The Cursed Countess (The Daring Drake Sisters 1)

“How much does all this cost?”

“Don’t know for sure, but it must be quite a bit of blunt for two private guards, special meals and a private cell.”

She wondered if Jack knew all that the duke had done for her. She hoped he did. At least the duke cared for her.

CHAPTER 21

“Well, I hear today did not go as expected,” Fairchild said as Jack strode into his office. “You look like hell by the way.”

Of course, he looked like hell. Today had been the worst day of his life. Watching Downing take Tessa away this morning and seeing the look of betrayal in her eyes had almost killed him. “Today was bloody awful. The duke showed up at the arraignment but thought being a character witness would be enough to keep her out of prison.”

“Now what?”

“We’ll have to get Miss Harte back here to testify that the duke gave her the poison to kill Lady Stanhope’s husbands. That will at least get her out of prison.”

“Assuming the judge believes a maid,” Fairchild commented. “Which in my experience is not likely.”

Jack closed his eyes in frustration. “Where is that bloody whisky?”

“Of course.” Fairchild rose and poured them both a glass and then handed it to Jack along with the bottle. “Have you spoken with the duke since he saw her?”

“That is where I am going next. I had to speak with her mother. She fainted dead away when I told her the news.” Jack gulped down his glass of whisky and poured himself another. The look on Tessa’s sisters’ faces almost did him in. For a moment, he’d thought they might faint too.

“Perhaps, if the duke hears how dreadful Newgate is for a woman, it will prompt him into action.”

“Unless he has already heard that I have her in a private cell with a personal guard and special meals,” Jack commented.

“Still, it’s not a pretty place for a lady.” Fairchild sipped his whisky. “Go pay the duke a visit and see how he is dealing with all this.”

“As you wish.” Jack finished his second whisky and then rose from his seat. He glanced down at his pocket watch. Tessa should be eating her meal now. She’d never know he provided that for her.

When he arrived at the duke’s home, the butler let him in without question and led him to the duke’s study. “Mr. Raynerson, Your Grace.”

Jack walked in the room and stopped. He’d thought he looked like hell. The duke’s face was drawn and pale. It appeared the man had been raking his fingers though his hair until it all but stood up on end. “Your Grace, what have you heard?”

“They brought her to Newgate, Raynerson. I told the justice that I could vouch for her character but he would have none of that. He told me to wait until the trial. That poor girl can’t stay in prison until a trial. That could take weeks.”

Jack moved to a chair across from him. A bottle of port sat to the duke’s left, almost empty. “What about the Regent? Isn’t there something he could do?” Jack asked, remembering Downing’s recount of what happened at the arraignment.

“The Regent is in out of London for a fortnight. A fortnight! She can’t stay there that long, it will kill her.”

Hearing the angst in the duke’s voice, Jack knew he had to be close to breaking down. “So there is nothing we can do until the Regent returns then. She will have to sit in her dank prison cell...alone.”

The duke stared up him with a slightly mad look in his eyes. “We have to get her out, Raynerson. Where is her maid? She is the one who killed those men.”

Jack had him now. “Why would you think the maid was responsible, Your Grace?”

“There’s no one else it could be,” the duke replied. “The maid has been with her since her first marriage.”

“Yes,” Jack drawled. “And before that she was your daughter’s maid.”

“What are you implying, Raynerson?”

“Not a thing, Your Grace.” Jack couldn’t help but notice the desperation in the duke’s eyes. “The maid left town.”

“Then I shall hire someone to find her. A Bow Street runner.”

“Then what?”