Jo Goodman (56 page)

It was two hours later that Ponty Pine entered the room. He balanced a tray in one hand while he pocketed the key. He kicked the door shut with his heel. "Severn said I could bring you something to eat," he told her. He placed the tray on the bed and raised one finger when she would have spoken. Pointing to the door, he gestured that they could be overheard and began to speak of inconsequential matters. "You probably don't want to eat, but you must know you need to keep up your strength. Things always look better when you have a full stomach. That's the one thing life's taught me. Full is better than empty.

The bedchamber was furnished with a small writing desk in addition to the rocker, commode, and armoire. While he spoke, Ponty Pine rifled through the desk for paper, pen, and ink. His hastily scrawled message was badly misspelled and barely legible:
"Do nott dispare."
He gave her a moment to read it before he shredded the paper and stuffed the pieces in his pocket. He prompted Mercedes to keep up her end of the conversation.

"I don't want anything, Mr. Pine," she said.

"Epine," he corrected, "Epine, really." He gave it the proper accent, pausing between first and last name, and said it again. "Pont... Epine."

"It's French." At his silent suggestion, Mercedes raised her bound wrists.

"Yes." He produced a knife and began to pick at the knot, loosening it, but not undoing it.

"Then you're French?" she asked.

"No. My mother was."

Mercedes could not help herself. It was impossible to make meaningless conversation. "They mean to kill Colin," she whispered. "You must
do
something."

He quickly placed a hand over her mouth. "Won't you eat a little?" he pretended to plead with her.

"Let me have the knife." Her words were muffled by his palm but understandable.
"I'll
do something."

Ponty's blue eyes rolled at the thought. He dropped the knife into his boot and released her mouth. "Very well," he said. "Severn said you would have none of it. I'll leave the tray here in the event you change your mind."

When he opened the door to leave Mercedes saw his precautions were not without merit. Severn was standing in the hallway, completely unembarrassed at having been caught out. Ponty gave him the key and left. Severn smiled coolly in Mercedes's direction before he pulled the door shut and locked it.

* * *

There were a few hours of daylight left when Colin reached the hunting lodge. Had he wanted to hide his approach, he would have waited until nightfall. He decided against it because he believed there was more danger to Mercedes that way. He had made the decision not to have Aubrey accompany him the entire way for the same reason. As long as Severn and Weybourne thought they were in control, Colin felt he could expect them to act in certain relatively predictable ways. Cornered or threatened, neither would have any compunction about hurting Mercedes to gain his own release.

Colin saw the curtain drop in the large front window as he dismounted. They knew he was there and no one had fired a shot. It was a good sign.

He tied his mare's reins to the post beside the carriage then removed the box of matched dueling pistols from her back. Placing the lacquered case under his arm, Colin started up the flagstone walk.

The door was opened for him. Colin felt a very real shock when he recognized Ponty Pine as the one ushering him inside. He knew immediately that Severn had seen his unguarded reaction.

"I see you
do
remember me," Ponty said immediately. He turned to Severn. "There, you can be satisfied now that my story is true. Captain Thorne knows I was on his
Mystic
crew. I don't think he'll deny it." He glanced at Colin. "Will you, Captain?"

Colin did not answer the question that was posed. "What are you doing here?"

It was Severn who spoke. "I would think it's obvious, Thorne. Mr. Epine is the one who can discredit your
Mystic
victory."

"Mr. Epine?" Colin wondered how badly he had miscalculated the risks. He saw neither Mercedes nor Weybourne, and he was being confronted by a pickpocket who should have been in Boston. What was even more disconcerting was that the thief's presence made some sort of sense to Severn. "What are you talking about? Where is Mercedes?"

The answer came from the top of the stairs. Weybourne appeared on the landing with Mercedes at his side. "She's here, Captain Thorne. Shall I bring her to you?"

Afraid that Weybourne intended to push her down the steps, Colin dropped the case from under his arm and swung around the banister to break her fall.

