Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

R afe slipped quietly into the nursery and found his daughter asleep in her bed. Her russet curls against the pillow formed a wild halo around her head. Her chest rose and fell as she breathed deeply. She bore a slight smile, as though her dreams were sunny ones. His heart turned in his chest and his eyes burned with tears.

He shot a quick glance at Mrs. Chesterfield, who was quietly reading a book by the fire. She smiled at Rafe and went back to reading. He swore the woman never slept, and aside from Isla giving her the slip right before that awful storm, she was a damned fine nanny. And she would have to be, given what was coming.

Rafe sat down on Isla’s bed and she stirred a little, but she didn’t wake. He took one of her small hands in his and pressed a kiss to her fingers and drew in a shaky breath.

“You are my world,” he whispered, too soft for the nanny to hear. “You saved me that night we met, little kitten. No matter what happens, I will see that you have the life you deserve, even if I cannot be there to see it.” He had so much more he wanted to tell her, but he dared not. If he spoke any more, he would lose his will to leave. He had to save Diana, the woman who held his heart and soul. And while he feared he wouldn’t survive the night, if Diana did, she would be the one he chose to care for his daughter.

He rose and removed the letters he had tucked into his waistcoat and put them under the gilt frames of the portraits of Isla’s parents. They would watch over her while she slept. He tucked Mrs. Crumpet more deeply under Isla’s arm and then pressed a kiss, perhaps the last one he would ever give to his daughter, on her forehead.

He left the house without being seen and retrieved his horse from the stable, along with the mask he kept hidden in the loft.

The moon was high in the sky as he tore down the country roads, his cloak flowing out behind him, flapping wildly like a raven’s wings. Tonight would be Tyburn’s last ride. Tonight Rafe would finish this terrible journey, and one way or another, it would all end.

He was about to face his father’s killer, and if he was doomed not to survive the night, perhaps he could take Caddington to the devil with him.

He halted his horse on the gravel path in front of Caddington’s estate. There were no lamps lit in the windows, no outward presence of anyone in the house. It was eerily dark and still. He dismounted and let the reins of his horse drop. The horse would stay there as it was trained to. If he could get Diana safely out, she could ride the horse to Lennox House.

He climbed up the steps and rapped the knocker, and after a moment, the door opened. A familiar face stared back at him.

Mr. Phelps.

The man who had come after him and his father that night, the man who’d set in motion the events that killed his father. His hatred for Phelps was just as strong as it was for Caddington, but he couldn’t let the man see it. His suspicion that Phelps had been watching Caddington’s coach the night of the robbery was confirmed. Phelps must have followed Diana’s men... No, followed him . It was the only way Caddington could have put all of the pieces together.

“His lordship will be glad to see you received his letter.” Phelps stepped back, and Rafe walked past him into the hall. Rafe still wore his domino, yet it didn’t erase the feeling that he was utterly exposed.

“Where’s the woman?” he said in his Scottish accent.

“Really, Mister Lennox, you may drop the charade,” Mr. Phelps said evenly. “That letter was not addressed to some feral Scotsman hiding in a hut in the woods.”

“I didna want anyone to know who was riding to your door,” said Rafe.

“Yes, but you’re here now,” said Phelps.

The truth was, playing the role one last time was giving him a bit of courage. Rafe was terrified of Caddington. Tyburn was not. “Where’s the woman?”

Phelps narrowed his eyes. “I will take you to her but only after you sign a confession to your crimes.”

“What?” Rafe’s gut tightened.

Phelps sneered. “You didn’t think that his lordship hadn’t thought his plan through? By having a signed confession of Rafe Lennox admitting to being the infamous highwayman Tyburn, he’ll have every right to keep you imprisoned.”

A terrible, dark chill swept through Rafe’s entire body. Of course Caddington would have thought of everything. The man wouldn’t miss getting his hands on Rafe, not this time, so he’d make sure to have everything perfectly planned and thought out.

“This way.” Phelps showed him to a parlor where a few sheets of paper and an ink bottle and quill were ready for him. “Leave nothing out.” Phelps crossed his arms over his chest and his eyes narrowed as Rafe reluctantly sat in the chair and took up the quill. His hand trembled as he wrote out the words he never thought to write as he confessed to several years’ worth of robberies. When he’d filled two pages, he set the quill down and stood. Phelps skimmed the words he’d written and nodded in approval.

“Now you may see the woman.”

He led Rafe to a hidden door that was concealed beneath a ratty old tapestry and retrieved a lamp that hung on a hook at the top of the stone stairs. The lamp cast dancing shadows on the roughhewn rock walls as they descended, and the air turned musty and dark the deeper they went. Rafe kept a careful distance between himself and Phelps, not knowing what to expect from him.

