Chapter 29 #2
Julian’s gaze moved toward him. “You have taken everything from me. I had a right to the estate.”
“No, you murdered your uncle for it.”
Julian’s face twisted. “Your evidence is circumstantial.”
“Not anymore,” Gabriel replied, his voice cold. “The saddler has spoken, and Carter has spoken. Your letters are now in the magistrate’s hands.”
For a moment, Julian said nothing, then his gaze returned to Eleanor.
“You. You ruined everything.”
Eleanor felt Sophie move closer behind her.
“You ruined yourself,” she argued.
“You should have gone to prison.”
“I should never have been accused. You know that, as you were the one to knowingly falsely accuse me.”
“You were convenient.”
The words struck. Eleanor had spent years wondering why the world had believed so easily that she could have killed her own husband. At last, she understood. Julian had needed someone to carry his guilt, and he had chosen her.
Gabriel reached behind him without looking, finding Sophie’s hand and drawing the child closer.
“You will not come near them again.”
“Do you think this ends with a magistrate?” Julian laughed softly.
“No. It ends with you answering for what you did.”
A sound came from beyond the garden wall: men’s voices.
The magistrate’s officers.
Julian heard them too, and his face changed. He looked toward the gap in the hedge, then back at Eleanor. For one terrible instant, she thought he might run toward Sophie. Gabriel seemed to as well, for he stepped forward.
“Do not.”
Julian stopped. The garden seemed to hold its breath, then the officers appeared through the trees.
“Julian Marbury!”
Julian’s shoulders sagged. Eleanor tightened her arms around Sophie. The man who had haunted her life for years finally stood with nowhere left to go. And this time, there was no accusation waiting for Eleanor. There was only the truth.
Eleanor could hear the officers approaching through the trees, but she did not move. Julian stood several yards away, watching her with the wild, calculating eyes of a man who knew that every road before him was closing.
Sophie was behind her. Eleanor shifted slightly, placing herself more fully between them. Her heart was beating hard, but she kept her hands steady and her voice calm.
“You should surrender,” she warned him.
Julian gave a bitter laugh, his eyes narrowed. “Do you know what they will do to me?”
“They will hear the evidence.”
“Do you think evidence matters when a man’s reputation has already been destroyed?”
“Your reputation was destroyed by your own actions. You could have walked away from all of this.”
“I had nothing to walk away from.”
“You had a family!”
“They were going to take everything from me. I did what I had to do.”
The admission hung between them. Eleanor’s pulse quickened, but she did not let her expression change.
“You forced me to do it,” he protested. “You could have refused to give your daughter that inheritance, but you did not.”
The words were so absurd that Eleanor almost laughed.
“I forced you to murder your uncle?”
“You forced me to lose everything.”
“I did nothing to you. My daughter deserved something to help care for her for the rest of her life, and her father chose to leave it to her. You would have had the house. That should have been enough.”
“It will never be enough, not when you have already given everything you have and two wretched girls have stolen what is rightfully yours.”
The answer chilled her. For a moment Eleanor saw the man beneath the polished manners and practiced sympathy. There had never been any remorse in him, only resentment that other people possessed things he believed belonged to him.
She glanced toward the trees. The officers were closer now.
“You are waiting for them, yes?” he asked. “Do you think they can protect you?”
“Yes. In any case, my husband certainly can.”
He smiled. “You sound very certain.”
“I am.”
And she meant it. His gaze shifted again, but this time he looked beyond her shoulder toward Sophie. Eleanor stepped directly into his path.
“You will not touch her.”
Something in his face changed.
Suddenly, he moved. It happened so quickly that Eleanor barely had time to react. Julian lunged toward her, reaching for the space beyond her shoulder where Sophie stood. Eleanor threw herself sideways, catching his arm with both hands.
“Run!”
Sophie screamed.
Julian tore against Eleanor’s grip. “Let me go!”
He shoved her hard. She stumbled backward, nearly losing her footing among the rose bushes, but she caught herself against the stone edge of the fountain. Julian turned toward Sophie again, but there was no moving closer, not when Gabriel was standing there.
“Get away from my family.”
Julian took one step backward, but Gabriel kept coming.
“You will not come near either of them again.”
Julian’s hand disappeared beneath his coat. Gabriel stopped. The entire garden seemed to hold its breath. Eleanor saw the movement and understood before anyone else did.
“Gabriel, what are you—”
His eyes remained fixed on Julian.
“Take Sophie and get behind me,” he instructed.
Eleanor reached for her daughter, but at that moment, Julian’s hand came out of his coat, charging toward Eleanor.
Gabriel moved first.