Tina escaped to the dance floor with her partner, breathing a quick sigh of relief. For the moment she was fine, but she still had to return to face Jay. What would she say to him to make him realize she knew what she was doing? How could she convince him she couldn’t just sit still and let him and Jon try to handle this whole affair? She had done so at the Park, and Felicia had taken things upon herself she hadn’t even known of. It would not happen again. She had to know what was happening and the only way to keep up was to take an active part.
She went through the steps of the dance without thinking, her feet moving to the music in the complicated pattern all on their own. Somehow she managed to smile at her partner, but she was grateful when the music ended. For a few moments, she knew she was out of Jay’s line of sight, but paid scant attention to where her partner was leading her.
So deep in thought was she that she did not realize he was taking a circuitous route back to the duchess’ side until it was too late and she found herself face to face with Roderick Milton.
“I would recommend you not make any sudden movements, my dear,” he said in a low, silky voice her partner did not hear. “I have a pistol pointed right at you and there is another trained on your husband at this very moment.” His smile under the mask of his black domino was malevolent. “Now, be a good girl and continue walking with me. One false move and the marquis dies right in the middle of the ballroom.”
Tina felt the blood pounding in her veins, the blood rushing in her ears. Dear God, she had fallen right into a trap by being so distracted. Striving to calm herself, she turned and thanked her partner, managed to make an excuse that Milton was her next dance partner, then moved to his side and allowed him to lead her away. Once the young man disappeared into the crowd, Milton turned and led her into a side room where card tables had been set up. Unhurriedly they strolled through, and exited the room into a hallway on the other side.
Marshaling her thoughts and emotions, she tried to remember what she had planned if he made a move. Her reticule suddenly felt as if it contained a small elephant and her mouth went dry. Did he notice it was so heavy? How could he not? It was almost dragging her arm down, and her with it.
Milton grabbed her wrist in a hard grip and dragged her into another small room off the dimly lit hall. Flinging her into the room, he closed the door and leaned back against it, watching her as she stumbled, recovered her balance, then turned to face him. The room was dark, lit only by the moonlight streaming through the windows. Her eyes were enormous behind her mask in a face devoid of all color. A feral smile appeared.
“You should have married me.” He levered himself away from the door and sauntered toward her. “You could have had anything you wanted. We would have had everything. That’s what Aaron would have wanted. But you and your mother ruined everything.”
Tina backed away from him as he moved closer, the sides of his domino parting to reveal he really did have a pistol. “If I had married you, you would have gotten just the property on the north coast. That’s all there was.”
He stopped then and stared at her incredulously. The moment, and her nerves, stretched taut as he stared at her in complete disbelief, then said in wonder, “You don’t know?”
“Don’t know what?”
He started to laugh. The sound grated along her nerves and pounded in her head until she thought she would scream. But he continued to laugh, the pistol wavering wildly.
Looking around the room, Tina wondered if she could escape through either of the two windows against the opposite wall. Backing slowly so as not to bring attention to the movement, she moved stealthily toward one of them.
“You were the wealthiest heiress in all England. I, at least, would have told you after we married. But, he just married you and said nothing at all,” Milton said through his laughter. “Oh, that’s rich.” He ripped off his mask and shrugged out of the cape.
She reached the window and leaned back against it.
“What are you talking about?” For now, keeping him talking was her only plan.
“You!” he spat viciously, the laughter suddenly leaving his eyes. “You were so perfect, so calm, and so efficient. But you were nothing to Aaron except a means to an end. The old marquis loved you above his own children.” An eerie expression crossed his face. “He made sure Aaron knew if he expected to inherit he had to marry you. Aaron only wanted back what was rightfully his, but I didn’t want him to claim it all just yet. I needed him to promise me my family’s property back first. But he wouldn’t.”
Tina slipped both hands behind her, searching for the catch on the window. Her fingers grew cold, and chills began to slither down her spine. First laughter, then cold determination. If Milton made a sudden move and the pistol went off, she might die before anyone found her.
“You’d do well to remember it was my family too, cousin,” she spat. “If your father hadn’t thrown my grandmother out, leaving her to fend for herself, perhaps the result might have been different.”
His eyes darkened ominously. The hatred she read there was very real, nearly tangible. “She was a gypsy—the daughter of a whore.”
Tina knew better than to continue to taunt him. He was obviously unstable and she would pay if he lost it completely—perhaps with her life.
The pistol in his hand suddenly stopped wavering and she looked up into cold, emotionless gray eyes. “Aaron didn’t want you,” he repeated. “But he had no choice, so I had to kill him. He said whatever he got for marrying you, he deserved. It was all his, after all.”
“You killed Aaron?” she tried for appalled, but only managed horror.
“Of course,” he boasted. “It was clever of me to tell everyone there had been a duel. Even that old bitch, Lady Bowen, believed he would die rather than marry a black-haired gypsy. She wanted one of her girls to marry him. He didn’t want them either, but she thought you had stolen him away from her precious little tramps.
“I had everything under control. Even Aaron’s father couldn’t stop me. He had to die, too. He finally figured out I had dipped into the coffers. But, I couldn’t let him turn me off. I still hadn’t figured out what to do with you yet.”
