Page 65 of Taken to the Grave
Abbey sighed. “I have no fear of the police. Do you have any notion of how many powerful men my Sanctuary caters to? Every one of them have sold their souls to me, and to keep their names unspoken, their reputations unsullied, they will protectme.” Abbey reached forward, his hand curling around Audrey’s chin. Fury boiled under Hugh’s skin as the steward put his lips to her ear. “So, in answer to your question, I have all the time in the world. A good thing, I think, since I’m not quite finished with you yet.”
“Yes, you are. Now, Sir!” Audrey shouted before sinking her teeth into Abbey’s hand, which he’d made the mistake of putting too close to her mouth. He roared in pain and ripped his hand free as the sound of chains suddenly rattled overhead. Audrey threw herself aside and Hugh raised his pistol.
“Oi!” a familiar voice screeched as the empty cage above Abbey came down fast.
He twisted to leap aside, but the base caught his shoulder, knocking him down. However, it failed to pin him.
Abbey staggered to his feet and wheeled, his pistol aimed toward Hugh. The percussion of two pistol shots filled the room. Pain bit into Hugh’s shoulder, but he remained standing. Abbey did not. He dropped to the floor, a groan of anguish ripping from his throat.
“Hugh!” Audrey was at his side in the next second, her attention riveted to his shoulder.
“I’m only grazed,” he said, though he kept that arm tight to his side and reached for her with his other arm instead.
Pea whistles pierced the air as Abbey, blood expanding through the fabric of his waistcoat, tried to crawl for the door. Shouts and commotion erupted in another part of the house. Bow Street had arrived. “In here!” Hugh shouted.
“Oh, thank god,” Audrey said as he gathered her to him. “Have I ever told you that you have excellent timing?”
He pressed his lips to her forehead. “A time or two.” He then noticed she, too, cradled her arm close. “You’re hurt.”
“No, only bruised.” Her body quaked with shivers. “Sir! Lower the middle cage.”
Only then did Hugh see the boy at the panel of levers.That’swhat Audrey had been looking at over his shoulder. Sir. He’d left the coach field and somehow sneaked his way in. Sir tipped the brim of his hat and began to crank the middle lever at a more cautious pace. Gwendolyn broke into fresh sobs as her cage began to lower.
“You aren’t mad I left the phaeton, are you? I saw that shifty bloke, Stevens, and figured I’d follow him at a distance,” Sir said as the cage came to rest on the floor. Hugh and Audrey joined him there.
“Considering you just saved our hides,” Hugh said, grinning, “I’ll give it a pass.”
Several patrolmen entered the room then, their eyes going wide at the scene before them. And then, Sir Gabriel Poston entered on their heels. He pulled up short and stared down at Hammond Abbey. The steward had given up on his escape and sat against the wall, bleeding heavily from the wound in his side.
“Glad to see you made it,” Hugh said, earning a scowl from the magistrate.
“I take it this is the man that needs arresting?”
Hugh nodded, his shoulder beginning to throb now. “I’d hurry up about it. He might not be breathing for much longer.”
Sir Gabriel stared down at one of the men responsible for the death of his niece. “With any hope, he won’t be.” The magistrate snapped his fingers, and the patrolmen got to work.
Chapter
Twenty
Audrey reclined in her copper tub, the hot, scented water massaging her aching muscles and sore arm. Greer had drawn the bath while Audrey had been in the drawing room, going over the tumultuous events of the afternoon with Michael and Genie, who’d been shocked and horrified as she’d explained about Mr. Abbey, his secret society, and his penchant for violence to keep tongues from wagging about his foul club.
On her way back to Violet House, she’d considered keeping her lips sealed about everything. It would only stir Michael’s temper, and he’d already been furious once that day, with Cassie, earlier in his study. Gracious, it seemed like ages ago, rather than just a handful of hours.
However, the duke would have certainly heard about the commotion at Burdick Close the next day. If not from Cassie, who had arrived with Carrigan shortly after Sir Gabriel, then from the city’s newspapers, all of which were sure to ink the story onto front pages.
Although Hugh had dispatched Audrey and Gwendolyn Bertram from the Sanctuary as soon as possible, there was always the chance that they’d been spotted leaving the scene—or that some newspaper editor had a Bow Street patrolman on theirpayroll. So, Audrey had decided it would be better for Michael to hear it from her first. In an unexpected twist, her brother-in-law had simply stood there, listening. His lack of a reaction had, oddly, been one of the larger surprises of an already astonishing day.
“Are you going to say anything?” she’d finally needed to prod after a few moments of quiet once she’d finished speaking. Cassie and Genie, too, had watched him with concern.
Michael had gone to the window and looked out at the street and the greening boughs of Hyde Park. “It isn’t that I don’t trust in your capabilities, Audrey. Or in yours, Cassie.” He’d sounded thoughtful and calm. “In fact, I’m quite impressed. Audrey, if not for your persistence and your…your bravery,” he’d said, selecting the word after a moment’s deliberation, “a young woman would have likely died. And Cassie, you were integral in convincing the magistrate to get to where he needed to be.”
Cassie had gaped at him, as had Audrey. It was enormously difficult for Michael to speak like that, from the heart, and they all knew it.
“Rules are safe. Order and stability are safe. And after losing my brother, I thought if I could only keep you all safe…” He tugged at his stock and cravat, unable to finish his thought. He needn’t have finished it. Audrey knew what he meant.
He cleared his throat. “A single woman in possession of a large fortune is a target, and I have already failed you once before, Cassie. I didn’t protect you from that blackguard, Renfry. I will never forgive myself for that.”
