Page 65 of Let Me Be Your Hero
“Roderick MacDonald. As well as William Cooper—”
“Iknewhis name was Cooper!”
Archibald reached her, and she threw herself into his arms. He hugged her close, cradling her against his chest. “You were right. They nabbed MacDonald, Cooper, and a half-dozen of their henchmen.”
“Do they know who Cooper was working for?”
Archibald shook his head. “Bow Street is questioning him right now. I don’t have much in the way of details. But I thought you would want to know.”
“I do. Thank you for coming to tell me right away.” She felt tears pricking. She truly had the most wonderful husband.
She brushed her damp eyes with the back of her hand. “I can’t believe it’s over.”
“I believe and hope it probably is. But, considering the lengths these men were going to kill you, we should still proceed cautiously. I wouldn’t just walk out the front door.”
“You’re right, of course.” Izzie sighed. “And I’ll be fine. Lucy and Diana are coming to keep me company this afternoon. I can manage a few more days cooped up inside.”
Archibald’s eyes were sympathetic. “I don’t even know that it needs to be a few days. But let’s confirm they have the right men. Then we can formulate a plan. I want to be there the first time you venture out, along with a good-sized group of my men. Assuming that goes well, we can adjust the level of precautions accordingly.”
“That sounds reasonable.”
He brushed his lips across hers. “I have to get back to the forge. We’ll talk more tonight.”
“Yes. Tonight.”
That evening, Izzie left the Nettlethorpe-Ogilvy mansion for the first time in a week. In addition to the half-dozen men riding on the outside of the carriage she and Archibald took, they were accompanied by an escort of three carriages stuffed with ironworkers ready to come to her aid if there was any trouble.
But the ride was uneventful. With a dozen of his men standing guard, Archibald swept Izzie into the Bow Street Offices.
They were greeted by Thomas Daubney, the Runner who had been assigned to the case. He led them toward the back of the offices.
“The men are about to be questioned,” Mr. Daubney explained. “We need you to confirm if they’re the same pair you overheard in Vauxhall.” He opened the door to a dark, empty room. “If you’ll wait in here, you can watch as I lead them by, and hopefully, you’ll be able to see them without them spotting you.”
Izzie agreed, and she and Archibald settled down to wait in the shadows. After a few minutes, Mr. Daubney walked by, followed by two men being escorted by guards.
Izzie held her breath as they passed in front of the open door. “That’s them,” she whispered to Archibald once they were gone. “I’m sure of it.”
She told Mr. Daubney the same thing, then climbed back into the carriage and was whisked back to the Nettlethorpe-Ogilvy mansion less than an hour after she had stepped outside.
Buoyed by the success of the excursion and their growing confidence that the men responsible for the attempts on Izzie’s life had been arrested, she and Archibald decided to try again the following day. That morning, Archibald accompanied her for a stroll about the green. The walk only lasted ten minutes, and three dozen of his men were fanned out around the square, looking out for any sign of trouble.
It was entirely uneventful, and Izzie started to believe that she was finally waking from this nightmare. They repeated the exercise the following morning and slowly started reducing the number of men guarding the house around the clock. Archibald also brought in an architect he’d worked with before to startplanning the modifications that would be necessary to build Izzie’s library.
On the third day, they ventured out once more, this time to The Temple of the Muses, the largest bookstore in all of England. Archibald had arranged for the store to stay open after its usual closing time so they wouldn’t have to worry about potential assassins lurking behind every shelf.
It was Izzie’s every fantasy come true. Archibald told her to buy as many books as she wanted and to get copies of all her favorites. “We need to fill those floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, after all.”
He proceeded to follow her around the store, carrying her books for her while she browsed. Well, that wasn’t quite true. No one man was capable of carrying the number of books she selected. But he carried them for her until one of the clerks came scurrying up the stairs to convey them to the main sales counter below.
Izzie even had the delightful experience of finding her own book in stock in the section dedicated to Gothic novels. Archibald tried to buy all seven copies, but Izzie stopped him. “How will new readers discover my book if it isn’t in stock?”
Archibald sulked but settled for buying three and placing an order for an additional twenty.
Izzie was reaching for a book on a high shelf in the history section when she noticed how dark it was outside. “What time is it?” she asked Archibald.
He consulted his pocket watch. “Half eight.”
She blanched. “Half eight!”
