Page 112 of The Duke's Wicked Widow
Fawkes’s voice was strained. “What are ye talking about.”
“I went to yer flat, Fawkes.”
Forsaking the garland, Ellie tossed the whole damnable thing over the banister and whirled to stare at Thorne in shock as he continued blithely.
“I rifled through yer papers and I found the letter from Blackrose. Theretirementletter from Blackrose…with yer pension.”
“Yebastard,” Fawkes hissed, looking ready to launch himself at the other man.
Ellie darted forward, grabbing his forearm, trying to remind him that violence wasn’t the answer even as her mind whirled.
“You worked for Blackrose,” she whispered, almost to herself, staring sightlessly at the garish cuckoo clock above the umbrella stand. “Ye were one of his agents.”
Fawkes was still glaring at Thorne, the long column of his throat working in his rage.
Thorne glanced sympathetically at Ellie. “Sorry, Danielle. I should’ve guessed ye didnae ken. If ye had, ye wouldnae be with him.”
“Why not?” She shrugged and shook her head to clear it. “I am friends with you and Olivia and Demon, am I not? As far asanyoneis allowed to be friends with him, I mean.” She tilted her head back to stare up at Fawkes as all the pieces of the puzzle slid into place. “This explains how you knew Uncle William escaped to Canada. And so much about the investigation. And why you did not ask more questions about the code—and your tattoo!” she gasped. “The black rose with the dagger through it!Blackrose.”
When Fawkes finally looked down at her, there was a bleakness in his expression she didn’t recognize.Defeat. In his eyes?
“You were one of his agents,” she whispered. “How did you escape the purge? When he killed so many of his agents? Thorne retired as soon as he became his uncle’s heir apparent. Demon survived because he had been injured so badly by Rourke. Calderbank went into hiding. Wilson had been one of Blackrose’s agents all along. And you…?”
Fawkes just stared dully.
It was Thorne who finally answered quietly. “He survived the purge, Danielle, because like Wilson, Fawkes was still working for Blackrose. He was doing yer uncle’s evil bidding up until…quite recently.”
Ellie couldn’t help the way she gasped at the implications. Shecouldhave stopped herself from releasing his arm and stepping away, but she didn’t. She stared at him in confusion.Recently.
“Retired,” Fawkes croaked. “I’m free now.” He lifted the paper—the deed to Hangcok Hill—and began to fold it neatly.
“Aye, that’s what I was saying,” Thorne explained softly. “When I broke into his flat—nice locks, by the way— I found the letter from Blackrose, wishing him a happy retirement and granting him the pension we’d always joked about. Ye havenae cashed the stock certificate yet?”
Since this last was said to Fawkes, the auburn-haired man looked up and met Thorne’s gaze.
“Nay,” Fawkes said simply. “I hadnae intended to.”
“Because ye want nothing more to do with Blackrose?”
Instead of answering, Fawkes glanced down at the paper in his hand. Perhaps he was thinking about how he didn’tneedstock certificates. If he owned Hangcok Hill and the estate’s earnings, then he’d be able to support his mother indefinitely.
But at that moment, Ellie couldn’t seem to concentrate—couldn’t seem tocare.
Oh my heavens.
All this time, he’d been an agent…apoisoner?
“You have been working for Blackrose all along. As the Duke of Death,” she whispered incredulously, the words hardly making sense. “How long?”
Fawkes kept his attention on the folded paper in his hand when he spoke in a low, scratchy voice. “I received that letter from him right before ye showed up to tell me—” He cut himself off, his tongue darting over his lower lip as he glanced at Thorne. “The night of the snowstorm.”
So he’d been working for her uncle the entire time. “Until he returned to Britain.” She shook her head in disbelief. The first times she’d been with him—and the day in the park where he’d found Tramp…he’d still worked for Blackrose. “You have been his agent all along.”
Finally—finally—Fawkes lifted his chin and met her gaze.
He didn’t say anything and she couldn’t read his expression.
But he didn’t deny it.
