“I even came up with a plan to save us all. I was the one who approached Mr. Stockton and planted the idea of becoming his wife. I was the one who endured his tedious conversation. I even allowed his advances since they were accompanied by secret gifts I could sell to fund my campaign against Mr. Godwin.” Anger blazed in Anne’s eyes. “Yet the instant Mr. Stockton learned he would not be duke, he reneged on his promises. He abandoned me, just as Papa did.”
“That is Mr. Stockton’s fault, not Mr. Godwin’s,” Gigi pointed out.
“They are both to blame.”
Anne’s crafty expression sent a chill down Gigi’s spine.
“After I have dispensed with Mr. Godwin, my original plan will come into play. Mr. Stockton will become the duke, and I his wife. And if he were to have an accident a few months after the wedding…” Anne trailed off delicately. “I must confess that the life of a wealthy widowed duchess holds a certain appeal.”
She means it. She is mad and means to kill anyone she perceives as an obstacle—including Conrad. You cannot let that happen.
Gigi swallowed. “Dispensing with Mr. Godwin will not be as easy as it sounds. After all, you already failed once?—”
“Twice, actually. Do not forget the carriage collision,” Anne said. “Mr. Godwin is indeed a formidable opponent. I suspected that he must have something nefarious planned for me and my family, for why else would he have kept silent on his claim to the duchy? I enlisted my dearest childhood friend, Isobel, to discover his plans. Alas, even she, who has a talent for manipulating men, could not uncover his scheme. I could not take any chances, which led to the two, and unfortunately failed, attempts on his life.
“When Mr. Godwin came to the ball and unveiled his plan to destroy my family, I nearly panicked. But then I realized that all was not lost. When I saw you and Mr. Godwin together, I knew I had found his Achilles’ heel. His one weakness—you.”
Gigi remembered Conrad’s impassioned declaration: You, on the other hand, are everything. Not only will I be true, but I will also protect you with my dying breath. These are vows I’ve never given to any woman. Never wanted to, until I met you.
Her heart raced because she knew that while Conrad had lied about other things, he hadn’t lied about loving her. He would come after her. And he would do whatever was necessary to save her…including risking his own life.
“Don’t do this?—”
Anne retied the gag, smothering her words.
“Enough talking now,” Anne said. “Your husband will be here soon, and I must prepare for his arrival.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
From the cover of trees, Conrad regarded the old mill. Moonlight gave the building an eerie, Gothic appearance; with its boarded-up windows and crumbling stone walls, it looked like a residence fit for Chuddums’s famous ghost. Conrad had secured his horse farther downstream to make his approach as stealthily as possible. Otherwise, he’d followed the kidnapper’s instructions to the letter:
If you want to see your wife alive, meet me at the old Chuddums mill at midnight. Come alone, or she will die. Slowly and unpleasantly.
The note had been accompanied by a lock of Gigi’s hair and her engagement ring.
Afraid to risk Gigi’s life, Conrad had made the trip from London alone. Traveling by train to Reading, then by horseback to Chuddums had allowed him to arrive just in time. He hadn’t informed Gigi’s family: if they came charging to her rescue, there was no telling what might happen. It was clear to Conrad that he was the true target. It was a fair exchange: his life for hers…one he would make without hesitation.
Given the choice, however, he would rather they both lived. There was so much he wished to say to his wife, amends he needed to make. He told himself there would be time for all of that…later.
He focused on his plan. In his surveillance of the place, he’d seen four men, armed, patrolling the building. A clearing separated Conrad and them, the distance too great for him to pick them off by gunfire. Sneaking around back was likewise unfeasible, given that the mill backed onto the stream.
His only path was through the guards.
So be it.
He recognized one of the brutes as Gregory Johnson and cursed himself for not capturing the bastard the other day. And for removing the guards he’d put on Gigi. He’d believed the danger was over when the real villain had been lying in wait.
Another figure emerged. A woman. Christ, he recognized her too.
“Any sign of him?” Anne asked.
Like father, like daughter. Of course, my niece would be behind this. What a bloody family I was born into.
“No, milady,” one of her lackeys replied.
“Keep your eyes sharp. Godwin’s wily as a fox. If you wish to get paid, you must shoot him on sight. Understand?”
Hell, Robert’s daughter might be worse than he was. While he was a malicious bully, his offspring was capable of cold-blooded murder.
