Page 44 of The Lady and the Lion (Victorian Outcasts #9)

forty-one

T he rest of the day wasn’t as pleasant as the morning for Samuel.

The chief inspector in charge of Murdock’s case informed them Murdock had hired a solicitor to defend him from the accusations, claiming the evidence Samuel had provided had been fabricated. A few of his patients defended him. Others attacked him.

In short, putting Murdock behind bars wouldn’t be as quick and painless as Samuel had hoped.

“I hope Mother isn’t among those people defending him.” Vivienne sipped her glass of tonic without wincing.

“It doesn’t change anything,” Captain Jackson said. “Murdock’s conviction will take a time. ‘Tis all.”

They were sitting at dinner, one of Potter’s last masterpieces almost untouched. The spicy scent of pigeons à la duchesse filled the air.

“We should celebrate.” The captain took a generous morsel of his pigeon. “We’re too forlorn. And where’s Alice?”

William moved from his position to the door. “In the kitchen, having dinner, sir.”

“Call her. I want to propose a toast.” Captain Jackson leant closer to him. “You don’t mind, do you?”

Samuel shook his head. “Not at all. Vivienne and I always ask her to join us at dinner, but she refuses.”

“My lady, sir.” Dobkins bobbed a curtsy. “Is something the matter?”

The captain lifted his glass of cranberry juice. “I summoned you to make a toast.”

“You summoned me?” Dobkins lifted her brow.

The captain stood up. “I want a toast to—do you fancy me, Alice?”

Silence dropped. Samuel exchanged a glance with Vivienne.

Dobkins frowned. “No.”

“Why?” the captain asked, lowering the glass.

“You’re rude, stubborn, and arrogant.”

“Yes, but aside from that?” The captain handed her a glass of wine.

Dobkins hesitated before accepting it. A corner of her mouth twitched as if she were fighting a smile. “Well, you taught me how to shoot and can be quite charming when you want to.”

“That’s it!” The captain raised his glass again. “We toast to the fact that you won’t need a gun ever again because we won.”

“Almost,” Samuel said.

“Don’t be a pessimist.” The captain took a sip. “Tonight is for happiness and hope only. We’re happy and safe.”

He barely finished saying that before a loud thud came from the corridor.

“What was that?” Vivienne rose to go to the door, but Samuel took her arm and stopped her.

The captain finished his drink. “I say to be happy and hopeful. It’s probably nothing.”

A muffled cry sounded.

Dobkins stepped back from the door as footsteps thudded closer.

“I’m sure the captain is right.” William put a hand on the knob, but the door swung inwards.

Murdock stepped into the dining room, flanked by two men. One of them was Cade, wearing fine clothes that didn’t hide the ugliness underneath. He held Bernard, twisting the butler’s arm at a painful angle. Bernard’s face was contorted in pain.

“Hello, Lion Boy,” Cade said.

Samuel’s blood flowed down from his head, and the floor seemed to turn into quicksand. His worst nightmare turned into reality.

“Let him go,” Vivienne said.

Murdock gave a quick nod to his man who released Bernard with a shove. The butler bent over, clutching his arm.

Samuel rushed to him and helped him walk away from the thug.

“I’m not here to hurt anyone.” Murdock smiled. In his tailored suit and Bowler hat, he could pass for a gentleman. “I’m a businessman, so I want to propose a deal.”

Samuel shook his head, closing a fist.

Murdock eyed him with the usual contempt. “Although you wronged me.” He shifted his gaze to Vivienne. “If you hadn’t taken from me my main vein of gold?—”

“Samuel is a human being!” Vivienne raised her voice. “You treated him beastly.”

“Shut up.” Murdock scoffed. “I wanted to kill you at first for what you’d done to me. Because of you, the circus doesn’t exist. And I thought Lion Boy would have shown himself, knowing you were sick. But he didn’t. Yet you turned out to be as profitable?—”

Samuel shot forth, fuelled by anger. How dare Murdock speak like that of Vivienne?

“Don’t.” She stopped him by putting a hand on his chest. “Let’s listen to whatever he has to say.”

Cade shifted his weight, hand flying to his side.

Murdock waited for silence before speaking again. “If you withdraw the charges and leave me alone, I’ll tell you who your parents are. I’ll tell you everything. Their names, your real name, and where to find your family.”

Samuel drew in a breath. Captain Jackson stared at him in shock. Vivienne gasped.

His family. His parents. He had the opportunity to meet them. Finally, he wouldn’t be a man without a past, but someone with roots.

Murdock slid a hand under his jacket, triggering Samuel’s instinct. He pushed Vivienne behind him and hissed.

