Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

Aaron froze.

It was a clever plan. Everyone knew how much he loved his kin. Everyone knew he would not leave a sibling out in the cold. But for Natasha to achieve her goal and avoid his brothers' wrath, she must kill an entire family.

It was an impossible task.

Unless she set the club ablaze while they slept upstairs.

He turned to Joanna, fear rising through him like a tidal wave. "We need to leave. I warned Sigmund to expect an attack, but he can't watch every room. Natasha could raze Fortune's Den to the ground."

A blackguard might scale the wall in the yard, force the door and torch the downstairs rooms. There would be mass panic, jumping from the upper windows, his family's only means of escape.

"You can't go," Mrs Lowry said, a tremble in her voice. "Natasha has a boat waiting, moored down past the yard. Once you're aboard, the skipper will take you to the meeting place. Natasha wants you to leave your share of Fortune's Den to Lucia. She'll manage Lucia's affairs until she's of age, though she promises not to hurt your family."

That was a lie.

Natasha would shoot him and dispose of his brothers.

Aaron gave a mirthless chuckle. "Natasha is a fool if she thinks I would subject my brothers to a lifetime of misery. Why the hell would I trust her?"

"We can't stop her. She has men watching the house." Mrs Lowry's voice quivered like the tenuous hold on her nerve might snap. "We've followed the plan because Lucia was afraid Natasha would kill you. Just like she killed the gent at The Burnished Jade."

Joanna gasped. "Natasha killed Lord Howard? Why?"

"His father hurt her years ago, and she said his son must repent." Mrs Lowry cast a pitying glance at Lucia. "Lucia was told to cause trouble between Lord Howard and Mr Parker and get one of them to steal the dagger. We thought Natasha wanted to make life difficult for Lord Howard."

Lucia shivered like she could feel the men's clammy hands on her skin. "Mother said she wanted the dagger because it belonged to Ignatius Chance. I did what I was told. I didn't know she would take it to The Burnished Jade and kill a man. I didn't know you'd be a suspect."

"What did you think she would do?" he snapped, angry that Natasha would use her daughter to do her dirty deeds. "Keep it as a souvenir? She made you an accessory to murder."

Probably so she could control Lucia.

Water welled in Lucia's eyes as she looked at him. "I didn't know Mother was watching Fortune's Den. She's been looking for a way to destroy your family and steal your fortune."

And she had come close to succeeding.

"Why use The Burnished Jade and involve Miss Lovelace?"

Lucia turned to Joanna. "She knew you were friends with Mr Chance and discovered what Lord Howard did to you. That's when she decided to use you to hurt him."

Joanna inhaled deeply. "Lord Howard must have confessed to his crime. You told your mother. What sort of mother would leave you alone with him, knowing he's a monster?"

"I am just a pawn in her game," Lucia said through a sob. "But if it is any consolation, Lord Howard was sorry for what he did. He confessed to me the night I cried when he tried to touch me."

"Howard lied." Aaron relayed what he'd heard about Miss Fitzpatrick's planned ruination. "He came to The Burnished Jade to hurt another innocent woman."

Lucia looked confused. "No. He came to The Burnished Jade looking for Mr Parker. Mother sent him an anonymous note. He thought Mr Parker was planning to hurt me. Whatever else you've heard is untrue. Mother stole the list of attendees so it would look like he came of his own volition."

"It's my fault," Mrs Lowry said, sniffing back tears. "I should have done something years ago. But once Natasha sinks her claws into you, there's no hope of escape."

Aaron paused to think.

There was only one way to stop Natasha hurting his family.

A way fraught with danger.

"Why should I trust you?" he asked Lucia. "You were born to wicked parents, two of the most evil people I've had the misfortune to meet."

"It's not a life I chose." Lucia delved into her coat pocket and retrieved a miniature in an ornate gilt frame. "I have always longed to be part of your family, and hoped you might regard me as kin."

