Wickeds Scandal (The Wickeds) (39 page)

 “It’s a surprise.” Odious Oliver
regained his composure.  “Speaking of surprises, Alexandra, did I ever
tell you what a surprise it was for your aunt, when I returned unexpectedly?”

Alexandra trembled, sensing what her
uncle would say.

“She wrote to Mr. Meechum and told him
that the entire Dunforth fortune was to be given to
you
.  She
revised her will revoking the guardianship.  I was not pleased.”

Alexandra swayed against the wall. 
Her aunt hadn’t lied to her.

“Stupid woman, Eloise.   
She told me about the change to her will thinking I would just fade away. 
Not bloody likely with the duns beating at my door everyday.   She
barely made a sound.  Well – she may have.  Couldn’t hear her
through the pillow.”

Alexandra clasped the sword
tightly.  He’d killed her aunt so he could control Alexandra and the
Dunforth money.  He’d sold Helmsby Abbey.  He’d traded her to that
depraved cur Archie Runyon to pay his debts. 

“You filthy, disgusting…”

“Now, Alexandra, is that anyway to talk
to your beloved uncle?”  He smiled widely, but not at her, at someone who
had just entered the room.

“Hello, pigeon.”

She nearly fainted dead away.  Panic
threatened to make her black out.  Archie Runyon!  Here? 
“Help!”

Her uncle shook his head at Mr. Runyon.
“Silly goose, I’ve told her they are all locked in the barn.  She’s not
listening.”

Archie Runyon walked into the study,
swinging his wolf’s head cane.  “Shut up, Alexandra, or I will light the
barn on fire this instant.  I do so enjoy a good fire, and it’s quite
chilly in Hampshire.”

Alexandra told herself she must not
faint.  The baby kicked and she winced.  No, she must not faint.

“Oh dear, I see that some things have
transpired in my absence.”  Mr. Runyon pointed the cane at her stomach.
“Pregnant women disgust me.  We shall have to fix that.”

“If you touch me I will kill you!” 
She brandished the sword.  The weight of the weapon made her hand
shake. 

“Really?”  Mr. Runyon gave an amused
chuckle.  “I doubt that.  Dear Lord, you are so repulsively large,
you can barely move. Burke, take the sword from her please, so we can get on
with this.”

Alexandra looked at the two men
wildly. 

Lord Burke mopped his face with a
handkerchief, his eyes on the sword. “Look here, I’ve paid my debt to you
Runyon.  I found her.  I told you how to get to Helmsby Abbey. 
That was our agreement.”

“You recall that Miranda is not to be
harmed.  She is to find the note that Alexandra will leave at Helmsby
Abbey and deliver it to the Dowager.  I’m hoping Alexandra’s disappearance
combined with the news of Sutton’s death will drop the Dowager like a
stone.”  He laughed evilly.  “Never did like the old bitch.”

Sutton was dead?  Alexandra paled,
clutching the sword tighter.  The room spun.

“Damn it Burke, take the sword, and let’s
get on with it.”

Odious Oliver approached her
cautiously.  One fat arm reached for her.

Alexandra brought the sword up with every
bit of strength she had and sliced downward, her arm jarring as the sword
connected with her uncle’s flesh.

Blood spurted from Oliver Burke’s arm,
turning his coat red.  He screamed.

“You bitch!”  He turned to Runyon,
holding his arm against him.  “Did you see what that tiresome little twit just
did to me?”

Mr. Runyon nodded and pretended to flick
a piece of lint off his coat.  “Do hurry, Burke.  I grow weary. 
She is with child and presents no challenge.”

Odious Oliver walked to the fireplace and
grabbed the poker.

“Do not injure her.”  Mr. Runyon’s
gaze fell on Alexandra.

Alexandra raised the sword again, her
muscles burning with the effort.  Her strength failed.  She swung at
her uncle.

Burke easily batted away the sword with
the poker. “How tiresome you are, Alexandra.  Always were.  Horribly
overeducated.”  He pinned the sword with the poker taking the weapon from
her easily.  He turned with a look of triumph to Mr. Runyon.

“I kept my part of the bargain.  I
get to sell this place and my debt to you is forgiven.”

