“I can assure you that we are fully aware that Jemima was set up by Scraggan, only on this occasion I think it was Rogan who set her up. While I am happy for him to go to Derby for the moment, he is going to be moved to The Tower as soon as possible.”
“Th-The Tower?” Eliza’s eyes grew wide and she shuddered with a wave of revulsion. “In London?” She had heard a lot of stories about the place, and none of them were pretty.
“He will be tried for treason, smuggling spies, smuggling goods, evading taxes, numerous counts of murder, fraud and anything else we can throw at him. He will swing from the gallows at Newgate. Once we have some information from him.”
While informing them of Rogan’s future, Dunnicliffe’s demeanour had lost the appearance of affable bonhomie and he had become hard and unwavering. The firming of his jaw, the dark glint in his eye and steady clenching of his jaw turned him into a true warrior, very much like the man seated beside her.
“He isn’t going to see the light of day.” Dominic’s voice held a ring of satisfaction felt by everyone within the room, not least Peter who felt slightly appeased that at least one of the Scraggans were going to face justice.
“Do you think-?” Eliza broke in, frowning at the carpet for several moments. She slowly became aware that everyone was waiting for her to continue. “Do you think it was a bit odd the way Rogan was so easy to capture?”
“What do you mean?” Peter added, thinking over the afternoon’s events carefully, wondering if he had missed anything.
“I mean that Rogan is wealthy and has many men in his employ. So why was his camp set up in the middle of the woods, unless I am mistaken on the very edge of the Havistock estate?”
Everyone lapsed into silence for several moments before Dunnicliffe coughed and shifted uncomfortably.
“Do you think he was set up by his father?” Dominic murmured, trying to fathom the logic.
“I think that Rogan is incredibly confident, and feels he can do as he pleases. The camp you were taken to isn’t his main camp; it is something his men set up late last night. We have been watching them carefully and knew they were in the area.” Dunnicliffe declared flatly, his eyes calm and matter of fact as they met hers. “My men were watching and moving to help. The arrival of Edward and his brothers expedited things a little.”
He turned solemn eyes on her. “I am afraid you must prepare yourself my dear.” Whatever else he was going to say was stopped by the sudden loud scream that came from the back of the house.
“God, not again!” Edward cursed, lunging to his feet.
“What is it?” Dunnicliffe snapped, his hand going to the pistol resting on his hip.
“It’s alright, you can stand down. It’s the maids.” Sebastian’s eyes slid uncomfortably to Eliza, unwilling to explain further and upset her again.
“Jemima is in one of the rooms. The maids are a little frightened having a body in the house.” Eliza murmured gently, shivering at the seemingly endless scream. She frowned at the hesitation she could see in Dunnicliffe’s eyes as they met and held hers for several moments. Eliza could almost see him assessing, wondering and immediately she felt chilled to the bone. He had news she wasn’t going to like, she was sure of it. Briefly she wondered what the scream had interrupted, but had no time to question him.
“Good God, make it stop!” Edward snarled, lunging to his feet and stalking towards the door.
Eliza jumped up to follow him, aware that Sir Dunnicliffe and the rest of the family were behind her as she followed Edward down the hallway towards the back of the house.
As soon as the door to the servants’ area opened, the deafening screams increased in volume and Eliza felt her patience begin to wane.
Didn’t they realise there was a body in the house and respect was required? Jemima wasn’t that scary. Had none of them e
ver seen a dead body before?
“What the hell is wrong this time?” Sebastian snapped, struggling to see down the dimness of the corridor. The sudden rush of movement as the maid flew past them and into the kitchens startled them all and they stared at each other in consternation for several moments.
“Sweet Jesus.” Edward whispered, his eyes locked on something over Eliza’s shoulder. His hard hands on her shoulders prevented her from turning around as his eyes rounded in sheer disbelief at the latest turn of events.