Page 97 of Married to the Earl

He wrapped his arms around her. “We’ll have the cook prepare some soup for us when we get home. Would you like that?”

“I don’t know if I have an appetite.”

“I understand,” he said. “But you should try to eat. You’ve been through an ordeal.” He rubbed slow circles on her back. “My God. I’m just so glad you’re all right. I was terrified. I’ve never been so frightened in all my life.”

She rested against him. For several minutes, they leaned into each other quietly, comforted by the warm weight of each other’s bodies and the tension in each other’s arms.Everything’s going to be fine,Conor told himself, trying to calm his nerves.We’re safe now. It’s going to be all right.

Astrid straightened in his embrace. “Mr. O’Flannagan?” she asked.

Conor looked up. Astrid had caught sight of O’Flannagan. She looked perplexed. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I came to save you from this mad gunman,” O’Flannagan said, indicating Henry. “Your husband has bad taste in friends, my girl.”

“Perhaps he’ll choose his friends more wisely from now on,” Astrid said.”

“One must hope,” O’Flannagan agreed.

“Perhaps he’ll come to realize he has friends in places he might not have thought to look,” she said shrewdly.

O’Flannagan laughed. “What did I say?” he asked Conor. “A clever lass indeed.”

Astrid slid off the table and onto her feet. Conor kept a careful hand on her back in case she needed any extra support, but she seemed to be fine under her own power. “Let’s go home,” she told Conor.

Conor took her hand and was just about to lead her to the door when it burst open again.

A knot of police swarmed into the room. They spread out, taking up all the space inside the club. One officer rushed to Astrid’s side and began speaking to her in hushed tones. Several more had made their way to where Henry lay and were examining his prone form.

It took Conor a surprisingly long time to understand what was going on.

Then DuBois appeared in the doorway.

Of course,Conor thought.The hour must be up. And DuBois is here with the police, doing just as I asked him to.

He hurried to his butler’s side, confident that Astrid was secure in the hands of the officer she was talking to. Another officer had commandeered O’Flannagan and was clearly being treated to a rundown of the events that had taken place that night.

“DuBois,” he said. “You came.”

“As you ordered,” DuBois agreed. “I’m very glad to see that you’re all right, My Lord. I must admit, you had us all worried. We had rather hoped that you would make it home before the hour was up, and that we wouldn’t be required to involve the authorities. But at the same time, it was a relief to let them know what was going on.”

“You did the right thing,” Conor assured him. “If anything, I should have listened to you about involving the police earlier in the evening. Things almost went very badly.”

“Is Lady Middleborough well?”

“She’ll be fine,” Conor said. “I wonder if you might return to the manor, DuBois, and ask the cook to put on a stew for us? I’ll want her to eat something when we get home.”

“As you say, sir,” DuBois said. “And I’ll also send a carriage around so that you won’t have to walk home.”

“That would be much appreciated.” He had been worried about Astrid walking all the way home, especially in the dark.

One of the police officers came over as DuBois retreated. “Lord Middleborough,” he said. “We’ve just spoken to Mr. Killian O’Flannagan about the events here tonight, and it seems clear that Mr. Henry Wilson is behind not only your wife’s kidnapping, but likely also the murder of Lord Hayward.”

“Yes, Mr. Wilson confessed as much to me,” Conor said. He handed over the ownership contracts. “These are the papers he forced me to sign when he had a gun to my wife’s head. He’s done all this to try to gain control of The Arc.”

The officer nodded. “In light of the circumstances, you can rest assured that these contracts will be void,” he said. “Mr. Wilson is being taken into custody as we speak.”

“Am I still considered a suspect?”

“No,” the officer said. “Consider yourself cleared of all charges.”

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