Chapter 24
CHAPTER 24
E ven worse than the simple presence of the magistrate was the fact he was surrounded by three other officers, all staring at them with grim expressions.
Adelaide’s heart plummeted into her stomach as she realized why they were likely there. Michael gripped her arm even tighter.
“I will not let them take you,” he said fiercely, and while she believed his intention, she doubted that he would have much choice in the matter.
“Miss Adelaide Stone?” the chief magistrate said, his voice booming across the front garden.
Adelaide nodded mutely, her throat closing with dread, but Michael stepped forward to stand slightly before her.
“You have been incorrectly informed,” he said. “She is Mrs. Adelaide Redgrave. My wife. I am Michael Redgrave, brother to Lord Mandrake, although you likely know that last bit of information.”
The magistrate opened and closed his mouth a couple of times.
“I see,” he murmured. Edward had been right that this information might have changed things.
“You have… well, you have been named a conspirator in abetting your brother’s counterfeit scheme,” he said. “You will come with us immediately to be questioned.”
“Where are you taking her?”
The chief magistrate paused, and Adelaide realized that they likely would have taken her had her name not suddenly changed.
“I had nothing to do with my brother’s crimes,” she said, finding her voice. “He is not truly my brother, either, as it happens.”
The magistrate rocked back and forth from his heels to his toes. “Mr. Tate named you as a key accomplice. We have signed witness statements attesting to your involvement.”
“Jack being the witness, I assume?” she said with a sigh and rolled her eyes. “Of course it was him. It means nothing.”
The sound of wheels traveling over the cobblestones reached them before Edward, Dot, and Mabel, still in her arms, stepped out of the carriage.
“What is the meaning of this?” Edward demanded, correctly assessing the situation as he stalked toward them.
“My lord,” the chief magistrate said with a slight bow toward him. “We were just telling your brother’s… wife, that she has been named as an accomplice in a counterfeit scheme.”
“By her lowlife of a brother, no doubt,” Edward said, to which the chief magistrate only slightly inclined his head. “You realize by now just who you are threatening,” he continued, his voice stern as though he was chastising a young man. “Not only that, but this is their wedding breakfast, and I am due to have guests arrive shortly. This will wait until another time, do you understand?”
“I cannot simply allow this to go unaddressed.”
“I understand that,” Edward said, his eyes flicking to Adelaide as though requesting her forgiveness. “I shall see to it that she remains confined to the house until your return to interrogate her.”
“You will what ?” Adelaide said incredulously, but Edward furrowed his brow at her in silent conversation.
“It is better than Newgate,” he muttered, to which she could only reluctantly agree.
“Very well,” the chief magistrate said hesitantly, and despite having been among these people for more than a year now, it still shocked Adelaide just how much power the nobility held over all aspects of society. “I will return tomorrow. I would like to deal with this matter as quickly as possible, for we have one man in Newgate, another under house arrest, and a third in the wind. It is not an ideal situation.”
“Trust me, I understand very well,” Edward said in that stoic way of his. “Tomorrow, then.”
He nodded, the chief magistrate leaving with his men only moments before the other carriages arrived.
“Are you all right?” Michael asked Adelaide as the three of them surrounded her.
“I cannot say this will be as celebratory as it should be,” she said, forcing a small smile. “But I suppose this is better than being alone.”
“We will protect you, Adelaide,” Michael vowed. “I will not allow anything to happen to you.”
“I know you will do everything in your power,” she said, as she couldn’t stop herself from reaching out and taking Mabel from Dot. She needed the baby’s presence, likely more than the baby needed hers at that moment. “But what am I to do on his return?”
“You tell the truth,” Edward said simply. “That is all that you can do.”
“What if it’s not enough?” she said, turning worried eyes upon them all, becoming even more concerned when none of them seemed to have any way to reassure her.
Michael reached out a hand in comfort but jumped when the hedge beside them shook, moving as though possessed.
Until it deposited a figure on the ground.
“Ouch,” the man said, rubbing his head. “Didn’t think they would ever leave.”
They all gaped at him in shock as he pushed himself to his feet, placing his hands on his hips.
“Heard you’ve been looking for me,” he said. “Bert Rawlins.”
Michael could have embraced the man.
“Rawlins,” he said. “You are right. I have been looking for you.”
“Why do we not take this inside?” Dot suggested, urging them all through the front door, past a shocked butler and into the house. “You can talk in Edward’s study while I await our guests.”
“Thank you, Dot,” Adelaide murmured as Michael placed a hand on her lower back to lead them through the house.
The first part of the plan had worked. They had found Rawlins – or, rather, Rawlins had found them. Now, Michael just had to convince him to help them.
When they were settled around the small table in Edward’s office – Michael, Adelaide with the baby, and Rawlins, Edward leaning against his desk looking on – Michael leaned forward, appreciating his brother for allowing him to take the lead.
