In the dark he could barely make out her face, but he was sure that her simmering rage actually made her body glow. It was going to be a long painful journey home from here.
“I am calm, and I am rational. And that’s exactly what I was when I caught the coach earlier this evening. It made perfect sense for me to go to London and for you to stay here at the estate. I planned to lie low for a time, then when the East India finally caught up with you, I would don my widows weeds and graciously mourn your death in public.”
Her voice cracked and broke as she choked on the last words. “Because that’s what is going to happen, Robert. They have to know that you have been stealing from them, and they are going to keep coming for you until they get what they want. That agent. The man I killed. He knew who was responsible for the spice heists, and where you lived.”
He pulled her to him, forcing down his pain. She tried to push him away, but Robert wasn’t having any of it. Victoria was angry. She was upset. And it was all his damn fault.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I never meant any of this to happen,” he said, holding her in his embrace. Victoria’s body shuddered, andher sobs tore at his heart. Her life was being destroyed by him, by his burning need to get even with the East India Company.
When she finally drew out of his hold, she wiped her tears away with the heel of her hand. “It doesn’t matter how sorry you are, Robert. We will go back to Tolley Manor tonight, and in a day or two, I will take our travel coach and head back to London. If anyone asks why I have returned, I will simply tell them that you are busy with the crops. It’s the only solution.”
She continued walking, and Robert was left with no other option than to follow his wife and curse himself for having put her in such danger.
Everything was a mess, and he still couldn’t see a way out.
Chapter Forty-Two
They eventually found the horse. Victoria fashioned a makeshift sling for Robert out of her scarf and with her seated in the saddle, and him walking beside the horse, they began the long, slow journey across country toward home. When he suggested that they would need to skirt the town of Bishops Stortford and make for the other road which led to Saffron Walden, she didn’t protest. He tried to engage her in conversation, but Victoria didn’t want to talk. Nothing he could say would fix any of this.
The sun was a pale glow on the horizon by the time they finally made it to the laneway which led up to the manor house. When they reached the small cottage at the start of the lane, Victoria leaned forward and pulled on the reins. The horse came to a halt.
“We are but a half mile from home, why are we stopping?” asked Robert.
Victoria swung her leg over the side of the horse—Robert’s gentleman’s saddle had forced her to ride astride. It was a different way of being on a horse, but she actually found it more comfortable and easier to balance than the traditional lady’ssaddle. And it was easier to dismount. She waved him away when he went to help.
“Let me find my own way down, the last thing we need is for you to injure your shoulder again.”
He did as asked, standing back as she landed nimbly on her feet. “Did you want to walk the rest of the way?” he asked.
Victoria pointed toward the cottage. “I will, but first we need to talk. And for what I have to say, I don’t want any of the estate staff to be within earshot.”
Without further ado, she tethered the horse to a nearby post then walked over to the tiny cottage and pushed the door open.
The cottage was small inside, but it had a table and a bed. And while it was clean, the air inside still held the strong aroma of various spices. No doubt Robert and his men had used the stonecutter’s cottage for their smuggling operations. Victoria swallowed deep, forcing down her rising anger.
As Robert filled the doorway behind her, blocking out the morning sun, the room turned dark. “Are you sure you want to talk in here?”
There was a definite hint of pleading in his voice. She could understand his need for them to return to the manor house and in doing so allow him to regain some control. But she’d decided that since neither of them was going to be comfortable with the topic of conversation, this place was as good as any.
“Yes, I am certain, Robert. Would you please close the door.”
She moved over to the table and pulled out the small wooden chair and sat down. When he went to follow suit, Victoria pointed at the bed. “I think it best if we maintain some sort of distance from one another while we talk. You can lie down, or if you’d be more comfortable, you could stand.”
He took a step back, situating himself against the wall, close to the door. She closed her eyes and took a deep sigh. “I want to hear it all. From when and how it all began, through every dirtydeed you have committed. Right up to, and including, this week. Leave nothing out.”
She was asking the impossible. He was so deep into this whole stealing and smuggling caper, he was no longer certain where Robert Tolley the villain ended and Robert Tolley, the Duke of Saffron Walden, began. He had crossed so many lines they had all become a blur.
But for her, for Victoria, he would try and find that truth.
“Forgive me for this hopefully brief but educational introductory history lesson,” he offered.
Victoria simply lay her hands in her lap and nodded.
“The East India Company has been around for hundreds of years. At one point their private army was bigger than the entire British armed forces. They have effectively stolen from and then ruled entire countries, all in the name of furthering the interests of the EIC and lining the pockets of its owners.”
“Yes, they have quite the reputation, which is why their powers are being stripped by parliament. My father has been on several committees to oversee the changes. I’m not completely ignorant of English history and current politics.”
Yet again his wife was showing him just how well-read and intelligent she was, and how much he had underestimated her.
