Chapter 25
T he climb up the spiral staircase inside the folly was tortuous on his overworked leg, each step sending a bolt of agony from ankle to hip. But slowly and surely, Alfie climbed.
When he reached the top, he gingerly poked his head through, afraid Rutherford would be waiting to attack the moment he came through the trap door. But Rutherford was still standing at the edge of the folly looking down at Dominick below, no doubt watching for some sort of trick.
As Alfie staggered onto the platform, Rutherford turned towards him, one of his heels now over the edge. James had ceased his struggles and slumped in Rutherford’s grip, eyelids heavy with exhaustion.
“Drop the stick,” Rutherford said.
Alfie froze. He’d sparred with Dominick in the gymnasium occasionally, but he was no brawler. In a fair fight, he’d almost certainly lose. If he was going to get any sort of upper hand over Rutherford, he’d need his sword.
He licked his dry lips. This high, the wind cut through his coat like a knife. James was wrapped in only a small blanket. Even if Rutherford didn’t kill him, the cold might if Alfie didn’t act quickly.
Up here, the folly looked even taller than it had from below, the ground an impossible distance away. He felt a rush of light-headedness at the height, but used it to his advantage, catching himself on his cane.
“I have a leg injury,” he said evenly. “If you’ve been watching Balcarres, you’ve seen that I need it to walk.”
“Nowhere to go up here,” Rutherford replied. “Drop the stick or I drop him.”
Cursing internally, Alfie did as he was told, not willing to take the chance with James' life.
“All right,” he said, setting the stick down and rolling it away from him for good measure. Not so far it went over the edge, not if there was a chance Alfie would need it later, but far enough that Rutherford hopefully wouldn’t see it as a threat.
“Let’s talk this through, Rutherford. You want your wife back. You want the law to leave you alone. Both those things I can do. What else do you want? I can make it happen, but only if no harm comes to the infant. Even an earl’s power has its limits when it comes to child killers.”
Rutherford hummed in thought and to Alfie’s relief, took a few steps closer. Still far too close to the edge, but at least both his feet were firmly on stone, not air.
“What I want,” Rutherford said slowly, “Is to know if the whispers are true, my lord. Did you cuckold that bastard McConnell and get a child on my wife?”
Time slowed to a perfect moment of terrible understanding.
Dominick had warned him about the rumours of James being Alfie’s child. Hell, they’d discussed that very thing the night of their walk in the garden with James. Depending on what parts of their conversation Rutherford had heard, or what parts he wanted to hear, of course he’d believe it.
“I suppose I can see the resemblance. Natural sense of command, stunning eyes, flawless skin, entire household at his beck and call, yes, he most definitely takes after me…”
“...It’s a shame his mother isn’t of noble blood. Now he’ll never be allowed to inherit.”
They’d been joking, but to a madman listening in the shadows, their words would be damning. And Alfie had talked about Mrs. McConnell that night as well.
“I’d like to remain in her good graces, considering the circumstances. I certainly don’t want to risk my chance of having ‘the most beautiful in the county if not nation’ now that the opportunity has presented itself.”
The “circumstances” had been the work being done and the gardens were “the most beautiful”, but Rutherford had been cuckolded by his wife already, was it so surprising he’d think she’d do the same to her current husband? He might have thought Alfie was talking about not risking losing Mrs. McConnell now they had a secret child together. And the more he’d eavesdropped on the servants and workers gossiping about James’ paternity, the more certain he would’ve become.
All this time, he and Dominick had been so worried someone was trying to kill them because of their relationship and it hadn’t been about them at all. In all their worry about being discreet, they’d led Rutherford to believe just the opposite. If they hadn’t been so focused on themselves, perhaps they would’ve given more consideration to the other rumours going around and James wouldn’t be in danger now.
“Well?” Rutherford asked, the gleam in his eyes shining with the light of madness. “Is the bastard yours or not? I told McConnell it was when I strangled him. Made sure the last thing he knew was how that woman betrayed him just as she betrayed me.
“I was too quick about it though. I should have made it last longer. As justice, you see? The coward got behind me with that rope then left me for dead in the wood pile. Only fair I do the same. Although I was smart enough to be sure he was dead before I left him.”
Rutherford grinned then, a horribly wide showing of teeth.
“I’m sure he thought it was the end of me when he left me there. But I awoke. He was a weak man, too weak to do the job properly, but me? I’m strong. I had to be strong with all the wrongs done me. Back in Australia, the bush nearly killed him, but I learned from it. Learned how to track, how to stay hidden. I knew he was in these woods, hiding here in the folly at night, but he never knew about me. Not until it was too late.
