Page 135 of A Dangerous Lord (Regency Spies & Secrets 3)

“She thought you were dead, as we all did. I am sorry, but you can’t blame her.”

“No,” Kerley said, his eyes growing hard. “After all, it is entirely your fault.”

“I don’t contest that.”

Kerley waved his hand in front of him. “It matters not,” he replied. “I killed her husband. I wanted to watch her suffer, like she made me suffer.”

“For what purpose?”

“While I was rotting in that French prison, the thought of her was the only thing that kept me going,” Kerley revealed. “Betty is mine, and I will let no dalliance stop me from having her.”

“It wasn’t a dalliance if she wed the man,” Corbyn argued.

“If Betty had known I was still alive, she would have waited,” Kerley said matter-of-factly. “Now that I’ve returned, it will only be a matter of time before she will be my wife again.”

“You are mad.”

Kerley’s eyes narrowed. “Perhaps, but you were the one who left me to rot in a French prison. This is all your doing.”

Corbyn pressed his lips together. “I thought you were dead, or I would have never left you.”

“But you did,” Kerley asserted. “You left me bleeding on the street.”

“There is not a day that I don’t regret that decision,” Corbyn admitted.

Kerley lifted his brow. “Is that supposed to make it right between us?” he asked in disbelief. “You ruined my life.”

“I am terribly sorry—”

Kerley cut him off. “I don’t want your apology, not anymore. It’s too late for that.”

“Then what do you want?”

“I want you to suffer like I suffered!” Kerley exclaimed. “I want you to watch everything that you love be taken away from you. That’s why I killed Hannity and Miss Polly, because I knew they meant something to you. I knew it would cause you pain.” His lips formed a sneer as his eyes turned cold. “I intended to kill Baldwin, as well, but I never found the right opportunity. I will correct that most heinous error after I am done with you.”

“You will never be able to kill Baldwin,” Corbyn stated. “You are half the agent he is.”

Kerley scoffed. “We’ll see, won’t we?”

“Regardless, killing Jane won’t solve anything.”

“I’m afraid you have no say in the matter, not anymore,” Kerley declared as he retrieved a pistol from the waistband of his trousers. “But if it provides you any comfort, her death will be quick.”

“Wait!” Corbyn shouted. “You don’t have to kill her. Just kill me instead.”

“Oh, believe me, I will,” Kerley sneered as he brought his pistol up and took aim.

Jane ducked behindLord Evan as Kerley cocked the pistol. As she waited for the pistol to discharge, she heard Lord Evan say, “Before you kill us, I was hoping you could answer a few questions.”

“Such as?” Kerley asked.

“Why did you start counterfeiting?”

Jane glanced over Lord Evan’s shoulder to see Kerley lowering his pistol. “That was an easy feat,” Kerley replied. “After I escaped from the French prison, I boarded a merchant vessel bound for England and worked for my keep.”

Kerley started pacing. “Not only did I want to seek revenge on you, but I also wanted to make England suffer. I knew that by forging banknotes I could weaken the pound, which could potentially cripple the economy,” he explained. “Do you know how easy it is to forge a two-pound banknote?”

Chuckling, Kerley continued. “The shop keepers had no idea they were in possession of forged banknotes. It took months before it started to pay off on a large scale. The more notes we received, the more people I could hire.” He put his hands up. “It has been the easiest money I have ever made.”

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