Page 116 of Four Promises to Love

“I-I know I have a lot to explain⁠—”

“I do not want to hear another lie from you!”

The agony would have crushed him if not for the armor of numbness. It had protected him during the war and years of captivity, and it slipped over him now like a familiar skin.

“You are working with those bounders. You’re no spiritualist—you’re an adventuress and a fraud. I was a fool not to see it.”

“No.” She swallowed. “That is, yes, I…I did lie, but I had reason⁠—”

“I don’t give a damn about your reasons. Xenia nearly died because of you and your cutthroat friends!”

“They’re not my⁠—”

“No more bloody lies! I don’t want to see you again. You are despicable, using your wiles to prey on others,” he grated out. “Now leave before I change my mind and have you and your criminal gang arrested!”

She stared at him, stricken, tears streaming down her face.

He hated himself for the way it tore at his heart.

Then she turned and ran from the room.

Scooping up Xenia, he carried her out, shouting for help.

Thirty-Three

“I don’t want to stay here.” Tansy looked around the abandoned farmhouse and stuck out her bottom lip. “It’s dirty and smells like rot.”

“We’ve stayed in worse places,” Finn said tightly. “After we rest for a few hours, we’ll decide what to do.”

Dawn was breaking. After Owen had thrown her out, she’d gone back to Pell House. There’d been no time to grieve the loss of her love: in a fit of rage, Owen might send the authorities after her. She’d shut down her emotions and taken charge, instructing the Hawks to pack what they could carry. Under the cover of darkness, she’d led their flit from Chuddums.

Now they were on their way to London and had found this tumbledown shelter. Beggars couldn’t be choosers. Something ran over Finn’s foot, and she jerked.

“There’s mice here and cobwebs. I hate it. I want to go back to Pell House. I want Mrs. Thornton’s pie.” Tansy’s voice rose. “And Mr. Duffield promised me ribbons!”

“Hush, Tansy,” Nell said. “The Harringtons know about our scheme and might have sent the constables after us. We had to leave.”

“This is your fault!” Tansy shouted at Finn. “You spoiled everything!”

“It wasn’t me.”

Finn turned accusing eyes on Caleb, who’d been at Pell House when she arrived. With the impending danger, there hadn’t been time to confront him. Now the floodgates opened, the emotions she’d been holding back pouring from her in a frothing rush.

“This is Caleb’s doing,” she spat.

He paused in the act of laying down his blanket next to Simon’s.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

His shifty gaze confirmed her suspicions.

“You told Carver about the ring. That is why he sent his men to steal it from the Harringtons,” she said with trembling fury. “At least have the guts to own up to your actions.”

“Fine.” He straightened. “It was me.”

“How could you betray me?” Finn yelled. “Betray us?”

“You left me no choice!” he yelled back. “After Carver’s lackeys tried to abduct Tansy, someone had to do something. Your plan of sticking your head in the sand and pretending that we’ll work together with your lovey-dovey lord and his family was bloody claptrap! Carver is going to keep coming after us until he has what he wants. So, yes, I made a choice—the one you should have made. After you all went to the manor, I went after Carver’s men.”