“You witch!” Lord Carfield shouted. “I should have sued you for everything you’re worth years ago and had you locked away in a poorhouse!”
“Perhaps you should have,” Lady Carfield agreed. “Because now it’s too late. I am finally my own person, and I finally know what I am worth. And I will no longer allow you to mistreat me or our daughters. Nor will I allow you to get away with your crimes. I am signing this document, and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.”
“Mother,” Iris interjected, and Lady Carfield turned to face her, “if you sign this, he will force you to return home. He will ki?—”
“I am doing this, Iris,” Lady Carfield said, laying a hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “And no one can stop me. It is past time that I redeem myself in your eyes, in the eyes of the Lord, and most importantly, in my own eyes. So that when I meet my maker, I can go to see Him with my head held high.”
And with that, she strode across the room, grabbed the quill from the desk, dipped it into the inkpot, and signed her name across the paper.
A deafening silence fell over the room as Iris, Anna, Mr. Hargrove, and Lord Carfield all stared at Lady Carfield. Iris was in shock, and simultaneous emotions were crashing through her—awe at her mother’s bravery, worry that she’d made a dangerous mistake, and hope that maybe, at last, her father might be punished for his crimes.
“You will pay for this,” Lord Carfield spoke into the silence. “You and your daughters will pay for this.”
“I think you’ll find,” a voice suddenly said from behind them, “that the only one who is about to pay for their crimes is you.”
Once more, Iris found herself turning towards the door to see the newcomer. But this time, it wasn’t dread that filled her stomach, it was elation. Because standing in the doorway was her husband, and he looked as if nothing on earth could stop him.
Chapter Twenty
“Phineas!” Iris couldn’t help exclaiming as she took in the sight of her husband.
Phineas had never looked so handsome, and her heart swelled at the sight of him, standing in the doorway, his hair tousled, his eyes blazing, and a fiery look on his face. For a moment, she just gazed at him, taking him in. She couldn’t believe that he was here, that he had arrived just in the nick of time to save them.
“Your Grace,” Lord Carfield snarled, “I see you have arrived at last. Not drinking yourself into a stupor at your club anymore?”
“Oh, I was at my club,” Phineas said, smiling softly. “But only to keep you from knowing what I was really up to.”
Lord Carfield blinked. “And what was that?”
“For one, getting your daughters to safety. Well, not me, but my associates. I believe you remember Lords Bolden and Goldwin? They paid a visit to your friend, Lord Redfield, recently.”
Lord Carfield’s face paled. “What did they do with my daughters?” he hissed.
“They removed them from your residence so that even if you return there before you are arrested, you will not be able to harm them.”
“What?!” Lord Carfield roared, and he took a menacing step towards Phineas. “You would dare to take my children from me?”
“I would dare to do the thing you should have done from the moment they were born—protect them. It’s an unfortunate state of affairs, in this country, that women and children have little to no legal protection from the very men who are supposed to be watching out for them.” Phineas cocked his head. “I’m half inclined to petition Parliament to amend the coverture laws, after dealing with you, Lord Carfield.”
Lady Carfield stepped forward, her brow creased with worry. “Are my girls safe?” she asked. “Are they well?”
“Yes,” Phineas replied, nodding to her reassuringly. “Lords Bolden and Goldwin are keeping them safe. They will not be in harm’s way, even if it takes time to bring Lord Carfield to justice.”
“There will be no bringing me to justice!” Lord Carfield shouted. “These letters that my daughter insistsprovemy guilt are fakes! All of them!”
Phineas frowned, then turned to Iris, a questioning look on his face. “What is he talking about? Weren’t the letters stolen during the robbery?”
“Yes, but…” Iris took a tentative step towards her husband, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. The fact that he was here and that he was turning to her for answers—without even a single accusatory look—made her hope that, perhaps, he finally believed she hadn’t been spying on him for her father. “Violet got them back for us. At great personal risk to herself, I might add.”
“You see!” Lord Carfield interrupted. “These documents were stolen from me!” He turned to Mr. Hargrove. “Doesn’t that render them invalid if they were stolen from me?”
“Not if you obtained them illegally,” Mr. Hargrove replied, frowning. “These documents belonged to Lady Carfield, and they were in the home of His Grace before they were stolen by hired ruffians. We have a report of everything that was stolen, including the letters. The fact that they were in your possession and that so many can testify to that fact, is already damning enough, My Lord.”
For the first time that day, Lord Carfield looked slightly afraid. His eyes widened, and a bead of sweat slid down his brow. He opened his mouth, as if he wanted to argue, then closed it again. He took a step back, his eyes darting all around him.
“I won’t allow this!” he finally shouted. “I am an innocent man!”
“You are innocent of nothing,” Phineas growled, and the attention of the room seemed to zero in on him. “You had my parents murdered. And now you are going to pay for your crimes, once and for all.”
