Page 50 of Code Name Duchess
“We owe it to Leo to bring our uncle to justice. Come with me to Clerkenwell. I have already called for the carriage. We must confront him.”
Victoria slowly shook her head. “I cannot. I have killed our brother. Without Leo, what is to become of us now? If Uncle Ezekiel is put in jail, then who will take care of us? Who will be there for us?”
“I will. You will be under my protection. That is the least I can do.” Seth’s voice sounded from in the doorway, and Victoria turned in his direction.
He stood, leaning against the door frame, his eyes cast down at the heavily carpeted floor. His stood, mouth slightly opened, and there was a darkness in his countenance that she had never seen before. It was the same expression that she knew marked her face, and would soon take hold of her sister’s as well. But for right now, Winnifred was all anger and rage.
“I cannot accompany you. I…”
Victoria could hold in the grief no longer, tears streamed down her face, and she wept, and the tears soon turned into wails, and before she knew it, she had her head buried in the crook of Winnifred’s shoulder. She clung to her sister; the only person left of the Keating family. She sobbed and sobbed for what felt like hours; her sister did not let go of her. She gently stroked her long hair and rubbed her back until the violent convulsions had turned into whimpers.
When she finally let go of her sister, she glanced at the clock in the corner and saw twenty minutes had passed. Twenty minutes spent doing nothing but cry for her brother and the terrible fate she had brought down upon him.
In the corner of her eye, she spotted both Mary and Hester standing in the corner where Seth had stood so recently. They, too, were crying.
“Seth has gone to fetch the physician. I think you need a little more than my tincture to help you rest.”
“I do not believe I will ever have a restful night in all of my life again, Winnifred. This is my fault. It’s all my fault.”
Her sister shook her head with vigor. “It is not. It is not your fault. And thanks to this letter we both know whose fault it is. It’s Ezekiel’s, and I am leaving now to bring him to justice.”
With that, Winnifred let go of Victoria and stood up. She was a petite woman, but anyone looking at her now would not have even noticed it at all. Her face was one of determination, but eyes were full of rage, and the pure hatred for their uncle seeped out of every single pore. As Victoria watched her sister leave, she realized she had never been so proud of anyone in all of her life. For her sister would do just as she said. She would bring their uncle to justice—for Leo.
Chapter 25
The moment the coach stopped outside of her uncle’s home Winnie threw herself out the door without even waiting for the coachman to assist her. She rushed to the front door and banged the door knocker with such fierceness that one of her uncle’s neighbors poked their head out of their entrance to see what the commotion was.
By the time he opened the door, no more than two or three minutes had passed, but to Winnifred, it felt like an eternity. Her uncle looked at her with his hands crossed in front of his chest, blocking the doorway so she could not enter.
“Winnifred. I do not think that we have anything to say to one another at this very moment. Unless there has been news? Have the kidnappers been in touch again?”
“Have they ever!” she shouted. Her uncle’s neighbor, an elderly clockmaker, still stood outside of his home and watched the proceedings with great interest.
“Winnifred, lower your voice, do not make such a spectacle of yourself in front of my neighbors. It is rather embarrassing.”
She glared at her uncle, when she spoke again, she ensured that her voice was several octaves louder than the previous round.
“If you do not wish to be the center of attention, I strongly suggest that you step aside and allow me entry into the house. Unless you would rather have your entire neighborhood hear that you, Ezekiel Keating, are responsible for the death of your own nephew, and that of the sister of the Duke of Cambarton.” She glared at him, her eyes wide and full of raging fire.
He winched immediately and stepped aside, waving her in.
“Winnifred, do not say such outrageous proclamations. What an awful lie to tell. And especially not out in public. Such accusations will ruin my reputation. And they will undoubtedly give you a reputation for being a hysterical woman, and who will want to marry someone like that?”
She stepped into the dark interior of the house and spun on her heels. “I can’t think about marriage. All I care about now is bringing you to justice.”
“You speak like a madwoman. None of what you say makes any sense. The grief over your missing brother must’ve made you fit for Bedlam. Bedlam, I say! I should call for the physician to have you taken there at once and locked away.”
“I assure you, it will not be I who is locked away but you.”
At this, he laughed.” I wish your aunt was here so that she could witness this disgraceful manner in which you address me.”
“So, you deny it?”
“Deny what?” He demanded, his forehead full of deep wrinkles as he stared at her.
“Do you deny that it was your idea to stage this kidnapping and that it was you who approached Elton with the idea to repay your debt and get you both extra funds? Funds you had no right to?”
Her uncle didn’t even have to answer her question, for his reaction gave it all away. He stumbled backward into the wall and then clutched his neck.
