Saving Persephone (The Haberdashers Book 4) (18 page)

The duke called out to the Dragon. “Where do you hope to go, Granby? I warned you that we wouldn't abide your meddling.”

The baron didn't seem inclined to speak, now that the tides had turned. Robert lunged, cutting down one of the guards, and the duke attacked another. The man couldn't even effectively hold his sword once faced with a master, and watched slack-mouthed as it spiraled away onto the grass. Ever the gentleman, the duke gave the man a moment to consider his options and accept that running away was the best one.

Now they only faced six guards. Granby sped up, but stopped short as a figure dropped in front of him. Casimir had run along the top of the wall that Robert had original drawn the fight against to outpace the man. A smart but daring move. Granby back-pedaled towards the chateau and disappeared through a doorway. The building had far too many doors so far as Robert was concerned. Now they had to hack their way through the remaining guards in order to pursue the damn man through this monstrosity of an ancient building. First, he would secure Granby for questioning. Then he would deal with Miss Grant.

Chapter Thirty

“Miss Grant,” Jack gasped as the pain hit her again.

“It’s all right,” the redhead said soothingly. “Everything is going perfectly fine.”

Sabre called out from the door, “How is she?” The duchess had been skittish about the birth and volunteered to protect the door when she returned.

“She’s doing well,” Miss Grant said, dabbing Jack’s forehead with one of their shawls. Speaking to Jack again
,
she said, “You can call me Imogen if you like.”

Jack tried to smile but was afraid it looked more like a grimace. “The situation does seem to warrant more familiarity.”

Imogen fussed and tidied as though they had all the time in the world. As though Jack weren’t in labor on a pile of clothes in a dungeon. “Have you thought of what you’ll name the baby?”

Jack laughed hollowly. “Of course.”

“No decisions yet?”

“Gideon and I have argued about it for months.”

“Of course you have.”

“I thought we had more time.”

Imogen smoothed back Jack’s hair. “Life has a funny way of not giving us what we expect.”

Jack considered herself to be strong. Resilient. But right now all she wanted to do was cry. Partially from frustration, but also from grief. Why did their baby have to be born
here
? Why did they have to be here at all? She had only been a few days away from going to Kellington for her confinement. Every earl had been born in that bed. What if this was a boy? It would break tradition.

She heard loud boots on the stairs and felt a moment of fear, but then she heard a voice calling out, “Where is Jacqueline? Where is my wife?”

“The earl?” Imogen asked.

Jack nodded, the tears coming now from relief. Gideon burst into the room with a great deal of energy, as he was wont to do. What Jack didn’t expect was his reaction to Imogen.

“You’re that woman, aren’t you? Get away from my wife.”

“Giddy, no.” Jack said.

“She was helping that foul bastard upstairs.” He looked ready to bodily remove Imogen, which Jack knew him fully capable of doing. Sabre, however, inserted herself.

“No, she wasn’t. She was acting on our behalf. It was very brave of her.”

“I don’t know what she’s told you,” Gideon said. “But all the way here Robert has been muttering darkly about her, and the damn Dragon himself said she brought the information he was trying to get from Robert.”

“You’re going to have to trust me,” Sabre said.

“Not bloody likely,” Gideon responded.

“Dammit, Gideon,” Sabre said, stomping her foot for emphasis, “she’s the only one who has any clue about birthing. If you don’t trust her, then I hope you have some idea of how to bring your child into this world.”

Gideon’s gaze snapped to Jack, and he truly looked at her instead of worrying about the safety of her environs. He dropped to his knees and grasped her hand. “Jacqueline.”

“It’s all right, Giddy,” she said. “Women go through this every day.” 

He glowered at Imogen, and then looked back at Jack. “Do you trust her?”

“I do, Giddy.”

The kitchen maid, Claudette, returned with the water that Imogen had sent her to fetch. After Imogen had everything arranged to her liking she said to the earl, “This could be over quickly, or it could take hours. Make yourself useful by holding her hand and wiping her brow.”

