Chapter 38
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Elizabeth paced the floor in Milton’s office while Mutton’s eyes followed her every step, tail barely thumping.
The wolfhound missed his master. She missed his master too.
Her emotion surprised her, but there was no denying how she felt.
“Where are you, Jasper?” she muttered as her mind raced from one scenario to the next, with the next always worse than the first.
“Ginny’s returned, ma’am.” Gerald appeared, sounding out of breath.
“Thank heavens!” She rushed after him down the stairs into the parlor, where she found not only Ginny but Murdoch and Miss Li, who must have left LeBrecht’s the minute she received Elizabeth’s note.
Ginny regaled them of her travails while Elizabeth took stock of her maid’s alarming appearance. The girl’s dress was in shambles, her skin bruised purple in spots. She’d been roughed up but naught worse—or so she claimed.
“I don’t know more, ma’am, honest I don’t.” Miss Li had unleashed a flurry of questions at Elizabeth’s poor lady’s maid. “I’ve wracked me brains tryin’ t’ remember more.”
“But you are certain they have Jasper,” Li pressed.
“Yes’m.” Ginny met Elizabeth’s eyes across the room. “I’ve no doubt.”
“Kusottare!” Li swore in a language Elizabeth did not recognize.
Murdoch intervened. “I ought t’ run Ginny a bath an’ feed her a bite, ma’am.”
“Of course.” Elizabeth forced herself to smile at her maid. “We’ve kept you long enough, Ginny, forgive us. Your description of events has been invaluable. We are very relieved you have returned.”
The girl bobbed a curtsy. “Be right as rain soon, ma’am. Happy to—”
A commotion in the foyer stopped Ginny midsentence, however, as unintelligible shouting punctuated the silence. Before Elizabeth could blink, a bearded man burst inside, dragging Annabelle behind him.
Harris.
Elizabeth rushed to crush her sister to her while Mr. Harris insisted, “Jasper. Now.”
Without letting go of Bella, Elizabeth told him to take a seat, though the man refused her order and remained standing, scowling. She sent Gerald for sandwiches and tea, Murdoch having already left with Ginny, and then Elizabeth sat as close as humanly possible to Annabelle on the settee.
Miss Li proceeded to bluntly summarize the situation for Mr. Harris, who looked bewildered by the news. He also looked older than Elizabeth remembered, or perhaps it was the beard. The man began to mutter expletives as he paced the parlor floor, grumbling, “What a bloody goddamned disaster…”
Annabelle sent him furtive looks, twisting her skirts. Perhaps her sister had succumbed to Mr. Harris’s charms, though that was the least of Elizabeth’s concerns.
“Arty.” Li checked his nervous pacing. “You know as much as we do now, and you also know Finch. We are certain Jasper’s being held in the cellars of The Canary’s Lair, where Finch kept me. It matches the maid’s description too well. The question remains, how do we get him out?”
Elizabeth looked from Li to Harris. Both cared deeply for her husband, but they were also known to Finch, and likely known to Finch’s associates too. Li, especially, stood out.
“I’ll go.” Annabelle stunned them all.
“Are you mad?” Elizabeth blurted.
“Out of ’er mind, more like.” Harris’s face blazed. “You’ll do no such thing, wife.”
Which was the wrong thing to say to Annabelle; Elizabeth could have told him that.
Bella held firm. “I shall go as Bartholomew Brown, my alter ego. He is unknown to Finch and skilled with cards. In fact, he is adept enough he shall easily infiltrate The Canary’s tables to determine where the Baron is being—”
“No.” Harris yanked Bella from her seat. “I forbid it.”
“You cannot.” Annabelle tried, but failed, to free herself from his grip while Elizabeth, incensed, grabbed Bella’s other arm.
“Lady Milton,” Harris started, “yer sister’s under the mistaken premise that—”
“You will release her at once,” Elizabeth demanded. “You will release my sister into my custody forthwith.” She attempted to pry Annabelle from his grasp. “She shall remain with me now until—”
“Hell no,” Harris growled, holding fast. “As me wife, I’ve more claim t’ Bella than you, Lady Milton.”
Elizabeth’s own grip tightened, until Bella kicked Harris’s shin and promptly freed herself.
***
“I will not be treated like a child.” Annabelle extricated herself from Lizzie’s grasp. “Nor will I be treated like property, sir.” She glared at Arthur. “I will make my own decision in this and future matters.”
Both stared at her like she’d grown horns.
“Neither of you see my plan for what it is: sound. I have passed before as Bart Brown, at Mr. Harris’s own gaming house, where none but he guessed my sex and only because he’d been tipped off.
” Her eyes flicked to Arthur, who was still scowling.
“I am the perfect foil, because I am the person Finch least expects to rescue Milton.”
One could have heard a mouse sneeze, the room was so quiet.
“She has a point, you know.” Miss Li came to Annabelle’s defense.
“Miss Winthrop as Mr. Brown will be the last person Finch suspects foolhardy enough to steal Jasper from him. But Bart will need help. Finch keeps the key to all shackles on his person, so even if you gain entry to his dungeon, miss—Mrs. Harris,” she corrected, “you will be unable to release Jasper without—”
“Dungeon? Shackles?” Lizzie’s voice cracked with pain. “Do not tell me that man has Jasper chained like an animal.”
“Elizabeth, you must prepare yourself for the worst,” Li gravely intoned.
Lizzie clapped a hand to her mouth, stifling a cry.
“I can do this, sister.” Annabelle knew she must. It was because of her the Baron had been taken. It was because of her that Lizzie had married the Baron in the first place. “I am not afraid of Finch. I—”
Arthur roughly hauled her to him. “You’d best fear Finch, Bella. You’d best be deathly afraid o’ that man.”
“Yes,” Li interjected, placing an arm about Elizabeth’s quaking shoulders. “We would all be wise to fear him.”
The room stilled once more, as if every head silently churned.
Li broke the quiet. “Any rescue we attempt shall require careful, detailed thought. Let us now calmly work out a plan.”
Annabelle stared deep into Arthur’s eyes, willing him to trust her, before she turned to her sister. “I am indebted to Mr. Harris for saving me from Finch, Lizzie. And as I am now his wife, I will remain with my husband. It is my choice.”
Elizabeth looked exhausted, but she was not without words. “You will not go into The Canary’s Lair alone, Annabelle. I will accompany you.”
“What?” Arthur exploded. “Hell no. Why, in two shakes you’d give Bella away with those bloody spectacles, woman.”
“I shall go without, Mr. Harris, and you will refrain from—”
“écoutez!” Li’s voice cut like ice. “We must reach Jasper soon.” She crossed her arms. “Time is of the essence, friends; let us not waste it bickering.” Her lips made a moue. “And our plan must be sound.”