“In what manner has he been using you, Johanna?” he asked next, recalling he must keep his emotions at bay.
He had to collect as much information as possible. To attempt to investigate everything she was saying, to remain rational and emotionless. Regardless of how much he longed to draw her into his arms in this moment and promise her he would always protect her.
She took another shuddering breath. “He gave me a locked trunk containing dynamite and correspondence.”
Dynamite?
Bloody hell.This was getting more convoluted—and dangerous—by the moment.
If she was found in possession of dynamite, she could be arrested. And now that he was reasonably certain of her innocence in the matter, and harboring these unwanted feelings toward her as he did, he could not allow that to happen. His instincts were telling him the woman before him was every bit as much of a victim of Drummond McKenna as hundreds of others who had been affected by his wrath.
He thought then of the correspondence she had mentioned, and recalled all too well the sight of her handing over a packet to the man in the Royal Aquarium.
“Do you still have the trunk?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yes, I do. It is in my hotel. I made copies of all the correspondence within it and when one of his men contacted me to arrange a meeting so he could receive it, I gave him the originals. I fear that is where I made a mistake. They must have realized I had broken the envelope seal. Perhaps they were watching me. I believe I am the reason bombs were laid at your home, Felix. I am so very sorry. Had I any inkling something like this would have happened, I would have gone to the police the moment I arrived in London. I never dreamt Drummond would attempt to cause harm to your daughter. I hope you believe me.”
He stared into her bright-blue eyes, still shimmering with tears, and he read all too clearly the anguish in their crystalline depths. He took her hand in his, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “I believe you, Johanna. I do not believe you have the capacity to harm others in the way you have described your brother does. And I do not blame you. There is no way you could have known what would happen. Why were you waiting to bring this information to the police?”
“It is selfish of me.” She closed her eyes. “I was desperate to give myself enough time to free myself, to be certain I could go somewhere he could not reach me. I wanted to finish my stay here at the Crown and Thorn, to deliver the trunk to the police, and then leave for Paris. Drummond promised me he would have me killed if I was either arrested or if I betrayed him. And after seeing what he has done, laying bombs at your home, I can see I was right to fear what he is capable of here.”
It made sense. She was a woman alone, and the need to protect herself, to get herself as far away from her brother as possible, seemed all too plausible. He had to make a decision.
He hesitated for only a beat before forging onward. “I will do everything in my power to help you, Johanna, but you must promise me one thing.”
Her eyes fluttered open. “What promise would you have me make?”
“Stay here with me,” he said, knowing the invitation was a risk and taking it anyway. “I will contact Scotland Yard on your behalf. They will go to your hotel, remove the trunk. I expect they will also want to interview you.”
Panic washed over her features. “Will they arrest me?”
Not if he had anything to say about it.
“I do not believe so,” he told her carefully. “There is always the possibility. You have willingly smuggled dynamite into this country at the behest of criminals. By law, you can be imprisoned, but I will do my best to protect you. You could be Queen’s Evidence against your brother and anyone you met here with ties to Fenians. That you are a woman, and that you have been living in fear of your brother and were coerced into undertaking these dangerous deeds, will benefit you.”
She clung to his hand. “You owe me nothing. I have brought danger into your life. I do not expect you to aid me. It is asking far too much of you. Besides, you have Verity to worry about. Your first concern must be keeping her safe.”
His heart warmed, and more of the lingering doubts he held about her were chased away by her concern for his daughter. “This is the best way to keep her safe. Your brother must be stopped, Johanna, before he has the opportunity to hurt more innocents.”
Johanna nodded. “Yes, he must be. Violence is not the way to achieve political victories, and history has taught us that over and over. But I fear very much, where Drummond is concerned, that he enjoys inflicting pain upon others. This quest is not so much about Ireland as it is his desire to control others and to watch them suffer.”
Irish Home Rule was not an unworthy cause. Felix himself understood and agreed with it. What he did not agree with, however, was the Fenians’ attempts to strong-arm the government into getting what they wanted by putting innocents in danger.
“Are you prepared for what will come, after I contact Scotland Yard?” he pressed gently, for he could feel her trembling.
She took a deep breath. “I will do whatever I must. I have known, all along, that when the time came for me to go against Drummond, it would not be easy. But it is what is right.”
Felix did not dare reveal his connections to Scotland Yard, the Home Office, and the Special League with her. He was not yet certain he could trust her. Time would tell. For now, he had the information he needed from her. It was a beginning.
“You are a brave woman,” he told her, and this, at least, was truth.
Going against her brother’s edict and breaking the seal on the correspondence he had given her to make copies of the documents had been bold. Perhaps even foolhardy. And it was all the more reason why her remaining here with him was so imperative. When McKenna learned his sister had gone to Scotland Yard, he would be in a murderous rage, Felix had no doubt. If he wanted to keep such a valuable witness safe, he would have to see to her welfare himself.
Yes, that was the only reason he wanted her beneath his roof, he told himself.
Liar, accused a voice within him.
A voice he promptly ignored.
