Authors: Elizabeth Squire
Liliane’s stomach tightened sickeningly and she felt her head swim. She levelled her gaze back to Solange. ‘You do realise, Solange, that your presence here with De Bois implicates you in Gareth’s murder. Be in no doubt that I’ll not hesitate to tell the authorities all that you have just revealed.’
Solange lifted her skirt and pulled a compact pistol from the garter about her thigh. Small enough to easily conceal, but sufficient to kill a person at close range. With a barely concealed smirk she stepped forward until she was mere inches from Liliane’s face.
‘Oh, I know that, and that’s what makes you such a dismal failure: you have abandoned your true allegiance. We,’ she indicated to De Bois, ‘originally held such hopes for you. But when you blew up the munitions warehouse, we realised you would never be convinced to see reason. Your loyalties were tainted by that English mother of yours.’
Liliane shoved at Solange, pushing her away from her. ‘You disgust me. And far from having abandoned my true allegiances, I remained loyal to them the whole time. True to who I am. Sadly, it was my loyalty that made it so easy for you to manipulate me in the first instance.’
‘Quite so,’ De Bois snarled. ‘And it’s your loyalty that’s going to earn you our lifelong esteem. You seem to have forgotten treason is a hanging offence. So, in order for you to avoid the hangman’s noose, you’re going to lead me to that husband of yours so I may remove the last obstacle in my path.’
Relief coursed through Liliane; Sin was still safe. She stared unseeingly past De Bois, over Solange’s shoulder, gathering her thoughts about her.
A shape moved across her vision.
She blinked.
A second shape followed the first, stopped in the opening and held a finger to his lips. Her breathing hitched and adrenaline coursed through her simultaneously as recognition registered.
She watched Nate indicate to her what he and Sin intended to do. He moved his hand to urge her to keep talking, to keep De Bois and Solange distracted.
She met De Bois’s eyes. ‘And what if I don’t? What if I choose not to lead you to Sin? What do you propose to do then?’
Solange sneered. ‘We simply reveal your activities to everyone and watch you swing. You do realise, of course, your esteemed family will forever be tarnished by your actions. If they don’t hang, I suspect they shall all, at the very least, be stripped of their titles.’
‘I’m so pleased to hear you have given so much thought to my future, Miss Beaumont.’
Liliane froze and despairingly watched Sin step into the opening. The world slowed upon its axis and the sound around her became muted as De Bois whirled towards Sin and simultaneously a pistol discharged.
Liliane’s scream tore through the forest, silencing the birds and evaporating into the canopy. Bewildered, she clasped her bound hands over her mouth, slowly registering Solange standing over De Bois, her pistol still smoking.
Liliane sunk to her knees, tears choking forth, suffocating her while her mind numbed as she tried to take in the sight before her. Sin and Nate were both standing, their pistols still pointing towards De Bois. Relief ricocheted through every nerve ending, paralysing her.
***
Sinclair dropped to his knees before Liliane and enfolded her in his arms. He held her tight and relished the feel of her against his body while thanking the fates she was safe, unharmed. He cupped her jaw and lifted her face towards his, kissing her eyelids. One at a time, gently, tenderly, fervently.
He waited until Liliane opened her eyes and met his. He held her gaze, willing her to read the words imprinted upon his heart.
‘I love you, Liliane,’ he whispered. ‘I love you, you are mine—from now through eternity and beyond. I love you.’
He bowed his head and captured her mouth, kissing her with all the reverence in his soul. His heart swelled as he felt her shift into him, to hook her arms about his neck and anchor herself to him. He felt the tears seeping from her eyes as she opened herself to his kiss. Felt her body tremble in delayed reaction to all that had transpired.
He broke from the kiss and caressed her face and took stock to ensure that she was truly alright. She smiled weakly back at him, her words a balm to his soul.
‘I love you too, Sin … Sinclair. I’ve made such a mess of things, but I love you. Please say you will forgive me.’
Sinclair pulled her closer and wrapped his arms tightly about her, rocking her gently. ‘Shh,
mon fleur
,’ he whispered. ‘There’s nothing to forgive. You’re safe, and that’s all I care about. And De Bois is no longer a threat.’
He looked to where Nate was examining De Bois, ensuring he no longer represented a danger. Solange was standing a few feet away. She had handed Nate her pistol, the one she’d used to shoot De Bois.
