Page 74 of Her Wicked Highwayman
They’d crossed paths more than once in grimy taverns near the docks and in the crowded din of gambling hells, with Phelps often speaking to people Rafe had been making wagers with.Each time Rafe had seen him, he’d left the area immediately. Wherever Phelps was, Caddington was likely to be close by.
Rafe wasn’t about to chance putting himself in a situation where he and Caddington would have to face each other. The man had unnatural interests. There were rumors about how he craved the pain of others, and more than one person had suggested that he’d killed a few of his servants. Not that anyone dared to challenge him in the light of day. The man was a local magistrate and held a fair amount of power.
And if he had Diana, he could accuse her of being Tyburn and hang her for it.
Rafe clenched the letter in his fist as he cursed his foolishness. He had assumed the storm would cover their tracks. He’d doomed them all.
Rafe stared at the paper he’d crushed in his fist as he tried to breathe.
That sense of urgency that always drove him to recklessness, that need to live his life at breakneck speed, came into clear focus now. Some part of him had always known this day would come. For his sins, both old and new, the piper had come to collect his due.
He would not live to grow old with Diana or see Isla become the incredible woman she was destined to be. And he would never get to lie beside Diana in bed and whispered to her, “I love you, wife mine,” as dawn kissed her face. All his dreams winked out of existence as Rafe’s night sky went forever dark.
But there was one shining star he could still save.
He cast the letter into the fire and stood. His hands trembled as he watched the words of his doom be devoured by flames.
“I’m coming, Diana.”
CHAPTER 17
Rafe slipped quietly into the nursery and found his daughter asleep in her bed. Her russet curls against the pillow formed a wild halo around her head. Her chest rose and fell as she breathed deeply. She bore a slight smile, as though her dreams were sunny ones. His heart turned in his chest and his eyes burned with tears.
He shot a quick glance at Mrs. Chesterfield, who was quietly reading a book by the fire. She smiled at Rafe and went back to reading. He swore the woman never slept, and aside from Isla giving her the slip right before that awful storm, she was a damned fine nanny. And she would have to be, given what was coming.
Rafe sat down on Isla’s bed and she stirred a little, but she didn’t wake. He took one of her small hands in his and pressed a kiss to her fingers and drew in a shaky breath.
“You are my world,” he whispered, too soft for the nanny to hear. “You saved me that night we met, little kitten. No matter what happens, I will see that you have the life you deserve, even if I cannot be there to see it.” He had so much more he wanted to tell her, but he dared not. If he spoke any more, he would lose his will to leave. He had to save Diana, the woman who heldhis heart and soul. And while he feared he wouldn’t survive the night, if Diana did, she would be the one he chose to care for his daughter.
He rose and removed the letters he had tucked into his waistcoat and put them under the gilt frames of the portraits of Isla’s parents. They would watch over her while she slept. He tucked Mrs. Crumpet more deeply under Isla’s arm and then pressed a kiss, perhaps the last one he would ever give to his daughter, on her forehead.
He left the house without being seen and retrieved his horse from the stable, along with the mask he kept hidden in the loft.
The moon was high in the sky as he tore down the country roads, his cloak flowing out behind him, flapping wildly like a raven’s wings. Tonight would be Tyburn’s last ride. Tonight Rafe would finish this terrible journey, and one way or another, it would all end.
He was about to face his father’s killer, and if he was doomed not to survive the night, perhaps he could take Caddington to the devil with him.
He halted his horse on the gravel path in front of Caddington’s estate. There were no lamps lit in the windows, no outward presence of anyone in the house. It was eerily dark and still. He dismounted and let the reins of his horse drop. The horse would stay there as it was trained to. If he could get Diana safely out, she could ride the horse to Lennox House.
He climbed up the steps and rapped the knocker, and after a moment, the door opened. A familiar face stared back at him.
Mr. Phelps.
The man who had come after him and his father that night, the man who’d set in motion the events that killed his father. His hatred for Phelps was just as strong as it was for Caddington, but he couldn’t let the man see it. His suspicion that Phelps had been watching Caddington’s coach the night of the robberywas confirmed. Phelps must have followed Diana’s men... No, followedhim. It was the only way Caddington could have put all of the pieces together.
“His lordship will be glad to see you received his letter.” Phelps stepped back, and Rafe walked past him into the hall. Rafe still wore his domino, yet it didn’t erase the feeling that he was utterly exposed.
“Where’s the woman?” he said in his Scottish accent.
“Really, Mister Lennox, you may drop the charade,” Mr. Phelps said evenly. “That letter was not addressed to some feral Scotsman hiding in a hut in the woods.”
“I didna want anyone to know who was riding to your door,” said Rafe.
“Yes, but you’reherenow,” said Phelps.
The truth was, playing the role one last time was giving him a bit of courage. Rafe was terrified of Caddington.Tyburnwas not. “Where’s the woman?”
Phelps narrowed his eyes. “I will take you to her but only after you sign a confession to your crimes.”
