Dominic raised a condescending brow; he eyed the little man with cold disdain. ?
?I have no idea what you mean.”
“You stole the documents from me,” Rupert turned toward the others in the room who all looked decidedly unconcerned.
“You are a thief. You are all thieves. I shall report you to the magistrate,” his voice shook as much as the finger he pointed towards Dominic, as his temper began to reveal itself.
“Please do so,” Dominic invited almost mockingly. “While you are there, you must tell him all about kidnapping your niece and attempting to embezzle her out of her fortune to clear your debts; debts you cannot hope to pay.”
“We have considerable evidence,” Peter replied briskly, taking over proceedings with officious precision. “Even if we discount the numerous debts you have run up with various money lenders in London, there are eyewitness accounts of your brutality in various forms. Isobel’s confirmation that you removed her from Willowbrook without her consent will convict you of kidnapping and holding her against her will constitutes as imprisonment. Physical assault on her, on more than one occasion; which I should kill you for by the way, in addition to my attempted murder. If you don’t spend the remainder of your days in Debtors’ prison, you will most certainly transported to jail to await the hangman’s noose.”
“What evidence do you have?” DeLisle demanded, resuming his seat with a thud. He shot a contemptuous glare at his stout friend who seemed to have run out of threats they hadn’t already heard - and dismissed - before.
“Numerous witness statements; financial statements of your debts with various loan sharks and gaming houses; eyewitness accounts from two serving staff who saw you push your third wife down the stairs to her death,” Sebastian’s voice was so conversational as he recounted the evidence they had collected, Isobel nearly missed the significance of his words.
“You’re bluffing. I did no such thing,” DeLisle snarled pushing to his feet in outrage. “I demand you rescind the accusation immediately.”
“I won’t rescind anything. I do however have an arrest warrant for you, for the murder of Harriett Barnstable, your last wife.”
“I didn’t kill her, she fell.” Despite his denial, DeLisle began to look around the room nervously, as though he expected the ghost of his third wife to pop out from behind the curtain.
“Of course she did. You just happened to be standing beside her at the top of the stairs at the time, and had your bank account open enough to catch the cash when she hit the floor.” Dominic challenged coldly, moving to stand beside Isobel. Despite knowing the man was cornered, he was a murderer and at the moment, he was a murderer who was looking at the hangman’s noose. Dominic would have felt more comfortable if Isobel was in another part of the house entirely, but it was too late to ask her to leave now.
Carefully keeping himself between Isobel and DeLisle, Dominic watched as Sebastian slowly approached the man from the opposite side. Between them, they were ready for anything either Rupert or DeLisle could throw at them.
“You can either stand up, and allow Edward and his men to escort you to the magistrate, where you will be bound over to jail to await trial, or we can drag you out. Either way, your days of being a free man are over. I can promise you one thing. You will certainly not leave this house a free man.”
Isobel watched as DeLisle seemed to crumble before them. Despite his cruelty, he seemed to have the intelligence to realise the odds were significantly stacked against him.
“Damn your eyes,” he snarled at Isobel and Dominic as he passed them. He was stopped beside the door where he was checked for weapons before he was led out of the room by Edward, and two of the armed servants.
“Always remember Rupert, that the truth will have it’s day.” Dominic turned to watch the taller man disappear through the door.
Something wasn’t right, Dominic’s instincts warned him to remain wary but he wasn’t quick enough to prevent the flurry of movement beside him that drew his attention back to Rupert.
“Watch out!” Dominic barely heard Sebastian’s shout. He spun on his heel, fast enough to watch in horror as the squalid little man dragged Isobel before him, the pointed tip of a wickedly long knife held to her neck.
Isobel felt her stomach dip to her boots. She could feel the cold blade held against her skin. Unless she was much mistaken, the tickling on her throat was a trickle of blood from the sharpness of the weapon being pressed so harshly against her throat.
“Move away,” Rupert ordered, motioning towards Dominic.
“Edward!” Dominic bellowed at the top of his lungs, his eyes firmly fixed on Rupert. Moments later there was another flurry of movement, this time by the door as Edward returned, dragging DeLisle with him.
“You two are good, I’ll give you that. Your plan almost worked,” Dominic snarled, watching dispassionately as DeLisle was roughly shoved to the floor by Edward. He cursed himself for being such a fool, and allowing his attention to be diverted so easily.
“Let’s recap over events so far.” Dominic’s gaze flickered between DeLisle on the floor and Rupert standing a few feet away, before he continued. “You kidnapped Isobel from her home at Willowbrook, and held her against her will at Gosport Hall, which wasn’t your house, but one you had broken into. You then proceeded to beat her daily, and attempt to get her to sign a false betrothal document while claiming to be her guardian, knowing full well that you had no such legal entitlement.” Dominic’s voice rang clearly around the room, his voice clipped and almost businesslike as he stated the cold facts.
When everybody remained silent, he continued. “So that’s kidnap, false imprisonment, attempted embezzlement, breaking and entering, physical assault and now you, Rupert, are threatening murder.” Dominic’s eyes were coldly contemptuous as he tried hard not to allow his fear for his wife to show.
“Gosport Hall should be mine,” Rupert’s voice shook with fury as he bristled at the list of crimes Dominic recounted. “The stupid hag who called herself my mother should have willed it to me. She would have willed it to me, if it wasn’t for this greedy little bitch.”
Isobel winced, and fought hard not to whimper as Rupert jostled her, pushing the knife deeper into the soft flesh beneath her chin. Tears sprang into her eyes and as fear for her life began to build, she sought and found the reassuring gaze of her husband. His steady, almost calm gaze immediately settled her quivering nerves she took a deep breath to steady herself.
“Is that what this is all about? Gosport Hall?” Peter’s voice was incredulous as he thought about the events of the last few weeks.
“It should be mine - Gosport Hall. The lands, and the money, are all rightly mine.” Rupert’s voice held a manic edge that grew the more wild as his anger built.
“Do you really think I care that pox ridden despot wanted to drag the little whore off to bed?” He nodded to DeLisle, who cursed roundly from his position on the floor.