Roberta jerked away from his clawing hands. For a sickening second, William tottered between safety and disaster. His hands slid uselessly, seeking purchase against the banister.
Horror kept Sidonie frozen. Even as Jonas dove to prevent the unfolding disaster, a feline sound of fury escaped Roberta and she pushed William again.
This time, her husband lost his footing on an ungainly stumble. With a choked scream, he tumbled backward down the stairs.
Chapter Twenty-Five
For what felt like forever, Sidonie listened to the horrible thud, thud, thud of William’s cumbersome body slamming against every step. When he finally crashed to the base of the staircase, the sound echoed like a scream.
Jonas dashed downstairs several at a time, shoving the gun into his pocket. He bent over his cousin, checking the man’s throat for a pulse. Roberta hovered on the landing, her gaze glued to the man sprawled below.
“Jonas?” Sidonie called over the balustrade.
Jonas looked up, his face austere. The light from the tall windows lay stark on his scars. “He’s dead.”
Sidonie had known William was dead from the moment she saw the unnatural angle of his neck. The fall needn’t have killed him, but he’d gone down awkwardly. The impact of his weight must have crushed the fragile bones at the top of his spine. Jonas’s enemy was no more. William would never again strike Roberta or terrify his sons into sobbing night terrors. Surely Sidonie should feel more than numbness. But staring down at William’s motionless body, she felt nothing. Apart from a bleak premonition that their troubles had just started.
Sidonie wrenched herself from shocked paralysis to realize her sister was shaking like a sapling in a high wind and just might throw herself after William. “No, Roberta,” she gasped, darting forward and gripping her sister’s arms from behind.
“What have I done?” Roberta turned to stare helplessly at Sidonie. “Oh, dear Lord, what have I done?”
All trace had vanished of the harpy who flung herself at her tormentor. She looked lost, small, and vulnerable. Tears flooded her large blue eyes as she trusted in Sidonie to solve this dilemma as she’d solved so many before.
Jonas ascended the steps toward the two women. “We have
to make it look like an accident or, at worst, suicide.”
“But William—” Sidonie began.
Jonas’s mouth curved in a grim smile. “Was too egotistical to do away with himself? Hopefully the world didn’t know him as we did. We must divert all suspicion from Lady Hillbrook.”
Again, Sidonie’s heart surged with admiration. A lesser man would gloat at his enemy’s demise, but Jonas’s sole concern was Roberta’s well-being.
Roberta collapsed sobbing against Sidonie, hiding from the sight of William’s body. Sidonie’s arms encircled her sister as she glanced at Jonas. What on earth could they do to save Roberta? She didn’t deserve to hang for putting an end to the man who had abused her.
“Roberta,” Sidonie said, fear sharpening her tone. “Stand up straight and think. Unless you want to face a murder charge.” Even if Roberta claimed her life was at risk, chances were a legal system unsympathetic to rebellious wives would hound her.
The word “murder” made Roberta stiffen and pull away slightly. “He was a brute,” she said shakily.
“Undoubtedly.” Jonas looked stern and purposeful. “But hardly the point. Where are the servants?”
Roberta sucked in a breath and the blankness faded from her eyes. Her voice emerged high and thready. “I sent them to the fair in the next village.”
“They’re coming back tonight?” he asked.
“Of course.”
“They’ll return soon.” With difficulty, Sidonie untangled herself from Roberta and nervously checked the window at the top of the stairs. The drive, thank heaven, remained empty in spite of the lengthening shadows. “Jonas, you must go. If anyone discovers you were here, it will be disastrous. Suspicion will immediately fall on you.”
“I know. My feud with William is too infamous for my presence to be construed as innocent. But I hate to leave you alone to deal with this shambles.”
Sidonie was so used to managing on her own, struggling to chart a course through impossible situations. This time she could rely on Jonas. She’d already trusted him with her body. But now she trusted him with her life. More, she trusted him with her sister’s life.
An extraordinary moment to realize how profoundly she’d fallen in love with him.
For days she’d struggled against this revelation. Now that she at last acknowledged the truth, deep peace settled in her heart. She’d resisted falling in love with Jonas, terrified he’d turn her into a weakling, incapable of living without him. But as she accepted what she felt, what she’d felt almost from the start, strength and power filled her. It was as though she tapped into some mysterious source of energy pulsing through the world.
I love Jonas. I love Jonas.