shook with anger.
Gabriel raised his hands and walked slowly toward Rowland. “He’s going to kill you.”
“No, he isn’t. Because when he opens the door I’m going to—” He glanced over Gabriel’s shoulder at something. It was only a second’s distraction, but it was all Gabriel needed. He threw himself into Rowland’s midriff and knocked him to the ground. Unfortunately, the pistol also hit the ground, skittering across the rough plank flooring.
“What do we ’ave ’ere? You ladies ’avin’ a dance?”
Gabriel rolled onto his side and up onto his feet, immediately dropping into a crouch.
It was Jed, and he was alone. Gabriel lunged for him. For such a big man, he stepped out of the way nimbly, and Gabriel skidded past him.
He heard laughter as he turned around. Jed was grinning, rolling up his sleeves. “A milling-cove, are ye? It’s some o’ the home brew you want, aye?”
Gabriel dropped into a boxer’s stance and raised his fists, sweeping the room with his eyes, looking for the gun. Rowland was rolling and moaning on the floor, his knees tucked up to his chest.
The gun had slid all the way to the far wall.
Gabriel began sidling toward it, but then Jed launched his body directly at him and he had no time for anything else.
* * *
Drusilla wished she’d listened to Parker.
“Please let me come with you, madam. Or perhaps one of the footmen. Mr. Marlington will skin me alive when he learns I let you go alone.”
“No, he won’t.” That was a lie; Gabriel would be furious. But, hopefully, it would all be over by then and she could take the brunt of his anger, rather than their servants. She’d been tempted to tell Parker about the pistol she had in the big leather satchel with the money, but she knew how men were. He would not feel assured at the knowledge she had a gun; he would be even more nervous.
“I can’t, Parker. The note said nobody but me or the consequences would be dire. I cannot take chances. If Mr. Marlington happens to return in the next fifty minutes, please wait until after nine and then you can tell him where I went.” She personally doubted the butler would be able to make him wait even ten seconds—she’d seen Gabriel in a rage—but it was the best she could do.
She opened the satchel and looked inside, as if the money and gun might have gone somewhere. No, both were still there. Ten thousand pounds—a fortune for most people. But for a gambler? She doubted Theo would make it last very long. But that would not be her problem.
The carriage came to an abrupt halt, and she had to cling to the strap above the door to keep from falling off her seat. The panel slid open, and the hack driver looked at her. “Are ye sure this is the place ye wanted, missus?” he asked, concern clouding his voice.
Drusilla looked out the window onto a dark, narrow street that had at least a thousand places to hide. She swallowed hard. “Yes, this is the place. I want you to wait for me.”
He hesitated but then said, “I’ll wait for ten minutes, no more. Those ’oo run these streets are like to ’ave the wheels offa my carriage afore I even know it.”
Drusilla opened the door and stepped out before answering. She held up a gold coin, and his eyes widened. “You will wait until I return and I will give you this.”
He nodded, his expression grudging. “Aye. If you still ’ave it in ten minutes.”
There was no window on the squat two-story building, which displayed an ancient-looking and crooked sign saying LIONEL SNIVELY & SONS, PURVEYOR OF SPECIALTY GOODES. She knocked on the door and waited. A full minute passed, and she knocked again. Still nothing. She looked at the building next door—it appeared to be a ropemaker’s. There was light coming from the gap around a small door cut in a larger door.
There was also an inn, but the raucous voices spilling from the cracked and hazy window made her shudder; the Jolly Taxpayer public house would be her last choice.
The driver had taken a flask from somewhere and was busy with it, paying Drusilla no attention. She took the pistol out of the bag, slung the satchel over her shoulder, put her hand on the handle, and opened the door.
* * *
They were surprisingly well matched when it came to skill. Unfortunately, Jed outweighed Gabriel by a good