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“Do you truly believe that?” she cried.
“Yes, I do.” He did not even turn, he just continued walking away.
“Please, do not do that! Please don’t turn into the monster everybody thinks you are!”
Keyon halted on his track and froze in place.Thank God!
She slowly reached for him and touched his arm. Keyon pulled his arm away as if he’d been burned.
“Please,” Eloise asked once more.
Keyon took a deep breath, then gave her a sharp nod. “Come.”
They descended the stairs toward the dungeon in silence. Eloise’s heart beat loudly against her chest, so loud that she was certain Keyon could hear it. When they entered the corridor leading to the cell, Eloise could see the outlined silhouettes of two large guards and a tiny lady defiantly standing between them.
A small smile threatened to break out of Eloise’s lips, but she didn’t trust the events that were happening enough to openly show her joy.
As they reached the cell, Keyon came close to Helen and looked down at her as if he might be looking at some sort of bug.
“Do you truly wish for your husband to be free?” he asked.
“Of course,” Helen said, her voice cracking.
“You know he was unfaithful to you. Regularly.”
Helen blinked but did not answer.
“He seduced my little sister, led her into peril, and left her there. Then he took you away from your home while he proceeded to drink himself to incoherency. These past few days were the first days of sobriety for him, weren’t they?”
Helen raised her eyes to his. “Please, let him go,” she whispered.
“As you wish.” Keyon tipped his head toward one of the guards. “Open the cell.”
The door opened, and a man stumbled out, squinting. Helen tentatively stepped toward him and hugged his arm.
Keyon turned to Garric. “Go to the cellar and get the special brandy.”
“The special brandy?”
“Yes, and then meet us upstairs,” Keyon said before turning back to the prisoner. “Your wife has saved you. I hope you treasure that.”
They all slowly proceeded upstairs in silence. Helen clutched her husband’s arm, as if afraid he’d disappear. Eloise edged closer to Keyon.
“Thank you,” she said.
Keyon slid her a side look. “Do not thank me yet.”
Eloise glanced at him in confusion, but Keyon did not elaborate. He hurried his step and led the procession out of the dungeon.
Garric waited for them in the main hall with an expensive-looking bottle of brandy. Keyon took it before turning to Helen and her husband.
“I am giving you this chance, just because of your wife,” he said.
“I don’t deserve it,” Mr. St. John croaked.
“No, you do not. But she has suffered enough. I truly believe that she’d be better off without you, but she disagrees. And I tend to listen to what women want.” He paused. “However, I am letting you go on two conditions. One, you stop overindulging in spirits. And two, you stay faithful to your wife.”
Helen looked at Keyon in puzzlement. She clearly did not expect to hear this from the biggest scoundrel in London. Yet there they were. A wicked lord and a benevolent criminal.
“Take this bottle of brandy as a symbol of our truce.” He handed the bottle into St. John’s hands.
“I thought you told me not to imbibe?” St. John looked confused.
“Then let it be a test,” Keyon said. “Now leave! The carriage awaits.”