Mrs Lowry spoke up. "She's a kind, caring girl, sir, who's been forced to do terrible things against her will."

Aaron gave a nod of recognition. "Our parents treated us like puppets in their cruel games. When you've known nothing but wickedness, you'll bear the scars for a lifetime."

"I know affection, devotion and friendship," Lucia argued. "Mrs Lowry loves me like kin."

How could he argue? Mrs Maloney loved him, too.

"I told Lucia about your mother, Diana, sir."

Hearing his mother's name pierced like a blade through the heart. Nothing prepared him for the moment the girl handed him the miniature of a beautiful raven-haired woman and said, "This belongs to you, Mr Chance."

Mrs Lowry was quick to explain. "I took it from your father's desk when I left Hill Street but kept it hidden. I showed it to Lucia when she was old enough. I wanted to explain not all mothers are wicked."

Aaron hung his head and stared at his mother's image. A lifetime of regret squeezed the breath from his lungs. He felt his mother's anguish, the grief for a life cut short. He imagined her in heaven, watching every beating, trying to guide him towards a better path.

"Did my father kill her?" He had to know if the gossip was true. "Tell me. Surely Natasha knew. My father found his match in her."

Mrs Lowry shook her head. "Your father loved your mother. Part of him died when he found her dead at the bottom of the stairs. I heard his brother was involved, but there was no proof."

"Berridge?" Aaron sat forward.

The earl was a dead man walking.

"A servant disappeared the night your mother died. A maid. I heard she gave your mother a hefty dose of laudanum and a gentle shove in the back, but it was just gossip, sir."

All stories contained fragments of the truth.

"The Earl of Berridge didn't want our father to have more sons," Lucia said. "He was afraid you would cause trouble in the future. Ignatius remarried quickly to show the earl he could not be beaten."

Aaron could believe that was true. Knowing he had four vengeful nephews, Berridge must have been quaking in his boots. It explained why he left them to die in the rookeries.

Joanna hugged his arm and said softly, "Don't torment yourself over things you cannot control. I know how these thoughts make a person weak. Nothing matters but protecting those you love and ending this nightmare."

Knowing she was right, Aaron fell silent while he considered the options. There was one. He had to confront Natasha.

"Once I'm in the boat, what are your instructions?" he asked Mrs Lowry.

"The skipper will transport you to the destination while we wait here. You're to drink a vial of laudanum before I walk you to the boat."

So, Natasha needed him subdued.

"Where will he take me?"

It would be somewhere quiet, maybe out of town.

"Natasha didn't tell us. She said a woman would destroy you where strong men failed." Mrs Lowry glanced nervously out of the window. "We can't linger here without rousing suspicion. Happen we've been here long enough."

"Then let's not waste time. I'll play Natasha's game." Aaron handed Joanna his mother's miniature and had every faith she would do as he asked. "Give this to Aramis. Explain what happened tonight and tell him he must take charge." He removed the sovereign ring from his finger. "Give him my ring. He's to protect our family, not concern himself with me. He must focus on the future."

Joanna shook her head. "You can't go. She means to kill you."

"If I'm to end this, I have no choice." He cupped her cheek and let his love for her flood his heart. "These times spent with you have been the happiest of my life. I'd withstand a daily beating to feel the pleasure of one kiss."

"Don't go. There must be another way."

"There isn't. I must learn to master my fears. I'm afraid of losing everything I love, but I'm not afraid to face Natasha."

Her face grew taut as if she balanced on a razor's edge. "We can't keep saying goodbye like this."

"This will be the last time." It had to be.

Mrs Lowry handed him a small vial. "Natasha told me it's laudanum."

"It could be arsenic," Joanna said, horrified.

Indeed, he could not risk making assumptions.

Natasha was a cunning cat.

"I can't drink that."

