***
Daffin led the way to the front door. After they briefly consulted with Mrs. Penworthy and gave her two pounds for her trouble, the middle-aged woman led the way up a dark staircase to a door in the middle of the corridor.
Pistol drawn, Daffin put his ear to the door. Snores filledthe room on the other side. Daffin grinned. Never failed. The best time to catch criminals was always when they were sleeping. He didn’t bother to knock. He exchanged a glance and a nod with Grimaldi before kicking in the door.
Quinton Knowles was sound asleep, alone in a small bed that took up most of the room. He didn’t even move when the door splintered and the two men crashed through it.
Daffin and Grimaldi both shook their heads. Daffin strolled to the edge of the bed, cocked his pistol, and pointed it at Knowles. “Good morning,” he said, kicking the mattress.
Knowles scrambled up and pushed his back against the wall, his hands in the air. He visibly swallowed. “Oakleaf?”
Daffin smiled grimly. “Please give me a reason to pull this trigger.”
Knowles was breathing heavily. “Damn you, Oakleaf.”
“Who hired you to kidnap Lady Regina?” Daffin asked through clenched teeth.
“I’ll rot in hell before I tell you,” the older man said, his eyes flashing defiance.
Daffin grabbed him by the collar and lifted him halfway up the wall, where he pressed his forearm tightly against Knowles’s throat. “Who. Hired. You?”
“Who do you think?” Knowles choked, tugging haplessly at Daffin’s arm.
Daffin stared him directly in the eye. “Some piece of scum, no doubt, but I want aname.”
Fear flashed in Knowles’s eyes. “A name won’t spare my life, will it?” he managed to choke out.
Daffin pressed harder.
Despite the lack of oxygen, Knowles managed an ugly smirk. “Ha. You’re going to kill me, aren’t you? Youarea killer. Just like me. I tried to tell the fair Lady Regina youand me are cut from the same cloth, but she wouldn’t listen. More’s the pity, poor woman. I do believe she’s half in love with you, though God knows why.”
Daffin ground his teeth. “You and I arenotcut from the same cloth, Knowles.”
“If you kill me, we are.” Knowles grabbed anew at Daffin’s arm, his complexion darkening from red to near-purple.
Daffin loosened his grip only slightly. “Give me a name and I’ll spare your life.”
“You promise?” Knowles asked, voice raspy and hope shining in his eyes.
“Yes,” Daffin ground out. He loosened his hold enough for the man to speak normally.
Knowles spent a few moments bent over coughing before facing Daffin again. “I do believe you’re telling the truth, Oakleaf, or should I sayPortland?”
Daffin slammed him against the wall again. “Damn you. Give me a name!”
“Millingham,” Knowles choked out. “Lady Rosalind Millingham.”
“Who?” Grimaldi, who had been standing close by in case Knowles tried to make a run for it, broke his silence.
Daffin let Knowles drop to the mattress, where the man clutched at his throat and coughed. “Why did she hire you?” Daffin demanded. He didn’t recognize the name, either.
Knowles took a moment to right his breathing before glaring at the two men. “Apparently, Lady Rosalind fancied Lady Regina’s would-be fiancé, the Earl of Dryden.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Daffin shook his head.
Knowles’s grin revealed rotted teeth. “Lady Rosalind hasbeen pining for the earl for five seasons. Meanwhile Dryden was only interested in Lady Regina and the land he stood to gain from their marriage.”
“That makes no sense,” Daffin ground out. “Killing Regina wouldn’t ensure Dryden married Lady Rosalind.”
