Turning to face her cousin, Delphine asked, “What are you doing here?”
“I couldn’t miss out on all the fun,” Mr. Paterson sneered, his tone dripping with malice.
Delphine’s voice quivered with a mix of confusion and trepidation. “Why are you doing this?”
Mr. Paterson joined Mr. Simpkin, brandishing his pistol as he spoke. “The reasons are quite simple,” he replied. “I want your title, and Mr. Simpkin wants your business. And in order for us to both get what we want, you have to be dead.”
Mr. Simpkin cocked his pistol. “It is a shame that you brought Lord Dunsby into all of this,” he said. “Now he has to die, too.”
Delphine moved to stand in front of him, much to his chagrin. “Do not shoot him!” she exclaimed. “He has nothing to do with this.”
“I’m afraid he knows too much,” Mr. Simpkin responded.
Bennett needed to buy some time. If he did, perhaps the assembled footmen would come looking for him. “But I amnot the only one who knows what you did,” he said, coming out from behind Delphine.
Mr. Simpkin’s mask slipped slightly and he looked unsure for the first time. “Who else knows the truth about my marriage?”
“I am sure my whole household staff knows by now,” Bennett said. “And if we turn up dead, I have no doubt they will tell the constable what they know. It will only be a matter of time before you hang for our murders.”
Miss Eden narrowed her eyes. “He is bluffing,” she said.
Bennett shrugged. “How else could I have discovered the truth about the farce of your marriage?”
Mr. Simpkin’s pistol wavered in his hand. “He is right. If we kill them, then the truth will come out.”
“But we can’t just leave them,” Miss Eden said. “They know too much. We will be ruined and we will have nothing to show for it.”
“We will make do,” Mr. Simpkin responded.
Miss Eden tossed her hands up in the air. “How?” she asked. “The creditors are knocking at your door. The only way for you to keep your lands is for you to inherit Delphine’s business and I refuse to be poor.”
Delphine interjected, “If you let us walk away, I can speak to your creditors and perhaps we can come to a fair price on your lands.”
“No, you do not get to swoop in and save the day!” Miss Eden shouted. “We planned this out meticulously and you ruined it. You were supposed to die on the way back to Skidbrooke, but you refused to leave your precious Lord Dunsby.”
Bennett noticed that Mr. Paterson hadn’t said anything in a while and the intensity of his glare was directed at Delphine. Instinctively, he positioned himself in front of her, shielding her from any potential harm.
“Move aside, my lord,” Mr. Paterson ordered.
“I will not,” Bennett said firmly.
Mr. Paterson shoved the pistol towards him, his threat chillingly clear. “Do not think I will hesitate to kill you,” he warned. “But it is not you that must die. It is Delphine. I want that title. It should have been mine in the first place.”
Bennett stood his ground, refusing to yield. “If you want Delphine, you are going to have to kill me first.”
“Gladly!” Mr. Paterson said as he cocked the pistol.
As Bennett braced himself for the worst, he heard another voice, authoritative and commanding, pierce through the tense air.
“Put the pistols down or suffer the consequences!” the voice demanded, its tone brooking no argument. “I will only ask once.”
Turning slightly, Bennett caught sight of Grady standing resolutely with two other men by his side, each armed with pistols aimed squarely at Mr. Paterson and Mr. Simpkin.
Being the coward that he was, Mr. Simpkin dropped the pistol to the ground and took a step back.
“What are you doing?” Miss Eden demanded. “You can’t give up so easily.”
“It is over, Charlotte,” Mr. Simpkin responded with a look of regret in his eyes.