Lucia retrieved a tiny brown bottle from her pocket. "I agree, Mr Chance. This is laudanum." She removed the stopper and took a small swig. "There. That proves I've told the truth. Drink some. Mother needs you drowsy so she can restrain you. She will want you awake to sign the documents and won't try to kill you until you do."

"It will give Miss Lovelace time to alert your family," Mrs Lowry added. "They might know where Natasha plans to take you."

Aaron stared at the medicine bottle—then at the two women—wondering if this was an elaborate story to fool him or the absolute truth.

Trust all will be well.

Joanna's earlier comment drifted into his mind.

All is well , he said silently, surprised three simple words had the power to calm his restless spirit. Not knowing the strength of the opium tincture, Aaron sipped an average dose equivalent to ten drops. The solution tasted bitter and needed time to travel through his bloodstream.

"What now?" he said. The road ahead was an uncertain path .

Mrs Lowry moved to alight. "I'll walk Lucia back to the house, then escort you to where the boat is moored. The skipper will take things from there. What happens afterwards, I cannot say. The only saving grace is Natasha needs Lucia alive."

Mrs Lowry climbed down from the coach, but Lucia paused in the doorway. "I always dreamed of making you proud. That I would be a famed opera singer and you would attend my performances. I'm sorry if I have been a disappointment."

Aaron knew that guilt was a leaden anchor dragging you down.

He touched his sister's arm. Something told him everything she'd said was true. "I hear you have the voice of an angel. Let's pray I live to see you sing an aria for the King."

Lucia smiled. "I imagine your mother would have said something just as kind. You have inherited her good heart." And with that naive comment, she alighted.

It hurt to look at Joanna.

Distress lived in every line on her brow.

"Aaron, I wish we were back in Aldgate, and you were dragging drunken louts from my door. I wouldn't care if you were rude. I would smile and thank you for being a gentleman."

"I was rude so I might save myself from feeling the pain I do now," he confessed. "You're strong enough to overcome whatever happens tonight. Your club will be a huge success. Women are breaking free from their shackles and seeking their own identity. When it comes to matchmaking, trust Daventry's advice. There's no man wiser."

"I would sacrifice it all to spend my life loving you."

He cupped her cheek. "You'd be afraid of the man you saw fighting in the pits. He's vicious when there's nothing to keep his temper in check. If I don't return, at least I'll know your last thoughts of me were favourable."

She clutched her abdomen. "I feel sick with worry."

"All will be well." He sounded too relaxed, which was probably a consequence of the opium taking effect. "Kiss me. But not like this is goodbye."

She kissed him like she wanted to tear off his clothes and straddle him on the coach seat. Their lips collided with fierce intensity, their breath mingling as he gripped her waist, pulling her closer. She touched him, her hands moving so rapidly it made him dizzy. Again, it must be the opium.

"I love you," he uttered, his head growing heavy.

"I love you," she said as Mrs Lowry returned to escort him to the boat. Panicked, Joanna turned on the woman. "Make sure he reaches the boat and doesn't end up in the river. If you've lied tonight and he dies, I'll not rest until I find you. You'll wish to God you'd killed me."

The tremor in Joanna's hands mirrored the pounding of her heart. The pain in her throat was like fingers crushing her windpipe. She could hardly see from crying but gripped the seat as the coach lurched forward and picked up speed.

She wanted to die.

She wanted to curl into a ball and sleep through the immeasurable pain. But there was a chance she could save Aaron, a chance he would survive. Somehow, she had to find the strength to help him.

As the coach rattled over Westminster Bridge, she pressed her face to the window, scouring the inky blackness for Natasha's boat. The odd lit lanterns hanging aboard the barges on the Thames cast shadows across the water, but the man she loved was lost amid the gloom.

The coach jolted suddenly, the jarvey cursing as he brought the vehicle to a crashing halt. Prepared to fight one of Natasha's thugs, Joanna was surprised when Lucia opened the door and clambered inside.

The poor girl's cheeks were flushed, and she was panting so hard she struggled to speak. "Have the jarvey drive on," she said, her expression strained as she clutched her chest. "Hurry."

