I lunge for him, and hands immediately yank me back. A tall man blocks me from Cecil’s tiny, helpless body curled up on the rug. He scrambles to stand.
“Don’t make matters worse for yourself, Miss Forsythe,” says Sabine. She draws the boy back against her, wrapping her arms around his narrow shoulders. “Asylums for thecriminallyinsane are far less pleasant than the one I’ve chosen for you. Don’t make me change my mind.”
I take two steps and level a gaze at her. “What great tragedy has broken you, Sabine St. Laurent, to make you do this to him?”
“Don’t patronize me,” she says on a breath, eyes snapping. “I’ll have little trouble proving you’re unfit to manage the estate. Or your life, for that matter. It’s difficult to put up any sort of fight from an asylum, believe me. Eric has tried.”
Cecil whimpers at the mention of his father. Sabine shoves him behind her again. She doesn’t even see the panic on his face—because she isn’t looking at him. She isn’t looking at anything but the person standing between her and the fortune she believes is her lifeblood.
I straighten slowly, a phoenix rising from the ash. “Do not mistake my quiet for weakness, Sabine.” I’ve not even begun to fight.
A pert smile. “Really? With your disappearing husband, and—”
“HERE!” AJ waves from the top of the stairs, grinning like a fool. Then that jovial acrobat takes to the railing, sliding down with a whoop, then springs up and offers a mock bow. “Present and accounted for, one husband.”
The heat climbing my neck could light a hundred candles, but he is here. AJ is still here.
Sabine is stunned. Silenced. And for the moment…bested. Whatever happens in the long war, I have won this moment.
One of the men steps forward. “I’m sorry, sir, but we’ll need to question your wife—”
“Has anyone seen my hat?” AJ pokes about the hall.
“I’m sorry, Doctor. This isn’t a good time.” I slip around him. “They say I cannot handle my inheritance,” I tell AJ, who pauses his hat search. I’m trying not to shake. “They wish to lock me away.”
“She wouldn’t have any idea what to dowith such a sum.” Sabine spreads her elegant hands out, palms up.
“I imagine she can scare up a few ideas,” AJ says. “Starting with a wedding trip. Come along,wife.” His grin is enormous. He snatches the doctor’s hat from a nearby table, popping it on his head. “Ah, here. This one will do.”
One of the men steps forward. “This is a serious situation, and I’m afraid we must handle it.Now.If you’d only step into the study, we’ll speak with you both.”
But AJ is tugging me toward the door.
“I’ll come for you, Cec,” I say as I pass him. I cannot see his face. “I vow it.”
“Tea is in order, is it not? Step into the study and we’ll just—” Then AJ is shoving me toward the kitchen through the servant’s hall…and directly out the service entrance.
“Here we are now, out to the car.” AJ closes the door behind us.
“But AJ, stop! Cecil and…and my luggage. I haven’t—”
“Will this do?” He swings my carpet bag off the steps and shoves me with fingertips against my back toward the drive…and the barred asylum cart. The bag strikes my shins as I hurry along, rather dumbfounded by the events. I look at AJ’s familiar face and realize he knows more than he let on.
There’s yelling inside, and a door bangs. They’ve seen us, and they’re coming. “AJ! How shall we—”
With a boom and a rattle, the Packard is huffing toward us. He grabs my hand, pulling me toward it. “I’ve no fortune to my name, but Icanplan a hasty exit.”
The men from the asylum come rushing down the drive. “See here! This is a serious matter, and she’s a threat to—”
He shoves me into the car, tossing my bag into my lap and throwing himself on top of me. “Drive, James. Drive!”
But it is Lady St. Laurent’s solicitor Henry Gould behind the wheel, his silver hair slicked back.
AJ grins. “Ah, it’s you, is it, old chap?”
I shove him off me. “AJ, we cannot leave Cecil. He needs me, and I’m his legal guard—”
“You can’t guard anyone from an asylum. First things first, my lady. We must abscond with you. Now, let’s pick it up, Henry.”