Tina stared, openmouthed, at Milton. “Papa, too? But, why?”
“I had to. Don’t you understand? I had to.” Milton was falling apart right before her eyes and that scared her more than she would let show. “I had to stay close enough to you to decide what to do about you. Then the long, lost brother returned, and that meddling brat threatened me. He didn’t waste any time marrying you, did he? He’d waited too long to return. He had to.”
That got Tina’s attention and, for the moment, she forgot about the catch she had finally found with her hands. “Had to?”
“Of course. The old bastard made sure he would. He wouldn’t have inherited a farthing if he hadn’t.” At Tina’s disbelieving stare, he continued. “After Aaron died, the previous marquis changed his will to say that if his other son didn’t marry you within five years, you would inherit everything. All his son would get was the title.” Milton’s eyes burned with an accusatory flame. “He didn’t have any choice. It was either marry you or lose everything, just like Aaron.”
Tina’s blood froze in her veins, goosebumps rose on her arms. “No,” she whispered. “No! It’s not true. You’ve done nothing but lie, cheat, and steal from the beginning—why should I believe you?”
His smile taunted her. “I would have married you to get what I wanted. After all, it wouldn’t have been very hard to dispose of you after a reasonable amount of time.” He began moving toward her again. “I would have made sure you never bore a child of mine. I wouldn’t have wanted a gypsy half-breed brat.”
Tina tried to assimilate everything she was hearing. It couldn’t be true. Jay wouldn’t have married her just for the properties, would he? But, even as her heart denied it, her mind went back over their short courtship. He had initially wanted to honor the betrothal contract, but when she had refused to
hold him to it, he had proposed outright. Then there was the special license so they could marry quickly. So Felicia could go to her young ladies’ academy and Jon would not have to worry about her. And all done before the fifth year anniversary of her stepfather’s death.
She couldn’t think. She didn’t want it to be true, but her mind screamed it was. Why else would he have married her so soon after meeting her? He barely knew her. And she had fallen for it. She never suspected he had any other motives than fulfilling his father’s wishes. And she had fallen in love with him along the way. Pain so intense she nearly screamed ripped through her. How could she have been so naïve? So trusting? He hadn’t wanted her, he’d just wanted his patrimony back.
Just before Milton reached her, she managed to push the window open and slip one of her bracelets off. She heard it hit the ground and realized it hadn’t fallen far. They must still be on the ground level. If only she could distract him long enough to climb through.
“Get away from that window!” he snarled, grasping a handful of her hair and pulling her away. She spun away and landed on a small chaise. Rolling off, she moved quickly to put the chaise between them. Her scalp tingled painfully and a throbbing began in her head.
“You know if you kill me, my brother and husband will hunt you down. You’ll never have a moment’s peace. You’ll always be looking over your shoulder, wondering if the next person you see will be one of them.”
She realized her mistake instantly. Bravado disconcerted some people, but not Roderick Milton. He had spent years making people, especially women, cringe before him. He recognized it when he saw it, knew it for what it was, and gloried in the power it gave him.
He laughed at her again, a strange light entering his eyes. He truly was mad, she thought. “Ah, but maybe I won’t kill you, yet,” he grinned. “There are worse things than death. Especially for a woman.”
From behind the chaise, she watched him approach. Looking around, she spied a settee across the room on the other side of the fireplace to her left. If only. Glancing in the direction of the windows on her right, she made a move and watched him move to intercept her, then dashed to the settee, crouching behind it so only her head was visible. She reached up and tore off her mask, the better to watch him approach.
“You can run around this room all night, but I will catch you eventually,” he purred. “Aaron promised you to me, and I will collect on that promise before this night is through.”
“I’d rather die first!”
The chuckle that escaped him made her shiver. “Afterwards, maybe, but certainly not before,” he promised. “Then I will send your husband to join you.”
Tina tried to control her galloping pulse as her hands, unseen by Milton, extracted first the derringer from her reticule, then the one from her drawers’ pocket. She knew it was possible she’d need two shots. If she didn’t kill him with the first one, he just might shoot her before she got the second one off, but it was a chance she had to take. Regardless of her outburst, she did not plan to die this night, nor did she plan to just wound him. She would not allow him to go after Jay, too. He had already stolen one of Papa’s sons, she would not let him have the other.
Ignoring the voice that reminded her she had gone against Nona’s wishes, she would not allow another murder because of her. She would make it right—or die trying. Jay deserved more. He deserved to live his life free of the curse of her presence.
But, oh how she wanted to live. For Jay, and to find out the truth. Nona had promised her happiness, but only if she found the other half of the pendant. What had she done? Perhaps this was her punishment for not following Nona’s edict. She didn’t know whether it was or not, but she was leaving nothing to chance. He continued to stalk her, moving closer to the settee. She backed away from it slowly, keeping her hands hidden from view. When she came up against the fireplace, she knew she was trapped. Watching him approach, she fought hard to quell her rising panic.
“Such bravery,” he crooned. “I will enjoy taming you. Aaron said it couldn’t be done, but I taught him how.”
