Page 86 of Five Nights with a Rakish Duke
“Do not say that about her!” Asher roared from his place above Jarvis on the other side of the driveway.
“The letter… the one that was sent to Asher in my name. You did that?” Penelope asked, needing to have all the answers now. Adam smiled a little, apparently pleased with his work, but his eyes flicked past her, toward his sister. Penelope slowly turned around, finding Margaret with shaking hands that she had lowered from her face. “You wrote the letter?”
“I saw you hand it to the butler to be delivered,” Margaret said, the words pouring out of her along with gasping cries. “I took it from him, read it, and oh… I couldn’t bear it! You were in love with the man I was supposed to marry! So… I showed it to Adam, and he told me to rewrite the letter. He said it was for the best.”
“It was to separate us,” Penelope said with finality and looked back to Adam. “That was all it was, wasn’t it? All of it?” she asked, approaching Adam a little more. “When Asher was struck in the garden at that ball… That was you too, wasn’t it?” Adam’s lip curled in a snarl.
“He wouldn’t take the hint to leave you alone, would he?” he said, shaking his head. “I had to do something. Penelope…” He tried to tear free from the footman again when he said her name. It was such a violent push that the footman had to elbow Adam in the stomach, winding him and keeping him backed up against the carriage. “Pen…” He tried to say her name again but failed.
“You are not the man I thought you were.” Penelope said the words with as much venom as she could muster before turning on her heel and walking away across the driveway, aware that Adam was doing his best to reach her again but was still getting nowhere.
“He’s here,” Margaret said quietly.
“Who?” Penelope asked, not looking back at her cousin, for she was too angry at her.
“The constable.” Penelope turned her head to see Margaret was right. Walker was back, sitting at the front of a jail cart. At his side was the constable, who pulled on the horses’ harness, dragging the cart to an ungainly stop.
“What has happened here?” the constable cried as he stood to his feet, and Walker jumped down.
“We have two men for you to arrest,” Asher said, earning Penelope’s gaze. “Murderers.”
Epilogue
“Here, Penny, drink this.” Asher passed a glass of brandy into her hands, watching as her fingers trembled around the crystal and golden-brown liquid. Seeing how much she was struggling, Asher changed tact. He crouched down to his knees, in front of her in the chair, and clasped his hands around hers on the glass, holding her gently. “It’s over, love; I promise you that.”
Penny smiled a little, a sad sort of smile that barely reached her eyes.
“I can scarcely believe what has happened today,” she whispered into the air. He slowly nodded in agreement. Much indeed had happened with so many revelations that it seemed nigh-on impossible to be calm.
After the constable had arrived, Asher had told him exactly what had taken place, whereafter both Lord Larson and Jarvis were taken away to Newgate. They would appear before a magistrate within weeks.
Judging by the punishments enacted these days, Asher knew a hanging sentence could be involved; if not, then at least transportation. If Lord Larson didn’t face a noose, he would face spending his days in a foreign land, forced into hard labor.
Good. For a man capable of double murder and trying to force himself on his own cousin… he deserves due punishment.
“How are you?” Asher asked as softly as he could as he urged the glass to Penny’s lips, hopeful that the brandy would help to calm her nerves.
“I will be well,” she said with conviction. “It’s odd… knowing what happened; that my father was…” She couldn’t bring herself to say the word and tilted her head forward, looking down at the brandy they were both clutching to. He caressed her fingers beneath his, needing that connection with her. “At least he has justice now, doesn’t he? My father, I mean. Though nothing can bring him or my uncle back, I know that, but at least justice will be done now.”
“Yes, that is what we must look to.” Asher raised himself higher on his knees, until he reached Penny’s head height, leaning a little closer to her. “There are awful things in this world, Penny, but we must hold onto justice. The wrong has been righted, even if it feels a little late.”
“Yes, you are right,” she sighed then closed her eyes, evidently still trying to calm her shuddering breath. “What if he gambled away all of my father’s money? All of it? What then will be there left to live on? The mere thought of it makes me angry. What would my father say if he could see all that Adam has done?”
Asher grimaced, knowing it was quite likely from what he had seen that day, and Adam’s refusal to pay Jarvis, that all the money could indeed be gone, then he looked back to Penny, realizing something.
“It’s awful, but it is not the end of the world.” He waited until she opened her green eyes, looking at him again. “You still have your estates, love. They have been in my name, so he hasn’t been able to gamble them away again, has he? And… if you will still marry me, I can offer you a very comfortable life as a Duchess.” He was thrilled when she smiled through her sadness. “Quite comfortable, I assure you.” She laughed softly.
“A Duchess? I’ve never heard that described as aquitecomfortable life before,” she said, controlling her laughter. “Asher, after you have seen what family you would be connecting yourself with, do you still want to marry me?”
“Penny…” He paused and reached for her hand, lifting it to his lips. Rather than kissing the back, he turned the hand over, placing a soft kiss to the underside of her wrist in a much more intimate position. Penny leaned forward out of her chair at the action, coming closer toward him. “There is not a doubt in my mind. I still want to marry you, and nothing could ever change that.”
“Thank God!”
He bent down toward her, kissing her, and wishing he could take away all the pain that had been experienced that day with a simple kiss.
“I just keep thinking,” she said as she pulled back from the kiss.
“What of?”
