Heart of Courage (29 page)

As she walked down the hallway to the drawing room, she waved her hand back and forth in front of her face to cool the heat that had risen in her cheeks. Dear Lord, the man could make her mad with lust for him when he wasn't even there!

She blew out a breath. Her parents were in the drawing room. She needed to speak to them, inform them of her decision to marry a man who was definitely not on their list. She wished she could wait. Her mother was sick with worry over Rudy and her father walked around in a sort of impotent rage that he hadn't been able to clear his son's name. She didn't want to upset them any more than they were already, but she knew Thor would not wait.

He was determined they should wed and he was probably right. Since she no longer took Samir's potion, there was a chance that even now she carried Thor's babe. The idea should have frightened her but it only made her smile. She would love to have Thor's child. And although he was a big man and the birth might be difficult, there were other large men in her family and their wives seemed to do just fine.

Though they couldn't possibly wed while Rudy faced a hangman's noose, the matter of her marriage needed to be resolved. If she had to, she would wed Thor against her parents' wishes, but she hoped, in time, they would accept her decision.

Lindsey steeled herself to face them and continued along the hall to the drawing room. In a rose silk tea dress, her mother sat on the brocade sofa while her father rested in a chair not far away. An embroidery hoop lay in the baroness's lap, but the needle in her hand wasn't moving. Her father tried to read, but stared at the hearth instead of the pages of his book.

Knowing how worried they were, Lindsey's heart went out to them. Still, she had important matters of her own to address.

She forced herself to smile. “Good evening, Father. Mother. I am glad I found you both here together.”

Her father set his leather-bound book down on the table beside his chair. “You wished to speak to us?”

“Yes, I did.”

He smiled, seemed pleased. “About your decision to marry?”

She nodded. “I know the timing is wrong. Certainly it isn't something that is going to happen until Rudy's…situation has been dealt with, but I wanted you to know what I have decided.”

A hint of color seeped into her mother's pale cheeks. “We could all use a bit of good news.” She smiled. “I am guessing you've chosen the handsome Lieutenant Harvey. Am I correct?”

Lindsey bit her lip. “Not exactly. What I mean is, if it weren't for a particular problem, Michael would likely be the man I would choose.”

Her father frowned. “What exactly is this problem?”

Lindsey lifted her chin. “I'm not in love with Michael. In fact, I am deeply and irrevocably in love with someone else.”

Her mother smiled as she came up off the sofa and started toward her. “Lord Merrick! You've chosen to marry the viscount! An excellent choice, my darling.”

Lindsey held up a hand, stopping her where she stood. “I am sorry, Mother. The man isn't Stephen. Lord Merrick is the last suitor I would choose. The man I love is Thor Draugr.”

Her father's eyes narrowed. “You don't mean that overbearing hulk who stormed in here the other day?”

“Thor is the kindest, gentlest, most wonderful man I have ever known. Once you get to know him, you will see it is true. I love him and I am going to marry him.”

“But…but what are his circumstances?” her mother asked. “The man has no title, no social position—”

“How will he provide for you?” her father demanded, coming out of his chair.

“Thor is hardly destitute and I would marry him even if he were. He wishes to speak to you of these matters, Father. I only wanted to prepare you.”

“If you think for one moment I am going to allow you to—”

“I am two-and-twenty, Father. With or without your permission, Thor is the man I intend to wed.” She walked over and captured his hand, felt the tension running through him. “But I am so hoping you will give him a chance. I truly believe that if you do, you will see what it is I love about him. You will see the qualities in him that I see, and you will both know that he is the only man who could ever make me happy.”

Her mother walked back to her place on the sofa and sank down heavily. Her father just stood there staring.

“As I said, this isn't the time. For now, we must focus our attention on Rudy. Proving his innocence is all that matters.”

Her father cleared his throat. “Rudy…yes. We'll discuss the matter of your marriage once your brother is free.”

Lindsey said nothing more, just turned and walked out of the drawing room. She prayed that soon her brother would be released from prison.

And that somewhere deep in his heart, Thor loved her.

L
indsey left the drawing room, her thoughts torn between worry for Rudy and the future she had chosen to make with Thor. As she walked along the hallway toward the stairs, she looked up to see the butler hurrying toward her, a frown on his thin, aging face.

“What is it, Benders?”

“A note, miss. The boy who brought it said to tell you it was important.”

A tremor of unease went through her. Wondering if the note could be from Simon Beale, she was surprised to see her name scrolled in Rudy's familiar handwriting. Lindsey flipped over the message and broke the seal.

