The Swordmaster's Mistress: Dangerous Deceptions Book Two(79)
She loves me. I’m sure of it. He made himself concentrate, smelling the fresh moorland air coming into the room, hearing the cry of a barn owl, the creaks of the old house settling for the night, the soft-footed pacing of the woman in the room beyond.
‘Miss Lettie?’
Beside him Dover twitched, then steadied himself.
‘Come in.’ Mrs Quenten was speaking quietly but not whispering, she must feel safe. ‘How could you make such a mull of it, you fool? They should have been killed.’
‘Aye, they should and I don’t know why not, I wasn’t there, was I?’ Bainton sounded aggrieved. ‘That Hunt is a sharp bugger, he must have spotted something. What do we do now?’
‘Kill all three of them.’ She might have been giving orders to cull some chickens for dinner, Jared thought. Behind him he felt, rather than heard, Guinevere’s gasp. ‘Hunt’s in love with the bitch, or in lust with her, doesn’t matter which. He’ll be jealous if he thinks Master Theo’s getting between her legs. We need to kill her, then get Northam to her chamber, kill him with one of Hunt’s swords.’
‘What about Hunt?’ Thomas sounded incredulous.
As you should be, Jared thought grimly.
‘I’ll bang on his door in a panic, I’ll have heard something that alarmed me. He’ll be off like a dog after a bitch in heat. You hit him as he comes through the door, stab him in the chest.’
‘But, Miss Lettie – ’ He broke off at the sound of the door to the hall opening.
‘Ah, thought I’d find you in here. Good evening again, Mrs Quenten. And Thomas.’
‘Theo.’ Guinevere’s voice was a thread of sound holding pain and betrayal and anger all in two syllables.
‘’What are you doing here?’ Mrs Quenten demanded. There was a tremor under the harsh question.
‘Came to thank you.’ The door closed and Theo’s voice became clearer as he walked into the room. ‘My father was on the way out anyway, but dear Uncle Augustus was revolting healthy, I could see the old devil going on another twenty years, breeding sons, and he was cutting off my funds. You did me a favour, Cousin Elizabeth.’
‘How did you find out?’ She had moved closer to him.
Jared tried to read the amused drawl. Was Theo acting or was this real? Were his suspicions about him right after all? The tension coming off Guinevere was almost palpable. He made himself ignore it.
‘I’m not as stupid as people think. I worked it out. Still in a muddle over what you’ve got against Guinnie though, nice creature, would be good in bed, I’m thinking. Grateful after months of an old man. But never mind her. I know you killed Uncle Augustus and I know you’ve been trying to get me hanged for it. I’ll keep quiet if you stop trying to frame me.’
‘No, you’re not stupid, of course I had Thomas kill him. Julian will make a perfectly good earl, but my son Charles, he will be a great man. A very great man. As for your dear Guinnie, she killed her first husband, my brother. She’ll pay for that, keep on paying.’
Jared eased the door open, stepped out behind the screen as he heard her move again. The long knife was in his hand, beside him Dover moved too, a glint of metal betraying that he too had drawn a weapon.
‘But you are foolish, even so, Cousin. You forget you are still in my way. Kill him, Thomas.’
‘Not so foolish that I don’t have witnesses.’ Theo was laughing, even as he gave a grunt of effort and there was the sound of a blow, fist on flesh.
Jared pushed the screen over, Dover went for the outside door, there was a thud and light flared up as the draft of the falling screen fanned the candle flame. Across the room two large figures burst in and his father strode to the hall door, his back against it, a pistol raised.
On the floor was a tangle of limbs. Jared heaved aside the screen, rolled away Theo’s limp body and hauled Thomas Bainton to his feet. With a scream of fury Lettie Quenten launched herself at him, past him, and he realised she had seen Guinevere. The wildly flaring light caught the gleam of steel in her hand. Thomas cut at him, the pain sharp and hot down his forearm and he parried instinctively, followed through with a kick in the groin that sent the man falling into Sir Andrew’s arms. Behind him the jib door slammed closed on Guinevere and a madwoman with a knife.
There was no light except for star-glow from the window. Guin backed away rapidly, her bare feet finding the edge of the carpet. How far to the library table and a paperknife?
She groped behind her with her hand as she edged back from the hissed obscenities. At least I can hear her. Can she hear me? Lettie had been in a room with a light, her night vision must be worse than Guin’s, which was some comfort. Not a lot. There was a thud as something hit the door to the sitting room but the woman must have locked it behind her. How long before Jared could get there?
Guin hit the edge of the table and bit back a cry of pain. She threw out her hands for balance and found the paperknife. It skidded away across the polished surface and fell with a clatter on the far side. She swept her hand across again and found something else, something heavy. Her hands closed round it and the contents shifted.
The sand-sifter for blotting ink. Lettie was almost on her now, she could see her shape, solid and black, menacing, and the movement of the knife as she reached out in front with it, sweeping it back and forth. There was a bang as the door to the hallway flew open, crashed back against a bookcase and the top of the pewter sifter shifted in her twisting hands, unscrewed.