He waited for her nod and then stepped out of the carriage into an area of London so rank that she was grateful for the darkness. It hid whatever foul thing was festering nearby. It also gave her a moment’s terror. Just where were they going?
Chapter Twenty-Six
She was drivinghim mad with wanting. Even as he led her into the dark rooms beneath the Lyon’s Den, her scent teased his nostrils, her breath whispered across his thoughts, and heat burned on his skin whenever she was near. It was distracting as hell, and damn if he didn’t ache to give her everything she wanted in every way possible.
Instead, he focused on the miserable man tied loosely in a chair. On the opposite side of the room, Reuben Bates lounged with a cocky expression on his perpetually happy face. Lucas had met the man in the army, and they’d become fast friends. But it was only in London that Reuben’s real skills had come to the fore. He had a huge family and connections throughout the upper and lower society. If ever there was an unacknowledged king in London, it was Reuben. So it was no surprise that he had been the one to find the missing footman, Donald Fisher.
Reuben acknowledged Lucas with a jaunty whistle and a cock of his head toward a side door. The constable would be waiting there, listening to every word spoken. The official would step out when it was time, but for right now, Lucas needed to see the idiot footman face to face and ask a few very important questions.
That is, after Diana stepped around him and gasped at what she saw. “What have you done?”
Lucas couldn’t tell who she was speaking to. Did she ask the footman about his crimes? Or did she ask Lucas why the man had a dark bruise on his cheek or why he was bound at the wrists and ankles?
Whatever the truth, the footman seemed to believe it was directed at him because the man started protesting his innocence in the most hateful voice.
“I’ve done nothing but visit me mum, you filthy witch!” he spat. “A cow like you, you’ve always had it in for me. Wanted to have me, you did, and when I said no, you set your dogs to grab me out of my mother’s arms—”
Lucas punched him straight in the face. He held back another blow. He didn’t want to kill the man, but it was enough to snap the bastard’s head back and cut off his words. Beside him, Diana blew out a breath and spoke with admiration in her tone.
“You cannot know how often I have wished I could do the same.”
He glanced at her in surprise. “It’s less effective than you might think but enormously satisfying.”
And as he guessed might happen, the man quickly recovered his breath and started spewing insults that were so commonplace as to be boring. He had heard it all—in multiple languages—during his time in the Lyon’s Den. Except, obviously, the words were new to Diana.
“Do you know what he is saying?” she asked.
“Nothing worth repeating. Or hearing.”
“But I’ve never heard some of those things. What do they mean? Beyond the obvious, of course.”
Lucas shook his head. He should have known she wouldn’t be thrown by a man’s curses beyond a little curiosity. Meanwhile, Reuben grew tired of the noise, so he quickly looped a rope around the man’s neck. He didn’t tighten it, but just the drop of the thick cord on Fisher’s chest was enough to set the footman to screaming the same insults in a louder voice.
Lucas blew out a breath as he caught Reuben’s eyes. “You’ve made it worse.”
“Not if I tighten it.” To prove his point, he began pulling the rope high enough that it just touched the man’s throat.
The scream was ear-splittingly high, and it went on a very long time. Fortunately, he didn’t have endless lung capacity, and when he paused to draw breath, Lucas spoke.
“Scream again, and I’ll have him kill you now. You’re giving me a headache.”
Mr. Fisher choked off his next screech only to sit there and glare resentfully at the entire room.
“Why did you poison Lord Dunnamore’s tea?” Lucas asked.
“I never did! I liked the old bastard!” He would have gone on, but Reuben picked up the edge of the rope again. He didn’t pull it, but Fisher took the hint and cut off with a squeak.
“Several people saw you put something in his tea tin. They saw you and will testify to it.” It was a lie. They didn’t have a witness. In fact, the only proof they had was that Fisher disappeared the day Lord Dunnamore died.
“They lie! I didn’t!” He spat at Diana. “She poisoned him. I gave him medicine. I kept him alive for weeks while she tried to kill him!”
Now there was something interesting, but he didn’t have the chance to pursue it as Diana took a step forward. She even squatted down so she could look at him eye to eye. “Mr. Fisher,” she began, then she moderated her stern tone. “Donald. I gave you money when your mother was ill. A great deal of it. I forgave it when you came in late to work with bloodshot eyes and shaking hands. I could have sacked you any number of times, but you pleaded with me that you were the only support of your ailing mother and pregnant sister.”
Reuben spoke up from behind Fisher. “He’s got no sister. His mum isn’t actually his mum, but she gives him a bed every now and again. That’s where we found him. Drunk as a sot in her back parlor.” He looked up at Lucas. “She’s the one who contacted me. Said she’d be glad to be rid of him.”
Diana sighed. “Lies, then. I thought as much, but Oscar liked him.” She straightened up. “They played cards together, and he told Oscar jokes.” She shrugged. “Jokes Oscar wouldn’t repeat to me, but some days it was the only thing that kept his mind off the pain.”
“Cards, you say?” Lucas asked, and at Diana’s nod, he knew exactly what had happened. Reuben, too, by the expression on his face. But mindful of the constable, he had to walk everyone straight to the truth.
