“Their bayonets sure look pointy.”
“That’s what chain mail is for.”
He snorted. “Do you know how heavy chain mail is?”
“I know exactly how heavy chain mail is. Tommy made me a chain mail petticoat. I go on long walks with it beneath my dress at least once per week.”
He blinked. “You take your chain mail… for walks?”
“It gets the heart pumping,” she explained. “Now then, if you’ll allow me to negotiate?”
“Wait.” He stared at her. “Are you wearing chain mail right now?”
She fluttered her eyelashes at him. “Wouldn’tyoulike to know.”
“I want to know why I’m aroused by this,” he muttered.
Elizabeth poked her head out the window and shouted, “Don’t be a bully, Reddington! Leave us alone!”
“If you wish to be left alone, then vacate His Grace’s castle,” Reddington yelled back. “I won this land fair and square, in front of witnesses, and have the vowels to prove it. Send Densmore down with the deed at once, and I shall grant you twenty-four hours to collect your things and be gone.”
Stephen snorted. “Twenty-four hours to pack up a medieval castle and sort through the belongings of two recently departed parents? So generous.”
Elizabeth called down, “At the time of your wager, the castle was no longer Densmore’s to give. He regrets the error and any inconvenience it may have caused. Good day!”
“Liar,” Reddington roared. “Either show me proof, or bring me the deed to this castle!”
“As I said, it’s not yours or his,” Elizabeth shouted back. “Densmore mistakenly—”
“Lost his castle tome. Listen closely, both of you. His Grace is done being patient.”
Stephen’s eyes widened. “Arrows and bottles of poison was him being patient?”
“Can we buy him out?” Elizabeth whispered. “How much is this land worth?”
Stephen named an eye-watering sum. It wasn’t how Elizabeth had intended to spend her inheritance, but…
“We’ll pay you the difference,” she shouted down. “You’ll have a bank draft by morning.”
“No substitutions,” Reddington yelled back. “This ismycastle. Iwilltake possession.”
“Double the value,” Elizabeth tried again. “Huge bank draft. Enormous.”
“Tell Densmore it’s too late to change the deal. My men and I will hold our scheduled Waterloo reenactment right here one month hence as advertised to the entire country. And I shall install my men in this castlenow, in order to prepare the grounds for my glory.”
“It is not and never will be your castle,” Elizabeth called down. “We can show you legal proof, but we need more time.”
Stephen whispered, “How much time do we need?”
“Enough to find the missing will,” Elizabeth whispered back. “Or for Graham to bring home the real earl, so he can face his own consequences.”
“Two weeks,” yelled Reddington. “I shall grant you no later than the first of June. If this land isn’t in my possession by that morning, my army shall storm the castle and take it from you by force!”
“We would really rather—”
“I have spoken,” Reddington roared. “Mark my words, if you value your hide. You have until dawn on the first of June to surrender.”
Elizabeth unsheathed her sword stick. “We shall never bow to the likes of you.”
