Taken by the Duke (27 page)

Ava felt an increasing sense of dread with every step she took into Hyde Park at Laura’s side. There was little doubt her brother would be furious when he discovered she had ignored his order to stay inside unless she was out with her aunt visiting her fiancé. He would be doubly angry when he found out she had gone on a jaunt with a servant from his bitter enemy’s home.

At this point, she hardly cared. It was evident Liam was going to despise her for the rest of her days. She had no more to lose now that his love for her seemed dead.

She ignored the horrible twinge at that thought and instead smiled at her companion. Laura had been very quiet since they left her home.

“Have I told you how happy I am to see you?” she asked, reaching out to take Laura’s hand briefly.

The maid shook her away and gave what seemed to be a very forced smile. “I’m pleased to hear it.”

“But you have not explained how you came to be here,” Ava pressed. “How did you end up in London?”

“After witnessing the duke’s treatment of you, I realized my hopes for the future would never be realized under his roof.” Laura seemed to be clenching her teeth. “I decided to take matters into my own hands. I left my position, obtained a horse and headed to London.”

“I hope Christian gave you a good reference,” Ava said, “after all you’ve done for him.”

“I’m sure he’ll give me a fine reference when he sees how much I’m willing to do,” Laura said with her first real smile since her arrival.

Ava wrinkled her brow in confusion. “I beg your pardon?”

Laura stopped and looked out at the part of the park they had entered. It was very quiet here, with trees protecting it from the view of most of the paths. In the distance, Ava could hear the Serpentine rushing by, but she couldn’t see it. It was as if they entered some secret world.

“This was Matilda’s favorite place. Did you know that?” Laura asked.

Ava shook her head. “I did not. Though I can see why. It is so secluded, it almost seems like a different world.”

Laura shot her a rather dark look and stepped farther into the trees. “We would come here a few times a week when we were in London. She would read to me, we would talk as we lay on a blanket.”

Ava stared at the other woman. There was something disconcerting in the way she spoke about Matilda. Something faraway and intense and…she couldn’t place it.

“I’m certain you must miss her,” she offered.

“I miss her every moment of my life.” Laura turned toward her. “I don’t understand how she can be dead and those responsible for what happened to her can walk the earth without any consequence.”

Ava tensed. Laura could only mean Liam. “I see. Well, both Liam and Christian have suffered greatly for the accident. Both lost someone they loved, both have terrible physical scars to carry with them as a reminder. I don’t think anyone has walked away from this tragedy unscathed.”

Laura’s eyes narrowed, and it looked like she would say something else on the subject, but she didn’t. Instead, she motioned behind Ava.

“Do you see that rosefinch over there? That must be the first sighting of the year,” Laura said.

Ava turned, looking in the trees for the bright red head of the little summer bird. But she never saw one. Laura stepped up behind her and suddenly there was tension on her neck as the other woman wrapped a piece of fabric around her neck and began to strangle her.

Ava tried to scream, but there was no air that could get past the tight garrote. She kicked her feet, clawed at the fabric loop, but Laura held tight.

Close to her ear, Laura whispered, “You thought I judged the duke for being harsh? I judged him for being weak. He should have killed you. He should have killed your brother. And since he won’t, I will do that job for him. Your brother will suffer. And there will be justice for the only person I ever loved.”

Ava tried to process what was being said to her, but darkness was beginning to close in around her vision. She could feel her chest tightening, pain as her lungs begged for air. Her attempts to escape Laura’s attack were growing weaker.
She
was growing weaker. Everything was ending.

She would never see her brother again. She would never see Portia again. She would never see Christian again or tell him that she loved him. One tear slid down her cheek as her body went limp against her will.

And then there was only darkness.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Christian felt as though his leg was being torn from its socket as he struggled to keep up with Windbury as they raced through the park. However, his mind wasn’t focused on the pain. All he could think about was Ava.
His
Ava, alone with a madwoman. Worse, a madwoman he had created through his stupid adherence to an animosity that had been passed down to him for generations.

Now it was gone. Swept away by fear for Ava, hope for Ava…and love for Ava. He loved her with everything in him that had once been dark and rotted by hate. He loved her, and even if she told him she would never be his, he would do everything and anything in his power to ensure she was safe and happy for the rest of her life.

“Oh my God!” Windbury screamed from in front of him.

By some miracle of will, Christian managed to crest the hill at his top speed and there he saw them. Laura stood behind Ava, twisting some kind of rope or fabric around Ava’s neck. Already Ava was blue and pale, and her hands hung limply at her sides.

“Stop!” Christian shouted.

Laura looked up at both men’s shouts. She looked at him, but only briefly. Her gaze fell to Windbury as he sprinted toward her, and just before he hit her with the full force of his body, she smiled a smug and hate-filled grin.

The two of them rolled away and Ava fell limp and lifeless to the grass. Christian dropped to his knees and slid toward her, catching her in his arms to lift her against his chest.

“Ava,” he murmured, shaking her. She didn’t appear to be breathing. “Ava, please!”

He looked up. Windbury was struggling with Laura as they rolled through the grass. She was reaching for something in her dress, and he tensed as he realized it was a gun.

In a second, his entire life flashed before his eyes—a life of trying to destroy this man in any way possible. A month ago—hell, a week ago—he would have allowed Laura to shoot Windbury.

“She has a gun!” he yelled instead. “Left hand.”

Windbury pinned her hand down, but she yanked it free. They struggled and Christian gasped as it disappeared between them. There was a loud bang as the gun went off and for a moment the two stared at each other, eye to eye.

