Eliza straightened in Hannah’s arms, and her face suddenly transformed. Her soft edges hardened into sharp corners, and her lips thinned. Her eyebrows, which always seemed to be permanently raised, fell to normal levels. Her vapid blue eyes even seemed to shrink in size, but Eoin supposed it was only the effect of the intensity of her stare.
She looked indescribably fierce despite her small stature, and her frailty all but vanished. With a regal air, she regarded each person gathered in the small room.
“No,” she repeated. “I will not have my story be told by a man. Not again. I wouldn’t be in this fix if my father and late husband hadn’t been in control of my destiny. If my deeds are to be proclaimed, it shall be by my own lips.”
“You admit to being the Purveyor?” Hannah asked.
“I am one of the most feared figures in the stews—especially for the nobles who haunt the dark corners.” Pride buzzed through Eliza’s voice. “And I—I built this empire myself with no assistance from my brothers. That dolt before you is merely a figurehead, and Hugh and Francis are annoying leeches.”
“And you began in the gin trade,” Hannah said.
Eliza laughed. It was not a melodic sound. “You are surprisingly clever. My nephew is too. That is why I knew that I must stop you both when you began sniffing around the Horse and Hen. If only my idiot brothers hadn’t mentioned the place. If Eoin discovered my operations, it was obvious that he’d feel honor-bound to report me. Insufferable prig.”
“You must have started peddling spirits after the deaths of your husband and my father,” Eoin mused aloud as he began to put the fragmented pieces in order.
Before she spoke, Eliza clenched her jaw hard enough that her cheek muscles bulged. “Father arranged my marriage yet blamed me for a poor choice in husband when Algernon lost our fortune and left me penniless. But I’d been secretly saving my pin money for years as I never trusted Algernon’s business acuity. When I moved back home and your father died, mine imposed draconian rules. I refused to be punished for mistakes not of my own making. I decided I needed my own source of income. I didn’t have the funds to purchase a building, but I knew that the Horse and Hen had been abandoned. That is where I set up my first stills.”
“You must have had another source of income,” Hannah speculated. “I know how much capital is needed for a business, and I cannot imagine that you saved enough money by not buying fripperies.”
A wry smile twisted Eliza’s already thinned lips. “I did say you were intelligent. And you are right. I knew secrets about my friends, and I sent them anonymous letters demanding payment, or I would air their affairs. I suppose it was my first foray into what would eventually become my most profitable venture.”
“Why boxing matches?” Eoin asked.
Eliza shrugged. “I learned from my husband not to invest in one thing. The gin business made money, but what if something figuratively sank it like Algernon’s literal ship? The Horse and Hen was already known for fights, and creating a place to gamble would earn me more funds. When gentlemen wagered more than they could afford, I decided to demand something else of value from them: secrets. When grain prices increased to the point that I would lose money on gin sales, I simply transitioned entirely over to gathering valuable information. Some I found on my own through reading gossip rags and making deductions, and others I paid for. I still had the boxing matches, and I opened the brothels where the workers would gather confidences too. And yes, I didn’t stop with trifling scandals. I know everything about this sodded country from the military to Parliament.”
“And you tried to have me killed,” Eoin said flatly, “and Hannah too.”
Eliza shrugged nonchalantly. “I didn’t personally try to cause you injury. I don’t soil my hands that way. But one cannot conduct businesses like mine without employing those who are comfortable with violence. There have been occasions where I needed to permanently stop people who’d learned too much. I am not so weak as to let my enemies live.”
Eoin suppressed an urge to shiver at his aunt’s bloodless delivery. Did his coolness affect others in the same way?
Even though his aunt’s callousness chilled him, he could not help feeling a degree of respect. Yes, she had acted viciously without demonstrating any remorse. But she’d also created a business empire.
“What was Paul’s role?” Hannah asked.
Eliza made a dismissive sound. “Do you expect people to listen to a woman? I needed a man to be my public face. I knewFather had scores of by-blows, and it wasn’t difficult to find one desperate enough for coin to fill the role. My only regret is that my useless brothers followed me one night and demanded that I pay them. Luckily, the louts never understood the full extent of my fiefdom. And toward the end, they’d begun to fear me.”
Eoin was most definitely intimidated by his previously bothersome, silly aunt. She’d certainly played her role perfectly. She was evil and hard-hearted but still brilliant. If Aunt Eliza had been given better opportunities to use her intelligence, Eoin wondered what she would have accomplished in the light.
“What shall you do with me?” Eliza asked defiantly. “If you report me to the Crown, you may lose all favor. It would be dangerous having two traitors in the family, and the secrets that I’ve sold to the French have not been middling. I don’t do things in half measures. Do you really believe Father would wish for you to further sully our family’s name by revealing what I’ve done?”
Eoin glanced at Hannah and her papa. “I am not the one who was hunting you.”
As much as it hurt that Hannah had not trusted him with her family’s story, he understood her need for revenge. Although Eliza had nothing to do with what had befallen Hannah’s father and uncle, she’d destroyed people’s lives just as readily. She dealt in blood whether she committed the crimes directly or indirectly.
“Mr. Wick, as my grandfather was the ultimate judge in your case, you and the Misses Wick can decide my aunt’s fate.” There. He’d given Hannah what she’d set out to accomplish. Perhaps now they could begin anew without their families’ pasts hanging over their heads.
“Eoin, let’s talk in private.” Hannah glanced over at her cousin. “Sophia, could you restrain Lady Eliza?”
“Most definitely,” Sophia said.
Dread lined Eoin’s stomach as he started down the circular staircase with Hannah following him. He was only now starting to accept the revelations that she had shared yesterday. He did not know if he could handle more.
Hannah tapped his shoulder when they were halfway down. “We’ve gone far enough. I don’t think anyone will overhear.”
Eoin carefully pivoted in the tight space and found that his face was nearly level with Hannah’s. It would be so easy to kiss her here… physically at least.
“What is it that you wanted to say?” Was that his voice? He didn’t realize that he was capable of sounding so sharp and anxious.