“I had my justice in the end, when I put him in the same wood pile as he left me. I only wish I’d been closer when you set it alight so I could see her face better when he was pulled out. Still, the mask let me get closer than I expected, and I could hear her. Do you think she would’ve cried the same if my body had still been the one in there when you lit it?”
Rutherford stopped and Alfie realised he was actually waiting for an answer.
“I don’t know,” he said, barely able to croak out the words. “You can ask her as soon as we all climb down from here.”
Rutherford ignored him. “I don’t think so. I think she only makes that sound for her bastard lovers. And maybe her bastard child.”
At that, Rutherford cocked his head to the side, the movement unnaturally precise.
“And now I have both.”
Alfie froze. This man had brutally killed his wife’s new husband and now he not only believed he had his wife’s child within reach, but her lover too.
In that moment, he wished Dominick was there with him. The height and angle of the folly stopped him from being able to even see Dominick below. He wanted nothing more than to lean back into his warmth, to feel the steady reassurance that meant Alfie wasn’t confronting a madman alone. But Dominick needed to be where he was and Alfie had to stop Rutherford, whatever the cost.
“You called me ‘reasonable’ before,” Rutherford said. “I am. Very reasonable. And I’m not cruel, no matter what a magistrate, or a jury, or that liar of a wife says. I know it was never really your fault, she seduced you with more of her lies. That’s why I tried to give you a quick death with those rocks. I’m a reasonable man.
“So I won’t take both her remaining lover and her child away. I’ll even be reasonable enough to let you choose. Jump and I’ll let him live, you have my word. Refuse…”
Rutherford shrugged. Then he pulled James away from him and held him over the edge, one arm outstretched over the drop and a single hand knotted in James’ blanket. The blanket was wrapped around James, but not tightly. Sensing some change, James started to fuss, wriggling and sinking lower and lower in the tangle of cloth.
“No!” Alfie cried. “Please, stop!”
Rutherford shrugged again, his grin filled with malice. “You know how to make me stop. Jump. I want to hear if my wife cries for her second lover the way she did for her first.”
Alfie’s mind whirled. He had to think of some way out of this, some way to save himself and James both. But all he could think about was Dominick. Dominick, who’d looked so peaceful as they’d lain in bed just a few hours before, tucked together warm and safe, their feet tangled under the blankets cocooning them. Dominick had trusted Alfie to climb up here alone and to climb back down to him. He couldn’t let Dominick see what happened next. See him fall.
And Alfie didn’t want to die. He wanted to wake up in bed with Dominick thousands more times, wanted to climb to the top of this folly with him, to put this horror behind them and watch the sunset together. And he wanted to see Gil again over a chessboard, and see Janie come into her own confidence, and Mrs. Hirkins finally listen to reason and properly retire. He wanted all that, but not at the cost of James’ life.
“You’re taking too long,” Rutherford grumbled, then he cocked his arm back again to throw.
James began to cry in exhausted half-sobs that broke Alfie’s heart.
“Wait!” he shouted. Then with a deep breath, Alfie stepped to the edge.
His gait was uneven from pain, so he took each step slowly, ensuring he was stable before taking the next. He got as close as he dared, his toes just barely hovering over empty space. He could feel the slide of grit under his feet and heard the delicate plink of the small rocks he’d knocked over as they tumbled down the tower.
“Alfie!” Dominick’s voice drifted up from below. “Alfie, no! Please!”
“Stay there!” Alfie shouted without looking down. He was at the side of the tower above the clearing. The wall with their window jutted out from somewhere along this side; he’d have to watch for that. The fall might be survivable here, unlike a leap from the front with the crag below. Although Dominick would be sure to try and catch him, the damned fool.
Dominick’s voice was full of panic and Alfie wanted to reassure him, to find some way to make this all right, but if he looked down, he wouldn’t be able to do it. He looked out to sea instead, watching the sunlight dancing on the waves.
He teetered on the edge, then stepped back onto solid stone.
“Can I at least kiss my son goodbye?”
Rutherford’s face twisted from an expression of sick anticipation into a furious scowl.
“What kind of fool do you take me for?” he snarled.
“No fool at all. I know there’s nothing I can do to stop this. I’m an injured man and as you said, all those hard years have made you strong. If I try to fight you, you’ll easily toss me over and I imagine James as well. But since I have your word he’ll be spared if I make the choice myself, I might as well face my end with dignity. But first, one kiss. That’s all I ask.”
Rutherford’s scowl deepened. Alfie’s heart was pounding in his chest, a rapid tattoo counting the long seconds until he finally answered.