“Are you hit?” Christian asked.

“No,” Windbury said as he eased off Laura and tossed the gun away. Blood began to rush from a wound in her chest.

She smiled up at him. “You took my love, I took your sister. Rot in hell.”

Then she wheezed out a final breath and went limp on the grass.

Windbury pivoted and rushed to join him on the ground with Ava.

“She’s not breathing,” Christian said.

“I heard from a friend in the military about sharing breath. Cover her nose and breathe into her mouth,” Windbury said as he helped to position her flat on the ground.

Christian leaned over her and did as her brother suggested. Slowly, he breathed into her mouth, praying he would be able to return the life to her that she so deserved. God knew he would strip the air from his lungs for her if it meant she would open her eyes.

He had breathed into her a few times when he felt her stir beneath him. She sucked in a heavy, harsh breath of her own and began to cough as she reached up to her bruised, raw neck and clawed there as if she were still fighting against the fabric Laura had wrapped around her throat.

Christian caught her hands and lifted them to his lips as relief rushed through him. “Shhh, it’s all right, darling. Just breathe. Breathe in.”

She looked at him and her eyes cleared of fear and instead lit up with pure joy.

“You’re here,” she whispered, her voice rough from the attack.

He nodded. “I’m here.”

“I love you,” she said, sitting up to put her arms around his neck. “I was dying and I knew it. I regretted most not being able to tell you that I love you with all my heart. Even if you’ll never love me, I need you to know that I love you.”

“The guard is coming,” Windbury said, scowling down at them.

Christian looked, and in the distance men were running toward them. He cradled her to his chest.

“We’ll have all the time in the world to talk now, Ava,” he whispered. “Rest and let your brother handle the guard.”

She clung to his jacket with a nod and held tight to him. So tight that he began to hope she would never let him go.

The doctor insisted that neither man could stay as he examined Ava, so Christian stood in the parlor with Windbury, sharing a very quiet, very awkward sherry. Except he had too much to say to the other man to allow the silence to stretch between them.

“Will the guard pursue a case against you?” he asked, setting his half-finished drink aside.

Windbury looked up from his liquor with a start, almost as if he had forgotten Christian’s presence.

“No. I told them the truth and they believe it. Perhaps because they sensed it wasn’t a lie, perhaps because I’m a peer and she was a servant. Who knows where the truth lies? Either way, they won’t charge me with anything.”

“Good,” Christian said softly.

Windbury looked at him in surprise. “I would think you would hope for my arrest. That would be the pinnacle of ruination, even if I were never convicted of that woman’s murder.”

Christian shook his head. “Do you know how this war between our families began?”

Windbury shrugged. “It’s been so long that I don’t think anyone knows.”

Christian sighed. “That’s right. It was a quarrel that no one alive even remembers. Perhaps it was over land or a woman or a perceived slight—who knows? But whatever it was, it has generated hatred, scandal and grief that tore both our families apart.” He sighed. “I have lost my sister, and you nearly lost yours. These were women we both loved, and we allowed them to become victims of what we have foolishly carried on. I am finished with it.”

“Finished with it,” Windbury said, blinking as if the words were said in a foreign language. “Are you saying you no longer wish to fight? That you are surrendering?”

A twinge of Christian’s pride battled at that idea, but all he had to do was think of Ava, blue and lifeless at the hands of someone who believed in his cause, to push it away.

“If surrender is what you require.” He lifted his hands. “I wave the white flag. You win. You are the conqueror.”

There was a moment’s hesitation, but Windbury did not look triumphant in it.

“I have won nothing.” Windbury downed the remainder of his drink. “But I have no desire to fight with you anymore. It has brought me no pleasure to do so all these years.”

Christian pursed his lips. What he was about to say could very well strike up a war again. “I will marry your sister.”

Windbury froze in the act of setting his empty glass on the sideboard. Slowly, he looked at Christian.

“No, you will not. She has already had a marriage arranged for her. You will leave her alone.”

Christian folded his arms. “You heard her declare her feelings for me, Windbury…
Liam
.” The other man flinched at his use of his given name, but Christian continued. “You know she loves me. I do not think you want her to be unhappy.”

“I do not think she would be happy with you,” Windbury countered.

“You are wrong.” Christian clenched his hands before him. “I would do anything in my power to ensure she was happy. I would lay down my life. I would give her everything and anything I am. I would walk through fire.”

Windbury stared at him, face unreadable. “No.”

“I understand your feelings,” Christian said softly. “But I will still ask her, regardless of them. I hope you will tell her you approve because it means something to her. Because she loves you, and losing your regard has already been difficult for her.”

The doctor stepped into the parlor and cut off any reply Windbury would give.

“How is my sister?” Windbury asked, turning away from Christian.

“She is well, though she will suffer from the damage to her throat for several weeks, I should think.” The doctor looked from one man to the other. “She may receive visitors now, though I would suggest you keep her calm. She has had quite a fright and an ordeal.”

Windbury pursed his lips. “Of course, thank you. I’ll see you out.”

He shot Christian a glare that clearly told him to stay put, but the moment the two men were out the door, he ignored it entirely. He went up the stairs to the room where he had placed Ava not an hour before. Gently, he opened the door and stepped into her chamber.

She was propped up on her bed, ruddy hair down around her shoulders. She was staring out the window, her expression faraway and unreadable.

“Ava,” he said softly.

She started and looked toward him. Immediately her face lit up with pleasure.