Her heart squeezed, then began to pound. Rudy had remembered something about Stephen. Perhaps it would be the information they needed to prove his innocence.

“Please tell my parents a matter of importance has come up and I won't be joining them for supper.”

“Yes, miss. Shall I order your carriage brought round?”

“There isn't time. I shall catch a cab at the corner.”

Used to her independent ways, he nodded and went to retrieve her fur-lined cloak. He settled it round her shoulders.

“Thank you, Benders.”

She left him standing in the entry, raced down the steps and along the street to the corner. It didn't take long to hail a cab.

“Newgate Prison,” she ordered the driver, a white-bearded man who flicked her a disinterested glance and slapped the reins against the bony old horse's rump.

It seemed to take forever. At last, the conveyance pulled up in front of the prison and Lindsey climbed down from inside. “I will pay you double your normal fare if you will wait until I come out.”

He rubbed the whiskers along his jaw and nodded. “I'll be here.”

Hurrying toward the gate, she spoke to the guard, gave him a handful of coins, and he led her inside the courtyard, then into the chilly interior of the prison.

The sound of their footsteps echoed along the stone corridor and a shiver slipped down her spine. Pity for Rudy brought tears to her eyes. Lindsey blinked them away as she reached her brother's cell at the end of the passage. The door creaked as it swung open and Rudy came up off the lumpy mattress on his narrow bed.

“Sis! I say, I'm glad to see you.”

She hurried to his side and gave him a hug, and unusual for Rudy, he returned it, holding onto her as if she were his only hope.

Lindsey swallowed and managed to smile. “I thought Mr. Marvin might be here.”

“He was here earlier…him and that detective he hired.”

“Mansfield? Has he learned anything useful?”

“I told him what you said about Merrick and that missing girl and he went to Foxgrove right after. Apparently, he talked to a man in the village who claims to have been there the night Penelope Barker disappeared. He said he saw Merrick arguing with the girl outside the stable that night. Merrick was angry, furious, I guess, that she was pregnant. The girl was never seen again.”

“That proves he was with her the night she disappeared.”

“But it doesn't prove he killed her.”

Lindsey unfastened her cloak and swept it off, laid it over the back of a rickety wooden chair. “Your note said you remembered something. What was it?”

Rudy released a breath. “I don't know if it means anything. Didn't mean much to me at the time. In fact, I had completely forgot until you were in here talking about the Red Door and the women Merrick liked to tie up.”

“Go on.”

“It happened one night after I started university. A bunch of us sneaked out and went into the village. There was a tavern, a place we'd heard about. There were women there…you know, the kind men pay for their favors.”

“Prostitutes.”

He flushed.

“So you and your schoolmates went to the tavern. Did Stephen go with you?”

Rudy shook his head. “He was older. We didn't chum around together.”

“So what happened that night?”

Rudy stared down at the bare wooden floor. “I don't know if I can do this, Lindsey. This ain't the kind of conversation a man has with his sister.”

“I need to know, Rudy. Just pretend I am a man.”

He looked up and his lips curved. “I've seen you dressed like one when you sneaked out to go riding. I guess I can pretend.”

She almost smiled. “You were saying that you went to the tavern.”

“A place called The Goose. There was a wench there named Molly. At least I think that was her name. She was a little older, buxom and kind of pretty. Rumor was she really knew how to please a man. My chums were making bets, goading me into paying for her favors, betting I wouldn't have the nerve to do it. I thought she was alone upstairs so I went up to find her.”

“What happened?”

“There was a room at the end of the hall. I tried the knob and it wasn't locked. I pushed the door open and there was Stephen, naked, spread-eagle on the bed, his hands and feet tied to the bedposts. I was so shocked I just stood there. Molly was pointing at him, laughing, making fun of him because he wasn't…he couldn't seem to…” He looked away, his face flaming.

“Go on, Rudy. Tell me the rest.”

He shoved a hand through his sandy hair, causing several strands to fall forward. “I started laughing, too. I mean, it was kind of funny, I thought…being tied up and all. It was the sort of thing a young fellow did, experimenting, you know. I mean, once I let a woman—” He broke off, his face turning an even deeper crimson. “The point is, to me it was just funny. Maybe to Stephen it was more than that.”

“Did you tell the other boys what you saw?”

“I don't think so. I might have. I was a little drunk at the time.”

Lindsey turned away from him and walked over to the table. Would a man carry a grudge for years over an incident like that? True, it would have been humiliating. Perhaps Stephen connected it in some way to what he had suffered as a boy. But would it be enough to make a man go to such extremes?

