“But I have no evidence. I’m sure she wouldn’t repeat her confession to them. And besides, I don’t know where she is anymore. The house we met in—I’m sure that’s not truly herhome. It didn’t look as if anyone really lived there. And she went on the run as soon as I chose to come back for you. I don’t think she will allow me to get anywhere near her again. Even if I told the authorities what had happened, I don’t think it would do me any good.”
“You ought to try, at least,” Isabella said. “Don’t you think that would be for the best?”
Arthur smiled. “Now you want me to seek revenge?”
“I don’t want her out there if she’s someone who can do harm to my loved ones. You and Felicity have both suffered at her hands, and if she’s getting close to my father, it means that she’s still to near to our lives.”
“I agree with you,” Arthur said. “And that’s why I have to see this through to the end. I have to make sure there’s some sort of resolution so that we can feel assured that she won’t trouble us ever again because I want to make sure that you’re safe from her machinations. And that goes for your whole family as well. As soon as she’s out of our lives, I’ll be able to relax. I’m no longer devoted to the idea of vengeance the way I once was—but I’m determined to make sure that you’re safe, Isabella. That’s the only thing that matters to me. I won’t allow her to harm you.”
Isabella nodded. She didn’t want Arthur to be involved with this Lady Reeves any more than he already had been. It seemed entirely too dangerous. But on the other hand, she understood his reasons. If it had only been the two of them at risk, she might have tried to persuade him to let it go. But if Lady Reeves wasgetting close to her father, that meant Felicity would be at risk, and that was something Isabella couldn’t live with. Whatever was going on, it had to be resolved. There was simply no other alternative.
“Felicity,” she said, “you had better eat something. You need to get your strength back. And we should write to Father and tell himsomething, even if it isn’t the truth. We should let him know that you’re going to be staying here with us for several nights.”
“I’ll make those arrangements,” Arthur said, getting to his feet. “You two should take some time together.”
He left the room.
Isabella was grateful for a moment of privacy with her sister. But at the same time, she hated to see her husband leave. Being parted from him now was very difficult, and she could only hope that the matter of Lady Reeves would be settled quickly.
CHAPTER 35
It was always going to be necessary, Arthur thought, for this to be a team effort. He would never have been able to bring down Lady Reeves by himself. That was why he had engaged Taylor’s help in the first place though it had been difficult to admit that he needed to allow someone else to be a part of his plan. He had been right to include Taylor because he would never have been able to face this moment without his friend’s help all along the way, and he wouldn’t have had a hope of bringing Lady Reeves down.
She hadn’t been easy to find. It was clear, this time, that she hadn’twishedto be found. Arthur was taking that as a good sign because that had been the biggest problem of all the last time he had encountered her. Today, it seemed, she didn’t want to be caught. Even now, she was fleeing him.
Arthur wondered whether she had noticed that he wasn’t the only one chasing her carriage, that there was a second figure behind him. How aware was she of the fact that he wasn’t going about any of this alone?
He couldn’t afford to spend too much time thinking about that, though, because the most important thing was to keep up the chase. He rode harder, following the carriage as it accelerated, hoping that his plan would be successful. If this didn’t work, if she evaded him today, he didn’t know what his next move would be. He only knew that this situation needed to be resolved as quickly as possible—he couldn’t bear to spend any more time worrying about the things she might do to his family if given the chance. And, for the moment, that included Isabella’s father as well as her sister. If Lady Reeves had him in mind as her next prey, it meant danger for all of them, and that was something Arthur couldn’t sit back and allow. He needed to make sure that everyone was safe.
With that in mind, he pushed his horse to run faster.
The carriage accelerated in response. He knew that Lady Reeves was, at the very least, aware of his presence. The question now was whether she was aware of the second rider coming along behind him. If she was, this was going to be over before it began. She was too clever to fall into an ambush if she could see all sides of what was coming for her.
The carriage turned to the left, and Arthur felt a rush of satisfaction—that had been a serious mistake. It had to slow down to turn, and he didn’t have to give up nearly as much speed since he was on horseback. He took the turn easily and found that the carriage was much closer now.
Still, there was no way to force her to stop. His hand went to the gun strapped to his hip, but he didn’t want to start shooting.He needed to drive her into the trap he had set for her. The constables were waiting ahead, and a deviation down this side road wouldn’t prevent him from getting to where he was trying to go.
Maybe the gun would frighten her enough to get her to make another bad decision, though. He pulled it out and fired once into the air.
Whether she was frightened by the sound or not he never knew, but it was clear that the horses were. They reared back and tried to stop which set the carriage off balance and sent it toppling over onto its side.
Arthur hadn’t meant for that to happen. His heart caught in his throat. He didn’t want to kill her. He had been trying to drive her into the arms of the constables. Perhaps he had been too aggressive in the chase. He rode up alongside the carriage, thinking to offer help.
The door swung open. With the carriage on its side, the door was functionally on the top of the carriage instead of on the side, so it looked like Lady Reeves was emerging through a trap door. She seemed unhurt, though, as she climbed up, and Arthur stood at a distance with one hand on his gun. She was a known killer, after all. He didn’t know what she might be able to do to hurt him right now, but he also wasn’t willing to take his chances with her.
She looked at him with blazing eyes. “You again! Didn’t you learn your lesson the last time we met? I thought that, if nothing else, you might be more clever than most of the men I have todeal with, but I can see now that I was wrong. You’re exactly like the rest of them.”
“Lady Reeves, may I help you out of that thing?”
She scoffed at him and began to climb out on her own, even though it was undignified. But then, he supposed the two of them were well beyond worrying about dignity. She struggled to her feet, and the carriage driver—who also seemed to be unhurt—came around to stand beside her.
Arthur aimed his gun at the man. “You and I have no quarrel,” he said quietly. “I will allow you to leave. The constables have been made aware of this situation—I told them I would be driving Lady Reeves in this direction. You’ll find them a mile up the road that way. You can go and speak to them if you’d like—send them back to us. Or, if you would prefer it, you can go on your way, the way you came. I won’t try to stop you. But if you choose to stay here and stand against me—well, then you and Idohave a quarrel, and you’ll be my enemy. It’s entirely your decision.”
“Don’t you dare go anywhere, Jeremy,” Lady Reeves snapped, and Arthur heard the first sign of uneasiness in her voice. It was good to hear that something could make her nervous. It meant that she wasn’t as in control of the situation as she liked to pretend.
“Think it through, Jeremy,” he said. “This doesn’t have to be your mess. How loyal are you to her? How much do you want to lay on the line? Is it worth your life?”
“If you stay,” she pressed him, “we outnumber him. Don’t you see that that’s the reason he wants you to run? He wants to eliminate our advantage. He wants you to be afraid, but he knows it’s two against one right now.”
