Hayes felt the barrel of the pistol in his back. “To the right,” Mr. Shine said.
He and Miss Farnsworth were forced into a small room. It was as empty as all the others and the sort that would have been assigned to two housemaids, had there been any. The floor was bare, unvarnished wood. The walls had been plastered but cracks now ran a riotous pattern across them. There were lighter rectangles visible where some long-ago picture had hung and protected the plaster from the smoke of a fire. The fireplace itself was empty and cold, with only a layer of old ash to say that anybody had ever lived there.
“You will stay here, for the time being,” Mr. Shine said. “The house is empty, or will be shortly. Should you be so foolish as to attract attention by making a sound, I will shoot whoever hears you before doing you the same courtesy.”
“Mr. Shine,” Lily said, “what can you possibly—”
The door slammed shut before Miss Farnsworth could finish her sentence. The lock turned with a resounding clack.
Hayes looked around the room sharply, hoping to see something, anything, that he may not have initially noticed. Something they could use to their advantage. It was entirely empty.
“What does he mean to do?” Lily asked quietly.
“I do not know,” Hayes said, “but he has not taken the rational course, which means he is not a rational man.”
“He will kill us, then,” Lily said. “So that his secret is not discovered.”
“He might try,” Hayes said. “Though I am not inclined to allow him to succeed.”
Miss Farnsworth wrung her hands. “How would he ever be able to explain it? He was the last to see us. Lady Carradine must look for us even now. My aunt will expect me home. He could not possibly believe he could get away with this.”
“I imagine he has not thought that far, which is what makes him particularly dangerous,” Hayes said.
“He’ll think better of it,” Lily said. “I am sure he will. He will come to his senses and get himself away.”
Hayes was not so certain. Mr. Shine had brought a pistol to the card table. He must have been prepared to use it if things went awry.Thatpart, he understood. What he did not understand is why Mr. Shine had not simply fled the scene. A man who’d taken a bizarre and risky step such as this might be counted upon to do anything.
He strode to the windows. It was clear they had been not been opened in some time—the panes were darkened with soot and the hinges were rusted over. He forced them open, the joints grating and creaking for lack of oil.
“Lord Ashworth, we are on the third floor,” Lily whispered.
He held up his hand and peered down. It was true they were on the third floor, but ten feet below was a balcony, and then below that a portico whose edge seemed close enough to an old black poplar with sturdy branches. He had spent an entire childhood making escapes such as this. It could be done by him, he was certain of it. The question was—could it be done by Miss Farnsworth?
Hayes turned to her. “I am unarmed. My pistol is in my carriage. We cannot afford to linger and discover what Mr. Shine intends. I am going to lower myself down to a balcony. Then, you must put yourself out the window and trust me to catch you. Can you do it?”
Seeing the look of alarm on Miss Farnsworth’s face, Hayes almost hesitated. He feared he would get out and then her nerves would fail her. He would not likely get back in again. He could not leave her to her fate. Hayes had begun to get the idea that Mr. Shine might be one of those individuals who would shoot now and regret later.
He watched Miss Farnsworth take in a deep breath. “I can do it,” she said resolutely.
There was no time to wonder. The lady claimed she could do it and they must try. Mr. Shine might return at any moment and Hayes did not think it likely they’d survive many minutes after he did.
*
Mr. Shine hadgone halfway down the stairs and then stopped. He must think what to do. He’d panicked, never an ideal situation, and now he must calm himself and think of a way out.
That damned Miss Farnsworth! How had she noted the differences in the cards? It was near impossible, even if one were to examine them minutely. The moment he’d seen the original design on the club’s cards he’d known he might easily replicate and mark them. They were a fussy pattern, nothing easier. He’d marked cards all his life, he knew how to find a printer willing to print them for a hefty fee. He’d never been caught except once in those early years when the Duchess of Carlisle had found him out. There had been so many highly-placed people atthatparticular gambit that he’d been forced to decamp to America.
But all that was so long ago. He supposed most of those people were dead by now, or if not dead, then doddering around their country estates. He’d long grown tired of Baltimore, and even more tired of Americans, and it had begun to seem the right time to return to England. Then, he’dknownit was the right time when he’d discovered Nancy Manton’s ruse.
At the time, his run of luck had been very bad and he’d been forced to take a job as a clerk. It had been his duty to record the sales of property and when he examined the sale of the Carradines’ property, he knew he looked at a forgery. The signature was too deliberate. It had been written too slowly. The pen had been pressed too hard. There were obvious stops and starts. All amateur mistakes. He had looked into the matter, and after he’d tracked down a servant who had been dismissed, he began to put it all together.
It had taken nearly a year to trace Nancy Manton. He knew from passenger lists that a certain Lady Judith Carradine, now known to him as Nancy, had traveled to England. He’d thought he’d find her retired in the English countryside, living on her ill-gotten gains. He meant to take it all from her by way of blackmail. But then, he discovered she ran a gambling concern. It was all too perfect. It was all too easy.
He’d planned to make a large profit and then slip off somewhere.
Now, he had a lady and a gentleman, not just a gentleman, alord, locked in the attic. And not just any lord—this lord was Dembly’s spawn. That particular duke, if he were to ever encounter Mr. Shine after that long-ago card game at that long-ago house party, might very well hold a grudge.
There was only one thing to do. He must collect the bank and be off. He would have to overcome his business partner and dispose of her, which he was fully prepared to do. She would no doubt even now be at the doors to the gaming room, wondering why they were locked and wishing to see about Miss Farnsworth. She would never see the heavy candlestick to the back of her head coming, then it was a haul down to the basement for her. All would assume it had beenshethat had cleared out the bank and been off.
