“He would be removed from his position,” he continued, his voice high pitched and tense. “Someone else would take his place, someone more worthy and, in that time, all of England would do well and our place in the world would not be looked down upon.”
Shaking his head, Phillip put one hand to his forehead. “Do you mean to say, Lord Dayton, that you had no intention of killing the Prince?”
Lord Dayton gasped, staggering back as though he had been shot. The reaction was clear enough and appeared to be genuine and, as Phillip looked at Lord Cammish, the man’s smug look had him suddenly angry.
/> “Let me begin by explaining my reasons for seeking to join your little group,” he said, looking directly at Lord Dayton instead of at Lord Cammish. “We had information from a Frenchman who told us that someone within your group was working against the Crown. Passing information and the like.” He sniffed, looking away from Lord Dayton only to pierce the fellow again with a sharp gaze. “You say that you had no intention of killing the Prince – but what if I do not believe you? Do you have ties to the French, Lord Dayton?”
The man was trembling visibly, clearly horrified by what had been said and all too aware of what threat now lingered over his life. “I did not,” he whispered hoarsely. “I thought only to make him ill, just as Lord Cammish suggested.”
Phillip looked at Lord Watt, seeing him nod and knowing that his friend knew precisely what Phillip was thinking.
“Then Lord Cammish,” he said, turning around. “It is you who is working for the French.” He waited for a moment, all too aware that the gentleman was watching him with an almost lazy smile on his face, as though he were about to tumble everything Phillip had said to the ground. “Will you deny it?”
Lord Cammish let out a dry chuckle. “Of course I will,” he stated unequivocally. “After all, there is no proof other than Lord Dayton’s word. And given that the poison came from his house, there is very little he can do to defend himself.”
Phillip made to say more, only for there to come the sound of a slamming door, followed by a loud cry of exclamation. Lord Watt moved towards the door at once, only for Lady Dayton and Lady Louisa to appear, both of them looking pale and afraid.
“Dayton,” Lady Dayton exclaimed, hanging onto her husband for all she was worth. “What is it they are saying? What is it they are doing to you?”
Lord Dayton swallowed hard, pressing his wife’s hands and trying to smile. “There is nothing wrong, my love,” he told her, with very little belief in his voice. “I am quite all right.”
“Lord Dayton was about to tell us that he was the one to procure the poison that was to steal the life of the Prince,” Phillip said, suddenly coming to a forceful realization. “Although he does not say that it was to kill the Prince but rather to make him severely unwell.” He watched Lady Dayton’s face carefully, seeing how her eyes shifted towards Lord Cammish, how fear etched itself into every line of her face.
“Unless,” came a voice from behind him, as Lady Olivia rose to her feet and came out of the shadows, eliciting a gasp from Lord Dayton and Lady Louisa. “Unless it was you who had it, Aunt.” Her voice shook and Phillip held out a hand to her, holding it tightly. “Pray tell me that is not why Margaret is ill. Pray tell me that you did not give it to her also.”
It took only a moment for Lady Dayton to crumple. She fell to the floor in a heap, sobbing, whilst her husband looked on in astonishment.
“Margaret overheard Cammish and I talking,” she said hoarsely, closing her eyes tightly as sobs racked her frame. “I had no other choice. Cammish threatened to kill you if I did not.” Tears poured down her cheeks as she looked up at her husband. “Why did you ever have to become involved with him, Dayton?” she whispered, as Lady Olivia leaned heavily against Phillip. “He is not the man you think him to be. He is a spy, a traitor to all that we hold dear. And now he has pulled you into the darkness with him.”
“I—I never had any intention of killing the Prince,” Lord Dayton answered, bending down to take his wife’s hands in his. “I swear to you I did not.”
Phillip cleared his throat, taking a small step forward. “There is a lot more to this than there first appeared, it seems,” he said, looking directly at Lord Cammish and feeling a sense of grim satisfaction that the man was no longer smiling. “Lord Cammish, what have you to say for yourself?”
He waited in silence, the quiet room filling with sparks of tension, threatening to explode at any moment.
And then Lord Cammish reached around behind him, pulling something from his pocket, something that flashed in the candlelight, before, with a roar, lunging at Phillip with a scream of rage ripping from his mouth.
It was a knife.
Chapter Fourteen
Olivia did not know precisely what she had done but, at the moment she saw the flashing knife in Lord Cammish’s hand, she reacted without thinking.
Using all of her strength, she shoved Lord Monteforte hard and, with the shock of her action, Lord Monteforte found himself spinning to one side, whilst the knife in Lord Cammish’s hand scraped across her arm.
Then there were exclamations and shouting and all manner of noises, but Olivia could only see one face amongst it all.
Lord Monteforte.
Someone was helping her to a chair, but her hand reached out for Lord Monteforte, who came in a moment to take her hand in his. His eyes searched her face as he shook his head wordlessly, his hand holding hers tightly.
“Whatever did you do, Olivia?”
Blinking rapidly as the rest of the room came into focus, Olivia saw Louisa kneeling beside her chair, her hands tight around Olivia’s other arm. Olivia made to protest, made to say that there was no cause for alarm, only to suddenly feel a deep pain begin to spread up her arm.
“You saved my life, that is what you did,” Lord Monteforte breathed, looking at her as though she were the most wonderful thing he had ever seen. “If you had not pushed me out of the way, Olivia, then I might now be struggling with a knife to my chest.”
“I—I did not know what else to do,” Olivia answered, surprised at just how tremulous her voice was. “The knife caught the light, and I could not simply stand by and watch you get stabbed.” She shook her head, her breath catching tight in her chest. “I am glad you are uninjured.”