The Gentleman Who Loved Me (Heart of Enquiry Book 6)(99)
Sybil smiled complacently, and Rosie’s relief that Sophie and Libby were safe faded to the awareness that she’d walked right into this deranged woman’s trap. She had two options: use the pistol she’d secreted in the pocket of her skirts—or keep Sybil talking, delaying until Caster got her note and sent in reinforcements.
Eyeing Sybil’s steady grip on the firearm, Rosie decided that delaying was a better choice. By the time she had her pistol in hand and ready to shoot, she might already have a hole through her.
“So you were behind everything?” she said, trying to buy time. “You poisoned Daltry, hired a cutthroat to kill me?”
Sybil inclined her head.
“Was it all for the money?”
“Money was part of it. Not all.”
“Why, then?” In an effort to draw the other in, Rosie kept her tone conversational. “Why would you, a well-bred lady, go to such lengths for two thousand pounds per annum?”
“Don’t you listen? I said it was not just because of the money.” Rage entered Sybil’s voice.
“Then what made you resort to murder?”
“I hated Daltry.” Sybil’s expression was arctic. “He owed me for what he did to me.”
A new chill permeated Rosie’s insides. “What did he do?”
“He forced me to have relations with him.” Ice glittered in the other’s pale blue eyes. “For years, I had no choice but to endure his advances.”
Rosie stared at her. “Why… why didn’t you tell someone? Surely your aunt—”
“Would have disowned me if she knew the truth. Daltry was blackmailing me, you see. Five years ago, he discovered my indiscretion with my aunt’s butler. I was in love; my lover was older than me and lower in rank, yet I was planning to run off with him. Daltry found out and paid my lover to leave me. Soon thereafter, I discovered I was with child.” Bleakness deadened Sybil’s voice, and, despite everything, empathy surged in Rosie. “I would have been ruined had Daltry not offered me a way out. He brought me to a midwife who took care of my ‘problem.’ And he vowed never to tell anyone of the sordid truth—as long as I went to his bed and did whatever he wanted. And so I did. For five long years, I did.”
To think she’d been married, even briefly, to that monster made Rosie nauseous.
“I’m sorry, Sybil,” she said, her throat tight. “No one should have to endure such things.”
Sybil’s eyes flashed. “I don’t need your pity. I got something better: revenge. Before Daltry eloped with you, he paid me a final visit. Here in this shabby apartment that he used for our rendezvous. He crowed about finding a pretty young thing to breed his heirs—and that was when I knew I had to act.”
“Because you didn’t want his fortune to go to his heirs?”
“Because if he married you and had heirs, then Peter wouldn’t inherit.”
“Peter… you mean Mr. Theale?” Rosie said in surprise. “Is he involved?”
“Peter knows nothing of what I’ve done. We are in love, and he is a good man, but he cannot marry me because of his debts. He has been forced to consider offering for a merchant’s daughter—and I couldn’t let it happen.” Sybil’s lips pressed together. “I couldn’t allow Daltry to stand in the way of my happiness again. So I made the trip to Gretna and surprised him.”
More pieces fell into place. “He was with you… before our wedding night?”
Sybil gave a grim nod. “It didn’t take much to entice him. Daltry was nothing if not a lecher and a vain one to boot. He actually believed my Banbury Tale that I’d followed him like a lovesick fool, not wanting to let him go. We tupped, and afterward, we toasted, and he drank the wine I’d laced with foxglove. Then he went back to you, and the rest, as they say, is history.”
Seeing the demented gleam in Sybil’s eyes, Rosie prayed that Caster had received her note. I have to keep Sybil talking until he arrives.
“But it isn’t quite,” she said. “Because after you killed Daltry, you also tried to kill me.”
“I do regret that.” Sybil stood. “Again, the blame lies at Daltry’s door. He was the one who altered the terms of the will, leaving his fortune to you instead of Peter. This left Peter in direr straits than ever—unless you remarried or met an early demise. I couldn’t wait for the former to happen: Peter was too close to offering for that tea merchant’s girl. So I had to get rid of you.”
Get rid of me—as if that were nothing more than tossing out an old slipper!
Rosie quelled a shudder. “Did you hire the cutthroat to assassinate me? Did you kill him too?”
“When I learned the contents of Daltry’s will, I panicked. Given that I’d poisoned Daltry, I didn’t want to poison you for fear of rousing suspicion. So I hired the cutthroat. It turned out to be a mistake for he demanded full payment despite his failure to complete his task. Since I couldn’t trust him not to talk, I had to take care of him too.” Sybil shrugged. “All it took was a bottle of cognac laced with foxglove.”
Shaking her head, Rosie said, “Do you think Mr. Theale will want to be with you knowing what you’ve done?”
“Peter will never find out the cost for our happiness. Being with him and having my freedom are worth any price.” Sybil’s face blazed with righteous conviction. “Daltry deserved what he got for making me suffer. Finally, I will have my happy ending.”