“We need your help,” he began, and Rawlins sat back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.
“With what?” he asked warily.
“Do you know who Adelaide is?” he asked, waving toward her, and Rawlins slowly shook his head.
“I’d remember a face that beautiful,” he said, his lips curling up, as Adelaide scoffed.
“You’re a married man.”
His smile instantly fell. “How do you know that?”
“I met your wife while looking for you,” Michael said. “You should tell her that you are well. She’s worried.”
“My wife is my concern,” Rawlins said, his gaze darkening. “Now, what do you want from me?”
“Adelaide is Jack’s sister, in a sense,” Michael explained. “He has named her as an accomplice in your counterfeit scheme, even though she has no involvement. I need you to clear her name.”
Rawlins snorted. “Don’t know what you are talking about.”
“I thought you might feel that way,” Michael said before crossing to Edward’s desk and picking up the package that he had assembled. “However, I have much evidence that says otherwise.”
Rawlins looked at him incredulously. “What kind of fool do you take me for? I am not turning myself in for a stranger.”
“I am not asking you to do so,” Michael said. “If you do not provide a written statement that Adelaide had nothing to do with this scheme, I will use what I have to prove your involvement further. They already have your name from Jack. What I give them will only be sure to convict you.”
“You want me to write a statement and then do what?”
“Then you vanish with your family,” Michael said, waving his hand out before him. “Yes, you broke the law, but you don’t strike me as a dangerous man like the other two. That was clear when you chose not to join them in kidnapping my wife and trying to kill me. Instead, you ran. Keep running.”
Rawlins looked down, chagrined. “I would, but I cannot afford to do so with my family. Not unless I use the counterfeit, which is just as sure to get me killed. I will not risk it with them.”
“I will give you enough to make a new life for yourself.”
Both Adelaide and Rawlins looked at him in shock at that statement. Only Edward had been privy to his intention.
“Why would you do that?” Rawlins asked.
“If you would help ensure that my wife is free to live her life, then I am happy to do so,” he said, sitting back, waiting. “Will you?”
Rawlins snorted. “You’re not exactly giving me a choice.”
“I am not going to force you at gunpoint, but it is not much of a choice, no. You can face the authorities, hide as best you can, or take the option I am giving you.”
Rawlins took only a couple of moments before he nodded. “Very well. I will do as you ask.”
“Glad to hear it,” Michael said with a grin as Edward walked over and handed him parchment and a pen and ink.
“What should I write?” Rawlins asked, lifting the pen.
“The truth.”
Rawlins nodded and placed the pen on the paper. Michael was impressed by his penmanship, but the man was a printer, so he should be skilled enough at such endeavors.
Michael reached over and placed his hand on Adelaide’s leg. She looked up at him, warmth in her eyes, and nodded her thanks.
“There we are,” Michael said, checking that Rawlins had signed the statement. Edward passed him the packet of notes he had prepared, and he gave it to Rawlins.
“Here you are,” he said. “Enough to start a new life.”
“Do not leave your wife behind,” Adelaide said sternly, breaking her silence.
“I would never,” Rawlins said, lifting a hand. “I swear. I only left her without any information for this time because I thought she would be safer without me.”
“Very well,” Adelaide said. “But if I find out that you have left her behind to fend for herself, I will take all of this to the authorities and hunt you down myself.”
Fear briefly and appropriately flashed over Rawlins’ face, for Michael knew she meant it with every ounce of her being.
“Well, it was good doing business with you, Rawlins, but I have a wedding breakfast to attend,” Michael said as they all stood. “I wish you the best and suggest that you keep yourself out of such business.”
“I will,” he said, passing a hand over his face. “I was desperate, and when Lord Gregory approached me, I… well, I allowed the greed to take over.”
“Trust me,” Michael said, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “We all make mistakes. I know that better than anyone. But I also know we can overcome them and make a new path for ourselves.”
They watched Rawlins walk away, and Michael placed an arm around Adelaide and the baby. “Well?” he said. “Are you ready to greet our guests?”
“More than ready,” she said, smiling up at him. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For all that you did for me. The money you gave him, the amount of strategizing you did.”
“You did not believe Edward did all that?”
She tilted her head as she studied him. “He could have, but I don’t think he did. For one, that blurred some lines that Edward would never cross. It probably killed him not to take the lot of them and follow the exact legal path. But he let you do what you thought best. For what it’s worth, I agree with your approach. Rawlins shouldn’t have broken the law as he did, but I also do not want to see him hanged for trying to look after his family.”
“What about Jack?”
“Jack deserves whatever is coming to him,” she said, her face darkening. “I cannot say that I want to see a man dead, but the law can deal with him as it should. He threatened my child. Our child.”
Michael nodded in agreement, rubbing a hand over her back. “We will protect our family, no matter what.”
“No matter what,” she agreed, nodding her head.
“Now,” he said with a grin, “let’s go enjoy ourselves.”