Page 73 of Lady Louisa and the Carriage Clock
“Stay here, Louisa. I’ll return in a moment.”
Cecil edged his way down the main staircase, stopping in surprise when he saw the entry hall. The front door was open, and Henry and Bones stood facing him. He raised his gun.
“We’ve got the RA goons tied up outside,” Henry said gravely. “There’s a couple dead on the floor in the room to your right. The man was shot, and the lady looks to have broken her neck in the fall.”
“That would be Lord and Lady Kettering. They ordered one of the goons to kill Eliza,” he kept the gun trained on Bones as he spoke.
The man nodded, his face full of sorrow. “Aye, I found her body when I snuck up on the criminal guarding the back terrace. Poor Eliza was strangled. I believe she worked for the RA, my lord.”
“And you?” he asked grimly.
“I merely made the mistake of trusting her. My loyalty is to you, my lord. Always has been.”
He stood staring at the other man for some time until they heard carriages arriving outside, and Nathaniel rushed into the entry hall, followed by Leopold.
“Cecil! Where is Louisa?” Nathaniel took in the scene around him. “Sidmouth must have got the news about Kettering as there are several Home Office agents outside.”
Cecil put the gun back in his jacket, turned, and ran upstairs. With so many other people in the vicinity, he wasn’t worried about Bones and Henry for the present.
“It’s all right, Louisa.” He rushed to her, pulled the gag from her mouth, and began untying her hands. “Everyone is all right. You’re safe now.”
He put out a hand to help Louisa to her feet. She took it, letting out a long sigh as she stumbled into his arms. Cecil held her close, relieved that she was now safe.
“Louisa!” Leopold raced into the room, and Cecil allowed Leopold to take Louisa from him. Leopold picked his sister up and held her to his chest. “I’ve got you. Let’s get you home.”
The lady smiled weakly at Cecil from her place in Leopold’s arms and then closed her eyes. He saw tears slip down her cheeks, and he squashed the urge to take her from her brother and comfort her himself. He followed Leopold from the drawing room.
When Cecil returned downstairs, he addressed Nathaniel, “We have to get to Kettering’s townhouse in Mayfair as soon as possible.” He wouldn’t say more as he had no idea if he could trust Bones, Henry, or Sidmouth’s men.
“I’m taking my sister home,” Leopold said to two men standing nearby who were obviously from the Home Office. “You clean up here. I’ll brief Lord Sidmouth tomorrow morning after interviewing Lord Wycliffe.”
Leopold exchanged a look with him.
“I’ll be at my club in a few hours.” Cecil wouldn’t go home until he knew whether he could trust Bones and Henry.
Once in the carriage, Nathaniel said, “When I arrived at Carstairs, Leopold already knew Louisa was missing but had sworn her maid to secrecy so as not to alarm the family. He also had an agent, a groom, watching Louisa but the man was taken by surprise by Eliza's men.”
“Leopold is an agent for the Home Office?”
Nathaniel nodded. “He’s been working to root out the RA for the last two years. He told me part of his behavior toward you was to make sure nobody thought you were in league together.”
That explained several things to him.
“Lady Kettering was the third founder of the RA, not her husband,” he told his friend.
“Never say so!”
Cecil replied, “She was going to kill him along with myself and Louisa and then proclaim she didn’t know about his other life. Before she shot her husband, he told me there was a ledger in their home that lists the members of the RA. And that it would prove she was one of the founders.”
They were silent for a few moments, the only sound the striking of horses’ hooves against stone and the jingle of harnesses.
“When I entered the house, you were holding a gun on Bones.”
“Eliza was his cousin.”
In the gloom of the carriage, he could see Nathaniel frown. “So now you suspect Bones and Henry of being members of the RA.”
He nodded. “Of course.”
