In the same breath, she lunged from the chair and struck Mrs Culpepper across the face, sending her reeling, the blade skittering across the floor.
Mr Dalton was already moving, charging at Sir Randall like a battering ram. The front door burst open and Mr Daventry stormed in with half a dozen armed men at his back.
“What the hell kept you?” Gabriel said.
Mr Daventry grinned. “Timing is everything. And I could hear the conversation from the doorway. You’ve been in the dark too long. Now, you have the truth.”
Gabriel didn’t reply. He was already crossing the room, his eyes on no one but her.
She rushed to meet him, falling into his warm embrace, resting her head on his chest, relishing the feeling of being home.
“You’re so cold,” he said.
“I’m warm now you’re here.”
He stroked her hair, kissed her forehead, and held her so tight she could barely breathe. “Forgive me.”
She looked up at him, tears blurring her vision, emotion rising. “For what? You saved my life. You’ve saved my life again, Gabriel.”
He smoothed the backs of his fingers along her cheek. “You’ve saved mine. You rescue me with every touch, every kiss.”
He ignored the raging Mrs Culpepper being dragged away in wrist shackles, and the grumbling Scotsman swearing he’d been misled and was only there to help a friend.
His mouth found hers, a kiss that curled her toes and turned her blood molten. He knew how to make a woman forget everything but the heat of his lips, the silken glide of his tongue, the hard press of him against her belly.
He broke away, his breath unsteady. “I’m in love with you. Desperately so. Forgive me if I failed to make that clear. If I left you in any doubt.”
She cupped his cheek. “I love you. I’m sorry if you thought I’d left Studland Park. Left you. It killed me, knowing you were lying there, waiting in the dark, wondering why I never came.”
He closed his eyes briefly, thumb brushing her jaw. “Don’t think I wasn’t half out of my mind. But you’re not the sort of woman to make an oath and break it.”
“I was coming to see you when Miss Bourne appeared in the corridor.” She touched the tender lump behind her ear. “A brute clubbed me with a cudgel, and I hit my cheek when I fell.”
He cursed under his breath. “No one will hurt you again.”
She wished she could promise the same, but he needed to hear the truth. “Mr Lovelace and Miss Bourne are?—”
“Lovers. I know.”
“They’re married. Mr Lovelace took a beating because they caught him trying to help me escape.” She’d been forced to watch every cruel blow. To listen as he begged for his wife’s life. “There’s a trapdoor inside the mausoleum. In the tomb.”
“Yes. That’s how we found the tunnel. We followed a clue in your father’s poem.” He exhaled slowly. “I wish I’d known him. I think we’d have understood each other.”
She laid her hand on his chest. “He made a mistake. He tried to put it right with me, though I wish he’d made finding the evidence that bit easier.”
“Yes, I left Rutland at Studland Park, searching for swallows. Let’s hope he’s had some luck.” He glanced at the door, at the men gathered outside. “Daventry will need the evidence to help secure a conviction.”
She wondered how many people were involved. How long they’d been meddling in politics. Who had enough influence to escape a trial and the gallows.
“Perhaps we should keep the evidence when we find it, or at least some of it. To make sure the fraternity can’t hurt us again.”
Gabriel nodded. “Hopefully there’ll be enough information to confirm Sir Randall and Mrs Culpepper are the ringleaders.”
Mr Dalton returned, though she hadn’t noticed he’d left. “Daventry needs our statements but said it can wait until tomorrow. Though Mrs Culpepper is convinced she’ll be free by midday.”
“One has to admire her optimism,” she said.
“Did Daventry arrest Reverend Clay?”
