Dread coiled tightly in her chest. It was not logical, not truly—after all, the danger was not necessarily immediate. But something still feltwrong.
She stepped into the corridor, Benjamin cradled against her, and quietly shut the nursery door behind her. Quickly making her way down the steps, she hurried to her room. Her hand hovered over the knob, but something made her pause.
Then she smelled it.
That same scent.
Musky. Rich. Masculine.
Her stomach dropped.
She turned.
At the far end of the hallway, half-shrouded in shadows, stood a man in a red coat. His posture was too still. Too poised. And as he stepped forward, the light caught his face.
It was Carter.
But…it was alsonotCarter.
Peering more closely, she could see that this man’s eyes were blue, and his features were slightly different. But there was no mistaking that this man was just as much a danger as Carter had been.
“Papa!” she screamed. “He’s here!”
She turned and bolted into her room, shutting the door behind her with a loud slam and locking it. Benjamin stirred and gave a soft, confused wail as she backed away, arms trembling.
No one had answered.
She dashed toward the door to the changing room and stumbled into it, bolting it behind her—then rushed through to the connecting door into Jane’s chamber, which was empty.Jane must have slept with Mary tonight, she thought.
As she bolted for the door, she tripped on something on the floor. Her foot went one way as her leg went another, twisting her ankle painfully. She attempted to stand, but the shooting pain told her she would never be able to outrun Le Corbeau.
Limping to Jane’s door, she turned the lock. She then hobbled back into the changing room, locking the other door in there as well.
She was sealed in with Benjamin.
Moments later, the pounding began.Please, Lord, let the doors hold until someone can come.
Then a voice came low and smug through the wood. “You are clever. I admire that.”
Elizabeth swallowed hard and shifted Benjamin’s weight in her arms. “What do you want?” she demanded.
“The boy. That is all I have ever wanted.”
“You are not Carter.”
“No,” the voice said. “He is my brother.”
Brothers?Elizabeth blinked, her mouth going dry.
“Twins,” he added, pride evident in his voice. “Indistinguishable except for the eyes. We were raised together in Paris, sons of the Revolution. Our parents spared no expense to teach us to fight against those who would look down on us because of our station.”
“Then why do you sound like an Englishman?”
A laugh. “Our governess was English. She taught us your language and your ways. We were meant to be invisible.”
Her mind raced. “Why tell me any of this?”
“Because you are delaying,” he said, amusement curling in his voice. “But I am in a generous mood. I will make you a bargain.”
