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Marcus stilled, his thoughts quickly catching up to the reality he faced He turned, searching for Eldridge, and found hiain, and ca was as it see, St John said, "So now you see the truth I would have told you However, you would not have believed me"

A man fell at their feet, and they both leapt quickly out of the way

"Allow my men to handle this, Westfield We must bind your wound, ere you bleed to death, and find Lady Westfield"

It was galling, the thought of working with St John, and Marcus spit out the bile that coated his tongue All this tirew quiet, but Marcus’s blood raged, drowning his hearing in roaring sound He shrugged out of his coat, discarding the ruined garment in the blood-spattered dirt St John worked quickly and efficiently at binding his da the proliferation of bodies aith frightening nonchalance

"How long have you been aware of this?" he asked gruffly

"Years"

"And the journal?"

Tightening the binding until Marcus winced, St John nodded at his handiwork and stepped back "Can you seat a horse?"

"I have been shot, I’o I can explain on the way"

"Where is the journal, aze trained on the knife "Safe"

"None of us are safe"

"What are you talking about?"

He came toward her quickly, and she recoiled "Now is not the time to be skittish I need you to think quickly and trust me implicitly, or you will not survive"

"I don’t understand"

"I don’t know that I do either I watched several arden and fan around the e?" she cried in horror "There are servants here, Lord and Lady Barclay … Oh God The baby"

Avery gripped her elbow and led her toward the door "Lord Langston is gone, as is Westfield and Eldridge If there are enough of the brigands, they could take you with little effort They’ve ransacked your room before, they know the way in"

"Who would be so daring?"

A trusted bewigged figure filled the doorway, blocking their egress

Avery paused, his jaw tightening grimly He jerked his chin toward door "He would"

Marcus peered through the cover of bushes, and cursed under his breath His heart raced in a panicked rhythht of his wife In all of his near death encounters, had he ever been so afraid?

He counted four men at the front and three at the rear If he ell, it would be a simple matter, but he had only one ar fear for Elizabeth, he kneould be unable to fight them all So he watched in frustrated helplessness as St John’sstealthily along the perie knew al Marcus’s attention "He noted the resemblance between Hawthorne and me immediately He confir to reveal his treasonous intent for joining the agency"

"Unless … ?"

"Unless orked with him He would provide the information, ould make use of it, and he would collect half the proceeds"

"Jesus" Marcus returned his gaze to Chesterfield Hall, barely registering the brick exterior with its cli vines Four years of his life had been dedicated to a lie "I trusted hirimly

"Hawthorne didn’t Hence the creation of the journal"

"Which contains … ?"

"Nothing" St John shrugged at his glare "Hawthorne kneere expendable, so he bartered with the journal, which was said to be an account of witnesses to Eldridge’s guilt and locations of booty we’d hidden fro, but the book ensured our safety If soe’s perfidy would be revealed and he would lose what he thinks to be a fortune"

"You saved yourself, but risked rowled "Look at all she has suffered, what she is suffering now"

"I am responsible for the search of her roo They were a warning to o, but he swore Lady Westfield would pay with her life if his death came by my hand He also threatened to reveal Hawthorne’s treason I could not allow that to happen So we have waited, he and I, for the day when the balance would tip and free one of us to kill the other"

Standing froe’s men were eliminated, their throats slit so that no sound was made With the same precision they’d shown on the lane, St John’s lackeys quietly dragged the bodies away from the manse and into the nearby coppice "Why not kill you when the journal surfaced? Once it was in his grasp, what use did he have for you?"

"He fears I am the only ave a ine if you had succeeded, he would have killed you and laid blame on me He cannot simply do aith me, the people would riot"

They left the cover of the bushes, and ran toward the manse "It’s too quiet," Marcus h the front door Chills coursed down his spine, along with the sweat that da They moved cautiously, unsure of what traps awaited them

"Westfield"

Boththeir heads, they aze of Viscount Barclay who stood frozen in a nearby doorway

"Is there so you wish to tell me?" he asked, but his casual words could not hide the tension that stiffened his fra glance

Swiveling to face his brother-in-law, Marcus revealed his injury

"Good God What happened to you?"

"Eldridge"

William’s eyes widened, and he took the neith a visible shudder "What? I cannot … Eldridge?"