Page 72 of The Outcast's Redemption
‘My love, tell me honestly, do you still mean to marry Sir Loftus? It is not kind of you to keep him waiting, you know, if you mean to jilt him.’
‘Jilt him?’ The letter slid from Grace’s fingers and she bent to retrieve it. ‘Good gracious, Aunt, why should I do such a thing?’
‘Because you are showing more interest in visiting a prison than seeing your fiancé.’
‘I...I want to help Wolf, that is all.’
Aunt Eliza’s brows rose. ‘So it is Wolf now. You are mighty friendly with that young man, Grace.’
‘The injustice of his situation shocks me. Papa urged me to support him and I have done so.’ She added, as much to convince herself as her aunt, ‘It is not friendship or anything warmer that draws me to the prison, but duty.’
‘Well, I am relieved to hear it,’ said Aunt Eliza. ‘I was afraid you were in danger of throwing away your chance of lasting happiness for a man who is not free, and who, barring a miracle, is like to hang before the year is out.’
* * *
Aunt Eliza’s words haunted Grace as she made her way to Horsemonger Lane the following day. She lifted her eyes to the prison roof and a little shiver of foreboding ran through her as she stared at the scaffold. The feeling of disquiet grew even stronger when she found Richard with his brother, and looking grim. She stopped in the doorway, clutching her basket before her, until Wolf invited her to come in.
‘Is there news?’ she asked, as she took the proffered chair. The men glanced at one another and she said quickly, ‘Please tell me.’
Richard pulled up a second chair and sat down.
‘Wolf is to be tried at the Sessions House in a se’ennight,’ he said.
‘So soon!’ Grace looked at Wolf, who nodded.
‘And Urmston is funding my prosecution for Meesden’s murder.’
Grace frowned. ‘Is that not unusual?’
‘Florence was his cousin,’ said Richard. ‘And since Meesden was her dresser Urmston says it is his moral duty to see justice done.’
‘Justice!’ Wolf’s lip curled. ‘If there were any justice it would be Urmston standing in the dock. As it is he lays my wife’s death and the theft of the diamonds at my door, too. A very neat end to his machinations.’
‘Sophia has directed her lawyers to handle this case,’ put in Richard. ‘They approached Urmston to settle this privately, but he will not budge. He is determined to see you hang, Brother.’
‘Of course. He wants me to take the blame for his crimes.’ Wolf scowled. ‘He knows what happened to Florence, I am sure of it. I have had plenty of time to think while I have been locked up here. When we went to see Meesden, Grace, do you remember her words?“She would have been happier with—”She did not say with whom, but I believe she meant Charles Urmston. He and my wife were very close, you see. Too close. That was the reason for our argument the night she died. I told her I was damned if I’d be cuckolded in my own house.’
He began to pace about the room, head down, thinking. ‘It is all tied up with the diamonds. Urmston would sell his own grandmother for a groat. Perhaps he wanted the necklace and Florence did not want him to take it. I think Meesden, too, knew what happened that night. Urmston may well have paid her to keep quiet and her subsequent disappearance did not matter until I returned to England and began to ask questions. And Urmston now seems quite anxious to find the necklace. He asked me about it again when he came here.’
‘Well, it is worth a fortune and his funds are certainly at low ebb again,’ said Richard. ‘When I ran into him in Bath the summer before last he was once more in need for a fortune and trying to find himself another heiress. Even tried to abduct Ellen. My stepdaughter,’ he explained to Grace, adding with a grin, ‘She’s a minx, but fortunately too clever to fall for his tricks. She even bamboozled me into marrying her stepmama.’
Grace saw his face soften as he thought of his wife and felt a momentary pang of envy. Not that it wasRichardArrandale she wanted to think of her with affection. A glance at Wolf showed him lost in thought, his countenance very grim, and she sought around for some glimmer of hope.
‘You say your great-aunt has hired lawyers to defend you? They will be the very best, I think.’
Wolf shook his head. ‘With the evidence against me there is little hope of an acquittal, even in a fair trial. But here, where Urmston already has the magistrate in his pocket—’ He leaned on the table. ‘There is no alternative, I must get out.’ His stormy eyes fell on Grace. ‘You had best leave, my dear. I would not have you compromised by what we are about to discuss.’
‘You plan to escape, sir?’
‘I am going to try,’ he said. ‘I have done many foolish things in my time, but I will not be hanged for crimes I did not commit.’
‘Then let me help you.’
‘No.’ He shook his head. ‘You have risked enough for me already.’
‘But—’
‘Go back to Arrandale and marry Sir Loftus. Then I need worry about you no longer.’
* * *
Grace winced as his words cut into her, but she would not let him dismiss her so readily. Her determination manifested itself in a steely calm. She gazed at the two men.
‘Do either of you have a plan?’ When neither of them spoke she said, with no little satisfaction, ‘Well, I do.’
