“Are you finished?” He craned his neck and made a show of yawning. Then, he assessed Willard with a heavy-lidded gaze. “If not, I’d rather you just kill me. I’d welcome it, in fact. You’ve truly mastered the art of being a bore.”
“Oh, I plan to kill you.” Willard continued to smile. “Bury you, too. Out in the woods where no one would ever think to look for you.”
Neville forced himself to shrug. “You’ll be rid of one Earl Neville but will have to contend with the next.”
“You forget, I have John’s ring.” His smirk widened. “I think he’ll fall in line.”
“I think not.” Neville returned his smile. “John has found Temperance. Do you understand? He has a witness. And, if you kill me, John will then outrank you. And I’m sure he’d be happy to provide testimony.”
Willard’s face turned ugly. “I don’t give a damn about John. The plot against him was only to get to you.”
“Because I taught Asquith to fight back?”
“Not just.” Willard frowned with petulance. “You, Asquith, Harbury, and Redver, that sorry excuse for a marquess, not one of you have proper respect. Men of our class were born to rule. And yet, you robbed Asquith of an important lesson. Harburymade that dreadfully mismatched marriage. Redver even has people call himAdrian.”
At first, Neville had been enraged. Now, he was just perplexed. “Why the devil do you care?”
“It’s an abomination! What would happen if everyone felt they had a right to the kind of lives we live? Chaos. Society’s rules keep chaos in check.”
“Apparently not,” Neville shot back.
Willard had flushed, and not only because of the lamp’s heat.
Neville should be scared, but he wasn’t. “You truly—passionately—believe you are in the right, don’t you?”
“I am in the right,” he yelled. “I’m protectingorder.”
“Areyou?” he queried. “You’re an arrogant, criminal hedonist. Where are you in said order?”
Willard sneered. “Everyone thinks you’re so good. Somoral. Even my mother says you remind her of her precious brotherGeoffrey.”
“A high honor. He received commendation for his valor in the war, did he not?”
Willard’s eyes narrowed. “I suppose you think his estate a worthy place to die.”
“I’d heard the estate had become a house of disrepute.”
“This is now a lodge catering to the needs of men of power, of distinction.”
Of defilement.
But not for long. Neville might run out of time, but the Runner was somewhere in the vicinity collecting evidence. His mother was in touch with Temperance and would clear John’s name. And Gerard still had the letter from Mrs. Cartwright. With Neville missing, others were sure to become involved. The battle would continue.
Yet another benefit to rejecting the idea he had to do everything on his own.
“Why don’t you just get on with killing me?” he suggested.
Willard shrugged. “I’m waiting for Asquith, of course. All these years, he thought he’d won. Soon, he’ll know differently. He’ll get a note in the morning, telling him where you can be found. And, if I’m lucky, Miss Millicent, will come to your rescue, too. I wanted you to witness her downfall, but I will content myself with her witnessing your death.”
Every cell in Neville’s body came alive.
Willard’s smile brightened. “The deed would not be satisfying without at least one of your protégés here to watch.”
Willard rose, taking the light with him.
*
Hours, Millie andAsquith had spent on the road.Hours.