The Gallows Bride (30 page)

Scraggan
interrupted, the words practically bursting from him. Clearly the
man was an egotist.

“
We weren’t trying to kill them, we just needed to know what
information they had and didn’t realise they were connected to you
until we saw you together in Devon. Then it all fell into place and
I knew just how you were going to pay.”

Peter
frowned, and stared thoughtfully at the man before him. He let the
silence stretch out, knowing that Scraggan wouldn’t be able to
prevent himself from boasting further about his crimes.

Sure
enough, he soon broke the silence.

“
At first I ordered the men to arrange your riding accident.
I’d hoped you’d suffer more injuries, but it wasn’t enough. We
watched you for long enough to know she meant a lot to you. It
didn’t take much to make our presence known to her at her aunt’s
house and get her running. We knew you would give chase.” Scraggan
sniggered, clearly proud of his ability to scare people.

“
We knew where you both were, right up to the day she got a
job in Derby. My men were better than yours and tracked her all the
way inland. They were under instruction to sit and wait, and if she
appeared in public they were to make their presence felt. It worked
because you couldn’t find her, could you, Peter? You practically
overturned every stone, searched every house, and you hadn’t got a
bloody clue where she was. Every time you got too close, my men
appeared and frightened her back indoors. It was all very clever,
really.”

“
But why put so much manpower into keeping her in Derby? I
mean, you knew she hadn’t got any valuable information on her, so
why not return to Cornwall and get on with your life?”

“
Because that bloody idiot’s uncle messed things up when we
paid him to kill your sister. You deserve to suffer,” Scraggan
snarled.

Peter
froze, and stared coldly at the man before him. He tried to keep
the shock from his face. “Rupert?”

“
Aye, that’s him. I paid him and that strange friend of his a
high price to kill your sister, but they got greedy and didn’t
think I would mind.”

Peter
held up a hand as he tried to absorb the latest revelation.
“Isobel,” he repeated dully, wondering if Scraggan was just taking
a stab in the dark and was trying to claim another family near miss
as his own, just to try to twist the knife.

“
Would have killed two birds with one stone if Rupert and his
friend had done what they were supposed to and killed the woman who
was not only Dominic Cavendish’s wife, but your sister as
well.”

“
You paid Rupert to murder his niece!” Peter’s stomach churned
at the devastation that had swept through the family. “Were you
also behind the men who beat up Dominic that night?”

Scraggan
smiled gleefully and thumped his chest. “Yes, they were mine! They
were told not to kill him, just make him suffer. I didn’t want him
dead. I wanted him alive to spend the rest of his days grieving for
the woman he had watched die. I traded Rupert and DeLisle seats on
a frigate out of Cornwall for her death.”

Peter
fought the urge to curse. “You picked the wrong people to help you
with those two, Scraggan,” he said, stunned to learn just how
deeply Scraggan’s malice ran.

He was
disturbed by the sheer evil now standing before him, and wondered
if there was going to be a way out of this after all. He daren’t
tear his gaze away from Scraggan and check on Jemima, although he
was painfully aware that she had yet to speak. Since Scraggan’s
appearance on the path behind them, she hadn’t moved a
muscle.

“
What about Sebastian? Were you behind his attempted murder
too?”

Scraggan
studied him carefully for a moment but regretfully shook his head.
“No, I thought about it, but someone else beat me to it. It seems
that you and the Cavendish mob have more than your fair share of
enemies who want you dead. I didn’t need to do a thing on that one,
although I did have a chuckle when I read the broadsheet the next
week telling us about the near-death experience of his
woman.”

Peter
knew he had to be careful and not antagonise Scraggan until he was
ready. “You have been busy. But why chase after Eliza with so much
determination? I mean, you had the pick of the two of them, so why
follow her?”

“
Because, the longer the sisters stayed in hiding, the more I
realised that they held something on us and wanted to keep it a
secret. Someone in the village has been telling tales about us and
I need to know who. When Eliza ran, we sent men after her to try
and get the information off her, but unfortunately the men failed
at first, so I sent Rogan up to Derby to oversee the running of the
operation. He told me that he ordered the men not to kill her but
just follow to see why she was heading to Padstow. I was waiting in
Padstow to question her personally, only she changed her mind and
went to Derby to try and save her sister instead.”

“
It’s a lot of effort to go to in order to find out if someone
has any information on you. You must have been up to a lot, to be
so worried.”

“
I’m not worried; I just don’t like leaving loose ends, and I
should have dealt with these two the first time they stepped out of
their house just after their father died.” Scraggan’s voice was
filled with remorse at his lack of foresight.

Still
struggling with the information Scraggan had given him, Peter was
an instant too late and watched in horror as Scraggan lunged
forward. The smaller man was sure-footed on the slippery stones,
yanking heavily on the loose folds of Jemima’s cloak and
unbalancing her.

Peter
grabbed at her but clutched at thin air as Jemima was dragged
swiftly toward the edge of the cliff. Scraggan turned to glance
back at Peter tauntingly.

Jemima
screamed and clung to Scraggan’s thin wrist as he pushed her closer
to the edge. She glanced down and cried out at the sight of the
white froth as it hit the jagged rocks below.

“
I think everyone should get a second chance, don’t you?
Seeing as my men failed to do a proper job the first time round, I
think I had better make certain the job is done right.” His voice
was evil as he pushed Jemima toward the edge.

She
struggled to find purchase with her feet on the slippery rocks. If
Scraggan let her go, she would fall to her death. She lifted
panicked eyes to Peter, silently pleading for help, only to freeze
as his next words shattered her world.