“Oh, that.   I forgot to tell
you there’s been a change of plans.”  Mr. Runyon calmly took a pistol out
of his breast pocket, cocked it, and shot her uncle.

A bright red hole formed in her uncle’s
forehead.  The moonlike face froze in surprise before he thudded to the
floor.

Alexandra screamed.

Runyon approached the body, taking the
sword from it.  “Don’t carry on, pigeon. You hated your uncle.  You
should thank me.”  He pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and
laid it on the desk.  “Don’t worry.  Miranda won’t see a thing.” 
Runyon snapped his fingers and a large, thuggish man appeared from behind the
door.  “Put this –“ he pointed his cane at Burke, “in the
barn.  Don’t set the fire – yet.  I wish Miss Dunforth to light
the flint.”  Mr. Runyon tossed a bag of coins at the man.

The man dragged out her uncle’s body,
barely sparing Alexandra a glance.

“Monster.  You are a monster.” 
Alexandra choked.  “I won’t do it.”

“Yes, you will.  Or I will cut out
that child with this very sword.”

Alexandra gasped.  “Not even you
would do something so horrible.  Why?  Why are you doing this?” 
Her eyes alit on the discarded fireplace poker.

“Because I can.”  Mr. Runyon stood
and walked to the window, clasping his hands behind his back.  “Did you
wish to pack some clothes?”

Alexandra pretended to sound
defeated.  “What do I have to do to spare their lives?”  She bent and
quietly picked up the poker.  “Must I beg?  You win.”

Mr. Runyon laughed but did not turn
around.  “Once we get to Italy, we will get rid of that brat.  I’ll
let it live, but you must give it away.  I hate children.”

With all her remaining strength,
Alexandra swung the poker at the back of Mr. Runyon’s head.  The force of
her blow knocked him to the ground.  He grunted, dropping to his
knees.  His cane flew across the floor.

“Damn you!”  He screamed at her.

Alexandra ran around the side of the
house towards the barn.  Runyon was on his feet.  She had no time to
free her servants.   She headed for the dense woods surrounding
Helmsby Abbey.  If she could just make it to the other side, she would be
on the path to the village. Behind her, a scream of rage erupted.

“Alexandra!”  Runyon bellowed.

Alexandra ran as fast as her swelling
form would allow through the woods that bordered Helmsby Abbey.   She
knew these woods well, had played in them all of her life.  Surely she
could lose him.  She ran into a copse and hid among the leaves

She panted, holding her hand against the
bulge of her stomach.  The footsteps behind her slowed. 

Mr. Runyon’s words rushed back to
her.  Sutton was dead.  Alexandra covered her mouth from weeping
aloud.
This is why he has not returned!  He is dead!
   
Her arms curved protectively around her waist and her heart ached.  I have
to protect you
.  You are all I have left of him.  You are the only
heir to Cambourne. 
 Jeanette planned this with Mr. Runyon and
her uncle.

“Come, my pigeon.”  Lord Runyon
cajoled from the woods.  “You can not hope to outrun me, Alexandra. 
Not with your belly full of that bastard’s child.  Jeanette would prefer I
kill you and the child of course, but I like my solution better.” 

She could hear him beating away the dense
grass with his cane. “Come dearest, I assure you Sutton
is
dead. 
It would break my heart to report that his young widow threw herself into the
nearby river, drowning in her grief.” He gave a nasty chuckle at his pun.

Fear ripped into her.  She could not
outrun him.  Her side ached and something wet ran down her leg.  She
spied a large hollow log to her left.  It looked rotten and filled with
vermin, but the log also looked large enough to hide her.  Crawling on all
fours, she moved towards the log.  Spiders and what appeared to be a small
snake scattered from the area as she approached.

“Where are you, my little whore?” 
Lord Runyon was so close.  “Alexandra!  Answer me, you stupid
bitch!” 

Alexandra inched her way into the log on
her side.    She ignored the bugs dropping in her hair and the
splinters digging into her hands.  Pulling her feet in, she concentrated
on controlling her breathing.  She prayed Runyon lied.  Prayed Sutton
lived.  She wept silently, her body shuddering with anguish and shock.

A strong hand wrapped itself around her
ankle, the fingers digging into her skin.