At the bottom of the stairs, the tunnel opened to a cellar. But rather than containing wine barrels or storage crates, there was a trio of iron-barred cells. In one corner of the first cell sat a huddled figure, more shadow than real until the lamp finally illuminated her.

“Diana!” Rafe shoved past Phelps to run to the cell. The door creaked as he tried to open it, but it didn’t budge.

“Tyburn?” She lifted her head from where it had been resting on her bent knees as she stared up at him in wonder and agony.

“Lass,” he growled as she stood and ran to him. Her arms stretched through the bars to grasp at his waist. “I’m here,” he soothed. “ I’m here now .”

“No...” Tears streaked down Diana’s dirt-stained face. “You shouldn’t have come. It’s a trap.”

“I ken, lass, but I couldna leave ye here. I agreed to trade my life for yers.” He reached through the bars and brushed his fingers over her cheek.

Phelps removed a pistol from under his coat, then took out a set of keys and opened the door of the cell beside Diana’s. He gestured from Rafe to the open cell door.

“In you go. The magistrate will be with you shortly.”

Rafe didn’t look away from Diana as he entered the cell next to hers. Phelps locked the door, sealing Rafe inside, and briefly left them alone.

“Caddington knows I robbed his coaches,” Diana breathed. “That horrible man Phelps followed me... and he followed you. I’m so sorry I damned us both.”

“Hush, lass,” Rafe said as he just wanted to hold her a little longer. Once Caddington arrived, he would give the bastard whatever he wanted so that Diana could be set free.

“When he lets ye go, I want ye to ride to Lennox House.”

“Lennox House? But why?—”

He pressed a finger to her lips. “I ken ye have friends there, people who care about ye. Promise me ye will go to them.”

Her sorrowful brown eyes grew wide. “How can I leave you here? I can’t?—”

“That man ye love... He has a wee child that needs ye, lass. I’m not worth yer tears let alone yer life.” He couldn’t bring the words up... the words that would tell her she was losing Rafe too. The pain in his chest was simply too great. It was cruel, to play Tyburn in these final moments, but he couldn’t bring himself to face the truth.

“But you are... you are .” She pressed her face against the bars and curled her arms around his neck. To know she loved him, this other side of him, not just as Rafe, this woman was everything , and he was about to lose her and his own life.

“Promise me ye’ll go to Lennox House.”

She shut her eyes tight, then answered with a shaky nod.

“In another life I would’ve loved ye until death and beyond,” Rafe said. “In another life, ye would have been my every dream. A man would die for a love like that.”

“Don’t be a fool.” Diana’s face flashed with anger. “You can escape this, damn you. Don’t give up. Find a way out.”

“Ah, but he can’t, Miss Fox. You see, he knows that I, as the local magistrate, have the authority to hang you both for your highway robberies.” Caddington stood at the foot of the stairs, holding a lamp in one hand and a coiled black whip in the other. “He is counting on my... generosity to see that you live. He will stay of his own free will, or else your life is forfeit.”

Rafe closed his eyes, stilling his racing heart, knowing what pain that whip would cause him.

“Some traps do not need to be clever or hidden,” Caddington continued. “Some simply need the right bait and to be snapped shut at just the right moment. I have waited a very long time for this.” He came closer as Phelps hung two more lanterns along the walls, lighting the cells more clearly. Caddington wore only a white shirt and pale buckskin trousers. His sleeves were rolled up, exposing thick muscles. He uncoiled the whip in his hands and chuckled as he eyed Rafe and Diana, who still held each other through the bars of their cells.

“It’s time you stopped this little charade, boy. Remove the mask. I want to see every minute of agony on your features. And hers.”

Rafe blew out a breath as he slowly stepped back from Diana and raised his hands to his face. He slid the mask off and let it drop to the floor at his feet.

Diana’s lips parted and her eyes filled with tears, but no words came out.

“Such a cruel trick to play on her,” Caddington said with a purr in his voice. “To seduce her as two different men and not tell her the truth. Perhaps you have a bit of sadism in you after all.” The harsh sound of Caddington’s laugh grated on Rafe’s ears.

“I’m sorry,” Rafe whispered. Diana’s face went from confusion to terror.

“No!” She understood the terrible truth now. She would lose both Tyburn and Rafe tonight. She turned away from him and faced Caddington. “You cannot do this. His brother will come looking for him. Rafe Lennox cannot go missing. If you kill him?—”

“Let us speak plainly, Miss Fox. His brother does not care and will not come. Why should he? Rafe got their father killed, isn’t that right?” He leaned to look past Diana, giving Rafe a knowing leer. “From all accounts, Lord Lennox has always blamed him for it. No, Rafe’s mysterious disappearance will only be of a temporary concern, and then he will be forgotten.”