Joanna called to the jarvey, instructing him to drive like the devil was at his heels. Then she faced Lucia. "Has something happened? Is it Mr Chance?"

Please don't say he's dead.

"No, but you need me to speak to the magistrate. I can tell him you're both innocent, and I must be as brave as my brother." Lucia's eyelids flickered. "The opium, it is making my muscles relax but I may be of some help."

Joanna clung to the overhead strap as the vehicle raced through the dim streets. Lucia fell into a haze, drifting somewhere between sleep and blissful ignorance. A carefree place where her problems slipped away like mist in a morning sun.

Half an hour later, they arrived in Aldgate Street. Joanna flung open the carriage door, desperation forcing her to leap from the vehicle while it was still rolling. She fell to her knees on the pavement before scrambling up and hammering on the Den's door.

Sigmund answered. A heavy frown marred his brow as he looked to the open carriage and saw Lucia asleep in the seat. "Where's Aaron? What happened?"

"Let me rouse Aramis, and I'll explain. Carry Lucia into the drawing room, and tell the jarvey to wait. Be careful. There may be men outside ready to attack." Who knew what Natasha had planned?

Joanna charged into the house, crying, "Aramis!" five times from the hallway.

Aramis appeared on the stairs, dressed in black like his brothers behind him. He looked at Joanna, then at the open door, his face turning ghostly pale .

"Where is he? Where the hell is Aaron? We were about to leave to visit Miss Stowe. I knew something was amiss when he ushered me out of the study earlier."

A sob ripped through her, her body jerking as grief took control of her limbs. "Natasha is alive. She plans to kill Aaron tonight."

"She's a-alive?" Aramis stuttered.

Other family members appeared in the hall, dressed and ready for battle. They were unharmed. There was no fire. Natasha knew how to use Aaron's fears against him.

"Lucia is Natasha's daughter," Joanna said as Sigmund carried the drowsy girl into the house. "She's your sister. Ignatius was her father."

Aramis jerked in shock. "Good God."

Joanna fumbled through her pocket, handed Aramis his mother's miniature and his brother's signet ring, and conveyed Aaron's message. "Aaron said protecting your family must take priority."

"He is our family," Delphine said.

"You need to think where Natasha might take him. A place one can reach by boat. A place that means something to Aaron. Somewhere one might kill a man and dispose of a body."

Aramis stared at his mother's likeness, his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat. Then he shook himself, aware he needed to concentrate on finding his brother. "Aaron rarely goes anywhere. He's dedicated the last ten years of his life to this club."

"What about somewhere he liked as a boy?" she said, a vision of a sad child filling her mind, a boy without sanctuary.

All the brothers shook their heads.

Delphine stepped forward. "Aaron worked lugging barrels by day and fought in the pits at night. He never took time to rest. He never considered himself, only how we would escape poverty."

Impatience left Joanna's temper frayed. "Think! All of you! His life depends upon us finding the answer. Natasha won't rest until she has destroyed him." She rubbed tears from her eyes. "Please. We need to bring him home."

I need him to come home!

Mr Flynn offered a sensible suggestion. "I'd be more inclined to think of a place he despises. A place where he might feel powerless. Where Natasha can use his thoughts against him and he might be easier to defeat."

Joanna had an idea. "Where is your mother buried?"

"St Audley's, Mayfair," Aramis said solemnly.

A sudden knock on the open door had them all jumping to attention. A young man, tall and bony, gripped the doorframe to keep himself from crumpling with exhaustion. "I need to speak to Mr Chance. Aaron Chance. He said to call day or night."

Aramis stepped forward. "Why?"

The man gauged the size of Aramis' chest and answered the question. "He's had me watching a house in Upper Brook Street. Wanted to know if I saw any shifty business or if the cove had visitors. Said he'd pay double if I watched through the night."

