“Will you take a walk with me, Mr. Howard?”
His hopeful smile made her feel terrible, but she had to do this. It was best for both of them.
Tilly collected her cloak and gloves from her office.
“I will not be gone long, Ruby, and then I will return to take more tea with the knitting club.”
“I shall ensure it is kept warm,” she said, bobbing a curtsy.
Mr. Howard held out his arm, and she placed her fingers on his sleeve as they started walking.
“Are you feeling better now, Miss Wilson?”
“I am, thank you, Mr. Howard.”
“My name is Nile. I would be honored if you would use it.”
“I’m afraid I cannot,” Tilly said. She then took a deep breath and released it slowly. “It would be wrong of me to continue allowing you to believe there may one day be something between us, sir, as there cannot.”
He didn’t look at her, but she was staring at his side profile and watched as his mouth formed a hard line. “You are proving very hard to control, Miss Wilson.”
“I beg your pardon? No man controls me.”
She tried to pull away, but as she did, he said, “Do not move, or I will shoot the first person who appears before us.”
“What?”
She hadn’t noticed that his hand was tucked inside his jacket, but she saw it now, and the outline of the gun it held.
“Wh-what are you doing?”
“You have left me no choice but to make this move today. So we are going to take those stairs down, and I do not want you to make a sound, Miss Wilson. Just follow my lead. Remember I will shoot someone if you do not, and their death will be on your hands.”
She looked around desperately for help and saw a mother and child coming her way, laughing. Behind them were others. An elder man with a cane, and another man, younger, with a woman. Tilly would not have their deaths on her hands.
“I will do as you say.”
She went first down the stairs, and he followed.
“To the door now, Miss Wilson.”
She saw the entrance, now cleared of crates, and the two men standing on either side of it. Neither looked at her as they approached.
“Open it and enter,” Mr. Howard ordered.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Come now, Miss Wilson. Surely that fertile brain has worked out what is afoot. Perhaps you are not the intelligent woman I thought you were after all.”
“You are part of whatever has been going on down there,” Tilly said as the realization dawned on her.
“Well done. Open the door.”
She did, fumbling with the latch. Then they were inside, and he was shutting the door behind her and locking it.
“You will not outsmart me this time. We are finishing this now, today, and then you will cause us no more trouble.”
She was pushed in the spine, which sent her stumbling forward.