“One kiss,” Rutherford said at last. “Any tricks and you both go over.”
Alfie nodded and walked towards the front of the folly, approaching Rutherford the way he would any snarling beast. Rutherford pulled his arm back in and gripped James to his chest with both hands, squeezing him so tightly that James let out a shriek of pain, his wet eyes wide with fear.
Alfie got as close as he dared, which was far closer than he was comfortable with. He kept his eyes on Rutherford’s until the last minute. That mad light in them was a bonfire now.
Then Alfie leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of James’ head. The soft baby scent of him filled Alfie’s nose, a single moment of pleasure in the horror around them. James’ scalp was far too cold, but the tiny wisps of hair were soft against Alfie’s lips, like threads of silk. They were too fine yet to have a real colour, but Alfie expected that they’d grow into a thick head of brown hair like his mother’s when James grew older.
However, regardless of the promise he’d made, Alfie knew that Rutherford had no intention of letting either of them come back down alive.
“I’m sorry, James,” Alfie whispered.
Then he flung his arms around Rutherford, pinning James’ small body between them. Rutherford twisted and thrashed, his greater strength tossing them about so that Alfie lost track of who was closer to the edge, but he held on.
In a fair fight, he’d almost certainly lose.
Alfie dropped to his knees, the hard stone sending a shock of pain through him. The soft mats in the gymnasium hadn’t hurt when Dominick had taught him this manoeuvre. It wasn’t the sort that belonged in any gentleman’s boxing ring, but in dirty underground fights like the one Dominick had been in the night they met.
So don’t make it a fair fight.
As he fell, Alfie leaned back, using his full weight to pull Rutherford off balance.
For a moment, all three of them teetered on the edge, Dominick’s shouts of panic drowned out by James’ shrill cries of terror.
Instinctively, Rutherford dropped James, his arms cartwheeling wildly for balance. Alfie felt James begin to slip away and released Rutherford to grab him.
A sickening moment passed where his hands clutched nothing but empty blanket, then he felt the squirming weight of James in his hands. He pulled James to his chest, tucking the baby’s head under his chin as if he could protect James from what was about to happen. Releasing Rutherford had caused Alfie to lose his balance and they were falling backwards, no way for Alfie to stop his own descent without dropping James.
Alfie closed his eyes. I love you, Nick .
Cold stone slammed into his back, knocking the wind from him. He gasped up at the sky above, before turning his head the barest fraction to the side. A few inches more and they would have gone over the side of the folly, tumbling to the ground. His knees were screaming and his injured leg felt as if someone had rammed a hot poker into it, but he was alive.
Something wriggled against his chest. James got his breath back before Alfie did and released it in another terrible wail.
At Alfie’s feet, Rutherford was rocking back and forth, his arms spinning violently as he pitched between safety and death. One moment, his back arched and it seemed inevitable he would fall straight down, landing on that narrow ledge in front of the folly. The next moment, he yawed forward on his toes towards safety, before his own momentum drew him back again.
There was an even chance Rutherford would fall or steady himself. Alfie risked a glance backwards, but his sword cane was at the back of the tower near the trapdoor and far out of reach.
If Rutherford regained his balance, Alfie was in no shape to fight him off, or even just chase him if he decided to cut his losses and run. Rutherford was a cruel, vengeful, dangerous man. He’d hunted a woman across the seas, killed a good man, and nearly thrown an infant to his death. He’d escaped before, and if he didn’t fall now, he’d likely escape again.
He’d come for James again. Alfie was sure of it. And himself and Mrs. McConnell too. Rutherford had stalked her for weeks with none of them the wiser. His obsession wasn’t the only thing that made him dangerous. He also had his skills and his patience. They would have to constantly be on alert, watching for any movement in the dark and listening for any sound in the night until he inevitably struck again.
But he was at Alfie’s feet. He was unarmed, vulnerable, off-balance, and incapable of fighting back. One kick and James would be safe from him forever.
Then Rutherford was vanishing over the edge, howling with rage as he disappeared from sight.
Alfie covered James’ ears so he wouldn’t hear what came next.
After, everything went quiet. James stopped crying. The wind dropped to a dreadful stillness. Even the distant waves seemed to cease their crashing against the cliffs. Alfie lay staring up at the sky, wondering how it could be so blue on such a black day.
At last, he noticed Dominick shouting his name. He sounded very far away and it took Alfie a moment before he could answer.
“I’m safe! We’re safe!” he called out. Tucking James more securely into his blanket, Alfie tried to sit up and hissed as his leg throbbed. “But we’ll need some help getting down.”