Page 100 of The Curious Life of the Unfortunate Duchess
With horror, Elizabeth watched the Viscount’s head flop down and he took a last shuddering breath before being claimed by death.
“Elizabeth, you must leave here,” Leonard told her urgently. “Mark is still on the premises.”
“He is,” David agreed, entering the salon, the sack of ransom money in his hands. “But he has been contained. He waits for the guards to put him in the barracks.”
David’s face twisted as his eyes fell upon his father’s lifeless body. His hazel eyes darted toward Elizabeth and the Duke before returning his stare to the Viscount.
“Father?” he choked. “Father?”
“He is gone, David,” Elizabeth whispered, touching his shoulder as David crouched to Percival’s side. “It was an accident.”
Bewildered, David looked up at his sister and nodded slowly, blinking back the mass of tears in his eyes.
“Your Grace!” the guards appeared and reached for Cooper who remained on the ground. “How did these men get in?”
“My word, Llewynn, I was hoping you might tell me, considering it is your job to secure this premises!” Leonard retorted caustically. “Needless to say, there will be a changing of the guards in the coming days.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Sighing deeply, Leonard turned to all else who stood, still consumed with an insurmountable wash of emotions.
“You foolish man!” Elizabeth told him. “You could have been killed!”
She sniffled back the tears in her voice and stared at him imploringly.
“Why did you do such a reckless thing?” she demanded, her voice cracking. His brows knit.
“He was prepared to kill you, Liza. I swore to you that you will forever be protected under my watch and I will do whatever necessary to ensure you are always safe from harm.”
“But—”
“But nothing, darling.” He drew her trembling body into his arms and stroked her hair. “You may cry, sweet Liza. You have much to be sorrowful for.”
“Come along, Herbert,” Catherine murmured. “Frances may have heard the gunfire and been alarmed. We must ensure she is well.”
“I will join you,” David added, tearing his eyes away from his father’s body reluctantly.
“Indeed,” Herbert agreed but he waited to give Leonard one last look of appreciation. “Thank you, Your Grace. You have saved us all.”
“Herbert,” Leonard called toward his retreating back. The barrister stopped and looked at him.
“Your Grace?”
“I daresay that it is high time you started calling me Duke, would you not?”
Pride and embarrassment flooded his face and he nodded, darting his eyes down.
“Yes…Duke,” he murmured before scrambling after Catherine. He held Elizabeth against his chest until the guards cleared Percival’s body. Only then did he set her back to stare into her bloodshot eyes.
“How did it come to this?” she moaned. “One day we were so innocent, we believed our father loved us, and the next—”
“The next you have found yourself in another household with a family who genuinely loves you. You, David, and Frances have a home at Brookside. There is no threat here for you, not any longer.”
Elizabeth visibly swallowed and nodded, her misery clear. Leonard knew it would take time to regain her confidence and happy disposition but he was a patient man. She had endured so much and to learn her father was a man willing to risk her life for greed was a devastation no lady should ever know.
“We will stay a while,” Elizabeth agreed softly, raising her eyes back to stare at him warmly. “Until we have found our bearings.”
“Perhaps your bearings are here,” Leonard told her gently. “And you need not look any further.”
