Page 37 of A Night of Forever
Her quiet words seemed to reach Victoria.
“Perhaps so.” For a moment her stepmother appeared to be staring into the distance. Then she blinked. “I had designed my revenge against Arend before I knew you. It’s a pity, really, because you’re not what I expected.”
Isobel was still struggling with that strange statement when Victoria sighed and moved to stare out the window.
“Arend has to suffer the most,” she said, “because his father’s crime against me was the worst. He might not have touched me that night, but he left a young girl of thirteen in the hands of monsters. He knew what those men would do to me, and wanted no part of it,but he still left me there.” Her last words were an agonized wail.
Sickened, Isobel covered her mouth. “They raped you?” Her stomach revolted at the thought. “I’m so sorry.” She hesitated before adding, “But that was not Arend’s fault.”
“Someone has to pay.” The vulnerability on Victoria’s face was replaced by cold determination. “The Libertine Scholars will pay. You are simply a casualty of being your father’s daughter. The sap I blackmailed into marrying me. Your father had lost so much money, the hole he was in was so deep, that he’d lose everything. So to keep this secret he married me.”
“He’d never be party to this evil. Is that why you killed him?”
“True. Your father had no idea of my lofty plans. He merely thought I wanted his title.”
Isobel’s soul lightened. Her father hadn’t helped Victoria.
“Then, the moment I met you, my plan for Arend came together: to make him believe that you are an accomplice in my villainy, and to have him kill you.”
Kill? No, she thought. Arend would never—
“Well, to be fair,” Victoria said, “helphim kill you. And when it’s proven you had nothing to do with my evil deeds, they will hang him. Most of thetondislikes or fears him. They will grasp any excuse to rid themselves of a Frenchman with an English title.”
Isobel felt light-headed, and not because of the brandy. “You’re mad. No one will hang him when they realize you’ve played a hand in my death.”
Victoria shrugged. “No matter.” She moved back toward the fire. Held her hands out to the warmth of the flames. “Perhaps even better is that he’ll have to live with the guilt that he killed an innocent woman.Thatwill destroy him.”
Before Isobel could form a reply, the door opened and Dufort returned. He nodded, and Victoria seemed to understand his silent message.
Dufort turned to Isobel. “Come.”
Isobel waited, but when Victoria did not contradict his command she rose and smoothed her gown, wondering how a woman should address her murderer.
“While I truly sympathize with your pain, I cannot for the life of me see the justice in making the sons pay for their fathers’ crimes. As for me, I shall never forgive you for killingmyfather. If you succeed in killing me, I promise I’ll haunt you from my grave.”
Victoria inclined her head. “Brava. I’ll say goodbye now, as we shall not meet again. Tomorrow Dufort will take you to your fiancé. Unfortunately, he will not be happy to see you.”
Her smile turned truly evil and a chill invaded the room. “You will have brought him proof of the child’s death—an ear, to be precise—along with the implement used to remove it. They will be found on your body near to where they will find Arend. Dufort has made sure the other Libertine Scholars think you were complicit in Arend’s abduction and Sealey’s death. They will hold you accountable for both incidents.”
Isobel only realized she had moved when her palm connected with Victoria’s cheek. “I won’t let you kill an innocent child.” It was all she had time to say before Dufort hauled her off her feet and slung her over his shoulder.
“Little bitch!” Victoria seized her by the hair and jerked so hard that Isobel’s neck felt as if it were about to snap. “I hope my plan succeeds. I hope they hang him. I hope his neck doesn’t break. I hope his death is slow and agonizing, and I hope he feels every minute of it.”
Tears filled Isobel’s eyes from the pain in her head and in her heart, but she refused to say a word.
Finally Victoria shoved her away. “Get her out of my sight.”
—
Isobel paced her upstairs room all afternoon. Alone. She had no idea where Dufort was keeping Sealey, or even if the little boy was still alive. He couldn’t be dead. He just couldn’t be.
By twilight, her head was pounding and her stomach had tied itself into knots of worry and fear. Her attempts to find a way out of the room had only proved that the windows were bolted shut and the door locked.
Finally she slumped exhausted onto the bed. Impossible though it seemed, she must have slept, because she awoke with a jolt to the sound of a gunshot. And to darkness.
She leaped from the bed and over to the window. The second bullet smashed the glass and missed her head by a breath. Shaking with both joy and terror, she dropped to the floor and crawled toward the door.
It had to be Coldhurst and the others. It had to be a rescue. They’d come for Sealey. If only she could get out of the room and find him…
