She smiled up at him. “Very well, Gerard. I will take you to the lamp. But believe me on this. It’s just an old lamp. It has nothing at all to do with the magic lamp of legend. You will see—it is simply a worthless old lamp that does nothing at all. This lamp is nothing more than an old lump of gold. I found it in a vicar’s attic. He had bequeathed all his belongings to my father, you see. Now, think. If I truly found this magic lamp, why am I here, bound, with you? Do you not think that I would have rubbed it and kissed it and even slept with it to learn its secrets? There are no secrets. There is no power. There is no magic.”
“You lied about all of it, not just to me but to every one of those credulous fools in London. What I believe is that you have the lamp, you just haven’t found the power in it as yet. If you had, it is obvious that you would be the most powerful woman in the world. I will find the power, you will see. Now, it is not that I don’t trust you, but I am not a fool. I took not only you but also your dear friend Alexandra Sherbrooke. She is just across the corridor, all bound and trussed up, just like you.”
Oh, no. Oh, no. “How ever did you manage to get your hands on Alexandra? She sleeps with her husband, not alone, like me.”
He actually gave her a whimsical smile. “I worried about that, I can tell you. But do you know what? I was prepared to cosh her husband on the head, no hope for it—I knew it would be more than dangerous, but I couldn’t see that there would be a choice. But then, all of a sudden, there she comes floating down the front staircase in their house, on her way to the library to fetch a glass of brandy. She couldn’t sleep it seems. I nearly laughed myself sick from the luck of it. And so I have her and there’s nothing you can do about it, Helen.”
Douglas would awaken, Helen thought, he had to. Alexandra would be gone. Surely he would wonder where she was. Surely he would raise the alarm.
“You have told me truth and lies, Helen. But I know one truth—you found the magic lamp. Now, if you try to deceive me again, if you try to trick me in any way, the lovely little countess will die.”
“I am wearing my nightgown. Surely I cannot take you to the lamp like this?”
“I brought both you and the countess some men’s clothes. It will be easier than dragging you about with all those women’s skirts. I am going to reassure your friend while you change, Helen. She is already wearing her men’s clothes. They are not such a bad fit, actually. I changed her while she was still unconscious. Unfortunately, you woke up before I could strip you down.” He rose then. “Hurry, I want to leave soon.”
&n
bsp; He leaned down and untied her wrists. He seemed not to notice that she had worked them nearly free. “You may untie your own ankles. Hurry.”
Helen was free in a trice. She changed into the men’s clothes in three minutes flat. All the while she was thinking furiously. Alexandra. She had to be careful not to get Alexandra hurt.
She drew a deep breath and waited, just behind the door, the chamber pot in her hands.
When he came through the door, he was pushing Alexandra in front of him. He said in a loud voice, “Stay back, Helen, or I will kill the little pullet here. Obey me. I want no tricks from you or she is dead. See my gun is right by her right ear. Come out from your hiding place.”
Helen brought the pot down on his head as hard as she could, and that was very hard indeed.
He went down like a stone.
“All right, Missy, ’ey! Wot’d you do to Mr. Yorke? Ye cracked ’im on ’is poor ’ead, ye did!”
Alexandra said in a clear, calm voice, “Who are you, sir?”
“I’m the cove wot this cove paid two quid.”
“Fine. Now I will hire you. You will have five guineas once you see us back to London to our own houses.”
The gaunt-faced little man looked down at Gerard Yorke, then at Helen, who stood a good eight inches taller than he. “I guesses there be no choice.”
They made it to the front door of the small cottage. Helen’s hand was out to turn the knob when it slammed open. There was Sir John Yorke standing there, a pistol in his hand.
“I knew you would fool Gerard. He has always underestimated women. What did he do, leave you? Yes, of course that is what he did. And you laid him flat, didn’t you? I looked at you when you were but eighteen years old and I knew you were strong. I knew you would grow stronger over the years. And you’ve also become dangerous. Move back, Miss Mayberry, or should I say Mrs. Yorke?”
29
GERARD YORKE CAME into the small front room that held only two rickety chairs and a rough-hewn wooden table. He was holding his head and he was groaning. He staggered into the wall and then leaned against it, trying to get himself together again.
“You useless fool,” his father said. “You couldn’t even capture a single woman.”
“Of course I could. I did. I captured two women, not just one. You can see them both. They are standing right here. Bad things just happened. Bad things always happen when Helen has any say about it.” Gerard shook his head and forced it up to look at his father, who was holding a gun on Helen and the countess of Northcliffe. Gerard’s own villain, that lantern-jawed individual to whom he had given two whole quid, was hovering just behind Sir John Yorke.
His father just looked at him as if he wanted to kick him. He wasn’t surprised—it was the way his father had always looked at him.
Gerard said slowly, trying to get his wits together. “How come you to be here? You followed me?”
“Yes, naturally. I finally found you just two days ago. I have been waiting for you to make a decision about Helen, and you did, you bloody little ass—the wrong decision, but you have never made a right decision, have you? You should have just stayed dead, remained gone from England, remained a hero in your family’s minds, but you didn’t. Now just look what has happened.” Sir John turned then and smiled at Helen, for no reason she could think of, and that smile of his made her shrivel inside. What was going on here?
Gerard shook his fist in Helen’s face even as he collapsed even more against the wall. “I tell you, Father, I could not stay gone. And this wasn’t my fault. I had to leave Helen alone so she could dress. I had to fetch the countess of Northcliffe from another chamber, and when I brought her back, I pushed her into the room in front of me. I even had a gun pointed at her head. The room was dark. Look now, it is barely dawn. I saw something that should have been Helen lying on the bed. How was I to know that Helen had that chamber pot and was behind the door? No man could have imagined that. I didn’t have a chance.”