“But he won’t be forgotten,” Diana insisted. “ I won’t forget him.”

Caddington’s face darkened. “You seem to forget that the law is on my side, not yours. I have his signed confession upstairs, and Phelps witnessed you robbing my coach himself. You are both guilty of robbery with violence, which is punishable by death. I am the magistrate here, and while it is my duty to hold you until you can be delivered to the Crown Court for trial, well... accidents do happen, don’t they? And if you breathe a word of this to anyone, Miss Fox, I will see you hanged myself.”

Diana’s lips parted as if she wanted to speak, but no words came out. Rafe felt invisible walls closing in on him and he dared not move, dared not speak himself.

“But I prefer not to send Rafe to the hangman. No, I far more desire to have him here with me. Of course... my toys often get broken. And when that happens, a body will be found, a body with a mask, and Lord Lennox will then hear that his reckless brother met his end while robbing coaches. The book of Rafe Lennox’s short and pathetic life will be shut forever.”

Diana’s face filled with rage. He had to stop her from doing something to anger Caddington, or she’d get herself killed as well.

“Diana, you made me a promise,” Rafe said. She stared at him as if he’d gone mad.

“You want me to abandon you?” The fury in her words cut his heart. God, how he loved this woman.

“I want you to take care of my daughter. Our daughter. She cannot lose both of us this night. Isla needs you.” He knew he’d gotten through to her at last. The fight in her eyes died like flames slowly dwindling into darkness.

“Isla...” She said the child’s name in a broken breath.

Rafe reached for her hand through the bars. “She needs a mother.”

“You aren’t fighting fair, Rafe.” Diana’s fingertips trembled in his hold.

“I’m a scoundrel. We never play fair.” He then turned to Caddington. “I want your word that she goes free and that she will be unharmed. Then you will get what you want.”

“And what is it you think I want that I do not have already?” Caddington asked, his eyes glinting with hateful desire.

“You have me here, yes, but you do not have my submission,” Rafe said. “If I let you do what you will... if I agree...”

There was triumph in Caddington’s face as his fingers caressed his whip.

“Prove it. Bare your back and face the wall.”

Rafe reluctantly let go of Diana and unbuttoned his waistcoat, then pulled his shirt off over his head. The pearl necklace Diana had given him was wrapped around his wrist. He’d worn it tonight, needing the strength that little pearl would give him, because it reminded him of Diana’s love for him.

He braced his palms against the rock wall, not looking at anything as Caddington opened the cell door behind him. The slap of leather falling to the floor and the hiss of it slithering across the stones as the whip uncoiled made Rafe grit his teeth.

The whip whistled through the air, and Diana screamed. Her cry hit him harder than the blow of the whip, which set fire to his skin. His face went hot with pain as three more blows cut across his bare back. Caddington paused, breathing hard as he came toward Rafe and grabbed him by the shoulder, forcing him to turn. Whatever he saw on Rafe’s face seemed to please him.

“Yes... I believe you. You will give me what I want. Your beautiful pain. You and I will have fun together, won’t we?”

Rafe’s head swarmed like it was full of angry bees, stinging him with memories of the past. His father had known what sort of man Caddington was and what he would want. That was why he’d tried to send Rafe home. He had tried to protect his son and had been killed for it.

“Yes,” Caddington groaned in the light. “You see it now. You were always to be mine. Breaking you will give me the greatest pleasure.”

Caddington stepped back to the edge of the cell door. “Phelps, dispose of the girl. Break her neck and make it look like a riding accident.”

“No!” Rafe turned, ready to lunge, but Phelps raised a pistol, stopping him in his tracks. “You made a promise, Caddington. We had an agreement,” Rafe snarled, his back still burning.

“I don’t bargain with thieves,” Caddington said.

“If you think a bullet will stop—” Rafe surged forward, but Caddington stepped just outside the cell door and slapped it shut an instant before Rafe would have gained his freedom.

“I don’t need a bullet to stop you.” Caddington pushed the keys into the lock and nodded at Phelps.

Phelps tucked his pistol into a leather belt at his waist and unlocked Diana’s cell. She backed up into the corner closest to Rafe.

“Fight him when you are clear of the cellar,” Rafe whispered in her ear. “My horse is outside. Take it and go to Ashton. Protect our child.”

She turned to face him, her gaze spearing into his. “Then stay alive,” she said. “I have waited my whole life for you, and I will not lose you now.”