Gideon squeezed Jack’s hand and she smiled up at him. “I love you, Giddy.”

He kissed her hand. “I love you too, Jacqueline.”

* * *

Imogen found the connection between the earl and countess to be quite extraordinary. Perhaps it was enhanced by the danger of the situation, the pending arrival of the child, but even so it qualified as remarkable. The two had similar auras, primarily blue, but whereas Jack leaned more toward the intellectual, her husband was a creature of earthly energies. Had Imogen met him under other circumstances she would have found him quite attractive if, well, too
earnest
. But seeing the two of them together it was clear that their bond was strong, probably the strongest that Imogen had ever witnessed. It was to be hoped that childbirth didn’t prove to be too taxing for the countess. It would be a crime to see such a beautiful connection severed by unfortunate circumstance.

* * *

Robert was quite finished with patience. He tore through the remaining guards brutally, leaving the job half-done for either Casimir or the duke to remedy. Having gained access to the dark hallways of the house, he paused. Granby had entered far enough ahead that there were no clear signs of where he had gone.

Then, at a distance, he heard his sister’s voice. “What are you doing here, you rotten bastard?” Hopefully she was referring to Granby, and not some stray man who had annoyed her. With Sabre it could be difficult to tell. He ran into the darkness, toward where he thought he heard her voice.

* * *

Sabre saw the Dragon at the other end of the hall and knew she had to think quickly. The last thing she wanted was the man anywhere near her friend during the birth. After her vitriolic greeting, the baron simply walked toward her.

“Are you still hoping you can use me to get information from my brother?” she taunted.

He didn’t speak, didn’t rush, held no weapons, but kept coming. It was oddly panic inducing. She darted down a side hallway to see if he would follow. It seemed he would. Well, at least she could get him a good way from Jack before starting a fight. She saw some steps leading upwards and ran to them, planning to face him once she reached the top.

* * *

Quince ran after Robert into the chateau. The hallways were terribly dim and by the time he caught up with his brother-in-law they were walking carefully, each with a hand on the wall. Then they heard a woman screaming. They both began running again, nearly stumbling down some steps in their haste.

“Bloody old keeps,” Robert muttered.

The screaming stopped within a few moments, and after they reached the bottom of the stairs they were unsure of which way to go.

Quince turned around. “George did say that there were a great number of hallways down here.”

Robert held up a hand to quiet him, cocking his head to the side. Quince thought of himself as a man of patience, but after a few minutes in that same position he was done with waiting.

“Sabre!” he called out, following the hall further into the keep. He heard Robert sigh in irritation behind him, but he didn’t care. Both his wife and Granby were in here somewhere. He didn’t like the combination.

Shortly, the sound of a scream again, which sent the two of them running. Turning another corner, they saw a door at the end of a long hallway with light spilling from it. They burst into the room as though there was a battle to be fought, but were brought up short. The source of the screams proved to be the countess, flushed, sweating, and holding onto Gideon’s hand for dear life. Two women fluttered at the countess’s skirts. Good Lord, the baby truly was coming. Quince’s instinct was to apologize at the intrusion, but Robert pointed his sword at one of the women.

“I’ll deal with you later. Where is my sister?”

The redhead looked up at him, her irritation easily as pronounced as Robert’s. “She’s not outside the door?”

“Obviously not!”

“That was where she said she would be,” the redhead tossed back. “As you can see, I’m otherwise occupied.”

Quince left the two of them bickering and went back to the hallway. There were three other passages he could see that she could have taken, other than the way he and Robert had come. “Sabre?” he called out softly. No reply. He took a moment to contemplate the different paths, and then did what he always did when looking for his wife. He followed his heart.

Chapter Thirty-One

George finished wiping off her last knife and winked at her husband. “This reminds me of Budapest.”

Casimir paused in straightening his sleeves. “You and I remember it very differently.”

“Let’s go see if we can find everyone.”

Casimir pulled her close. “Or we could stay here and find… other things to do.” He kissed her.

She kissed him back, but then pushed away. “Our friends need us.”

