Chapter 28
When Evelyn came to, her head was pounding, and she wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and go back to sleep.
But she knew that could be catastrophic.
All came rushing back to her — Asher and their discovery, his last words to her, watching him ride away, and then Norwood capturing her in the back garden.
She berated herself for a moment at having allowed it to happen, at not having seen it coming, before focusing on what was to come rather than on the past. She couldn’t change her capture. But she could escape. Best to focus on that.
The last thing she remembered was the man who had caught her when she had lost consciousness. Somehow, they must have drugged her tea with laudanum. How long had it been since then? Did Asher realize she was gone?
She tried to move, but her arms were stuck, her hands bound behind her back, the rope biting into her wrists.
She blinked, looking around her, seeing only a few shapes in the darkness.
The narrow, airless room was suffocating her, the stone walls damp with age, stacked with broken crates and linens that had likely long ago been eaten by moths after the household had abandoned them.
A single, high window admitted the only light, which shone a weak ribbon through the room, revealing thick dust and the sense that no one had set foot in here for years.
Her only question was whether this was a piece of Norwood’s property on his estate, or if he had found somewhere else to take her.
Her gaze lifted at a sound, her heart dropping when she saw Norwood standing in front of her.
“Awake, are we? Took long enough,” he said with a snort as though she had done something wrong. He began circling her, his smug expression telling her that this was a man who believed he had already won the game he had created.
“Why would you take me?” she demanded, even though her voice was a little croaky. “You can never recover from something like this.”
“I can if no one knows this ever happened,” he said.
“There is no good result for you from this,” she insisted. “What are you hoping for?”
“The diamond, obviously,” he said, looking at her as though she were an idiot. “Your husband should bring it to us shortly.”
“Are you certain about that?” she asked, lifting a brow, hoping she could bluff long enough to convince him that his plan was faulty — long enough, at least, for Asher to arrive with a plan of his own. “You know better than anyone that my husband and I are not a love match.”
“Whether or not he loves you, he is not going to leave his wife to me,” he said. “He is far too competitive for that. He will not let me win.”
Norwood actually had a point there.
Evelyn had faith in Asher, except for one very real problem — he didn’t have the diamond.
If nothing else, perhaps she could use this time to get more information out of Norwood. He seemed to like hearing himself talk. Perhaps because his wife wasn’t with them, he actually had the opportunity to do so.
Speaking of his wife…
“I assume I am on your property,” she said. “What does Lady Norwood think about all of this?”
“My wife is so involved in everyone else’s lives, she is oblivious to her own,” he said with a scoff and a wave of his hand. “I sent her shopping today. Told her it was a gift. She was thrilled.”
Evelyn nodded, breathing deeply to stay calm and slow her racing heart.
“Why the Paragon Diamond?” she asked. “Are there not many other jewels that are just as beautiful, if not more so, that you could acquire by more… legal means?”
“It is not the diamond itself that matters,” he said, looking at her as though she had no wits at all. “You must have determined that by now.”
“Why do you think Asher has it?”
“Because he is the only other person who could know why the diamond is truly valuable. No one else would have a reason to steal it.”
Uncertainty flickered in his eyes for a moment, telling Evelyn that he did not possess the confidence he was attempting to portray. The very fact that he had gone to such lengths as to kidnap her told her that he was desperate, running out of time.
“Why would you blame me? Try to force Asher and me together?” she asked, for it was one piece of the puzzle she had not been able to solve.
“I saw you that night near the diamond. I also saw Ravenscar notice you, and it occurred to me that the two of you could be working together. If I could cause a scandal around you, then perhaps it would distract you enough to draw you out, to bring the diamond to light. I couldn’t see any other reason that he would be interested in you besides your ability to figure out how to get into the case.
Was I right?” he asked, his eyes lighting. “Did you help him?”
Evelyn felt a pang in her chest at his comment that Asher would only be interested in her for her puzzle-solving ability.
The worst of it was that Norwood wasn’t wrong.
Asher had little other reason to ever even notice her.
This was very likely what held him back from fully committing to their marriage.
She swallowed her bitter upset, telling herself that there was no point in feeling such a thing, for it wouldn’t help her now.
“No more questions,” Norwood said, his eyes flicking to her as though realizing that it was useless to share so much with her.
“Just one?” Evelyn attempted to look at him, hoping to draw out pity.
“Fine.”
“What will you do if Asher doesn’t come for me?”
He stared at her, as though shocked that she hadn’t come to the realization herself.
The truth was, she had. She just wanted to make him say it aloud.
“Well, I will have to kill you,” he said. “But you already knew that, didn’t you?”