Phelps seized Diana, dragging her away. Her hands remain clasped in his for an instant before her fingers slipped free. She struggled against Phelps. He slapped her hard across the face. She stumbled and went down to the ground limp, her eyes closed as she lay upon the floor.

“Diana!” Rafe roared as Phelps lifted the unconscious woman in his arms and tossed her over his shoulder.

Caddington leaned back against the wall opposite Rafe’s cell, grinning like a cat who’d just trapped a canary beneath its paws.

“I knew your pain would be exquisite,” he sighed dreamily. “I have fantasized about this over and over, and I feared my dreams would never measure up to the real thing. Were I an artist, I would paint your face a thousand times, a thousand ways, showing the way grief and loss have destroyed your soul piece by piece.”

He took a step forward. “You’re just like your father. Your weakness is the same. Every time I took his money, I took not only his pride but his self-worth. His love for you, though... that I hadn’t expected. And watching him see me covet you... He knew I would want to hurt you. He died to save you. And now he’s failed. And you’ve failed your own child just as you failed Miss Fox. She will die, and your daughter... Well perhaps when she is grown I will take her too and watch her suffer as you do now—unless you comply. And I will tell her what a pathetic fool her father was. Women do have the prettiest tears, don’t they?”

Isla... in this man’s hands. The thought nearly made Rafe’s knees buckle. Whatever strength he’d had was gone. He could not stop Phelps from killing Diana. Could not stop Caddington from taking Isla someday. It was over.

With a cold smile, Caddington nodded at the wall. “Face the wall.”

Body shaking, Rafe turned to face the wall, listening for the sound of keys turning once more in the lock and of Caddington’s boots as he stepped into the cell. He’d finally met his end. The sense of urgency to live fast and furiously had stopped. Rafe was out of time.

“We’re all alone, Rafe. There’s no one coming to save you now. You will die alone in this dark cell. Unfortunately for you, it won’t be fast. I know how to keep my toys alive.”

The whip hissed and bit into his back like a viper. Rafe grunted as his skin split beneath the lash and he felt the warmth of blood trickle down his back. Caddington’s words played over and over in his mind, but after another two blows knocked the wind from him and he fell against the wall, gasping, his vision blurred. For a brief instant, he wasn’t sure where he was—he knew only that he was somewhere else with someone else.

Rafe blinked against the sunny light coming into the room, a room he recognized, the Lennox library, but as it was years ago when he’d been a boy.

A middle-aged man sat before a chessboard, studying the pieces carefully.

“He’s wrong, you know,” the man said as he lifted his gaze from the board. Rafe stared back into his father’s eyes.

“So long as you have yourself, you are never truly alone. Your mother told me that once when we were young and first married. She is a brilliant creature, my Reggie. She always knew that she was valuable, not just to others but to herself. Somehow I had forgotten that I mattered, but there is power in believing in oneself. And it’s not too late for you, my boy.” His father said this with such gentle affection that Rafe’s heart lurched. “Thomasina has her pianoforte, Ashton likes chess, and Joanna has her books, but you, my boy... you like risk. Like me.” He stood, once more looking at the pieces on the board as if planning his next move. “Do you know what the greatest risk a person can take is?”

Rafe shook his head.

“It’s the risk of daring to live. That is the greatest risk one can take.” He met Rafe’s gaze, a sad smile on his lips. “I’m so sorry. That night you found me at that tavern, I should have gone home with you.”

Rafe tried to swallow past the lump in his throat. “Why didn’t you?”

“I was afraid to face your mother... and I had to stop Andrew Caddington from doing what he’s doing to you now. I went back into the tavern to kill him, but I failed you.”

Rafe took a step toward his father. “No. It was I who failed you. If I hadn’t left the house, if I had listened to Ashtonand stayed home...”

Malcolm shook his head. “You were a child , Rafe. None of this has ever been your fault. The fault will always be mine for leaving that night, for leaving every night to lose our family’s fortune, your mother’s dowry, all of it.”

Rafe shook his head. “But you saw me that night. I know you saw me when you tried to cross the road.”

“I saw you... and I feared you’d been hurt by Caddington while I’d gone back inside the tavern.”

“So it is my fault,” Rafe rasped.

“No,” his father said, his tone gentle. “Rafe, one of the tavern wenches hit me in the head minutes earlier—I was unsteady on my feet and should have looked out for coaches. What happened was my fault.”

The sunny library began to shimmer around them.

“We don’t have much time, my boy. You must listen to me. Diana is still alive. Fight for her, for Isla—for yourself.” Malcom’s gaze dropped back to the chessboard. His fingers caught on the edge of the board, lifted it suddenly, and the pieces tumbled off the surface, clattering onto the wood floor.

