“I am not afraid of cowards. People will come for me when I do not return to The Iris, which is a women-only club. A club you will never be able to close because they will fight you every step of the way,” Tilly declared.
“We will, because once you are gone, we will continue to destroy it, slowly if need be. By the end of the year, The Iris Club will be no more,” Howard said, his voice rising with anger. “And no one will look for you, Miss Wilson. At least not until we are finished with you.”
Tilly forced herself to laugh even as his words sent another chill down her spine. “The club will not close. Women are stronger than men, you see, and they will evennow be gathering to decide what is to be done to rescue me. They will enter through the secret door and find you—destroy you and your little band of pathetic men.”
“Bring her forward!” Howard snapped.
Two of the robed figures moved toward her. Tilly stepped back until she felt the door against her spine. “Do not touch me!”
They didn’t stop. She drove her elbow sharply into the nearest man’s ribs as he reached for her and was gratified to hear him grunt with pain, but the second man caught her by both arms before she could do anything else, and she was dragged forward, the heels of her boots scraping across the stone floor.
They forced her into a chair that had not been in the room when she’d last entered it, and her hands were bound to the wooden arms.
“Now,” Howard said, straightening his cuffs as if he was merely chatting with his peers, “you will tell me the name of the detective and all those who know about this room.”
“I will not.”
“You will, and we will deal with them, as we have others.” He crouched before her, bringing their faces level. The man she had known in drawing rooms, who had complimented her dress and laughed at her observations over dinner, was gone. What looked at her now was something colder and evil. “You will tell me, Miss Wilson, because the pain I am about to inflict on you will be unbearable if you do not.”
“I-I am telling you nothing,” Tilly said, terrified.
Being in that crate had scared her, but this—this was much worse. She was in the hands of a madman and his accomplices.
He smiled at that. It frightened her more than his anger had. He held out his arms, and one of the men brought forward a robe.
“You can’t dress yourself, Mr. Howard?” Tilly mocked him.
“You are remarkable,” he said quietly after he’d put his mask on. His eyes now gazed cold and hard through the small holes. “It is a genuine pity I cannot marry you. We would have had an enjoyable time together before I killed you.”
CHAPTER 28
“Itold you she was going to The Iris, so why are we here at her father’s town house?” Violet demanded as the carriage pulled to a halt before the elegant pale stone facade.
“She may have returned, and I want to ask her parents if Howard has called. If he has, he may have taken Tilly driving.” The desperation inside Ambrose was rising.
Tilly was in danger again. He could feel it.
“Bloody woman. When she’s my wife, I will have two servants on her heels at all times,” he muttered, jumping out when the door opened and leaving his sisters to fend for themselves.
“Ooh, so you’re still going to marry her?” Cissa said, the first to follow.
“Yes. After I find out why she said no the first time I asked her.”
He heard a loud clapping, and then Violet said, “Tilly will be my sister!” and squealed.
“Settle down now. We must find her first,” Tavi said.
He knocked on the front door, using the brass lion’s ring. It was answered by a butler, stern-faced as they often were.
“Please tell Miss Wilson that Lord Talbot has called to speak with her.”
“She is from home, my lord.”
His heart gave a jolt. Something wasn’t right. He could feel it.
“Do you know her location?”
“Step aside, Croft. I will talk with Lord Talbot.”