“No! No!” she cried frantically. 
Her face scraped the interior of the log as Mr. Runyon pulled her out by her
feet.  Her fingernails snapped as she desperately clawed for purchase in
the rotten wood.

“There you are!”  Mr. Runyon laughed
triumphantly, as if he had just caught someone playing hide and seek.  “So
predictable.  Except for your ruination by Sutton.  That I didn’t
count on.”  He tugged on her legs, twisting her calves painfully.

Her skirts ripped, sticking to the
log.  Mr. Runyon gave an exasperated sigh and pulled harder.  The
lower half of Alexandra’s body emerged from the log.  Leaves brushed
across her legs as she tried to kick him away.

“Leave me alone!  I shall have you
arrested.  I know about Elizabeth! Your relationship with Jeanette!” 
Alexandra sobbed.  The log, old and rotted, crumbled beneath her hands.

“I didn’t do anything Jeanette didn’t
approve.  I adore my cousin.  You will learn to love her as
well.  She’ll visit us in Italy and you must be properly obedient to
her.  Besides, Elizabeth is a dull little girl.  You resemble her a
bit but are much more intelligent.”

“She is a child! Not even out of the
schoolroom!  You monster!”  She kicked at him with her foot,
dislodging one hand for a moment before he grasped her tighter again.

“No!  No!”  Alexandra screamed
in panic, desperately trying to pull herself back into the log.

Mr. Runyon gave one great tug and
Alexandra popped out.   Grabbing her by the hair, Mr. Runyon pulled
her up, grunting as he lifted her. He looked at her stomach in revulsion. 
“We must get rid of
that
as soon as possible.  Carrying a child gives
a woman the look of a cow.  He leered at her breasts.  “But there are
some benefits I suppose.  Your tits are much larger.”  He reached out
and pinched her swollen nipples.

Alexandra hit him with her hands,
slapping his face, as she struggled to break free.  Dirt streaked down her
face.  “Please,” she begged.  “You can do whatever you want to me,
but please don’t hurt my child.” 

“Oh, Alexandra.  I don’t make deals
with naughty little sluts like you!  I will do whatever I
wish
to
you anyway.  Now what to do with the Spawn of Satan?”  His eyes
widened as he thumped her belly with his forefinger.  An insane giggle
escaped his lips.

“Alexandra!  Alex!”  The deep
baritone echoed through the quiet woods. 

Mr. Runyon poked his head up, sniffing
the air as if he were a small fox about to be dispatched by a
hound.   He shook his head in wonderment at Alexandra as he heard the
sound of an approaching horse.

“Unbelievable!”  Mr. Runyon’s face
bore a look of frustrated amazement.  “How in the
world
did he
survive?  Jeanette will be livid.   You just cannot get good
help these days.  I suppose that if one wants something done correctly,
one must do such things themselves.”  He looked down at his
waistcoat.  “And this is a new waistcoat.  Look, I’ve already soiled
it searching for you!” 

Alexandra screamed as loud as she could.

Runyon’s ungloved hand shot out and
slapped her across the face.

“Shut up, Alexandra.  I am so very
tired of listening to you talk.”

Alexandra struggled against the blackness
that was stealing over her vision.  Sutton!  That had been Sutton’s
voice!  Her heart leapt. 

“Alex!  I’m coming.”

The sound of hooves broke the silence of
the glade.  A large black stallion galloped towards them.  Sutton sat
atop the horse, his long dark hair billowing in the breeze.  The glint of
jade sparkled in the sunlight, his face set in stone and full of controlled
rage.

Alexandra struggled.  She smacked at
Runyon’s hands where he held her.

Sutton ran the stallion at Mr. Runyon,
leaping out of the air at his nemesis. 

Mr. Runyon released his grip on Alexandra
and she fell back against a gnarled oak.

The two men tumbled to the ground amid
the tall grasses.  Alexandra couldn’t see anything except the moving of
the grass.

Runyon shot up.  He held up his cane
and hit Sutton as he stood.

  Sutton grunted in pain,
disappearing from view.  Then his leg jutted out, hitting Mr. Runyon’s
knee so forcibly that Alexandra heard the bone snap.