"Very nicely done," Weybourne said. He indicated Mercedes should precede him. "But quite unwarranted. I have no intention of harming my niece. That would be like playing my trump card out of turn."

Colin caught Mercedes in his arms. He held her close and kissed the dark crown of her hair. "Are you all right?" he whispered.

She closed her eyes, buried her head in his shoulder, and nodded.

He wanted her arms around him. Colin's hands slid down her arms and grasped her wrists. He had only started to pull at the silk scarf when Severn stopped him.

"Let her be, Thorne. It's very touching that you want to see her comfortable, but I tied her wrists because I wanted them that way." Severn felt no reluctance in making his confession. The pistol he was now leveling at Mercedes was Colin's own.

Colin's eyes dropped from the weapon to the opened case. Both pistols had been removed. Severn had tucked the other in the waistband of his trousers. Colin looked pointedly at that one. "It's primed, Severn. I'd be very careful if I were you."

Severn ignored that. He smoothed the front of his jacket. "Come here, Mercedes. You will stand at my side until I say differently." At her infinitesimal hesitation he moved the pistol fractionally. He now had Colin squarely in his sights. "That's better," he said, as she came toward him. "Stand here." He pointed to his right side. "Wallace, you will relieve the captain of any concealed weapons."

The Earl of Weybourne had no liking for the task or being ordered to do it. "Really, Severn, Mr. Epine's your man here."

Ponty moved to begin the search but Severn stopped him.

"Not you, Mr. Epine. I said the earl and I mean him to do it."

For a moment Colin thought Severn's pistol might actually move in the direction of his old friend. Weybourne stepped down the last few stairs before such an action was necessary.

The earl examined Colin's jacket and patted down his vest and boots. "Only this," he said, straightening. He held Colin's knife between his thumb and forefinger.

Severn nodded. "Place it on the sideboard. Captain, you may come here. Have a seat in the chair closest to the fireplace. Weybourne. Mr. Epine." He invited them into the sitting area. As they took their places he and Mercedes remained standing. "I confess, Captain, you seemed more surprised to see Mr. Epine than you did to see the earl. Can it be you suspected he was alive?"

"I don't see that it makes any difference."

"Humor me," Severn said.

"Very well. Yes, I suspected."

Severn nodded, satisfied. "So did I." He lowered his gun but the look he gave Weybourne seemed potentially as deadly. "You never did tell me who it was you murdered," he said.

The earl shrugged. "There were no introductions. Under the circumstances, they hardly seemed important."

"I wonder that you thought the deception was necessary," Severn said.

Weybourne did not bother to hide his impatience. "I wanted time undisturbed in Boston. Arranging my own death seemed the best way to accomplish that."

"I wonder," Severn said softly. "What if you hadn't found Mr. Epine? What if no one had ever come forward to clear your name or discredit the captain's?"

Ponty Pine's blue eyes slid casually to Colin. The exchange was brief, but in that moment the pickpocket believed he at last had made his presence understood.

Weybourne got up from his chair and went to the sideboard. He poured himself a drink. "You know the answer, Severn. Why ask at all?"

Mercedes was close enough to Severn to feel anger hold him rigid. She suddenly understood Severn's fury. "It's because of the will, isn't it?" she asked Severn. "When we thought the earl was dead you had a chance again at Weybourne Park. The addition to his will changed that." Her eyes widened as another thought struck her. "You think he did it purposely to stop you! He didn't want you to have Weybourne Park."

Weybourne lifted his glass. It was an uneven salute but perfectly recognizable. "I always said you were a bright one, Mercedes. You see, Severn, she's up to the mark in every regard. Do you know what she told me abovestairs?" He sipped his liquor. Above the rim of his glass his smile was wry. "She told me she knows I was responsible for her parents' deaths."

Mercedes felt Colin's eyes on her. She turned toward him. It was impossible to tell him that she had come to terms with his suspicions long before she was confronted with the memory of that night. She was so desperate for Colin to understand that she hardly heard her uncle speaking.

