Chapter 31

“Arthur, stop! Don’t do this. Take a breath. Think about what you’re doing, I beg of you.”

Arthur was hardly aware of what he was doing. The words had hit him like a punch to the gut—I’m responsible for the deaths of your parents, and there’s nothing you can do about it—and he’d had only one thought in his mind. She was going to have to pay. She was right that he could never undo the harm she had caused, and perhaps she was even right to suggest that no one would believe him if he tried to tell them what he’d learned. He couldn’t prove it. But he had sworn to himself, when he had come here, that he would kill her with his own two hands if it proved necessary to do so.

He was still prepared for that outcome.

But he hadn’t realized until Taylor’s voice reached his ears that he had drawn his gun and was pointing it directly at Lady Reeves’ head.

He took a breath and steadied himself. He had drawn his gun in a fit of rage. But he had been calm when he had brought it here. He had known that he might have to use it. This was no surprise to him. His grip steadied.

“Taylor,” he said, “if you don’t wish to see this, for whatever reason, I suggest that you step out of the room now.”

“I don’t want you to do this,” Taylor pleaded. “I want you to take a moment and think before you act, for heaven’s sake.”

“All right,” Arthur agreed. “I’m thinking. What should I be thinking of?”

Lady Reeves began to rise to her feet.

Arthur cocked the gun. “You sit back down,” he barked. “You told me yourself that this could end violently if I made that choice. I wouldn’t want you to make the mistake of believing I’m afraid to pull the trigger. I’m not. Nothing would make me happier than to see you dead, Lady Reeves. You stole my parents’ lives when they were far too young, and you’ve had years and years.”

“You’re not going to shoot me,” Lady Reeves said, her voice calm.

“Oh no?”

“You’re not that kind of man,” Lady Reeves explained. “If there’s one thing that I know that you don’t know, Arthur, it’s that taking lives changes a person. There’s a power in it, of course, but there’s a darkness as well. You’re simply not ready for such a thing. You’re too weak. Too soft. It’s not the sort of person you were raised to be. Don’t force yourself into the role of murderer because you think it suits you. It doesn’t.”

“You don’t know anything about who I am,” Arthur said coldly. “You met me as a child, and you think that means we understand one another. Well, that isn’t who I am anymore. Sit down. I’ll shoot you if I have to.”

“You don’t have time to shoot me,” Lady Reeves said.

“What on Earth are you talking about? I have nothing but time.”

“Arthur. Do use a bit of common sense. Your parents would be disappointed in your powers of deduction.”

“I suggest you say what you mean quickly before I stop caring to hear it,” Arthur said.

“I knew that you were looking for me,” Lady Reeves explained. “It was my choice to allow you to find me here. I was the one who allowed information of my whereabouts to reach your friend’s ears. Do you think he could have done it so easily if I hadn’t told my associates that I was ready—that I wanted to be found? I knew you were coming. I knew you were likely to be armed and dangerous. Do you honestly believe that I didn’t take any precautions?”

“Is she telling the truth?” Arthur called over his shoulder to Taylor. He couldn’t afford to take his eyes off of Lady Reeves. She was a confessed killer, and for all he knew, she had a gun of her own stashed somewhere nearby. “Did she allow you to discover where she was?”

“It’s possible,” Taylor admitted. “I did find the information very easily. I’d be inclined to believe that, at the very least, she wasn’t trying to keep it from me.”

“So, one of two things is true,” Lady Reeves said. “Either I’m a fool who took no steps whatsoever to guard myself from your imminent arrival, or else I allowed you to be here and prepared myself accordingly. Which story do you think is the truth, Arthur? Think carefully before you decide because you stand to pay a very high price if you choose wrong.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Arthur growled. “You’ve already taken my whole family from me. What more can you possibly do?”

“Have I?” Lady Reeves smiled. “Let me ask you a question, then. Do you know where that pretty little wife of yours is right now?”

Arthur felt as if his blood was freezing.

For a moment, he couldn’t even form words. He couldn’t organize his thoughts. All he could think was, no.

This was the very thing had feared. The thing he had poured his heart and soul into trying to prevent. All he’d wanted was to make sure that Isabella wasn’t sucked into the darkness of his world. And now…

“Are you making a threat?” The question came from Taylor. Arthur was glad his friend had asked it because it was what he would have said himself if he could have found his voice.”

“I wouldn’t call it a threat,” Lady Reeves said. “But I do think you should know that I would never have allowed you to find me without taking precautions. I knew that there was a possibility that I would need to get you out of my house in a hurry. For that to happen, I needed there to be something to draw you away—something you care about more than your petty revenge.”

