Chapter 35 #2
Her expression hardened to a stony stare.
“You’ll not go down in history as the cunning mastermind who outwitted the Bank of England, but merely as an unfaithful harlot who betrayed her husband and then shot her lover during a violent quarrel over money.”
“You’re even more clever than I thought, milord.
” Mrs. Ainsley gave a mock salute. “But seeing as you mean to rob me of my due recognition of having outfoxed the so-called smartest men in the government, I don’t intend to give you the satisfaction of making my execution for a sordid crime of passion a public spectacle. ”
Bloody hell. It took Wrexford an instant to realize what she intended, and by then he was half a step too late to prevent it.
Quick as a cobra, she had whipped out a hidden stiletto from an inner pocket of her cloak and angled a perfectly placed upward thrust between her ribs. Not a sound slipped from her lips as the blade pierced her heart.
Her hands slipped from the hilt as she started to crumple.
By the time the earl seized her, she was already dead.
Griffin was a half step behind him. “I’ll deal with this, milord,” he said, drawing the lifeless body from the earl’s grasp. “Go back and tend to Mr. Sheffield.”
“And to my wife,” replied Wrexford, gladly relinquishing the burden. “Mrs. Ainsley and her partner in crime also apprehended her, though she, too, is unharmed.” He blew out his breath. “Gratias Deo. We all arrived in the nick of time.”
“Go!” Griffin waved him away. “You’ve done more than your share of unraveling this sordid tangle of lies and misdeeds. Return to your family and friends, and let the Light banish the Darkness.”
Wrexford nodded and turned away. “At least for now.”
“That in itself is a triumph, milord. We both know it’s a never-ending battle between Good and Evil.”
A smile. “Tonight, however, we won.”
At last.
Charlotte and Wrexford had rushed Sheffield to Berkeley Square and reunited him with Cordelia in a joyful scene that had brought tears to all their eyes. And now that she and the earl were safely home, Charlotte drew him into a fierce hug as soon as the door shut behind them.
Neither of them spoke. The thud of their hearts beating in harmony said all that needed to be said.
At least for the sublimely sweet moment.
As soon as he shook off the first rush of relief, she fully expected him to blister her ears with a tongue lashing for being so reckless as to head to Manchester’s art emporium on her own. Lies, treachery, manipulation—she had underestimated the full measure of evil that they had been facing …
“You may go ahead and ring a peal over my head whenever you are ready,” she whispered. “I richly deserve it.”
Wrexford leaned back just enough to frame her face between his palms. “I shall summon a scold later, my love. But for now, I simply want to savor having you close.”
He feathered a kiss to her brow. “In the future, do try to be more careful. I don’t know how I would live without you.”
“I promise never to do anything so reckless again.”
A chuckle tickled against her flesh. “And pigs may fly.” Another kiss. “But I appreciate the sentiment.”
Though Charlotte was loath to relinquish the warmth of his body, she stepped free of his embrace.
“Speaking of reckless, we need to go check on the Weasels. The thought of Raven and Eddy confronting that monster makes my blood run cold. She was armed and had no compunction about shooting to kill. How the devil did they subdue her?” A sigh. “Or don’t I want to know?”
“I’ve yet to hear the account either, so we might as well go hear it together.”
A peal of uproarious laughter echoed in the corridor as they approached the schoolroom. Mystified—what could possibly be so humorous?—she quickened her steps, drawing Wrexford with her, and hurried into the room … only to come to a quizzical halt.
Eddy was seated at one of the desks, pen in hand and scribbling away with great concentration as Raven, Hawk, and Peregrine crowded close behind her chair and peered over her shoulder.
Another peal of hilarity.
Wrexford cleared his throat, but before he could speak, Raven looked up with a grin and waved them over. “Wrex! M’lady! You must come see this!’
It was a drawing, realized Charlotte as she caught a fleeting glimpse of the paper through a small gap between the boys.
As she came closer, her eyes widened.
Eddy leaned back in her chair and put down her pen. Her expression as she saw Charlotte and Wrexford turned inscrutable. “I—I was just trying to give them a picture of what happened …”
Charlotte’s gaze went back to the image on the paper. It was a satirical drawing, modeled very much on the style of A. J. Quill, complete with words lettered within the text balloons hovering above the three figures who dominated the page.
Hawk shuffled his feet. Peregrine coughed. And Raven …
Raven began chortling. “This is so funny that I’m about to piss in my pants.”
Though Charlotte knew that she should scold him for the vulgar comment, she had to bite her lip to keep from joining him in laughter.
“Language,” chided Wrexford, though his mouth was quivering in amusement.