“So what do you think?” Rudy asked.

“I don't think he murdered those women because you walked in on him in an embarrassing situation. But I think, once he started committing the crimes, it might have occurred to him that he could pay you back for humiliating him by making you take the blame.”

“That's kind of what I was thinking.”

“This whole thing with the scarves and being tied up…I don't think it's a coincidence.” She told Rudy about Stephen's nanny and how Tilly Coote had punished him and used him for physical gratification when he was just a boy.

“I remember her. I never liked her and I don't think Stephen did, either.” He looked up. “If you're right, how do we prove it? My trial's coming up in just a few days. How do we prove he's the one?”

Lindsey shook her head, a lump beginning to form in her throat. In just a few days, Rudy could be sentenced to hang. “I don't know.” She walked over and took hold of his hand, felt a slight tremor run through it. “I don't know, Rudy, but as God is my witness, I promise we'll find a way.”

 

It was dark when Lindsey left the prison. Even so, the weather-beaten cab sat in front of the building, the driver asleep in the back as she approached.

He snored so loudly he woke himself up then sat up in the seat, blinking like an owl. “'Bout time you come back.”

“Thank you for waiting.” He climbed out of the back seat and she climbed in, settled herself against the cracked leather while he took his place in the driver's seat and picked up the reins.

“There's a flat in Half Moon Street,” she told him. “I can show you where it is. I would like you to take me there.”

“Aye, miss.” He clicked the reins and the old bay horse, looking as sleepy as the driver, raised its head and began to plod off down the street. She wanted to see Thor, to tell him what Rudy had said and see if together they might figure out what to do.

And she simply wanted to see him.

The cab finally reached its destination and Lindsey paid the driver. She was about to climb out when she glanced up at Thor's apartment and realized no lamp burned inside. The sun had set long ago, but it was not really that late. If he wasn't at home, there was a chance she would find him with Saber.

“There's a stable at the edge of Green Park. I want you to take me there. It's only a few blocks away.”

He nodded, happy with the additional fare. Lindsey fidgeted as the cab rolled along, anxious to tell Thor about the incident with Stephen and Rudy at The Goose.

The cab arrived a few minutes later and she felt a sweep of relief at the sight of a lantern burning in the window of the barn. It cast only a small amount of light, yet she was sure Thor must be inside. Even if he wasn't, it was only a short walk back to her house.

“Thank you again,” she said, handing him several more coins. Turning away, she hurried along the path to the big wooden building at the edge of the park, not far from the stone one where her father kept his horses.

She stepped inside, her gaze searching for Thor, but the building was empty, and disappointment filled her. Then the stallion nickered a greeting and she smiled. Lindsey lifted her skirts and walked toward him.

“Hello, pretty boy. Where's your master tonight? I thought for certain I would find him here.”

Saber whinnied softly.

“I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow.” She glanced round the stable. The other horses stood quietly in their stalls, but even the young groom, Tommy Booker, was gone. She was alone in the barn and for the first time, a thread of unease slipped through her.

So much had happened, so much intrigue swirled around her. Women were dead. Simon Beale might well have been murdered. She thought how angry Thor would be if he knew she was roaming about by herself. She should have asked the driver to wait, but it was too late for that now.

Still, the neighborhood was the safest in London and she didn't have far to walk to reach her home. Lifting her skirts off the earth-packed floor, she started for the door. She was halfway there when the lantern in the window went out, leaving the barn in total darkness.

Lindsey froze. Her heart slammed hard inside her ribs and a ribbon of fear snaked down her spine. She told herself it was only the wind that had blown out the flame, that there was no reason to be afraid. But the breeze was quiet tonight, the leaves unmoving on the trees.

Something stirred in the darkness. A mouse, she told herself, or the barn cat who kept the mouse population at bay. She ignored the uneven thudding of her heart and continued toward the door, her eyes beginning to adjust to the darkness. Through the entrance, she could see a sliver of moon beginning to rise over the row of buildings to the east, giving her enough light to find the door she had come in through.

And outline the shadow of a man.

Lindsey gasped and bit back a scream. The shadow was too small to belong to Thor, too large to be young Tommy. “Who is there?” she called out, hoping her voice didn't quiver, hoping whoever it was would identify himself and she could laugh at her worry.

“You know me…” the man said in a voice that sent chills down her spine. “I might have been the man you married—if you hadn't turned out to be such a little whore.”