longest time his gaze remained on Colin, the sorrow and anger in it never abating. But finally, he turned to her, and the look faded almost instantly, replaced by one of understanding and joy.
In the depths of his eyes, Evangeline thought she detected a glimmer of the same emotion she felt in her own heart. She held her breath as he gifted her with one of the secret smiles he reserved for her alone.