Jeremy inhaled deeply and then glanced down at his fob watch again. This day, it seemed, wasn’t going at all as planned. When he failed to show at Heart Place to collect her, would she think he was avoiding her again?
“Not necessary,” he answered dismissively. He needed someone to tell Lydia he wasn’t coming. He fisted his hands.
“Ah, but it is.” Blackheart stepped further into the room, his boots making a squishing sound as he did so. “Lucas is backing down. And seeing as you’re in a war of sorts, and we’re all on the same side, I’ve come to offer our support. Whatever you need. If it’s within the realm of my capabilities, I’ll provide it.”
Jeremy paused. As much as he wanted to, he was in no position to refuse Blackheart’s offer of help. This was no longer just about him. It was about protecting not only an orphanage or the docks but England itself.
He glanced down at the incriminating receipt in his hand and swallowed hard, practically choking on his shame.
“You were right.” Jeremy forced himself to look up into Blackheart’s eyes. “Arthur’s betrayal wasn’t limited to his family, or his wife, or his brother.” In that moment, it felt as though his heart turned into a void as dark as this basement. It was over. “He betrayed Lucas that day.” Not only Lucas, but every man whose life had been on the line. He’d been the reason five of them had died.
“Arthur was a traitor,” Jeremy said.
Arthur had betrayed his country. The truth echoed in his head like a death knell but then completed the puzzle perfectly.His brother had committed treason.
Jeremy had not wanted to believe it. But he’d known. Somehow, deep in his heart, he had known.
His own blood…
“He was.” Blackheart didn’t blink as he stood there and agreed with him. “I’m sorry, Temp.”
Jeremy dragged his gaze around the dank room where he’d so badly wanted to discover evidence that would exculpate Arthur. He had needed that proof.
He’d needed it to silence his own suspicions.
Defeated, he ran a hand through his hair. He’d been a fool—an idiot. Where did he go from here? His family name, the title his sons would one day inherit, would be forever blackened.
“Lucas spoke with the general, and they’ve decided to keep the records sealed. In fact, if word was to get out, he says it could harm the effort.”
Jeremy nodded, feeling dead inside. “It’s not exactly fair to the families of the soldiers who didn’t make it home.”
“War isn’t fair,” Blackheart said.
But footsteps thundering overhead had both men suddenly glancing up, then over to the stairway where another one of Jeremy’s clerks appeared with, of all people, Ollie at his side. And Ollie looked to have gotten into trouble again. Even worse this time if the swelling around his eyes was anything to go by.
“M’lord!” Ollie ran heedlessly toward him, knocking one of the boxes into the mud in the process. “They’ve got her! You ‘ave ta save her!”
“They’ve got who, Ollie?” Jeremy edged closer to the boy.
“They’ve got Lady Liddy.”
His blood turned to ice. With Ollie’s words, thoughts of Arthur all but vanished.
“This was delivered just moments ago.” Smithy handed over a folded note with Jeremy’s name written in flowery writing.
“They said they was gonna use her as insurance. An’ I’m not sure wot that is but it didn’t sound good.”
Jeremy opened the note, and as he read the contents, a roaring sounded in his ears. He looked up from it and met Blackheart’s solemn gaze. “They have Lydia.”
Blackheart,Baxter, and Westerley said they needed thirty minutes to round up the men who were prepared to raid the gang bosses’ hideout. While they did that, Jeremy followed Ollie along the wharf to the ship where they were keeping Lydia.
Watching the gang members carrying stolen ammunition onto the abandoned ship as though they were barrels of fish, Jeremy required every ounce of patience not to rush inside to save her.
He also had to convince Ollie, who knew the layout of the ship and wanted to go inside to check on Lydia, that it was best to wait as well. The sun was nearly set, and they’d have the cloak of darkness in a matter of minutes.
“It’s all my fault,” Ollie whispered, even though the two of them were far enough away not to be overheard. “Buck said he needed my help. But it was a lie. Buck didn’t like that I was staying at yer big fancy ‘ouse. Do you think ‘e could stay with you too? He’s not so bad, really. And he’s my brother.”
Jeremy kept his gaze pinned on the window where Ollie said they were keeping Lydia. Two guards watched the boarding plank and at least a dozen were manning the pier, a few of them carrying lanterns. He could almost imagine himself being successful going in on his own, but there were too damned manyof them—all ages too. It sickened him to see boys who looked younger than Ollie milling about on what ought to have been a deserted wreck.
