But the stillness did not carry the energy of a man plagued with guilt. No. Beyond Archer’s arrogant demeanour, he seemed confused.
“I thought you understood,” Archer eventually said. “I love Jessica, always have.” He craned his neck as if directing his confession to the woman shrouded in a cloak. “Maud seduced me, and like a fool, I fell for her wicked tricks. Yes, I’m the worst of scoundrels, disloyal when I should have had the strength to resist. I had no choice but to marry the damn maid.”
Finlay was a good judge of character, and so the ring of insincerity in Archer’s tone came as no surprise. When a man loved a woman, he didn’t arrange to have her drugged and hidden away for years.
“Everyone has a choice,” Goodwin said like he had a conscience. “I could have refused your demands and dealt with the shame. Besides, when I told you about the inheritance, you said I was to do everything in my power to ensure she never married.”
Sophia gasped upon hearing the words.
Archer side-stepped Goodwi
n. “Jessica, it was always my intention to return to England and win back your hand. I don’t care about the damn inheritance.”
The slight raise in pitch confirmed that was a lie.
“I want to marry you, take care of you.” Archer stepped closer while beckoning Sophia forward. “Come away with me. Come to India. We can leave this place, leave tonight.”
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Sophia said, her tone too harsh, too sensible for a woman who minutes ago sounded like a dimwit. “What about Maud? You do remember your wife?”
“Maud’s dead.” Archer prowled closer. “She perished from a fever a year ago.”
No doubt Archer wished it was the case.
“Stay back!” Goodwin cried in a panic. “You’ll frighten Miss Draper.”
Archer’s temper flared. “Perhaps you should stop pandering to her, stop treating her like a child. She seemed perfectly rational a moment ago.” He switched his attention to Sophia. “Lower your hood, my dear, so I might see the angelic face that haunts my dreams.”
Sophia stepped back but said nothing due to her earlier mistake.
It was time for Finlay to confront the rogue. He was about to slip out from the behind the tree when Archer darted towards Sophia.
Hellfire!
Flustered, she pulled the pistol from her muff. “Get back!” With a shaky hand, she aimed at the startled gentleman, who came to a crashing halt. “Don’t come a step closer else I shall put a lead ball in your black heart.”
“What devious game is this?” Archer said as if innocent of any wrongdoing.
Sophia tugged down the hood of her cloak. “You’re the one playing a game,” she cried. “The magistrate will be interested to hear your confession. Dr Goodwin will testify you blackmailed him into committing an offence.”
“Ah, Sophia, or should I say Lady Adair. You’ve risen in the ranks since last we met.” Arrogance coated Archer’s words. “But I think you’ll find Goodwin is not a doctor. There’s not a magistrate in the land who would deem him credible.”
“But I heard your confession,” Finlay said, entering the clearing. “Perhaps you’re unaware of my connection to Sir Malcolm Langley at Bow Street. Such an esteemed gentleman can influence the decision of a provincial magistrate.”
Archer’s wry smile belied the nervous shuffling of his feet. “Finlay Cole,” he drawled. “I thought you were dead.”
“Afraid not, though I intend to ensure you swing from the scaffold.”
“Aren’t you being a tad presumptuous? The doctor misunderstood my instruction. I asked him to care for Jessica in my absence, to make sure the fortune hunters stayed away. I don’t recall ever instructing him to drug a woman. And whatever has been said here tonight is simply hearsay.”
Blood charged through Finlay’s veins, hot, molten, filling his fists until they throbbed with the need to pummel the smirk from Archer’s smug face. But it was Goodwin who lost all grip of his faculties.
“You bastard!” Goodwin lunged at Archer, punching him so hard on the nose it spurted with blood. “You’ve ruined my damn life!”
“Everyone has a choice.” Archer laughed while clutching his nose. “You said so yourself.”
Goodwin kicked Archer in the shin, and a fight ensued. Both men threw punches and grappled for an advantage, their jostling becoming a welter of flailing limbs. Finlay hoped they killed each other for it would save him the trouble.
“You told me to drug her!” Goodwin’s face burned red with rage. “To make everyone believe she was insane so you could blackmail Mr Draper. He paid the ransom, gave you more when you said you would make Maud pose as his daughter.”