Page 92 of Secrets of the Marriage Bed
Cold fingers strolled down his spine. ‘You will leave Julia out of this.’
‘I wish I could. Actually, I didn’t think she would go after our talk this morning. She actually likes you, more fool her. But I gather from my man she took me at my word and left. For some reason, she went to London instead of Portsmouth, but I will deal with her later.’
Not if Alistair could help it. He kept his gaze fixed on her face, tried to look harmless, confused. ‘Your man? Another of your spies planted in my household?’
She shrugged.
He folded his arms over his chest, eyeing the distance, weighing the likelihood he could get to her before she pulled the trigger. ‘How do you plan to get away with killing me in my own barn?’
‘An unfortunate robbery, a duke cut off in his prime, a body to prove it, too, this time, and all but forgotten in a sennight when my son takes his rightful place.’ Bending at the knees, the pistol held steady, she set down the lantern.
In the brief second she glanced down at the lantern, he risked another step closer. He needed something he could launch at her.
‘You cannot kill my husband before a witness.’ Julia stepped into the circle of lamplight.
Alistair wanted to shout at her to run, but feared that his stepmother might do something foolish like fire the damn pistol. Now he had Julia to worry about, too. Not that he was worried for himself. His father had been right. His younger brother would always have made the better Duke.
Pistol levelled at Julia, the Dowager backed against the wall of Thor’s stall. ‘Make one move, Alistair, and I will shoot her.’ She shook her head. ‘What are you doing here, girl? You should be well on your way to London. You are spoiling my plan.’
God help him, but the woman sounded irritated. ‘Julia, you need to go.’
A look of hurt crossed Julia’s face. ‘I’m sorry, Alistair. I thought of something I wanted to tell you before I left.’
A thought that would get her killed, if he wasn’t careful. ‘You need to leave.’
Isobel’s face turned sly. ‘No. Stay. When the authorities find the Duke dead and the rubies in your wife’s possession, they will know who to blame for your demise and everything will be as it should be.’
Alistair gazed at Julia. ‘You took the rubies?’
‘I did not,’ Julia said, stiffening.
‘You’d have been welcome to them,’ he muttered, moving a step closer to his stepmama. ‘They are said to be cursed.’
Isobel must have caught his movement from the corner of her eye because she shifted to keep him in view, but the pistol remained pointed at Julia. ‘She has the rubies all right. Or rather an excellent version in paste. I had my man pack them in the bottom of her dressing case. With that and all the other evidence pointing at her, who will believe her protestation of innocence?’
The woman had run mad. ‘You should have shot me when I first returned,’ he said. He would have been glad of it. He hated the future of unmitigated loneliness he’d carved out by indulging in his lust with Elise. ‘Or is this Luke’s idea? He always did have a devious mind. I suppose he was worried he might be suspected, having the most to gain.’
‘This is nonsense,’ Julia said stepping between Isobel and Alistair. ‘And you know it.’
The pistol wavered, then steadied. Mouth dry, he stepped out from behind Julia, causing the pistol to swing his way.
‘Stand alongside your husband, Julia,’ the Dowager said. ‘Tell her, Alistair. Or so help me I will shoot her first.’
‘And then what?’ a male voice said.
‘Good God,’ Alistair said bitterly. ‘Is everyone hiding in the dark in my barn? All it needed was you.’ The odds had just got a whole lot worse.
‘Luke, darling. Thank goodness,’ the Dowager said. ‘Tie her up, while I deal with him.’
Luke strode over to his mother and grabbed for the pistol. ‘I’ll take that, Mother.’
The gun went off. A searing pain crashed through Alistair’s head.Shot, by God—
Everything went dark.
* * *
Julia screamed and went to her knees beside Alistair. Blood was pooling in the straw around his head.
