Elizabeth heard her sister gulp air, but all hope had vanished, the stakes turned perilous.
“I see Jasp taught yer ladyship well. A right nice addition t’ me house you’d make. Tell me, Lizzie, did he tan yer bottom too? Show yer all the delights I taught ’im as me whippin’ boy?”
That noise again, iron scraping stone, and Elizabeth knew, she simplyknewJasper was in this cavernous hellhole with them. He must be.
She would not let her panic overcome her, though her heart galloped in her chest. She must do something, say something, and say it fast.
“Please. I’ll show you all I know, perform however you wish. I know how to give a man pleasure, only I beg you, let Annabelle go.” Her thoughts, and breaths, grew frantic, for Finch seemed to suck the very air from this gold-gilt cave, making her lungs struggle almost as much as Annabelle’s.
“Pleases me t’ hear yer beg, comin’ as it does from yer ladyship’s fine-bred lips.” He laughed. “An’ yer offer’s mighty temptin’. I’d be a fool not t’ sample yer wares, an’ yet…”
In horror Elizabeth watched Finch slide his remaining free hand beneath Bella’s vest, to where she’d bound her breasts.
“I’m partial t’ yer wee sister, see, as she is, after all, meaffianced.”
Elizabeth’s mouth went dry as a desert. He was going to take what he’d wanted all along: Annabelle.
“An’ as I’ll need yer on th’ outside, t’ funnel Jasper’s funds t’ me coffers an’ gain me entry t’ th’ gentry’s abundant plenty, well, I can’t do that if you’re tied up in me rooms here atThe Canary.” He chuckled. “Though it paints a pretty picture, don’t it, Lizzie? Yer haughty self, bound t’ me bed.”
Mary Audrey had predicted Finch would wish to keep both Jasper and Bella here, his prisoners, and let Elizabeth go, forced to do his bidding out in the world, for however long he wished.
She must think her way out, fast, for she’d no weapon with which to strike, no hand with which to barter now that she’d already bartered her flesh. What else could she possibly offer? The arsenic hung useless about her neck.
“Mr. Finch, I beg you…”
“Beg louder, lass.” His voice turned gravelly, more lascivious in tone, as Bella struggled in vain to ward off his roaming hand.
“I’ve a mind to take Miss Annabelle right here an’ now to th’ tune o’ yer sweet beggin’, Lady Milton. How’s that fer compensation, eh? Yer sister’s ripe flesh fer yer terribly smart words.”
“Sir…” She was desperate to forestall him. “Annabelle is married to Mr. Harris. She can no longer wed you.”
“Easily annulled,” he said, tearing fabric as Bella’s lungs again gasped air. “An’ no doubt not married fer real, are yer, luv?” His hand slid inside her sister’s breeches as a voice snarled low, “Paws off me wife, Ronny.”
Harris!
But Finch cut off Bella’s air, her sister’s choked sob the only sound Elizabeth heard. She remained on her knees, Harris dead in his tracks at the threshold, where Finch’s guard, behind Harris, lay sprawled across the floor.
Elizabeth did not think, she lunged for Finch’s bollocks but met the man’s thick thighs instead. She dug her nails into his trousers as Harris rushed him head on.
Metal glinted in the light as Elizabeth screamed and Harris froze, a blade pressed perilously to Annabelle’s pale throat. The room took on an eerie glow as the hearth’s blaze licked air in a burst of orange heat—just as Bella violently refilled her lungs with a stuttering gasp.
“Now that we’reagreed,again,” Finch rasped, his knife flush at Bella’s throat, “’tis time I were more clear.” He glared at Harris. “You’ll return toThe Leaf, Arty, an’ annul yer shammarriage. Andyou”—he kicked Elizabeth with his boot, where she remained crouched upon the floor—“will go home an’ await instruction.”
Elizabeth did not move.
“As fer you, luv…”
Elizabeth shuddered for poor Annabelle, held hostage by Finch.
“You’llstay here as me betrothed, till we’re wed nice’n proper.”
“Finch.” Harris’s tone barely concealed his rage. “As businessmen, surely we can come to some?—”
“No.” Bella surprised them all, her voice faint but firm. “I’ll not be bandied back and forth between you like some object. I shall decide my fate for myself.”
***
Harris’s knees nearly buckled under the weight of Bella’s brave, clear voice. God help him, he was in awe of his wife. No, he was in love with this woman and also, madder than hell at her.