She did. And she knew, truthfully, that he would likely do so regardless. She just had to hope that Asher had a better plan than she did.
Asher followed the directions Norwood had provided, using the time to try to calm himself.
Coming in hot, angry, and ready to do battle was not going to help anything. Not only would he never discover the full truth of Norwood’s intentions, but he wouldn’t save his wife.
Which was, currently, the most important aspect of all of this.
The directions on the note led to a small storage unit at the back of Norwood’s property, near the stables. The entire estate felt deserted, as though Lord Norwood had told all of his staff to take the day off in order to enact this inane scheme.
The shed appeared to have no windows, leaving him unable to see what was happening inside. Asher hid within a copse of trees, not allowing Norwood to get a look at him. Every now and then, the door opened, and Norwood looked out, watching for him, before returning within.
To Evelyn.
Bile rose in Asher’s throat. He had to do this right, the first time. It took time in the shadows, but he rounded the back of the building, grateful for the dusk that was beginning to blanket the forest so that he could make his way — slowly — to the other side of the building.
There, he saw with satisfaction, a small door at the back. He was sure it was locked so that Evelyn couldn’t escape, but he would find a way in. He had been a mischievous enough child that he had learned how to pick locks at an early age — a secret no one but his brother had ever discovered.
He crept across the yard as fast as he could, stopping in front of the back door, finding the narrow pen blade he had slipped into his pocket at the last minute.
Easing the blade open, he closed his eyes, took a breath to slow his heart rate, and focused. If he rushed and tried to ram the lock, he would only make this harder for himself.
Gently sliding it inside, he probed the keyhole to find the mechanisms, then lifted it to bypass the wards. With patience and cautious, twisting pressure, finally a click sounded, and he breathed a sigh of release as he was able to turn the knob and push the door open a crack.
He winced, hoping that no one within would hear, but he had barely opened the door. With just one room, he wouldn’t have much time to act.
He would have to do it all swiftly, in one motion.
As a young man, he had learned all the physical prowess required of him — boxing, fencing, and how to handle himself in an altercation.
But the wrestling he and his brother had engaged in for years would likely be what came in handy today.
Palming his knife, he surged into the room. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Evelyn tied to a chair, her arms bound behind her. Anger arose within him, anger that fueled him so deeply he hardly remembered flying across the room toward Norwood, all focus on him.
He had taken Norwood by such surprise that the earl had only just reached for the pistol in his belt when Asher got to him.
Asher was on him before Norwood could react, knocking his hands away from the pistol before taking him to the ground, not even giving Norwood the chance to call for help, for who knew who he had waiting beyond, ready when he gave the word.
Asher allowed all his despair over years of loss flow into him — the loss of his father, who had likely been killed by Norwood, his brother, who had been his own fault, and the fact that this man was trying to take his wife — the woman he loved — from him.
When he finally realized that Norwood was no longer fighting back, that Evelyn was calling his name, Asher stopped, sitting back on his heels.
Norwood was conscious, but he wasn’t going to hurt them anytime soon.
Asher had to fight the urge to immediately comfort Evelyn, to take her in his arms and assure himself that she was fine, but he needed to make sure first that Norwood wouldn’t be able to threaten them any longer.
He took the pistol from the man’s belt before untying Evelyn’s hands, hearing her breath in his ear, and then binding Norwood with the very same rope.
Then, finally, he allowed himself to do as he had been longing to, and gathered Evelyn in his arms.
“Evelyn,” he said, breathing her in as her name came off his lips like a sigh. She was shaking in his arms, and he tried to be a solid support for her as he held her, only to realize that his own hands were trembling.
He ran them over her, making sure she wasn’t injured, and when he finally took in her face, it was to find her lip caught between her teeth.
“I knew you would come,” she said, her voice just above a whisper as tears filled her eyes.
“I would have burned the world to do so,” he said, meaning it, finding he was suspiciously close to tears himself.
He pulled her even closer into him, and she clung to him as the tears continued to stream down her face.
He realized that he was holding her too tightly, and he forced himself to slightly loosen his grip.
In that moment, he knew, with every part of his soul, that he could not lose her — not to death. Not to scandal. Not even to distance.
He had meant what he said. To lose her in any way would be the worst possible outcome.
“Evelyn,” he said, leaning back and looking her in the eyes. “You cannot leave me.”
“I never meant to,” she said in a wobbly voice.
“Not like this or in any way,” he said. “Say you’ll stay with me? Forever? By my side, not in the country, not in another household, but with me?”
When she froze, every hope came tumbling down.
But still — it was worth it.
And the fact that he could admit it told him how much he loved her.
Now, he just needed her to put into words what she was trying to tell him, and he would take it.
No matter how much it hurt.