He must have looked desperate indeed, because Lady Clifford took pity on him. “He never had a chance to lay a finger on her, my lord. She struck him with a stone cross she liberated from a crypt in St. Clement Dane’s graveyard. Richard Poole was dead before he even knew what hit him. Sophia killed him before he could kill you.”
Lady Clifford’s tone was neutral, and her face carefully blank, but she hadn’t made any attempt to soften the facts. Tristan was certain her bluntness was intentional. She was watching him closely, as if searching his face for some hint he’d change his mind about Sophia once he discovered she’d killed a man.
He wouldn’t.
Tristan thought of the courage it must have taken her to overcome Poole, the incredible strength of character, the fierceness and resolve hidden inside that dainty body, and his throat closed. Sophia didn’t do anything in half measures, and though she hadn’t told him so, Tristan believed she loved him with her whole heart. He couldn’t imagine his life without her, and nothing—nothing—would ever change that.
His gaze met Lady Clifford’s. “Sophiasaved my life.”
“She did, indeed. Not long after you saved hers.” Lady Clifford gave him a considering look. “It’s almost enough to make one believe in fate, isn’t it?”
Tristan didn’t answer, because once again, his stomach was roiling with panic. “What’s going to happen to Sophia?”
She hadn’t done anything she hadn’t been forced to do to save his and her own life, but Tristan had come to understand justice wasn’t as blind as he’d always imagined it to be. What if Everly saw to it Sophia was taken upfor murder, or—
“There’s no need to worry, my lord. I’ve explained the situation to Kit Benjamin, and he’s promised to take care of any…oh, shall we call them inconvenient details? You may have heard, Lord Gray, that Mr. Benjamin and I have anunderstanding.”
What Tristan had heard was that Kit Benjamin and Lady Amanda Clifford were involved in a torrid affair, and Benjamin was so blinded by his passion for her, he often overlooked her more…legally questionable activities.
Like most of London, he’d believed the rumor to be true, and perhaps theywerehaving an affair, but he’d been wrong about Lady Clifford in one respect, and it was the only respect that mattered. “I misjudged you as well, my lady, and I beg your pardon for it. I assumed you were working on the wrong side of the law, and Kit Benjamin was covering your tracks for you.”
She laughed. “Oh, dear. That would be rather dreadful, wouldn’t it? But what makes you so sure that’snot the case?”
Hewasn’tsure, but whatever Lady Clifford got up to, whether she happened to be working on the side of the law or against it, Tristan believed she was as anxious to see justice done ashe was himself.
Lady Clifford gave Tristan’s hand a little pat. “Shall we say the law sometimes needs a little nudge in the right direction, and simply leave it at that, Lord Gray?”
“Perhaps that would befor the best.”
They exchanged tentative smiles, but then Tristan sobered. Peter Sharpe and Richard Poole might have met their just ends, but this business hadn’t begun with either of them. Three men were dead, and Jeremy Ives had been sent to rot away in Newgate for a crime he didn’t commit. “What of Lord Everly? He’s at the center of this, pulling the strings, and Sampson Willis has been helping him.”
Christ, even though he knew it to be true, Tristan could hardly credit Willis could have turned out to be such a villain. All the information he’d given Willis about Jeremy Ives and Sophia and Lady Clifford, Willis had been using against them.
Tristan had always admired Willis—had thought him a good, decent man. It never once occurred to him Willis could be behind Henry’s death, andwhy?Because he’d assumed Willis, a magistrate, must be on the right side of the law.
Tristan’s blindness had nearly cost Sophia her life.
“Yes, we’re well aware of Lord Everly’s and Mr. Willis’s roles in this business, and don’t think for a moment we haven’t considered who might be pullingtheirstrings.”
Neither Tristan nor Lady Clifford said the name, but they were both thinking it.
William Pitt.
“There’s no evidence against Lord Everly, unfortunately. The two men who might have implicated him in this, Sharpe and Poole, are both dead. That said, we now know Lord Everly’s notquitethe upstanding peer everyone assumed him to be, and the same is true of Sampson Willis. There’s a great deal of power in knowledge, Lord Gray. As for the other…” A troubled look crossed Lady Clifford’s face. “I’m afraid there’s only so much one can do, and there’s a limit to Kit Benjamin’s influence, as well. Even he can’t reach that high.”
“No. No one can.” Indeed, that was rather the problem.
Lady Clifford gave his hand another pat, then rose to her feet. “Now, Lord Gray. I advise you toget some rest.”
“No, my lady. Not until I see Sophia.” Tristan pulled the coverlet aside, determined to go find her, even if he had to climb onto theroof to do it.
“Ah, yes. Sophia. No, there’s no need to leave your bed, Lord Gray.” Lady Clifford made her way to the bedchamber door, but before she disappeared into the hallway she paused and said, “You can come out of the cupboard now,Sophia, dear.”
“The cupboard!” Tristan’s mouth fell open. His gaze shot to the tall cupboard on the other side of the bedchamber. The door creaked open, one inch at a time. When Sophia’s dark head appeared, his lips curved in a grin. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
Sophia gave Tristan a sheepish look, then turned to Lady Clifford. “How in the world did you know I was inthe cupboard?”
“I know everything that happens at the Clifford School. You should know that by now, dear.” Lady Clifford lifted her chin, but there was a gleam of mischief in her blue eyes. “Well, that, and a fold of your skirt was caught in thecupboard door.”
