A Curse of the Heart

Pennington froze, his face turning deathly pale. “Y-you can’t,” he mumbled. “You have no right.”

“I have the list right here,” George said, tapping his chest. “I will offer you a trade.”

Pennington lowered the knife and shoved Rebecca forward. “Give it to me,” he demanded, yet fear seemed to form the basis of his emotion. “Bring it here to the front or I will kill her.”

George made no argument and sauntered down to the stage. Reaching into his pocket, he removed a folded note. “Here,” he said, “now let her go.”

Relaxing his hold on Rebecca, Pennington bent forward and snatched the note. At the same time, Gabriel charged him from behind, delivering a powerful blow to his right kidney.

The knife fell to the floor as Pennington’s knees buckled underneath him and he sagged down into a heap, howling in pain.

Rebecca scrambled away to the opposite end of the stage as Gabriel picked Pennington up by the collar of his coat, swung him round and punched him on the nose. He heard the sound of the bone cracking before he saw the blood and as Gabriel pulled his arm back to deliver another jab, Higson rushed to his shoulder.

“We’ll deal with this scoundrel, sir,” he said, grabbing Pennington by the upper arm as though he was a flimsy doll. “You see to Miss Linwood.”

Gabriel blinked rapidly, his anger subsiding as he turned to face Rebecca. The strange emotion that bubbled away in his stomach erupted in a rush of longing, of desire … of love.

She returned his gaze, her eyes brimming with tears, and as he strode towards her, she ran and jumped into his arms. “Oh, Gabriel. I thought I’d never see you again.”

Forgetting they were not alone, he rained kisses over her face, caressed her back and smoothed out her hair. The feel of her soft, pliant body soothed his soul. “If I’d lost you,” he said, shaking his head as he could not bear to contemplate the possibility.

Unable to cope with the flood of emotion, he did the only thing he knew would bring comfort: he pulled her tighter to his chest, his mouth settling on hers with overwhelming urgency. The need to taste her, to get lost in her mouth, drowned out every other thought.

She did not protest, even when Pennington released a tirade of abuse as he was dragged from the room.

George cleared his throat, forcing Gabriel to tear his lips away and look down. “We’ll need your carriage,” he said with a disapproving glare. “Freddie said the hired coach has disappeared, and we can

not risk him escaping.”

“Very well. I will see Rebecca and Sarah safely home. I’ll call on you in the morning.” Gabriel added no further explanation. Naturally, he would want to know what happened to Pennington, and he would need to make a formal statement. In light of the fact that he held Rebecca in a passionate clinch, he knew George would expect some form of declaration. “Don’t forget the list,” Gabriel added, gesturing to the crumpled note lying on the floor.

“That’s not the list. That’s my tailor’s bill,” George replied with a smirk as he picked it up and moved to walk away.

“George.” Rebecca called out to him, the one word revealing a hint of tenderness. “I know what Pennington’s done, but I don’t want him to hang.”

His mouth fell open as he arched a brow. “The decision is not mine to make. He’ll be committed for trial. It will depend upon the evidence,” he said offering a weak smile.

Based on the evidence, Gabriel knew the man would most certainly hang.

George’s gaze drifted to Sarah, and he strode over to her, took her bare hand and brought it to his lips. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Stone,” he said lingering for longer than necessary before turning on his heels and marching from the room.

Sarah’s cheeks flushed a bright shade of crimson, and as she climbed the steps to the stage, she struggled to make eye contact. “Come,” she said, looking up from the floor to Rebecca. “I will help you change out of your costume.”

Rebecca took Sarah’s hands and hugged them. “I cannot thank you enough. If you had not run after the carriage. If you had not gone to Gabriel, then …”

Sarah pulled her into an embrace.

To give them some privacy, Gabriel dropped down into the pit to search for the pistol. He heard them whispering and Rebecca’s sly glance told him they were speaking about him.

“Your pistol, m’lady,” Gabriel said returning to Rebecca’s side. “Thank goodness you didn’t get a chance to fire the thing.”

“Oh, it’s not loaded,” she said. “I was in too much of a hurry this morning.”

He arched a brow. “Yes, I hear you’ve been very busy.”

Rebecca’s mouth fell open, and Gabriel tapped her chin to close it.

Gabriel turned to his stepmother. “Rebecca is right, Sarah. I cannot thank you enough for everything you’ve done. I was ready to leave Pennington’s apartment, yet you encouraged me to keep searching.” He nodded towards the door of the auditorium. “It was a courageous thing to do, to walk in here on your own and I can’t wait to see you perform in The Virgin Unmasked.”