Viridis - A Steampunk Romance (31 page)

He stepped to her side. “I’m sorry there is not more
I can do at the moment, however I do not want you to lose hope.
This is far from over.” Though he knew telling her about the latest
development with Xavier Brown would help ease her mind, it was not
information he could give her. He only hoped the situation would
get sorted soon.

He escorted her out of the room to where her footman
waited. “May I call you a hansom cab?”

Phoebe stopped and turned towards him. “Thank you,
but I need to wait for my friend to return.” She looked away for
only a moment. “I just want to let you know I truly appreciate all
you have done to help us.”

He tilted his head in acknowledgment. “I only wish I
could do more. I will keep you informed of any developments.” With
a slight bow, he wished her a good night and then left to find
Nelson.

William knocked on Nelson’s open office door,
entering when Nelson looked up from his desk. “You found the notes
I left you?”

“Yes, thank you. Have a seat. Terrible business.”
Nelson waved his arm around to encompass all that had just
happened. “Unfortunately, there isn’t much else to be done. For
crying out loud, he waited for Lord Fenwick outside his club and
then stabbed the man where no man should be stabbed. And not in
self defense, either. I’m afraid there have been strict guidelines
set for this case, allowing for no leniency.”

William was not surprised. “I’ve been working on
Lord Hawthorne’s murder, and I can tell you Lord Fenwick is, at the
very least, involved in theft and possibly blackmail. Not to
mention the attack on Lady Hughes. I do hope Lord Fenwick’s status
in society will not mean he’ll be treated any differently when it
comes to the law.”

Nelson’s bushy eyebrows rose for only a moment. “Of
course not, however it does mean we cannot afford to make any
mistakes and our facts will need to be infallible and substantial.
All leads will be followed; do not doubt if for a moment.
Unfortunately, it does not change the fact that Mr. Elliott
did
assault the man, despite the accusations being made
against Lord Fenwick.”

William shook his head in frustration.
“
Assault
being the word of importance here, not attempted
murder. I saw the lady myself after his lordship attacked the poor
girl, and I will tell you, Mr. Elliott’s anger was not
unjustified.”

Nelson tilted his head in acquiescence. “Perhaps
not, but we cannot allow the citizens of London to be taking the
law into their own hands, or anarchy and lawlessness will
ensue.”

William wasn’t quite sure London wasn’t already
headed in that direction, when the rich could use their power and
influence to avoid paying for their crimes. Perhaps the Cause had
the right end of the stick, after all.

Chapter Fifty Five

Phoebe did not want to linger now that they had
taken Seth away. Still waiting in the hall for Gavin to return,
Phoebe knew she should not tarry, her mind racing through her
options. “It’s been a long day, Samuel. Would you mind terribly if
I had you wait here for Gavin to get back from Viridis? I’m
starting to feel unwell, and do not think I can bear this dreadful
place a moment more.”

Samuel’s face scrunched with concern. “Surely a
message will do. I’d hate to be leaving ye to find your own way
home, this late at night.”

“Thank you for your concern, Samuel, but I’ll take a
hansom straight home. I shall be fine.” Phoebe reached into her
reticule, and handed Samuel some coin. “Here. To get yourself a
ride home, once you’ve spoken to Gavin. I am not sure whether he
has other business to attend to, but please let him know he’s a
welcome guest at my home.”

“Yes, Mum.”

Phoebe’s mind raced during the entire ride home, her
heart beating in her throat. She’d made up her mind. If she was
going to attempt to get Seth freed, she needed to act quickly
before Gavin got back, since she knew he’d not let her out of his
sight.

At home, the lights had been dimmed, and Martha had
already retired for the night. Not bothering to turn them up,
Phoebe went to her desk in the drawing room and pulled out the fuse
gun Seth had insisted on purchasing for her. She’d have to thank
him for that bit of foresight, though she was not sure she could
bring herself to use it.

There were too many things that could go wrong with
what she had planned, and the fuse gun was but a small insurance
she hoped she would not need.

Making sure the lock was on, she dropped the fuse
gun into the pocket sewn into the side panel of her skirt. She then
jotted down a note to Gavin, letting him know she would be back
soon, and to not worry.

