Chapter 28

Sneaking up to the house where Dawson had stashed Constance proved easier for Thel, especially with Mr. Ringwell and Mr. Smith distracting the guards. The first board Thel pried away revealed a room full of stolen goods. He recognized several items from his own house that had gone missing. Although he’d been searching for his daughter, he was relieved to find he’d not lied to Constable Smith. He carefully pushed the board back into place and crept along the brambles surrounding the house until he reached the next window. This time, when he peered between the spaces, he saw his daughter.

She was sitting on the mangled remains of a couch, her arms wrapped around herself. She wasn’t crying, but neither did she appear happy. He clenched the neck of the hammer in the hand not pressed to the window.

The temptation to smash open the window and ferry his daughter to freedom was strong, but he steeled himself. Olivia was right. If they acted in haste, Constance might refuse to leave. He’d assumed the awful state of her room meant she hadn’t left willingly, but the mess might also have been the product of hasty packing. Mr. Ringwell had a better chance of convincing her she was making a mistake.

That didn’t mean he had to like it.

If their plan fell to pieces, he was ready to barge in and confront Dawson. No one would stop him from getting Constance away.

“He is on the way,” Olivia said as she crawled up beside him.

Thel thumped against the wall and closed his eyes. “What if it doesn’t work?”

Olivia leaned beside him, pressing her side against his, without touching him directly. It was what she did, being present without interfering. He tucked his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. That was where he wanted her, forever at his side.

The distant sound of horse hooves on gravel reached him, and he tensed. That would be Mr. Ringwell and the constable. Right on time. Constance rushed to the door and banged on it with her fists until it flew open.

She stumbled back as four men entered, Dawson in the lead, Mr. Ringwell close behind him, and then the constable.

Constance stood apart, as if she was unsure to whom she wanted to run. “What are you doing here, Mr. Ringwell?”

Dawson rushed to Constance, placing himself between her and the other men, but she quickly maneuvered out from behind him and inched closer to Mr. Ringwell.

“You shouldn’t have come,” Constance whispered.

“I couldn’t let him do this to you,” Mr. Ringwell said.

Constance wrinkled her nose. “Well, I didn’t—”

“She is here of her own volition!” Dawson shouted. “We are to be wed tomorrow.”

“Perhaps we should discuss this rationally,” the constable said. “I would like to speak to each of you individually. Mr. Dawson?”

The man looked as if he were going to complain, but faced with the constable, he grumbled and left the room.

Exactly as they had planned.

The moment the door closed, Mr. Ringwell approached Constance. There was an awareness between them that had not been there before. It was as if the veil of Dawson’s influence had been yanked away and Constance was seeing the world clearly for the first time.

Thel led Olivia away from their post and they entered the house from the front door the constable had left open for them. They had to leave it to Mr. Ringwell to convince Constance she was making a mistake. If he couldn’t convince her, then everything was lost. Even if Constable Smith arrested Dawson for burglary, she would return to him the moment he got free. Knowing Dawson, he would not be behind bars long.

“Did you see her face when he came barging through the door?” Olivia giggled. “She’s finally seeing what he has seen all these years. I think she loved him all this time, but she wouldn’t let herself feel it.” She sighed. “I know what that feels like.”

He winced at the reminder. Of everyone in the house, Olivia understood the most what it was like to be blinded by love.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t trust you,” he said. If he had listened to her from the beginning, none of what had happened might have occurred. He had been too stubborn and set in his ways. He should have realized what had been happening under his own roof. In attempting to keep his family together, he had asserted his desires over them, exactly as he had promised he would not.

Olivia pressed her cheek to his chest. “I forgive you.”

The sound of footfalls had her stepping back, and then Constable Smith returned, with Dawson in quick pursuit. For the first time, Thel saw fear on the man’s face.

“Where is she?” Dawson asked.

“Still inside,” Olivia said. “I would knock before you enter.”

Dawson paled. “You left them alone together?”

Thel shrugged. “They have been friends since they were children. If I cannot trust him, I cannot trust anyone.”

Dawson flung the door open.

Thel stayed where he was and couldn’t help the smile that formed on his face when he heard Dawson’s hiss of indrawn breath.

Olivia left his side and called, “Constance, are you ready to leave?”

“You can’t!” Dawson said. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, then his face softened. “Connie. Darling. I’ve done so much for you. Are you really going to leave me now?”

Constance looked conflicted, but Mr. Ringwell tightened his arm around her. “Your tricks will not work on her anymore.”

Dawson bared his teeth. “You will never have her. I have taken her. She is mine. We will be married, and I will have her dowry as my own.”

Constance trembled. “What do you mean? John, I thought you said you didn’t need my dowry. You said—”

“Cease your chatter, girl!” He spun and drew back his hand, as if to strike her, but Mr. Ringwell yanked her out of the way.

Her eyes filled with tears. “Why are you doing this?”

“Tell her what you’ve done,” Thel said. “Or perhaps we should show you. Mr. Ringwell, bring Constance. Constable, there’s something you’ll want to see.”

Against Dawson’s complaints, Thel led them through the house until they reached the room where Dawson had stashed everything he had stolen. There were stacks of paintings on the floor, overturned bags of coins, and more jewelry than Olivia had ever seen in one place in her life.

Constance stepped inside and picked up a gold statue of a Pegasus with an ivory horn and diamonds for eyes. “This belongs to Lady Cowper. She said she lost it.” Constance clutched the statue to her chest and whirled on Dawson. “You never loved me, did you? Lady Allen was right. You were just using me.” She put her face in her hands. “I can’t believe I was so stupid.”

“Mr. Ringwell, take her outside,” Thel said. “Mr. Smith, I believe you’ll find this room contains many of the stolen items you have been searching for. In addition, Dawson kidnapped my daughter.”

“Would you testify as such?” The constable looked at Olivia. “Both of you?”

“Yes,” Olivia and Constance said at the same time.

The constable removed a pair of iron shackles from his pocket. “That is evidence enough for me.”