I don’t care about anything more than revenge,Arthur thought.

But it wasn’t true. It didn’t even feel true. It had been true all his life, but something had changed. Something had shifted powerfully. Right now, in this moment, knowing that Isabella might be in terrible trouble, revenge hardly mattered at all anymore. All that mattered was getting to her.

“Tell us what you’ve done to the Duchess,” Taylor demanded.

“I haven’t done anything,” Lady Reeves said. “I’ve been right here in front of the two of you this whole time—as you can see for yourselves. It’s foolish to think that I could have done anything. You give me far too much credit, I think. That being said…the Duchess may not be as safe in her bed as one might have hoped. If I were you, I wouldn’t waste your time here talking to me about matters that can never be resolved in the way you want them to. If I were you, Arthur, I would get back to your wife. But it’s your choice to make. Shoot me with that gun if you must, but if you do, you’ll have to fight your way through my staff to leave, and you’ll never reach her in time. If you go now, without violence—if you abandon this quest for revenge—you might reach her before it’s too late.”

Arthur’s head spun.

“There can be peace between the two of us,” Lady Reeves said. “It doesn’t have to be this way—you hunting me down single-mindedly the way you have all your life. Don’t think I haven’t been aware of it. I allowed you to find me because I wanted this bad business between the two of us to come to an end, Arthur. I’m tired of it, and I think you are too. You should be at home with your wife right now. That’s where you would be if you weren’t so single-minded about all this, and then she wouldn’t be in the danger she’s in right now.”

“What have you done with her?”

“Do you want to stay here and talk this over with me? Or do you want to get home to her before it’s too late?”

And there was no question in Arthur’s mind. There was no debate. Of course, he knew what he wanted to do—what he would have chosen no matter what the counteroffer was. There was no way he was going to stay here with Lady Reeves, seeking revenge for the things she had done to him. Now that he knew the price, it was too high to pay.

He had fallen in love—the very thing he had sworn to himself that he wouldn’t do—and it had ruined everything.

The most surprising thing of all, though, was that he didn’t care. He no longer cared what Lady Reeves had done or how he could get her to pay for it. The only thing that mattered was Isabella. The knowledge that she was in trouble struck him more powerfully than anything else could. He forgot all about what had brought him here.

“Wait a moment.” Taylor caught him by the arm as he made for the door. “Do you think she’s telling the truth?”

“She’s told the truth about everything, Taylor. I don’t think she would be so forthcoming only to start lying now.”

“He’s clever,” Lady Reeves observed. “But I knew that you would be, Arthur. You’re very like your father.”

The comment about his father might have provoked him under different circumstances. As it was, all he could think about was to pull free of Taylor’s grasp and make his way toward the door. “Are you coming?”

“I…” Taylor turned back toward Lady Reeves. “She’s making a run for it!”

Arthur pressed his gun into his friend’s hand. “Go after her,” he urged. “I beg it of you. Go after her and see if you can catch her. I have to go to Isabella.”

Taylor nodded and gripped Arthur’s shoulder for a moment. “Take my horse,” he suggested. “You’ll get there faster if you ride than if you have to take the carriage.”

“What about you?”

“Don’t worry about me now. I can manage this. Remember, I’m used to dealing with her sort. Go quickly now, and I wish you luck in finding Isabella.”

Arthur couldn’t afford to wait any longer. To leave his friend on his own did feel wrong, but it felt equally wrong—no, much more wrong—not to rush to his wife’s side. He set off at a run. It didn’t take long at all to unhitch the horse from the carriage, and then he mounted and was off.

Thank goodness he hadn’t gone too far. Thank goodness he had only to ride across town in order to be by her side. But he knew that it still might be too late. He urged the horse to go faster. How much time had been wasted in trading words with Lady Reeves? How long had danger been descending upon Isabella? Was there still a chance to reach her in time?

He couldn’t even allow himself to think about what she might be facing—what might be done to her. All he knew was that he would never be able to forgive himself for the mistake he had made in leaving her. If only he hadn’t! If only he had given up this desire for revenge and stayed with her when he had had the chance. If he’d done that, there would be nothing to fear tonight. No one would ever have gotten near her.

She told me over and over. She told me that she wanted me to choose her. To make her my priority. And I never did. It’s no one’s fault but mine. If I lose her tonight, I won’t even be able to seek revenge because I will be the one to blame.

The thought stabbed at him like a knife, and he rode on, faster.