"You'll find money in the drawer, Miss Lovelace." Aramis pointed to the console table. "Pay the fellow, and let's hear what he has to say."

Joanna took three sovereigns from the purse in the drawer. She dropped the coins into the man's grubby hand. "What had you racing to Aldgate?"

"I'll need a bit more for the ride home." He gave a toothless grin. "I used every shilling I had to hire a hackney to follow the cove."

Joanna obliged him. "You followed Lord Berridge?"

The lackey nodded. "The old toff headed across town, past Tower Hill and Shadwell Church, towards the Limehouse Basin. That's where I ran out of coins and the jarvey turfed me out."

"Where the blazes is Berridge going?" Aramis mused aloud.

"There ain't much out there. There's the West India Docks on the Isle of Dogs and the marshes. "

"The earl could be leaving town," Delphine said.

"I don't reckon so," Aaron's watchman replied. "He went in a hired coach, not a nabob's carriage. A right old rickety thing. I'll wager the driver takes him to the marshes and robs him blind."

Joanna turned to Aramis. "Might Natasha take Aaron to any of those places? She said something about a woman destroying him where strong men failed. Might she be talking about a past event, a fight his father forced him to attend?"

Sigmund spoke up. "Aaron told me about a bare-knuckle brawl north of the Ferry House on the Isle of Dogs. He was only fourteen but had beaten four brutes that night. His last opponent was a woman with fists like mallets. No matter how much she provoked him, Aaron couldn't hit her."

"I know the place," the lackey said. "They call it the Dog Pit. No-Neck Harry won there a few months ago."

"How long will it take to get there?" A bud of hope blossomed in Joanna's chest. She looked at the crowd of people huddled in the hall. People who loved Aaron. "There's no room for us all. We've got a hackney coach and Mr Flynn's carriage."

"The fewer occupants, the quicker we'll be," Aramis said.

"We'll need weapons." Joanna imagined them closing in on Natasha, surrounding her, giving her no option but to surrender. "We don't know how many men Natasha hired."

"I—I know of four," Lucia said weakly, shuffling into the hall. "You must let me come, too. I may be able to reason with her."

"You're hardly fit to travel."

"But without me, my mother's plan won't work."

"What plan?" Aramis demanded to know.

"The plan to have Aaron sign everything he owns over to Lucia." Joanna considered Lucia's request. It made sense to bring her along. They could use her as bait or a bargaining tool. "We can't take everyone, but we must take Lucia. "

"Perhaps I may be of assistance," came a deep, masculine voice from the doorway. Mr Daventry stood like a monument to justice. His black attire gave him a menacing air like he meant to rid the world of sinners. "My carriage is outside. I had a man watching the premises. He sent word to my office when you left. My agents are on hand and are parked at the top of Aldgate Street."

Joanna might have dropped to her knees and kissed his feet if time wasn't precious. "Aaron's stepmother is alive and has transported him to a secret location. She plans to kill him. We think they're heading to the Isle of Dogs."

Mr Daventry gripped her upper arms. "Aaron Chance has nine lives. He won't be beaten, and certainly not by someone as wicked as Natasha. Tell me everything en route." He gestured for everyone to follow him outside. "Aramis. Fill my agents' carriages and tell them to follow mine."

Aramis began ushering everyone outside.

"Wait for me!" Mrs Maloney descended the stairs, Joanna's musket in one hand and her homemade felt bag in the other. "I found this upstairs along with powder and lead. It might be useful."

"A coat might be useful," Aramis said, sighing. "The cold will nip more than your nose. Hurry. Your son needs you."

Mrs Maloney tutted. "This isn't cold. You're too young to remember the winter of 1791. And my boy isn't dying tonight."

"Please hurry," Joanna said, wrapping her arm around Lucia. "While we dally, Aaron is out there, cold, drugged and all alone."

Mr Daventry gave a knowing grin. "He's not alone. The Marquess of Rothley followed you to Lambeth tonight."