"Can you believe it, Marcus?" he was saying. "For so many years I've paid you to keep the secret and somehow she's come upon it all by herself."

Mercedes spun on Severn. "You
knew? "
The thought revolted her and it showed clearly on her face. "You knew and you did nothing?"

"Hardly nothing," Weybourne said. "Oh, you mean did he go to the authorities. No, he didn't do that. How long has it been, Severn? Eight years? Nine? How long have you been living in my pockets and picking them clean?"

Severn didn't blink. "Georgia was carrying the twins," he said.

"Aaah, yes. My heirs. Of course we couldn't be certain they would be boys. We didn't even know there would be two. I believe I was celebrating my good fortune with champagne that evening when you felt compelled to tell me I was a cuckold. I deserved to know, I think you said."

"You did deserve to know," Severn said.

Mercedes felt the impact of these words as a blow. It had been Severn who poisoned the earl's mind against his wife. There was only one reason she could imagine he had done it. "You wanted Weybourne Park so long ago?" she asked.

"He's always wanted it," Weybourne said. Severn's laugh was dry. "In that we're very much alike, aren't we, Wallace? You wanted it enough to kill for it. I merely lied." He looked at Mercedes. "I suppose I planted a seed of doubt that night," he told her. "But your uncle found it easy to believe that his lady had found a lover. He was rarely at the Park even in those days. It wasn't hard to convince him that Georgia had sought pleasures elsewhere. The celebration turned sour after that. I don't know that I've ever seen him as self-pitying or maudlin as he was then. He hardly knew what he was about. The next morning he had no memory of telling me about the robberies on the road to London or his part in them."

Scotch settled warmly in the pit of Weybourne's empty stomach. "You wasted little time reminding me." He poured another finger in his glass and explained to Mercedes, "His father is not so generous as Marcus might have wished. He came to me when his debts outpaced his allowance. I've been paying ever since."

Mercedes shied from the whine in her uncle's tone. Was he really asking her to believe he had been wronged? She felt unclean being in the same room with him.

"I think they've heard enough," Severn said, watching Mercedes's reaction. "Captain Thorne wronged you, Weybourne. Mr. Epine has offered himself as proof that your wager should not have been lost. Do you still want satisfaction?"

The earl set his glass aside. His hands were steady and hatred burned in his eyes. Everyone was witness to the fact the hatred was not directed at Colin Thorne but at Marcus Severn. "Yes, I want satisfaction," Weybourne said. His smile was cold. "If I can't reclaim the Park, then I have no means to pay you."

Severn nodded. "Just so," he said smoothly. "Shall we step outside then? I believe there is enough of a clearing to serve our purpose." He moved aside and gestured with his pistol for the others to go first. "Mercedes, if you will take that box from the mantelpiece and bring it with you."

She recognized the case as one belonging to her uncle. She knew it held dueling pistols that were of a lesser quality than Colin's, but no less deadly. Because of the silk restraints Mercedes picked it up awkwardly but managed to hold on. Severn stood back so she could follow the others. She heard him whisper as she passed.

"You can save his life, Mercedes. Say the right words."

She stopped. "I don't believe you," she said. Then she kept on walking.

Outside the lodge Mercedes was directed to give the case to Mr. Epine. She placed it in his hands. Her eyes beseeched him. If he was going to do anything to help them, then it had to be now.

"Gentlemen," he said, opening the case. "Your weapons."

The earl did not examine the weapons. He had prepared them. He chose the one on the right.

Colin smiled thinly as he tested the weight and balance of the pistol that was left for him. "I take it we're going to play out this farce."

Severn's eyes were like ice chips. "I know I want to see it to its end."

Mercedes did not think she could bear to watch, yet somehow she could not take her eyes away. Colin and Weybourne moved to the far perimeter of the clearing with no direction from anyone. Her uncle's easy confidence worried her. The alcohol had made no visible mark on his gait or the steadiness of his arm.