The Wyndham Legacy (Legacy 1)

Then, quite suddenly, the barn doors were flung open and brilliant sunlight streamed in.

Trevor, on top of Marcus at that instant, was blinded, and jerked back. It was all Marcus needed. He kicked him off and rolled away, coming up on his knees, raising the gun.

But the Duchess was faster. She raised the pitchfork over her head and brought it down with all her strength, striking Trevor squarely on the back of his head with the wooden handle, sending him sprawling on his face. He twitched once, then lay utterly still. She didn’t know whether or not she’d killed him and she didn’t care.

“Marcus!” She was beside him in an instant, not really aware that North, Badger, and Spears were standing over them.

32

BADGER PATTED HER back and clucked like a mother hen, feeling at once foolish at his display of emotion and so scared in his relief he wanted to yell with it.

“Chocolate!” he said against her hair, furious with himself. “Dear God, somehow that mangy bastard Trevor got laudanum into the chocolate I sent to you and his lordship. And like a fool I let Antonia carry it to you, never thinking—”

“But how did he manage it?” Marcus asked as Spears was examining his bloody knuckles and the bruises on his face. He looked over at his unconscious cousin, North beside him, feeling for his heart, as he spoke.

“I spoke to Antonia, just by chance really. Jesus, you can’t imagine how that fear was curdling my toes when I didn’t find either of you in bed where you should have been, all tight and cozy and tangled up together, like two ears of corn in a husk. The bed was empty and I don’t mind telling you, and Mr. Spears will agree, I was nearly frothing at the mouth with fear. It turns out that Antonia paused only a moment to speak to Fanny and the Twins went into the bedchamber for a moment.”

He didn’t tell them that Antonia had been plenty mad because Fanny, the wretched flirt who wanted Marcus for herself, had demanded that she, not Antonia, take the chocolate to the Duchess and Marcus. They’d argued until finally they’d both fetched a sovereign from Fanny’s bedchamber, then they’d tossed it to see who would carry the chocolate to the Duchess and the earl.

“The Twins evidently were arguing about something. And while they were carrying on, even going to one of their bedchambers, Trevor quite easily poured laudanum into the chocolate they’d conveniently left in the corridor.”

“Damnation,” Marcus said. “What if they hadn’t argued? What if Antonia alone had been carrying that chocolate unbothered by her twin? I think that Trevor would have hurt her, both of them if necessary, perhaps even killed them as swiftly and remorselessly as he would a fly. What are two twins, fifteen-year-old cousins to him, after all? How the bloody devil did he get into the house?”

It wasn’t all that hard, so no one said anything. It was all so frightening, it still made Badger’s tongue thick and dry, sticking to the roof of his mouth.

It had been close, too close, so close that even now his heart was pounding faster than when that sod of a nag Midnight Fleet had beaten all odds and won at Ascot just last week.

He stroked his hand over the Duchess’s back, crooning like a damned turkey all the while. She got a grip on herself and drew back to look up at him. “He wanted us to believe that you were in this with him.”

“I beg your pardon, Duchess?”

She grinned at the outrage in Spears’s voice. “Marcus and I knew Badger couldn’t be involved with him, Spears. Never for a moment did we doubt you, Badger, never. But it pleased Trevor to taunt us with it.”

“See that you never doubt me in the future either.”

“I agree. A most unworthy thought of a duchess and an earl,” Spears said. “Most unbefitting either of you. Mr. Badger is a man beyond men.”

“Amen,” said Marcus. He looked over again at North, who’d returned just two days before after visiting a military friend in Castleford, leaving only after he’d been certain that Marcus and the Duchess would be all right after they’d been shot. “Will he live, North?”

“Yes, I think so. The Duchess gave him a solid hit but his pulse is strong as is his heartbeat. If you like, Marcus, I’ll take him to Darlington and see that he’s put safely in the gaol. I’ll even hire guards to keep an eye on him around the clock.”

“I’ll go with you. I don’t want to let him out of my sight again until I know he’s safely locked behind some very sturdy bars. Yes, the guards are an excellent idea.”

“What happened, my lord?” Spears asked. “I mean, why is Mr. Trevor still alive?”

“I had the gun and I was ready to kill him. Then I realized who he was—my cousin, a Wyndham, my flesh—and I couldn’t do it. It was the chance he needed. He jumped on me.”

“That’s right, Marcus,” North said. “Don’t flail at yourself. I’m glad you won’t have his blood on your hands—either of your hands, for that matter. Have him deported to Botany Bay, a wonderful place I understand, savage as hell itself. Let him finish out his life there. I daresay he’ll make his way amongst all the other criminals. At least you’ll be safe from him then.”

“Yes,” Marcus said slowly, “Botany Bay. I do believe I could arrange that without too much difficulty. There’s no reason to have an ugly scandal if we can avoid it. Even though Aunt Wilhelmina deserves any and everything, Ursula and James don’t. I don’t want them hurt more than they have to be.”

“I agree,” Badger said. He saw that the Duchess was nodding also, then turned to Lord Chilton. At North’s nod, he added, “There, that’s all of us, my lord. Ah, I should add that Maggie was beside herself, let me tell you, screamed at Mr. Spears and me, even at poor Lord Chilton, who surely wasn’t to blame, cursing us that we wouldn’t bring her with us.”

“The picture painted with your words, Badger, quite boggles the mind,” Marcus said.

The Duchess managed to find a remnant of a smile, then said, “We won’t have to worry about him ever again. Thank God, Marcus, you’re safe. You’re what’s most important to any of us, and even if that’s not quite true, then you’re what’s most important to me, at the very least. Oh dear, I was so scared he would kill you, so very scared. Don’t you ever do something like that again.”

She pulled herself out of Badger’s comforting hold and walked straight to her husband. He pulled her close and just held her, silent for several moments. He raised his head finally, saying, “How did you find us?”