“I’m sure they’re fine,” he insisted, gripping her hips to pull her close, something he knew she liked. She put a hand up to keep distance between them.

“Casimir, we need to help.”

“We have helped. How is any of this your fault?” He took her other hand and kissed it tenderly. “We have helped, and I’m sure they can finish cleaning up this mess. I have friends not too far from here.”

“Of course you do.”

“And I am sure they would be delighted to host myself and my new wife for a time.”

“So you’re suggesting we just sneak away, not even checking to make sure everyone is all right?”

One of his rare displeased expressions passed over his face. “It is not out of the question for me to keep my wife safe, is it? Some might even say that it is expected.”

“The Haberdashers are already upset with me and-”

“Always it is the Haberdashers! Do you have any idea how worried I was when Robert came for us? I was lucky to even be with the earl, as I most likely wouldn’t have known otherwise. How am I to keep my wife safe when her friends keep her entangled in such troubles?”

“You’ve been there for most of the trouble I’ve faced. I thought you knew I could take care of myself.”

He pulled her close to rest their foreheads together. “I know we can take care of each other. Don’t ask more of me, I couldn’t bear it.”

Her husband was often affectionate, but he was rarely sentimental. “I need to make sure they’re safe,” she whispered.

He sighed and kissed her forehead. “Very well, then. Let us make sure they are safe.”

* * *

At the top of the steps Sabre found a door and pushed it open, to at least make sure that nothing would surprise her by coming from that direction. It led to a terrace. The large, open terrace was certainly a better place to fight than the narrow hallway. She stopped there, not too far from the door, and didn’t have long to wait before Granby followed her. She moved her sword to the first position and waited for him to close the distance. He stopped just short of her reach with the blade.

“He knew, didn’t he?” Granby asked, as though Sabre would have any idea what he was talking about. He seemed to understand her arrested expression. “Your father. He knew what he was doing when he suggested I hold you in order to force Robert to show his hand.”

Sabre danced to the side a bit, not wanting to subside into complacency. “It’s often hard to know what my father is thinking.”

“But he knew that you wouldn’t be an easy captive. That your brother wouldn’t simply reveal the Keys in order to save you.”

“I have no idea.”

“But he didn’t count on Miss Grant. Now I have the Keys.” Granby gave her a sick smile. “And I thought to secure you as my hostage to guarantee my safe passage from here. You won’t make that easy, will you?”

“Most likely not,” Sabre agreed, following her statement with a lunge. To her surprise, he stepped into the attack, but turned to the oblique enough to take the blade along his side instead of straight into his gut. Few were faster than Sabre, so he must have been anticipating her move. He clamped one hand onto hers where she held the blade and used the other to punch her in the face. As her vision dimmed and stars danced, she wished she had developed George’s talent for ducking. He wouldn’t release her hand with the blade in it, but once she let it go she was able to wriggle her hand free and stumble back. The sword clattered to the ground. She watched in horror as the Dragon picked it up.

She ran to the edge of the terrace, but once seeing the height, she shrank back. It wasn’t a simple step into a garden. It was a forty-foot drop to the rocky field below. Looking back, she had the satisfaction of seeing Granby hold one arm tightly to his side, protecting the ribs she had gashed. But he held the sword in his other hand. The terrace was large, but two sides appeared to have that horrendous drop and he was closer to the doors than she. Looking at the space, she calculated which door would be the easiest to reach. But what if it was locked? She knew that the door she came out of shouldn’t be, but in order to get to it she would need to pass by him. She was only now feeling recovered from his punch and didn’t think it likely that she could stand up to another such knock. Much less did she want to find out if he had any facility with the blade when she was unarmed. It was like an enormous chess game, trying to figure out how to reach the door before he could pummel her again. Or cut her. Fortunately, she knew she was very good at chess.

* * *

Robert didn’t like the idea of Miss Grant delivering Jack’s child, but the overwhelming consensus of the room was that she was the only one who could. Gideon had threatened to remove him bodily if he didn’t leave. Now, returning to the hall, he realized that he had lost the duke.