Lastly, she verified the address she needed and
hailed another hansom cab, this time, to Victor’s home
.

Chapter Fifty Six

Gavin’s heart pounded with adrenaline as he unlocked
the door to Gabriel’s apartment with Phoebe’s key. No one at
Viridis had seen him since yesterday and Gavin was hoping beyond
hope that Gabriel had just gotten himself piss drunk and was
sleeping it off. But there was something about the stillness
emanating from the apartment that made the hairs along the back of
his neck stand up.

He did not have to go far to find Gabriel. Gavin’s
stomach sank as he dropped to the floor beside his friend. He lay
face down, his arms stretched out before him as if he had tried to
drag himself to the door. There was so much blood. He turned him
over and fumbled frantically around Gabriel’s neck, desperate to
find a pulse. Was that it? He searched around again, pressing into
cool flesh. There it was. The pulse was thready, but it was
there
.

“Gabriel, lad, stay with me, aye? Ye’re going to be
fine, ye hear? I’m going to get ye help.”

The amount of blood made it hard to see where the
wound was. Tugging Gabriel’s shirt open, Gavin was able to see a
bloody hole in his upper shoulder, likely left by a fuse gun.

Gavin staunched the wound with a cloth. The bleeding
had all but stopped, but he’d need to get a physician. “I hate to
leave ye,
mo charaid
, but I promise I’ll not be long.”

Chapter Fifty Seven

Phoebe steeled herself with a silent prayer to what
gods might be listening, and handed the footman her calling card,
ignoring the incredulous look on his face.

“It’s quite late and his Lordship has retired for
the evening. He’s not accepting visitors.”

“Quite frankly, I don’t give a rat’s ass if he has
retired. Get him up and give him my card. He’ll see me.”

He glanced at her card with raised eyebrows, and
then escorted her to the sitting room, leaving her there without a
word
.

Too nervous to sit, Phoebe walked around the room,
and resisted the urge to pace. She resisted the urge to pick up one
of the porcelain figurines lining the mantel and smash it into the
fire. Resisted the urge to pull out the fuse gun. Because it would
feel good to pace his Persian carpet bare. Because it would feel
good to watch the porcelain figure break into a hundred little
pieces. Because it would feel good to blow a hole the size of her
fist through Victor’s chest.

“Phoebe, my dear. What an unexpected surprise.” At
the sound of his voice, Phoebe took a moment to compose herself,
and then turned to face him.

“Victor. Thank you for seeing me.” Her voice was
cool and calm, a surprise given her sweaty palms and pounding
heart.

“Please, have a seat. I recently acquired the most
exquisite bottle of port. I do hope you will join me in a
glass.”

“Thank you.” She took the seat in front of the fire
and watched Victor go to a side bar and pour them each a glass. She
took the glass he handed her and took a sip. “You are right. It is
excellent.” She found it absurd to be sitting there civilly sipping
port when she wanted to throttle the man into unconsciousness.

He took the seat across from her, crossing a leg
over his knee and taking a sip himself. “So, my dear, what can I do
for you? For surely, this is not a social call at this time of the
evening.”

She took a deep breath and got to the matter at
hand. There was nothing to be gained by delaying. “I would like you
to drop the charges against Mr. Seth Elliott. In turn, I will be
happy to drop the assault charges against you, and will not pursue
the charges of theft.”

Victor’s eyebrows scrunched in thought, his lower
lip sticking out as he pursed his lips. “I’m terribly sorry, my
dear, but truth be told, I’m not terribly bothered by the charges,
seeing as the police have very little evidence to go on. That’s not
to say I’m not interested in striking a bargain with you. I’ve
always liked you, Phoebe, and I would like nothing more than to
help resolve this situation for you. However, your betrothed made a
grave error when he decided to pursue me, and make no mistake, I do
have enough influence to make sure he pays for what he’s done—and
pay dearly, at that.”

“What do you want, Victor? The formula? The club?
You can have them both.”

“As you may have noticed, I have no need for wealth,
already having plenty of my own. No, I’m afraid that if I’m going
to drop the charges, I will only do so for something I do not
already have.”

