She rocked back on her heels and beamed at him. “Because, dearest love of my heart, I do have them!”
CHAPTER 14
"But not for long,”said a high voice, laughing wildly.
Leona spun around, falling against the portmanteau. She put her hand on it to steady herself as she gaped at the two people standing not fifteen feet away, brandishing pistols in their direction.
It was Sarah Jewitt and Howard North.
Deveraux growled low in his throat and gathered himself to leap to his feet.
“Not so fast. You stay right where you are,” warned Howard North, drawing back the hammer of his pistol. It clicked ominously, and Sarah Jewitt laughed again, high color on her thin, pinched face.
Deveraux stilled, his eyes narrowed to thin slits as he visibly eased the tension in his muscles. Leona raised her other hand to her chest in the region of her heart, her eyes wide with fear.
“So,” Deveraux drawled laconically, “Jewitt is our unknown confederate. We knew there had to be one.”
Jewitt laughed, the sound shrill and piercing and edged with mad frenzy. She handed her pistol to North and stepped closer, her hands on her hips. She leaned toward him,her eyes wereglittering and over-bright. “Confederate!” she spat. “Stupid fool! I am the mastermind. I, Sarah Jewitt Northythe!”
“The surveyor’s daughter,” breathed Leona.
Jewitt’s eyes slid to Leona. “They tell you about me? How his brother led me on until I would have done anything for him!Killed for him! And still, he rejected me. I wasn’t good enough to be a countess!”
“Emily Fennimore’s engagement to my brother was a long-standing one that only wanted the announcement to make it official.”
Jewitt glared at him, her face twisting into a horrible grotesque masque of hate. “No, no! That’s not true! No, he wanted me, I know he did.”
She paused, staring blankly into the bare tree branches. “But he was weak and allowed his father to separate us.”
Deveraux raised an eyebrow. “How can it be both ways? First, you say he deliberately led you on, and now you say he wanted you but was too weak a person to fight for his happiness.”
“Yes! . . . No-oo. . . Yes!” A glassy look came into her eyes; her expression shattered, then her brow furrowed. “Just shut up!”
“An excellent suggestion, my pet,” North said, obviously as well aware as Leona and Deveraux of how closely Sarah Jewitt teetered on the brink between sanity and madness. “Enough talk. I have spent too much time on this affair. I’ve told you, Sally, it’s time we took our reward.” He licked his lips. “The jewels, Miss Leonard.” He waved his gun at the portmanteau.
Leona visibly flinched and trembled. “The jewels! Oh, yes, you mean the tiara, the necklace, and the earrings. I- I have them right here,” she said, clutching the portmanteau to her chest.
Silently Deveraux groaned as he slid Leona a glance. That flustered mien was alien to her personality. Now what was she planning? The woman was a menace. A cold fear gripped him,and he ground his teeth in frustration. Not only must he watch Jewitt and North, but he must also watch Leona to protect her from herself!
Leona’s shaking fingers fumbled over the latch. She smiled timidly at North, then ducked her head, color surging to her cheeks. Deveraux wanted to throttle her. She was acting Like a damned coquette!
“I-I found them when I reached Rose Cottage. I pulled out my dressing gown, and a glittering cascade came out with it! Of course, I had to come straight back to Castle Marin. I couldn’t keep them!”
“Just as we planned, eh, Harry?” Sarah Jewitt crowed to Howard North. “Only we didn’t expect to meet you so close to your home. Figured maybe you’d found them and thought to keep them for yourself!”
“No. Oh, no!” Leona said nervously.
Under Jewitt’s avid gaze, she pulled a dressing gown out of the case and shook it, but no jewelry fell out. She frowned heavily. “Must have fallen to the bottom,” she muttered.
“Come on, come on! Hurry it up there! It’ll rain soon, and I’ve no inclination to be stuck out in this weather.”
“Yes, yes, of course,” Leona responded breathlessly. She began carelessly dragging out article after article of clothing. Deveraux was startled to see a lace-edged chemise land on the ground. Jewitt and North eyed it too. Deveraux's eyes flickered quickly back to Leona. He was barely in time to see her shove an item down under her voluminous cloak before she dove her hand back into the portmanteau. The object was not gem-studded, and Deveraux’s consternation grew. What was the sweet vixen up to?
“They’re not here!” Leona turned the portmanteau over, shaking it over the ground. Nothing more fell out. “What?” shrieked Sarah Jewitt. Leona leaned forward, scattering her bitsof muslin as she searched beneath them. “The jewels are not here! Wait! I did leave the portmanteau on a bench in the coffee room of the Golden Goose while I went to talk to Mr. Tubbs.” She looked up at them, her eyes wide. “Do you think? . . .” she trailed off suggestively.
Deveraux didn’t believe a word of it, but the two troublemakers didn’t know Leona Leonard like he did! He leaned back against the tree and started to laugh.
“No!" screamed Jewitt, her eyes wild. Her hands curved like talons as she approached Leona. “Liar! Bitch! What have you done with them?”
