“Yes. Exactly.” Max smiled at her. “Dancey took his sabotage technique and applied it to my carriage. It was really quite clever.”
“But to what end?” Perry posed the question. “To make it look less like an attempt to undermine Whetstone and Frank?”
“Possibly,” answered Max. “But I think it far more likely Dancey was just looking for an excuse to leave the carriage. I’m willing to wager there’s a small inn or posting house a bit further on that road. A broken wheel would necessitate them putting up for the night.”
“Which is just what he wanted in order to get his hands on Hecate.” Kitty ground out her conclusion between clenched teeth. “Damn. I wish he were here right now. I’d kill him all over again.”
“He killed himself, in other words,” reasoned Grace. “By sawing through a carriage that was already half-damaged, he created not just a minor inconvenience, but a major tragedy.”
“Yes. A broken spoke or two can be risky, without doubt. But a wheel with more than that, or two wheels or however many they sabotaged? It wouldn’t take much speed or too large a bump to topple the damn thing over.”
“Which is pretty much what happened, I suppose,” finished Perry. “This has all the attributes of a Shakespearean quote. ’Tis the sport to have the engineer hoist with his own petard.”
“Well put,” agreed Grace. “Well put indeed.”
“Miller-James was a greedy idiot with no thought for anything but his own pleasures.” Max looked at his wife. “He didn’t care one jot about Hecate or her safety. He wanted to take her, and that was the only thought on his tiny little mind that night.”
“And it’s only by the grace of God that he didn’t get to accomplish his loathsome goal.” Kitty sighed. “He has paid his price. Hecate is still paying hers.”
“Will you check on the inn, Max?” Perry glanced at him.
“It’s a loose end, so yes, you can be sure I’ll tie that one up.”
Silence fell for a few moments, and then Kitty pushed her teacup aside. “I’m relieved to know the truth about that night,” she announced. “For my sister’s sake as well as everyone else’s, especially Max. I’m relieved he wasn’t the target, of course. But I’d also like to see this sabotage stopped. Any idea how we can accomplish that?”
Perry gave a slow nod. “Leave it to me. I believe I know some ears who would like such information. There are those who gobble up tidbits of such things as they pertain to organizations in London that prey on the weak. Should any of them have links to Kanehall, they will be ferreted out and dealt with.”
“It’s in your hands then. I’ll back you up if need be, my friend.” Max rose and clapped him on the shoulder. “In the meantime, my wife and I will be leaving Mowbray House for a few days.”
“We will?” his wife blinked in surprise. “Where are we going?”
Max walked around the table and stood behind her, his hands on her shoulders. “You and I, my love, are going to pay a visit to Ridlington Chase.”
“Oh dear.” She glanced up and over her shoulder at him. “You’re not going to punch my brothers, are you?”
“Ask me when we get there.”
*~~*~~*
“Youpunchedhim?” Rosaline, Baroness Ridlington, stared at her husband in shock. “You actually punched your sister’shusband?”
“He did,” said Kitty.
“Left a mark too. If you look close you can still see a bit of the bruise.” Max touched the spot where Edmund’s punch had landed.
“Oh for heaven’s sake.” Edmund’s fierce eyebrows met in a terrifying frown aimed at his wife, who ignored it. “The man had compromised Kitty, and he wasn’t her husband at that point. I was defending her honor. The Ridlington honor.”
“You mean we still have some?” Letitia was smirking on the sofa next to her husband, Sir James FitzArden.
“You be quiet.” Edmund dismissed her comment. “Besides,yourhusband was there. He kicked him, if I remember rightly.”
“No, no, Edmund. I said Iwouldkick him. But I didn’t want to mess up my boots.”
Rosaline swung on her heel and glared at the other member of the unholy trinity. “Simon…”
Tabitha Ridlington, wife to the beloved vicar himself, sighed dramatically. “He punched him too, Rosaline. Cut his knuckles on one of Mr. Seton-Mowbray’s buttons. I was seriously concerned. I mean he is avicar, for God’s sake.”
“Well, this is utterly ridiculous.” Rosaline’s hands went to her hips, and Max grinned to see the brothers tremble. “The three of you should be ashamed of yourselves. Did you ever think totalkto Kitty first? To act like brothers instead of…well, I don’t know what…”