His eyes traveled the full length of her body,
sending a nasty chill down her spine. The meaning of his words was
all too clear, and though she knew it to be a possibility even
before she took the hansom here, it was not something she was
prepared for just yet. She took a long sip of her drink,
desperately needing what little fortification it could offer.
Everything she had proposed, he had already rejected. Everything,
but the one thing he was asking for.

She shifted in her chair, and felt the hard weight
of the fuse gun up against her leg as her mind ran through her
options. Short of shooting the bastard, she didn’t see another
solution to the problem. And she was not quite ready to hang for
murder. She did, however, believe he would hold up his end of the
bargain, if she upheld hers, as horrible a thought as it
was
.
The nightmares of him touching her were all too vivid
in her mind, and her skin crawled at the thought.

Victor interrupted her internal debate. “Have you
decided how you would like to proceed?”

She brought her glass to her lips and drained it in
one long swallow. “If you would be so kind?” She held her glass up
to him. If she were going to go through with this, she’d rather
remember as little as possible.

As if reading her mind, Victor refilled her glass
and handed it to her, adding, “Perhaps this should be your last? I
would hate for you to be too far gone with drink to enjoy
yourself.”

“No. We wouldn’t want that, now would we?” She
glared at him. “Before we begin, you are to put your retraction in
writing, signed and sealed with your signet.”

He tilted his head to the side in acknowledgment.
“As you wish, though I would have hoped you would trust me to
uphold my end of the bargain. Would my word as a lord not be
enough?”

She took a long sip of her drink and said, “You’ll
have to excuse me if I do not trust you after your bold-faced lie
regarding Seth’s attack.”

Victor laughed, and for just that moment she saw the
handsome young face of the man she had first been introduced to. It
was a great pity he was a bastard.

“Fair enough, then. You’ll have your letter.
However, I will be requiring your company and cooperation for the
remainder of the night. Come morning, you are free to leave, letter
and all.”

Phoebe swallowed hard at the thought of spending the
night with him, not sure she could go through with it. It was one
thing to tolerate a quick rutting around, but quite another for the
torment to last hours. A cold shiver ran down her spine, her
stomach tossing, ready to make her ill.

Taking a deep breath, she threw back the rest of her
drink and then before her nerves got the better of her, said,
“Fine. Write it.”

Chapter Fifty Eight

Exhausted, William looked forward to getting home
and getting a good night’s sleep. He’d been up since five that
morning, and it was now close to midnight. Though he was
disappointed and frustrated that Seth had been charged, getting Mr.
Xavier Brown’s testimony had been an amazing stroke of luck.

Finishing the last of his paperwork, he shrugged
into his coat and grabbed his hat, then headed down the hall to
hail himself a hansom.

“Sir! There ye are!” William spun at the sound of
rapid footsteps heading towards him, and found Phoebe’s footman
looking rather upset.

“Samuel, is it not?” The lad nodded in response.
“Where’s your lady? Has she not gone?”

Samuel shook his head. “She bade me wait here for
Mr. MacKay, since he’d gone to find the lady’s brother. I told her
I could just leave ’im a note, but she wouldn’t hear of it, and I’m
right worried ‘bout her being on her own.”

William got an awful niggling feeling in his gut.
“Did she say where she was going?”

“Aye, she said she’d be going straight home, but
truth of it is, I think she’s up to something.”

William sighed heavily. It seemed that sleep would
have to wait. “I’ll pass by her home. If she is not there, I’ll go
to the club to see if she went to help Mr. MacKay find her brother.
I’ll need you to stay here however, on the off chance Mr. MacKay
does return.”

“Thank ye, sir.”

William put his hat on with more force than was
required and walked out into the cold, hoping with all his might
that his gut was wrong.

Chapter Fifty Nine

The trade was a simple one. One whole night with
Victor, and in exchange, he would drop the charges against Seth for
attempted murder. Just one night, and Seth would be safe. Free of
the hangman’s noose. If she did not make this sacrifice, she had no
doubt Victor would wield all his influence to make Seth pay for his
insult with his life. And if she did not go through with their
bargain now, she knew Gavin would never let her out of his sight,
for fear she might do exactly what she was about to do.