Chapter Twenty-Two
Jenny shivered. Thesharp breeze toyed with her hair and chilled her neck. What did Von Bremen have in mind for her? Her thoughts were in turmoil. He sat so close to her she cringed at the touch of his arm against hers. He’d grabbed her when she’d tried to move away. His breath smelling faintly of liquor stirred her hair as he explained how he intended to ambush the duke. “He has to come that way. I’ll bring him down long before he reaches us.” He grew silent for a moment. “I’ll have to take something with me, some sign that I’ve killed him. My compatriots don’t trust easily,” he said to himself. “Pity I don’t have a lily.” He turned to her. “That’s what my friends are in the process of doing, killing the delegates, and then adorning them with a white lily. Clever, eh?”
“What delegates and why lilies?”
“Delegates to the Vienna Congress, of course. The lilies show that the murders are linked. They will be listened to, and respected, and their actions will bring about change.” He frowned at her. “But this is nothing for you to worry your pretty head about.”
He was telling the truth, she decided, she remembered the duke’s look of surprise when she picked a lily in the garden. So that was why His Grace had been urgently called to London.
As he rattled on, Von Bremen became boastful and over confident. Jenny hoped it would prove to be a weakness. How could she warn the duke? As no opportunity had presented itself, she would have to wait her chance. In the distance a flock of birds rose into the sky.
“He’s on his way. Won’t be too long, now!” The German grew excited. His words tumbled over one another as he began to describe how much he would enjoy his time in London with his friends. “They live high on the hog in Seven Dials in a tavern. Women and wine are laid on, and they can carry out their plans without interference. Even if Bow Street came after them, there are so many narrow laneways to escape into, they would never be found. But the constables won’t come after them. The magistrate has nothing to go on except the lilies. Bought them in Covent Garden markets. Can’t trace them there. Maybe more delegates have been killed. I haven’t been in touch with them since I went to Oxford.”
He smiled strangely, and it occurred to her again that his frenzied state was due to madness.
“You did go to Oxford?” she asked to keep him talking.
“Do you doubt me? They directed a letter to a pub there because I wanted to be kept informed. When I saw the way the wind was blowing, I purchased more guns and still returned in plenty of time to lure the boy to the tower. Crept in, in the dark. No one saw me.”
She curled her fingers into her palms and tried not to let him see how much he disgusted her. “So it was you who opened the nursery door and let the cat out?”
He kept his eyes on the path. “But of course. Who else? I placed the animal on the stairs leading to the tower. I planned to follow the boy up and send him over the side. It would have looked like an accident. The duke would be broken-hearted, Greta would console him, and you know the rest!” He turned to glare at her. “It would have worked perfectly but for you. You really are a thorn in my side, aren’t you?”
“I didn’t see you when I came after William. Were you in the hidden stairway?”
He chuckled. “I was.”
“How did you know of it?”
“When Forsythe told me about it, I went down the stairs, and took a look around. It was perfect for my plans, so I removed the boards over the door. Forsythe knows everything about the old house. But he was a nuisance, looking at Greta with calf eyes. She couldn’t resist flirting with him and trying to make Harrow jealous. I told her it wouldn’t work. The duke is not the kind of man to fall for that. But would she listen to me?” He scowled. “She enjoys her effect on men, does Greta. Woman can prove a fearful nuisance when they don’t listen to their betters.”
“And the nursery curtains? Was that you too?”
“Yes. You got in my way there too, didn’t you?” He studied her briefly. “I should have dealt with you much earlier. You are to blame for this, yes?” His expression turned nasty.
“I thought you liked William, taking the time to tell him about the Spanish horses.”
“I thought it might give me a chance to get closer, but you were always there, the eagle-eyed governess.
“I detest the duke’s privileged life,” he snarled. “What’s one child, he would have another one with Greta.”
Jenny stared at him horrified. The look he gave her made her suppress a shiver. “What do you intend to do with me?” she asked fearing the answer.
“I shall let you go, of course,” he said his eyes gleaming. “You will be the one to tell everyone how the duke was killed, and why.”
Jenny didn’t for one minute believe him.
“I’m sorry I broke your pretty brooch,” he said, reaching out to touch the tear in her bodice. She slapped his hand away.
“Don’t touch me.”
“No, I’d better not. Have to keep watch,” he muttered. He eyed her. “You’d better keep still, or you’ll regret it. I can stick a knife in your ribs. That will keep you quiet.”
Jenny wrapped her arms around herself and stared into the woods through the rock crevice. At the first sign of the duke, she would call out and warn him.
“He’s close now,” Von Bremen said in a high pitched voice. He aimed his rifle at the path just as a horseman appeared riding full pelt toward them.
Jenny screamed, but a second later, the German discharged his gun. Sobbing, she watched in horror as the rider fell to the path and lay still.
