‘’What are you doing here?’ Mrs Quenten demanded. There was a tremor under the harsh question.
‘Came to thank you.’ The door closed and Theo’s voice became clearer as he walked into the room. ‘My father was on the way out anyway, but dear Uncle Augustus was revolting healthy, I could see the old devil going on another twenty years, breeding sons, and he was cutting off my funds. You did me a favour, Cousin Elizabeth.’
‘How did you find out?’ She had moved closer to him.
Jared tried to read the amused drawl. Was Theo acting or was this real? Were his suspicions about him right after all? The tension coming off Guinevere was almost palpable. He made himself ignore it.
‘I’m not as stupid as people think. I worked it out. Still in a muddle over what you’ve got against Guinnie though, nice creature, would be good in bed, I’m thinking. Grateful after months of an old man. But never mind her. I know you killed Uncle Augustus and I know you’ve been trying to get me hanged for it. I’ll keep quiet if you stop trying to frame me.’
‘No, you’re not stupid, of course I had Thomas kill him. Julian will make a perfectly good earl, but my son Charles, he will be a great man. A very great man. As for your dear Guinnie, she killed her first husband, my brother. She’ll pay for that, keep on paying.’
Jared eased the door open, stepped out behind the screen as he heard her move again. The long knife was in his hand, beside him Dover moved too, a glint of metal betraying that he too had drawn a weapon.
‘But you are foolish, even so, Cousin. You forget you are still in my way. Kill him, Thomas.’
‘Not so foolish that I don’t have witnesses.’ Theo was laughing, even as he gave a grunt of effort and there was the sound of a blow, fist on flesh.
Jared pushed the screen over, Dover went for the outside door, there was a thud and light flared up as the draft of the falling screen fanned the candle flame. Across the room two large figures burst in and his father strode to the hall door, his back against it, a pistol raised.
On the floor was a tangle of limbs. Jared heaved aside the screen, rolled away Theo’s limp body and hauled Thomas Bainton to his feet. With a scream of fury Lettie Quenten launched herself at him, past him, and he realised she had seen Guinevere. The wildly flaring light caught the gleam of steel in her hand. Thomas cut at him, the pain sharp and hot down his forearm and he parried instinctively, followed through with a kick in the groin that sent the man falling into Sir Andrew’s arms. Behind him the jib door slammed closed on Guinevere and a madwoman with a knife.
There was no light except for star-glow from the window. Guin backed away rapidly, her bare feet finding the edge of the carpet. How far to the library table and a paper-knife?
She groped behind her with her hand as she edged back from the hissed obscenities. At least I can hear her. Can she hear me? Lettie had been in a room with a light, her night vision must be worse than Guin’s, which was some comfort. Not a lot. There was a thud as something hit the door to the sitting room but the woman must have locked it behind her. How long before Jared could get there?
Guin hit the edge of the table and bit back a cry of pain. She threw out her hands for balance and found the paperknife. It skidded away across the polished surface and fell with a clatter on the far side. She swept her hand across again and found something else, something heavy. Her hands closed round it and the contents shifted.
The sand-sifter for blotting ink. Lettie was almost on her now, she could see her shape, solid and black, menacing, and the movement of the knife as she reached out in front with it, sweeping it back and forth. There was a bang as the door to the hallway flew open, crashed back against a bookcase and the top of the pewter sifter shifted in her twisting hands, unscrewed.
Lettie lunged for her as the room seemed to fill with light. She heard Jared swear at someone as she blinked, dazed in the glare, then threw the sifter straight at the blade.
There was a scream and she saw Lettie Quenten flail her arms, scrub at her eyes one-handed. Jared moved towards her, rapier out, blood running down over his sword hand. As Lettie went for him he reversed the weapon, brought the pommel in his clenched fist up under her chin and hit her, sending her backwards into a sprawling fall.
Guin scrambled after the knife the other woman dropped but Jared was already rolling the limp body over, tying Lettie’s hands with some of the red document tape from the library table.
She went down on her knees beside him.
‘Did she touch you?’ He let Lettie fall back onto her back without ceremony and caught Guin by the shoulders. ‘Guinevere, my heart. Hell, you frightened me.’
‘I’m all right. Theo?’
‘Bruised jaw and a bang on the head from where I pushed the screen on top of him.’
‘He was acting, wasn’t he?’
‘Yes. He caught Sir Andrew on his way down here, told him what he intended. Apparently he is quite capable of lip-reading enough in a mirror to have an idea of what we were planning to do about the sitting room door.’
‘Thank goodness. I believed in him, but that gave me a nasty moment.’
‘My evening has been a series of nasty moments,’ Jared said with feeling. ‘Finding you behind me when I thought you safe in your chamber, hearing Theo’s heroics, seeing that door slam on you and this creature.’
‘You are hurt. Take off your coat, let me see your arm.’
‘It’s nothing, a clean cut.’ Jared sat back on his heels and let her pull off the coat, rip the tear in his shirt until she could look at his forearm. Guin swallowed. Hard.
‘See? A nice tidy slash.’ Jared pushed the edges of the slice together with thumb and forefinger of the opposite hand. ‘That will stitch up easily enough. Guinevere?’
He caught her as she slumped inelegantly towards the floor. ‘I almost fainted,’ she said as she was pulled to her feet and planted unceremoniously in a chair. ‘I never faint.’