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Then, and only then, did Henry notice the tears streaming down her cheeks. After a stunned moment, he spun her about. “You should have let me kill him! As the challenged, I would’ve been protected. They’ll hang you! Why did you not wait for word at the house with the others?”
“He murdered my child,” she said hollowly, continuing to stare at the body. “He took the life of my babe as if it were less than nothing. Had he killed you, he would have gone after yours, too. I could not allow it. Not when I could stop him. I do not regret my action. I accept my fate with peace in my heart.”
Henry turned to Percy, already having decided her fate—and it wasn’t the gallows. “Take her home. And speak of this to no one. Fenton and I will see to the body.” Bending, he took up the girl’s discarded weapon. He peered at it for a moment in growing confusion.
“I am sorry to have abused your kindness and trust, my lord, but I had no choice,” said Raquel, pausing. “He has taken so much from so many. He took our children. And he took their lives, the others before me. I heard him talking to his man. They murdered them. Murdered them all. I could not let him do the same to Lady Sabrina. She and her lady mother were so kind to me, though they had no reason to be.”
Tucking his father’s purloined pistol away in his pocket, Henry regarded Fairford’s body with distaste. “He would have died today by my hand, had you not interfered, though I suppose you had more right than anyone to end his life. Still, that will not protect you if word of this gets out.”
“Who is this woman?” interrupted Fenton. “And what’s all this about Fairford murdering people?”
“She is no one you need be concerned with,” Henry replied, piercing him with a cold stare. “A terrible wrong has been righted. That is all you need know. If anyone asks, it was my hand that killed him, and you’ve never seen this woman. Do we have an understanding?”
Paling, Fenton nodded.
“You do not have to protect me, my lord,” said Raquel. “I knew what I was about when I stole the weapon and your servant’s livery. As I said, I am ready to accept my fate.”
He peered at her for a moment. “If I do not do this, you will most certainly be bound for Tyburn, dear lady. And I would not have that be your end. There is also still the matter of his man.”
“Fairford would have had him hiding nearby to ensure your death in the event he missed,” she said calmly.
Henry looked about the meadow with apprehension.
“He will not trouble us,” continued Raquel. “If he was indeed here, then I am certain he has already fled and is halfway to the docks by now. If not, then he will vanish the instant he learns of his master’s death, for he knows he will hang if he is caught, and his loyalty is to himself above all.”
“You are willing to let him escape justice? It was he that executed the other women. I know this to be a fact.”
“Let God be his judge, for he never laid a hand on me,” she replied. “It was Fairford who ordered my child’s death. It was his hands that—”
“I know,” Henry said gently. “We will see if we can find him, just the same.”
She nodded, and he saw that she was trembling from head to toe.
“Percy, get her out of here,” he commanded. “And for God’s sake, find something more appropriate for her to wear before she is seen and there are questions.”
After one last look at the dead man on the ground, Raquel allowed Percy to lead her away.
Henry took off his jacket and laid it on the ground beside Fairford’s body. He addressed Fenton. “Help me move the body. We will take Fairford to his family and explain how he died at my hand on the field of honor, in proper fashion, according to the rules of the challenge. His grievance with me is well known. There should be no questions.”
The other man did not argue.
When all was done and he finally arrived at Aylesford, he was greeted by the sight of Sabrina rushing into the entry hall, skirts hiked up, heels clattering on the marble tile. He caught her in his arms and held her as she wept into his chest unashamedly.
“Thank the Lord!” she sobbed. “When no one came back with news for so long, I thought I’d never see you again!”
Clutching her tightly, he stroked her back and kissed her hair. If there was ever a doubt in his mind regarding her feelings, there was no more. His father, Sheffield, and Lady Aylesford arrived at an only slightly more dignified pace.
“Henry! What in heaven’s name happened?” said his mother-in-law. “No, before that, I must tell you that we have been unable to find Raquel. We’ve searched the house and grounds thoroughly, but there is no trace of her. The constable has been sent for, and—”
“She is with Percy and perfectly safe,” Henry assured her. “I’ve a tale to tell, but not just now,” he said quietly, flicking a glance at the gathering crowd of servants. “Suffice it to say that Fairford has received due justice,” he announced a bit louder. “He will trouble us no more.”
Shifting to a more comfortable position, Sabrina absently rubbed the gentle swell of her midsection as she read. At last, the uproar over the scandal of her wedding and the duel that followed had died down, and the papers had moved on to other news. The duel that never happened, she thought with a smile.
Mrs. Geraldine Childers had disappeared from London, as had Mr. Everett Grimsby, who was now wanted for the Thames murders.
Sabrina grimaced. Upon scanning farther down the page, her eyes widened. “Henry! Look at this,” she exclaimed, showing him the paper:
Lady Bidewell announces her daughter’s engagement to Lord Thomas Fairford, cousin to the recently deceased Lord Francis Fairford, now heir to the Fairford baronetcy.
