‘Is Ford come?’ Liam asked rather harshly, marching on towards the drive.
‘Yes. He’s there by the cart, with Mellors’s brutes,’ Gregory bit out reproachfully when Mrs Murray seemed near to tears.
Eyes ahead, they marched on towards the magistrate, a tall, rail-thin but fierce-looking man, well into his middle age. They ignored the rest of the staff, who at least had been seen to, covered in blankets and carrying mugs of tea as they were.
The magistrate turned away from Mellors’s men, and met them halfway. ‘My lord—’
‘In a moment,’ Liam said, continuing past Ford to drop Mellors by the cart. ‘If you would be so kind as to restrain him.’
Blinking, the magistrate stared for a moment, then came to and did as Liam bade, signalling to a few of the nearby men to keep an eye.
‘Fetch Dr Sims,’ he instructed one of them. ‘My lord—’
Liam raised his hand and turned away, making directly for the immense line of people that wound around the house to the well. Half the village must have been there, passing along buckets of water, attempting to delay the flames’ progress, their carts and horses lined up along the drive.
‘Enough!’ he shouted, turning everyone’s heads, stopping them in their tracks. ‘Thank you for coming to Thornhallow’s aide, but that is enough. The house is lost.’
Everyone exchanged looks of confusion and disbelief, most staring at Liam as though he had lost his wits.
Rebecca clenched her jaw when she spotted Bradley, Tim and Mr Brown, who had been leading the effort. The look on their faces said it all: their hope, their home, their world, it was all lost now.
Because of me.
‘It’s all right, lads,’ Bradley said, setting down his bucket. ‘Nothing more to be done now. Off you go back home, then.’
Confounded by the mad-looking Earl’s behaviour, but unsure of what else to do, the villagers slowly dropped their buckets, disbanded and began making their way back, grumbling and muttering their confusion as they did.
A few passed by the huddled staff, offering them rooms for the night or hot food. They did not quite know what to say, other than to express their thanks, shocked as they were by the reality of their situation, their imminent future still uncertain.
Right now it seemed all they could do was wait.
Wait and see what would become of them.
Wait, whilst the house which had been their home burned brightly before them, a haunting, fittingly violent end to the house which had for so long been at the centre of so many terrible tales.
‘My lord, a word, if you please,’ Ford said reproachfully as Liam strode back towards him.
There was a grim expression on his face, though he nonetheless tossed him a blanket. Liam wrapped it eagerly around his shoulders; shock had set in, and he’d begun shivering.
Shock at having been nearly killed, and at the thought that he might never live to right his wrongs, nor see Rebecca again. That she might be subjected to a harrowing future at Mellors’s hands because of his failures. And, if he was honest with himself, that she had saved him.
He glanced around for her, found her tucked into the care of the rest of his staff—family—and Dr Sims, and felt a little of the weight in his chest lift.
‘I have already spoken to your household,’ Ford continued, a frown creasing his brow as he studied the oddly calm Earl. ‘They have advised they were attacked and bound by two men known to work for Viscount Rochesdale. Those men were eventually subdued and restrained with the help of your housekeeper, whose rather timely arrival ensured the staff’s escape. I have also spoken to these men, who have confessed their crimes—though they did make it immutably clear that they were only following orders, and that the Viscount was the one who orchestrated this wholedisaster.’
Liam nodded, and the magistrate sighed.
‘This is to do with what you came to see me about, my lord?’
‘Yes. Mellors was here, intent on murdering me and my staff. I think that clarifies our next steps considerably, don’t you agree?’
Ford sighed again, heavily, though he nodded grimly after a moment. Arresting and making a case for the conviction of a peer of the realm was not to be treated lightly.
‘I only need you to keep him contained until I can make further arrangements,’ Liam reassured him. ‘I will engage the best legal minds and the fiercest guards. We’ll get him to London, and before the House before he can even think to try and weasel his way out of this.’
‘I will prepare the battlefield as best I can,’ Ford said, resolve in his gaze. ‘Speak to Mrs Hardwicke and the other staff about today’s events, as well as her personal history with His Lordship over there, and get written statements. I will also ensure I get the confessions from these vermin,’ he spat, gesturing towards Mellors’s men. ‘In writing. We’ll ensure you have everything you need to make a case.’
‘There have been others,’ Liam said gravely.