Tina continued to inch along the wall, but she knew she was moving into a corner and could see no way out.
“Aren’t you just a bit curious?” he asked. “Don’t you want to know whether he learned his lessons well?”
Her chin rose. “He learned enough to frighten a sixteen-year-old into wishing him dead.”
That stopped him momentarily. “Wishing him dead?” His eyes glowed menacingly, but he held the gun steady. “Interesting.”
She reached the corner and knew it was all over. It was now or never. Steeling herself, she pulled one hand from behind her back and pointed the small weapon at him. “Don’t come any closer,” she warned in as strong a voice as she could muster, “or I’ll shoot.”
His attention snapped to the small pistol she held trained on him. His mouth dropped open fleetingly, then he grinned. “And just what do you expect to do with that toy?”
Tina did not answer him. As long as he thought the weapon could not possibly inflict serious damage, she knew he would not use his own. Allowing him to continue to think he had the upper hand would be to her advantage. She had to allow him to get a little closer. And she had to make her first shot count. There would not be another chance.
Sidling out of the corner with her back to the wall, she began beating on the wall behind her with her other fist. If there was anyone in the hall, she hoped they would hear and come to investigate.
For the rest of her life, she would never be able to recall the exact sequence of events that happened next. The muffled sound of footsteps, voices, and the gunshot all merged together. She vaguely remembered hearing someone in the hall, then banging on the door as someone tried to get in. Recognizing his voice, she screamed Jay’s name just as Milton lunged for her. She moved quickly to avoid him, tripping over her own foot and falling to her left, directly into the marble surrounding the fireplace. As she fell, she saw Milton raise his pistol and she raised her own and fired. Pain exploded in her skull, then everything went black.
*
Jay had been watching Tina and her partner while taking the duchess to task over his wife’s costume.
“How could you let her leave the house with a target painted on her back? She may as well have come as herself and not bothered with the mask!”
He knew the duchess was not cowed. In fact, she was quite enjoying herself. “I’m afraid your lady has a mind of her own. I could not have stopped her even if I had wanted to. However, if you must know, I did not lay eyes on her costume until after we arrived. When Gerald and I met her in the foyer at Westover House, she was already wearing her cloak.”
Jay fumed at her answer, but could not gainsay her. After all, he and Jon had not considered she would do something so outrageous, either. Watching her dance, though, he could not help but admire her poise. She seemed relaxed and confident. No one watching her would think she was trying to draw out a murderer.
Her hair swirled around her as she went through the turns of the dance and he unconsciously flexed his fingers as he remembered running them through its thickness just this morning. His body reacted to the images his mind conjured up and he had to tamp down his rising passion in favor of more sober thoughts. Like never taking his eyes off of his wife, who didn’t seem to realize she wasn’t really wearing a costume at all. It was like waving a red flag in front of a bull—or rather, swishing a red skirt in front of a murderer.
The dance finally came to an end, but Tina and her partner were on the other side of the room. He wanted to wade through the throng of dancers and retrieve her immediately, but he knew that would cause too much of a commotion. Besides, he could still see her and track her—couldn’t he?
He lost sight of her momentarily among the crowd, then found her again. She and her partner were talking to another man in a black domino. A group of young people stopped right in front of him for a few seconds, then moved on. Looking over to where he had last s
een her, he expected to see her and her partner moving toward their little group, but she wasn’t there. In fact, he couldn’t see her at all.
Trying not to overreact, he scanned the room completely. Impossible! She was nowhere to be found. She can’t be hard to find, he told himself. She was the only gypsy in the room. Turning to Jon, he kept his voice calm as he said, “I can’t see Tina. Let’s circulate and see if we can find her. You go that way and I’ll head in this direction.”
Jon was instantly alert. Taking one look at Jay’s face, he realized Jay was one step away from panic. He nodded and, giving the dowager an excuse, moved into the crowd in the direction Jay had indicated. Jay went the other way.
Ten minutes later, they still hadn’t found her and dread was beginning to surface. Jay went out to check with Pymm in the garden and returned minutes later to say that she hadn’t gone out there. She had to still be in the house. Jay questioned the four policemen dressed as footmen in the room. None of them had seen her leave. Unfortunately, since he hadn’t had the time to point her out, they hadn’t been keeping an eye on her alone.
Returning to the spot he had last seen her, Jay surveyed the area. It was near two card rooms set up for attendees who did not wish to dance. Of course, in the card room, identities were known, so they wasted no time stripping off the stifling dominos and began to question the card players. Finally, one remembered seeing a gypsy walk through with a domino-clad partner, and pointed them to the opposite door.
Summoning Pymm and two of the policemen, he and Jon headed for the door. The hall was dimly lit and lined with doors—all closed. Abandoning all pretense of subtlety, he and Jon began opening doors down the hall, the policemen rushing into each one in turn.
Jay was beyond panic by now. He had lost her. He had never felt so helpless before in his life. What if they did not find her in time? Suppose Milton had already smuggled her out of the house and the search of this hallway was for naught? What if Milton had already managed to kill her and all they would find was her body?
The Gypsy Legacy: Marquis Page 27