Sinclair felt Liliane’s body shivering, and registered for the first time that she was soaked from head to toe and that her hands were bound. Rage, red hot and searing, arose from the pit of his stomach. Not trusting himself to speak, he cut the knots and unwound the ropes from about Liliane’s wrists. De Bois had met a kinder end than he deserved.
Sinclair peeled off his coat and slid it around Liliane’s shoulders, bundling it tight to keep her warm. He stood and lifted her to her feet. ‘We need to get you back to the house, to get you into a warm bath before you take a chill.’
She nodded distractedly, and he noticed the direction of her gaze as she took in the scene before them. He made to grab her but she stepped out from the safety of his embrace and walked towards Solange. Both he and Nate stilled as Liliane stopped before her cousin.
‘You shot De Bois,’ she challenged.
Solange closed her eyes momentarily and shifted her head to face Liliane. Her face was impassive. She nodded briefly. ‘I’m sorry for frightening you, for giving you cause to doubt me. I know it wasn’t right of me to do so, to use you to draw De Bois out.’ She shrugged. ‘But ultimately, it worked. And now,’ she indicated towards the body on the forest floor, ‘he’s no longer a threat.’
Sinclair swapped a brief, questioning glance with Nate, and moved forward to wrap an arm across Liliane’s shoulders. ‘I expect we all have a lot to discuss,’ he addressed Solange. ‘Sir Avery is awaiting us back at the house. First and foremost, though, I’m going to take Liliane and get her cleaned up.’ He lifted one of her wrists. ‘And get these wounds tended to.’
He turned Liliane and led her back through the forest towards the Park. He could rely on Martinbury to guide Solange back to the house, and Thornton, once appraised, would organise a party to fetch De Bois’s body.
Liliane tightened the shawl across her shoulders. It was lovely to be clean and dry again, but she still felt slightly chilled from her plunge into the lake. She knocked lightly on the study door and stepped inside.
Sin greeted her with a smile and bid her to come in. Yvette jumped from her seat and raced across the room to wrap Liliane in a long embrace. ‘You had us all so worried. Promise you won’t do anything so rash ever again.’
As Liliane returned Yvette’s embrace an assortment of faces turned towards her.
‘Please, be seated gentlemen,’ she urged as she made for the fire. ‘I have a far greater need for warmth at the moment than I do for sitting down and relaxing.’ Noticing the tea service before Solange, she commented, ‘Although I’d do anything for a cup of tea, if you wouldn’t mind.’
That sorted, she sipped her tea and looked around the room, trying to discern the source of the tension that permeated the air. There certainly wasn’t much conversation from the other four occupants. With a sigh, she moved forward to take a seat beside Nate and turned to Solange.
‘Well, Solange, you gave me a fright today.’ She cast a glance towards Sin and Sir Avery, hoping they would intervene and explain how Solange had come to be in the company of De Bois. By the looks on their faces, though, that was a question they were happy for her to ask.
She took another sip of her tea and formulated the question in her mind. ‘I apologise if I said anything that may have offended you. You must understand, though, I was taken aback to see you with De Bois.’ From the corner of her eye she saw Sin and Nate exchange a quick glance. ‘How on earth did you convince him to trust you, to believe that you were working with him?’ Across from her Sir Avery sat forward expectantly, his forearms resting upon his knees.
Solange stood and walked to the window, her back to them as she looked out onto the gardens. After some moments she turned to face the room’s occupants. Indicating with her chin towards Sin, she explained, ‘I became concerned when you agreed to take Liliane in my stead, but refused to tell me where you were going. It was a breach of normal protocol and I felt it was necessary to do some investigating of my own.’
‘It was a breach of normal protocol to foist a proxy upon me,’ Sin contradicted.
The two glared at each other for several moments before Solange continued. ‘Maybe so, but I still required answers. So, I made contact with a couple of my colleagues and requested they keep an eye out for you.’ She quirked an eyebrow at Liliane. ‘As it transpired, it wasn’t too hard, particularly after the altercation with that swineherd two nights after your departure.’
Sir Avery paled. ‘Beg pardon?’
Liliane blushed. ‘Just a minor misunderstanding, Sir Avery. I’ll explain it to you later.’ Beside her Sin grimaced.
Solange brought the conversation back to her explanation. ‘After that, my colleagues lost track of you for a couple of days until some careful questioning revealed you had assisted a farmer on the road outside of Boulogne. The farmer was a well-known entity within his local area so it wasn’t too hard to track him down. That was when we learned you had encountered De Bois and accepted his escort to Boulogne.’
