Raven (Gentlemen of the Order #2) - Adele Clee Page 0,71
fever a year ago.”
No doubt Archer wished it was the case.
“Stay back!” Goodwin cried in a panic. “You’ll frighten Miss Draper.”
Archer’s temper flared. “Perhaps you should stop pandering to her, stop treating her like a child. She seemed perfectly rational a moment ago.” He switched his attention to Sophia. “Lower your hood, my dear, so I might see the angelic face that haunts my dreams.”
Sophia stepped back but said nothing due to her earlier mistake.
It was time for Finlay to confront the rogue. He was about to slip out from the behind the tree when Archer darted towards Sophia.
Hellfire!
Flustered, she pulled the pistol from her muff. “Get back!” With a shaky hand, she aimed at the startled gentleman, who came to a crashing halt. “Don’t come a step closer else I shall put a lead ball in your black heart.”
“What devious game is this?” Archer said as if innocent of any wrongdoing.
Sophia tugged down the hood of her cloak. “You’re the one playing a game,” she cried. “The magistrate will be interested to hear your confession. Dr Goodwin will testify you blackmailed him into committing an offence.”
“Ah, Sophia, or should I say Lady Adair. You’ve risen in the ranks since last we met.” Arrogance coated Archer’s words. “But I think you’ll find Goodwin is not a doctor. There’s not a magistrate in the land who would deem him credible.”
“But I heard your confession,” Finlay said, entering the clearing. “Perhaps you’re unaware of my connection to Sir Malcolm Langley at Bow Street. Such an esteemed gentleman can influence the decision of a provincial magistrate.”
Archer’s wry smile belied the nervous shuffling of his feet. “Finlay Cole,” he drawled. “I thought you were dead.”
“Afraid not, though I intend to ensure you swing from the scaffold.”
“Aren’t you being a tad presumptuous? The doctor misunderstood my instruction. I asked him to care for Jessica in my absence, to make sure the fortune hunters stayed away. I don’t recall ever instructing him to drug a woman. And whatever has been said here tonight is simply hearsay.”
Blood charged through Finlay’s veins, hot, molten, filling his fists until they throbbed with the need to pummel the smirk from Archer’s smug face. But it was Goodwin who lost all grip of his faculties.
“You bastard!” Goodwin lunged at Archer, punching him so hard on the nose it spurted with blood. “You’ve ruined my damn life!”
“Everyone has a choice.” Archer laughed while clutching his nose. “You said so yourself.”
Goodwin kicked Archer in the shin, and a fight ensued. Both men threw punches and grappled for an advantage, their jostling becoming a welter of flailing limbs. Finlay hoped they killed each other for it would save him the trouble.
“You told me to drug her!” Goodwin’s face burned red with rage. “To make everyone believe she was insane so you could blackmail Mr Draper. He paid the ransom, gave you more when you said you would make Maud pose as his daughter.”
Archer hit back, knocking Goodwin’s head sideways. “And you’re my damn accomplice, you fool.”
“Stop! I’ve a pistol and intend to kill one of you tonight!” Sophia shouted, scaring Finlay half to death. “Will it be you, Mr Archer?”
Both men straightened, panic flashing in their eyes.
Finlay’s heart galloped faster than Sloane’s Cleveland bays. “Lower the pistol, Sophia. These reprobates aren’t worth the suffering that comes from taking a man’s life.”
“Nothing could be worse than seeing Jessica suffer all these years.” She aimed at Goodwin. “You administered the drugs. You poisoned her mind.”
“Yes, and it was wrong of me.” Goodwin slapped his hands together in prayer. “You heard what Maud said last night. Archer is cruel and calculating. Hell, he just lied about his wife’s death.”
Archer’s eyes bulged as large as billiard balls. He coughed while struggling to find his voice. “Maud? You saw Maud last night? Maud is in England?”
“Not just in England,” Finlay said, relishing the flash of fear in the villain’s eyes. “Your wife is currently residing at Blackborne.”
Finlay expected the devil to splutter some more. Maud would testify against Archer. She would give the magistrate a full account when he arrived. So why did he experience a sudden pang of trepidation? Why did his anger dissipate and his blood run cold?
“Good God!” Archer exclaimed. “Where is Jessica? Please tell me you’ve not left her with Maud?”
“Why?” Finlay demanded. “Maud said you want to kill her, marry Jessica and manipulate her into giving away her inheritance.”
Archer clutched his forehead as though his brain might burst through his skull. “The woman is