“I’m not taking out a gun.” Murdock produced a piece of paper. “I have this document ready, double-checked by my solicitor. All you have to do is sign it, and I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”

Vivienne stepped around Samuel. “You’re bluffing.”

“I took him from his home,” Murdock said.

“I know everything about him.” He tapped his temple.

“It’s all here. Sign the paper, go to the police, and tell them you changed your mind about the accusations, and I’ll tell you everything about your family.

Who knows, maybe your parents are alive.

Maybe you have siblings. Maybe they’re waiting for you. ”

A quiver went through Samuel. Seeing his family again, learning what had happened to them, and having the opportunity to be with them again were tempting. He had to admit that. His parents might need him, and he had enough money and power to help them.

Murdock’s eyebrow spiked. “I don’t want any trouble. Just do as I ask. I’ll tell you where to find your family, and then I’ll leave London. We won’t cross paths ever again. You won’t see me again.”

Vivienne trapped her bottom lip between her teeth. Captain Jackson closed his fists tightly, seemingly ready to punch someone. Bernard rubbed his arm, shifting his weight.

All the people living in his house depended on him, but not only them. The victims Murdock had hurt through many years deserved justice. He had to be stopped.

As much as Samuel’s heart pounded faster at the thought of meeting his family again or knowing who his parents were, he couldn’t let Murdock go.

He shook his head and signed, “You deserve to go to prison.”

Captain Jackson translated, “Samuel said you can rot in hell.”

A muscle of Murdock’s jaw twitched. “I really didn’t want to do this.”

Cade and the other thug punched William and shoved Captain Jackson and Bernard away while Murdock lunged. Samuel leapt backwards, but Murdock wasn’t aiming for him.

He grabbed Vivienne and pointed a gun at her head. “New deal. Sign that document, and I won’t shoot your wife, which would be a shame, considering I was her physician.”

Vivienne struggled in Murdock’s grip, her face reddening. Captain Jackson moved closer to Samuel, and Bernard put a hand on his forehead from where blood trickled.

Samuel had been wrong. His worst nightmare wasn’t seeing Murdock again—his worst nightmare was a gun at his wife’s temple. There was no choice.

He picked up the pen. “Let her go.”

Captain Jackson repeated his words.

“Sign first.” Murdock pressed the gun harder against Vivienne’s skin.

Samuel did as he was told.

Murdock gave her a shove hard enough to cause her to fall to the floor.

Samuel ran to her. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, yes.” She shivered. Her pupils were so dilated the blue of her irises vanished.

Bernard was tottering on his feet. The poor butler must have received a hard blow to the head.

Murdock snatched the document and checked it. “You lost everything, Lion Boy. You should have accepted my first deal.” He clicked his tongue. “Now you’ll never know who your parents are.”

He moved towards the door but didn’t have the chance to step out of it.

Armed with a frying pan, Mrs. Foster lunged at him from the corridor. The loud bang of the heavy pan hitting Murdock’s head rang out.

Captain Jackson, Samuel, William, and Bernard all moved at the same time and jumped on Cade and the other brute. Dobkins wielded a poker and stood next to Mrs. Foster. Richard joined the fray, and the quiet dining room became bedlam in a moment.

Chairs were upturned. Dishes were smashed on the floor, and vases were broken.

In the chaos, as fists and kicks were thrown around, Potter came into view, but he wasn’t alone.

Two police constables were with him.

“It’s here.” Potter pointed in the general direction of the middle of the room.

Samuel leapt back from the brute he was wrestling with to shield Vivienne as the police seized the two thugs and Murdock who groaned on the floor, a hand on his head.

“Thank you, officers.” Captain Jackson wiped his forehead with a napkin. “Who warned you?”

“Mr. Potter came to the station to tell us there were intruders in the house,” an officer said.

Holding Vivienne tightly, Samuel turned to Potter, surprised that his cook had left the house alone to warn the police.

Bernard pointed at the bells behind him. “I warned Mrs. Foster with the silent bells.”

Mrs. Foster nodded. “I saw the thugs, and Potter volunteered to go to the police.”

The whole household had fought back. Samuel had doubted them, thinking they wouldn’t be able to defend themselves.

Vivienne took his face in her hands. “I told you your people would protect us.”

“I will never doubt them again.”

It took a few hours for Samuel to explain to the police what had happened with Murdock, the document he’d signed to save Vivienne, and the fight in his house, but in the end, Murdock was arrested, charged with a list of crimes longer than Potter’s shopping list.

When he went to bed with Vivienne after the chaos had finished and the dining room was tidy again, he wrapped his arms around her and waited for her to fall asleep before drifting off.

No nightmare bothered him.