Sinclair snorted. ‘That’s a very liberal interpretation of events. But it still doesn’t explain how you came to be in De Bois’s company today.’
Solange looked pointedly at Sin. ‘After you blew up the munitions factory in Boulogne and word got about that Allard had been murdered, I realised De Bois was a significant threat to our operations. You were careless and he used you to identify your contacts and prevent the transfer of further intelligence to British agents. I’m convinced he was the one behind the rumours of a resurrection of the Jacobin movement.’
Sin scowled deeply. ‘We seem to have conflicting opinions on a number of pertinent facts, Mademoiselle Beaumont.’
Solange shrugged. ‘Perhaps, but evidently I needed to intervene in order to bring a stop to De Bois and the only way to do that was to forge an alliance with him.’
Nate interrupted. ‘That doesn’t entirely explain your presence here today, or why you failed to show at Martinbury House yesterday.’
Solange picked up a glass paperweight sitting on Sin’s desk and studied it briefly. Putting it down, she sighed. ‘My plans changed when I became aware Henri Lyon had also arrived in London. In order to protect my alliance, I alerted De Bois to that fact and followed Lyon to an old house near the river.’
She drew a shuddering breath. ‘I didn’t realise De Bois intended to murder him. Afterwards, he threw his body into the Thames.’
Nobody said a word for several moments. Nate frowned. ‘What I don’t understand is how this all ties into the Cousin’s Legacy, and Gareth’s disappearance.’
Sir Avery nodded. ‘Precisely. All the evidence indicates Lyon and Allard were the subject of the Legacy, but what did they ultimately hope to achieve? And what did your grandfather’s watch truly signify?’
Solange walked back across the room and seated herself before the group, her arms folded before her. ‘I don’t have the answers to that, and now we shall never know. Quite frankly, I was as surprised as you to find they were driven by such ulterior motives.’
Sir Avery slumped back in his chair and sadly shook his head. ‘It’s all a blasted waste.’ He blushed and looked to Liliane. ‘Excuse me, Miss Desailly—uh, erm—my Lady.’
Liliane dismissed his concern. ‘No matter, Sir Avery, I agree with you entirely. It is a sad waste of life.’ She looked to Nate and then Sin. ‘I only wish I’d had the pleasure of meeting Gareth. He is the true hero in this whole sorry mess.’
Nate nodded in agreement and raised his glass. ‘To Gareth.’
Sin and Sir Avery followed suit. ‘Here, here,’ they chorused.
Solange stood and the gentlemen reared to their feet. ‘If you will excuse me,’ she implored, ‘I think, in light of matters, I shall make preparations to return to France. There will be a lot of loose ends to tie up now.’
Nate turned to where Solange stood by the door. ‘If you could at least stay to the end of the week, I shall drive you down to London myself.’
Solange shook her head. ‘Thank you, your Grace. While it’s a kind offer, I have no time to waste.’ At the door she paused and looked back to Nate. ‘I would be grateful, though, if you were to consider allowing Yvette to come and spend some time with me. I feel it is time to rebuild some of our lost family ties.’
Nate flicked a glance at Yvette before he inclined his head. ‘I shall discuss it further with Yvette and let you know.’
No one said anything for several moments after the door had closed behind Solange. Finally, Sir Avery broke the silence. ‘Well, that was quite a tale, but perplexing. It certainly explained some things, but it doesn’t explain everything.’
Sin poured each of the gentlemen another nip of brandy. ‘What I don’t get is if Allard and Lyon were De Bois’s real targets, why come after Liliane and I?’
‘Unless,’ Nate pondered, ‘he was protecting someone else. Another link in the chain whose identity it is more important to keep secret than those of Allard and Lyon. The only way that makes sense, however, would be if you and Liliane had inadvertently crossed paths with that man.’
Sir Avery nodded in agreement. ‘Well, gentlemen, I fear we either accept De Bois was responsible for Gareth’s murder or we conclude that our investigations have reached a dead end. The best we can do now is keep an ear to the ground and be prepared to act if anything new comes to light.’
Liliane listened to the exchange between the three men with fascination but she found it hard to mask her disappointment at Sir Avery’s conclusion. ‘So that’s it? Case closed, just like that?’ It all seemed very anti-climatic. De Bois was dead, but all the other evidence seemed so circumstantial.