“
Do your worst, Scraggan,” Peter snarled, shooting Jemima a
dispassionate look. It took every ounce of bravado he possessed to
utter the words. Inside he was tied in knots at the sight of the
woman he loved being held over a deathly drop, but there was
nothing he could do. If Scraggan let go, Peter would never reach
her in time to stop her falling to her death.

He knew
it was a gamble, but Peter’s only option was to do the exact
opposite of what Scraggan wanted, at least until Jemima was
safe.

“
She’s nothing to me,” Peter snorted, shaking out the wet
folds of his great coat as though he hadn’t a care in the world. He
used the movement to quickly cock his gun, wondering if he could
get a clear enough shot to hit the man between the eyes. First,
though, he had to wait until Jemima was in a less precarious
position.

“
She’s your bitch,” Scraggan accused, giving Jemima a shake
and making her scream again as she slipped on the wet
rock.

“
She’s served her purpose,” Peter said. “You forgot one thing,
though, Scraggan,” he went on, fighting hard to put amusement in
his voice. “I work for the government. I couldn’t believe my luck
when she came to me in Devon holding vital documents that detailed
all of your activities. The
Salty Susan,
Anna Maria, Sara Jane
.” He watched
Scraggan’s eyes widen as Peter listed some of Scraggan’s most
coveted prizes. “She carried the dates, times, your contacts, the
spies. She had so much information there was no way you would evade
trial and certain death. She showed me the papers and begged for my
help. She was going to tell me more, only you went and spooked
her.” He shook his head chidingly, knowing if he had any chance of
getting Scraggan to let her go, he had to give the performance of
his life.

“
She got scared and ran. Of course I slept with her; after all
she is passably pretty and didn’t have a protector, and I’m a
red-blooded male. You would do the same, wouldn’t you? Of course, I
knew the importance of the papers she held and had to get them
back, so I went after her. It wasn’t her I was interested in at
all. Just the bloody papers the stupid bitch refused to give
me.”

He
couldn’t bear to look at Jemima. There was too great a risk that he
would give the game away if he acknowledged the silent tears
streaming steadily down a face so stark with betrayal that he
wanted to gather her into his arms and offer her his soul in
exchange for her forgiveness for uttering such a cruel
lie.

He could
only hope to God that she gave him the chance to explain everything
when this was over.

Jemima
listened to Peter’s words, seeing the events of the past few months
unfold before her with new eyes. She couldn’t believe she had been
so stupid, so blind to the real motives behind his apparent
interest in her.

But now
she thought about it, things made a horrible kind of sense. She
felt sick at her own stupidity and stared in horror at the man she
loved to distraction as he spoke the words that broke her heart.
Over the past few months she had wondered why someone like Peter
would be interested in her. Now she knew.

Peter
could sense Scraggan’s hesitation, but knew he wasn’t entirely
convinced yet. There was a very real possibility that he would just
let Jemima go anyway, so she would plunge to her death on the rocks
below, but Peter could see no other choice. He couldn’t get a clear
shot at Scraggan; Jemima was in the way.

Peter shifted a little, aware that Scraggan was studying him
closely. “Think about it. I am wealthy and titled. Do you really
think I would chase a woman, who was only a servant, halfway across
the bloody country just to bed her? Ha! I could have any woman I
wanted who is my equal. Married or not, with money of their own,
far more beautiful than
her
,” and he waved a hand
dismissively toward Jemima. “It wasn’t her I was after, but the
papers she carried that the government needed.”

Peter
sent a prayer heavenwards that he would receive forgiveness for
causing her so much distress. Her gasp of pain wrenched at his
heart, but there was little he could do.

He
stamped his feet to regain some feeling in his chilled toes,
ostensibly unconcerned by the fact that Jemima was hanging
perilously close to death over the edge of a cliff.

“
So, if she doesn’t mean anything to you, why did you try to
save her in Derby?” Scraggan asked, squinting suspiciously at
Peter.

“
Because we knew she and her sister had more on you. We were
right. Not only were they carrying papers on them, but more were in
their house in a hidden cupboard.” He ignored Jemima’s gasp and
continued, knowing Scraggan was hooked by the intent look on his
face. “We had to persuade them to come back to Padstow and retrieve
the papers, which are now with Hugo.”

“
Hugo?”

Peter
heaved a sigh of relief, and studied the suspicion still on
Scraggan’s face with a flurry of satisfaction. He had no doubt that
the smuggler hadn’t a clue who Hugo was and felt mollified that the
man had been honest with them after all.

“
A man who works for the War Office,” Peter replied, seeing no
reason why he should lie. “Needless to say, now that we have the
papers, I have promised to escort the ladies home, where they are
now free to get on with their lives. You have bigger problems,
though,” he declared flatly, when Scraggan appeared lost in
thought, seemingly oblivious to Jemima’s weeping.

Determined not to give up, Peter continued. “Redcoats are
sweeping through Padstow as we speak, arresting your men. It
appears that the
Salty Susan
has decided to break anchor and make a run for
it,” Peter nodded out to sea toward the looming shadow of the small
cutter sailing at full mast down the estuary.

Scraggan
cursed fluidly, his attention momentarily distracted.

It was
all Peter needed.

Taking
two huge steps forward, he grabbed a handful of Jemima’s cloak and
wrenched her roughly away from the cliff, releasing her as soon as
she was safe. He heard a heavy thump as she hit the ground with a
startled cry, but was too busy seeking vengeance.

Peter
briefly considered just shooting Scraggan, but Jemima’s weeping
echoed in his ears, and he needed to slake his thirst for
vengeance.

He
didn’t wait for Scraggan to move away from the cliff edge and drew
back his fist, landing it with stunning accuracy. All the pain,
heartache, worry and fear that had dogged his every waking moment
for the past year drove his fist home.

The loud
crunch as Scraggan’s nose broke brought Peter little satisfaction,
as he sought to extract his retribution.