Rafe and his father stared at each other. “Break the rules, Rafe. Upset the game. Take every risk.”

“Father!” Rafe gasped as the world began to slide into darkness. “I never told you—” He had to tell his father he loved him, but already he could no longer see him.

“I know, my boy. I’ve always known.” His father’s last words were a whisper of gold thread, binding the pieces of his shattered heart back together.

Rafe fell to his knees once more, this time on the cold stone floor of Caddington’s cell. The sunny library was gone and so was his father—but fire had returned to Rafe’s blood.

Fire and rage.

Take every risk.

It was the fear of risk that had held him back. The hope, however faint, that if he surrendered himself to Caddington, the man would spare those he loved. Hope wasn’t what he needed. Risk meant not trusting hope or fate. He needed to trust himself. He wasn’t alone, so long as he believed in himself.

Even though pain was everywhere in Rafe’s body and it felt like his back had been shredded, his fury brewed like a violent summer storm just beneath his skin.

“Get up,” Caddington snapped in a bored tone.

Rafe rose, a pounding in his ears running far deeper than the blood roaring in his head. It was the ancient rhythm of life that went beyond everything Rafe had understood until that moment.

Upset the game.

He heard the whip lash out, and Rafe swiftly leaned to the side, holding up his arm and letting the leather coil around his wrist. He gripped it and yanked, hard. Caddington stumbled forward, not expecting the move.

Rafe jerked the whip out of Caddington’s hands and let it fall to the floor. Then he raised his fists in a fighting stance and waved for Caddington to come at him.

He smiled grimly at Caddington. “My brother was a champion boxer.”

“But not you,” Caddington sneered as he raised his own fists. “I know. I’ve followed your every move since your father died. You were never much good at anything, just like your father.”

Rafe waited for Caddington to take a swing at him, and then he ducked. The moment Caddington came close enough with that missed punch, Rafe swept his leg out, knocking the man down onto his back. He’d taken down dozens of the best brutes in boxing rings with that very move. He stood over Caddington, his blood roaring in his ears.

“I never fought in any of the fighting salons... because I cheat .”

Then he kicked Caddington square in the face with his boot.

Diana kept herself as limp as possible so as not to let that foul man Phelps know she wasn’t unconscious. She had taken Rafe’s warning to heart. She had to wait for her moment and then fight . Nausea filled her belly where Phelps’s shoulder dug into it, but she fought the need to vomit. He passed the steps of the cellar and clear, fresher air hit her nose. She saw moonlight cut harshly through the windows as Phelps walked down the corridor.

Any minute now, she would take her chance...

Her body swayed as he adjusted her on his shoulder, and she felt the cold handle of a pistol briefly pass by her fingertips. Phelps took two more steps, and when her hands moved again, she grabbed the pistol, pulling it free of his leather belt.

Diana had but one thought as she pulled the trigger and felt the man’s body jerk with the impact of the muffled gunshot.

Save Rafe. Save Isla.

Phelps crashed into a wall. One hand gripped a faded tapestry, which he pulled down as his body sank to the floor. Pain crunched through her hip and shoulder as she fell to the floor beside him, knocking the wind from her. The tapestry fluttered down over them, and she fought to get free of the heavy moth-eaten fabric. Phelps lay slumped against the wall, the tapestry half draped over him like a death shroud. He gripped his lower stomach, where blood welled up thick and black in the moonlight. His spent pistol now lay useless next to him. She would have given anything for a second gun so she could charge back to the cellar and save Rafe, but she didn’t have time to search for one and did not know who else might be here. She had to do what he’d commanded, ride for help.

“You’ve killed me,” Phelps rasped, a look of shock on his face. “You’re nothing but a pathetic woman...”

A wave of cold fury burned within Diana as she rose to her feet and stared down at him.

“When a man believes women aren’t capable of anything, he is the one who will pay the price for that mistake. Caddington did the same, but I know something he does not.” She watched Phelps’s lips move as he tried to speak, but his strength was already leaving him.

“Lord Lennox will come for Rafe, and I shall be the one to lead him here. Your master will die tonight. I shall make certain of it.”

Then she did the hardest thing of her life. She turned and ran away from the man she loved in order to get help. She just prayed she could get back in time.

She felt the hidden eyes of the servants as she moved toward the door.

“You’re free to escape this house, but if you are here when I return, I will assume you are loyal to Caddington and you will face justice.”

She wrenched the heavy oak door open and ran out to Rafe’s horse waiting on the gravel drive. The beast responded to her as she swung herself up in the saddle and dug her heels into the flanks.

“Fly!” she hissed in the creature’s ear. “ Fly! ”