Page 86 of The Bachelor
While Malet’s attention was on the greatcoat, Joshua thrust his right hand beneath his frock coat and drew his pistol. As the coat landed, Gwyn pushed the button to release the sword from Joshua’s cane and jammed it down as hard as she could into Malet’s calf.
The man howled and moved the knife from her neck for a fraction of a second, just long enough for her to duck under Malet’s arm and for Joshua to fire.
And Malet crumpled.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Gwyn looked down at Lionel and realized he wasn’t moving. Besides which, there was an awful lot of blood on his waistcoat and the floor. Joshua pushed Lionel’s knife away with the toe of his boot just in case.
“Do you think he’s dead?” she asked Joshua.
“Probably. I aimed to kill.” Joshua shoved his spent pistol into the fall of his trousers, then stepped forward to the console table. He held on to it so he could bend down and check Lionel’s neck. “I can safely say he is dead.”
“Thank heaven,” she murmured, even as a chill seeped through her bones. She and Joshua had come so close to death themselves.
Joshua lifted a brow. “That’s a bit bloodthirsty, don’t you think?”
“I do not.” She thrust out her chin. “I was so afraid he might get to one of those pistols in your greatcoat and shoot you!”
“You do know how to prick a man’s pride,” he said dryly as he pulled her against him.
That was when she realized what she’d said. “I didn’t mean it that way. I merely feared you would be so worried formethat you would do something reckless.”
“You mean, like stab a fellow in the leg while he’s holding a knife to your throat?”
“Yes, I suppose thatwasreckless. I should have left the matter in your clearly capable hands.” She gazed up into his face. “But I had to dosomething. I wasn’t going to let Lionel get away with whatever he planned to do.”
“You nearly gave me heart failure,” he said hoarsely. “If he had cut your throat—”
The sound of people running around upstairs brought them both to their senses. Obviously, everyone in the house had heard the gunshot. She and Joshua would have to make explanations.
He ushered her past Lionel’s body and into the hall just as her mother—in nightdress, wrapper, and mobcap—rounded the staircase baluster and saw them together.
“What happened?” Mama cried.
Sheridan came up behind her, wearing a dressing gown and slippers. “We heard a shot.”
Then Heywood appeared. “A gunshot,” Heywood said, as if that needed clarification. “Loud enough to wake me on the third floor, though Cass miraculously slept right through it.”
“Yes, it was indeed a gunshot.” Joshua squeezed Gwyn’s waist as if to caution silence. “Malet got into the house somehow and tried to kidnap Gwyn at knifepoint. I was forced to shoot him.”
“Then thank goodness you were here!” Mama said. “Shall I fetch a doctor for him?”
“There’s no reason,” Gwyn said. “Mr. Malet is dead.” And with him died her fear of what he might say about her to the world, what scandal he might foment.
It sank in that she no longer had to worry. She’d never realized until just that moment how much her past with Malet had dogged her throughout her life. And now, what a weight his death had taken off her shoulders!
By that point, half a dozen servants were amassing behind Mama and Sheridan, and they began to murmur among themselves.
Immediately, Joshua turned into Major Wolfe and took charge of the situation, pointing to individual servants as he barked orders. “You there, let John out of the coat closet where Mr. Malet locked him, and get him out of his bindings. You there, find a sheet or something else with which to cover Mr. Malet’s body. And you there, come with me. I need you to carry a message to Lucius Fitzgerald, undersecretary to the War Secretary.”
Oh, right. Joshua’s new secret employer.
Sheridan lifted a brow at Joshua’s commanding tone. “What does the undersecretary to the War Office have to do with Malet?”
Blast. What could Joshua say tothat?
“Malet was cashiered, yet he was still using his rank as if he hadn’t been,” Joshua said smoothly. “The undersecretary mentioned the problem to me when I was at the War Office asking about my half-pay. I told Fitzgerald that if I encountered the man, I’d be sure to let the War Office know. I encountered him. He tried to abduct Gwyn. I shot him. Now I am letting the War Office know.”
