“If you haven’t realized it already,” Lord Haddington mumbled.
“I will do no such thing!” Charles exclaimed.
Lord Haddington sighed. “I knew he wasn’t very bright.”
As Charles’s finger twitched on the trigger, Georgie brought her pistol up and aimed it at her brother.
“I will kill you, brother, if you do not lower your pistol,” she threatened. “I won’t let you hurt William.”
Charles started, then smirked. “You don’t have the guts to kill me.”
“You don’t know me at all,” she insisted. “You have never even made an effort to do so.”
“I know all I need to about you. Your lady’s maid tells me everything that I need to know.”
Alice? Georgie’s lips parted in surprise. “I don’t believe you. You’re lying!”
“How else would I know that you ran off to that orphanage? Or that you would be at the market on that particular day?” Charles mocked. “It was easy to convince her to turn on you when I offered her money to help her mother.”
“You exploited her!”
“No, we helped each other,” Charles said. “You need to be more careful who you trust.”
Lord Hawthorne spoke up. “There are three pistols pointing at you, Wakefield, as well as a rifle. You need to decide if you want to walk out of here alive.”
Charles lowered his pistol to his side. “I know when I am bested,” he said, raising his chin, “but you have only won the battle, Hawthorne, not the war. This fight is far from over.”
“I don’t think you’re going to like what happens next,” Lord Hawthorne said. “I’m going to help Miss Holbrooke petition for the return of her inheritance.”
“You can’t do that!”
“I can, and I will,” Lord Hawthorne replied. “I won’t rest until you are in debtor’s prison. It is no less than you deserve.”
Charles gritted his teeth as he turned to Georgie. “This is all your fault! You have ruined me!”
“No, brother, you have ruined yourself,” Georgie said.
Glaring at her with open hatred, Charles raised his pistol, but before he could fire, Lord Hawthorne and Lord Haddington each discharged their pistols.
Georgie watched her brother fall to the ground in a heap as if from afar. A range of emotions welled up inside of her: shock at what had happened, and sadness for what their relationship should have been. But those fell quickly away in the face of how relieved she was that he was dead. He could never hurt her again.
William cautiously approached her, his eyes brimming with concern. “Are you all right, Georgie?”
She blinked. “I am,” she said, bringing her gaze to meet his. “I must admit that I mostly feel relief that he is dead. Is that so wrong of me?”
“Not at all.” He opened his arms wide, and she rushed into them. She wrapped her arms around him and closed her eyes. She had finally found where she belonged. After all the pain and deceit, she felt the warmth and safety of his arms and how they held her as if he had done so all her life. She was home.
He rested his chin on her head. “No one will ever hurt you again. I promise you that.”
“I believe you.”
After a long moment, he asked, “What do you want to do now?” He leaned back far enough to look her in the eye. “Do you still want to marry me?”
“I do.”
“You don’t have to,” William said. “You are now free to pick your own suitor and have a love match.”
She lowered her arms to her sides as doubt crept in. “It sounds as if you don’t want to marry me.”
