If You Were Mine (30 page)

“
Did you really think I would just accept your claim without
questioning the validity?” Dominic saw the venom in the look
DeLisle had given Isobel and fought to keep hold of his temper.
“With a reputation such as yours, one would be foolhardy indeed to
believe anything you claim without investigating it
thoroughly.”

Dominic
noted neither man raised issue with his questioning their honesty.
“My wife, her welfare and her fortune, are well out of your reach.
Your reign of terror against my wife is well and truly over.”
Dominic flicked the smaller man a contemptuous look of mocking
pity.

“
Rein of terror?” Rupert’s voice was incredulous as he turned
with raised brows to glare at Isobel before trying to bluster his
way through. “What has the stupid woman been telling
you?”

Dominic
clenched his fists, reminding himself that it would do no good to
grab the little man by the throat. “My wife is far from stupid,”
Dominic’s tone was languid. “Indeed, I think she is anything but
stupid. She has after all managed to evade you for nigh on two
months!” He shot her a warm smile of reassurance before continuing.
“She clearly has far more intelligence than either of you. A young
woman on the streets - all alone - with little money, and only the
clothing on her back,” Dominic snorted cynically. “Despite the odds
stacked against her, she still managed to evade the two of you. In
fact she walked right under your nose two months ago and you still
couldn’t see her. It strikes me that it isn’t her who is the stupid
one.”

He
watched dispassionately as sweat began to form on Rupert’s brow,
and his face mottled with rage. Despite the clenching of his fists
there was no further outburst from him. No blistering put down, or
signs of the vicious temper he had revealed so readily to
Isobel.

Still
tension rose in Dominic as he eyed the rage boiling within the
rotund toad before him. He reminded himself that this man was
ruthless and he couldn’t be lulled into a false sense of security.
There was still the element of surprise that could catch them all
out, if either man chose to take it.

“
Again, I put into question your wisdom should you seriously
consider anybody would blithely accept your pro-offered documents
of marriage, betrothal or anything else without calling their
validity into question.” Dominic knew he had struck a chord when
Rupert shot him a narrow eyed glare at the mention of betrothal
documents.

“
It was you!” He snarled. The truth dawned upon him that his
deceit over the marriage had been revealed. “You broke into my
house!”

Dominic
raised a condescending brow; he eyed the little man with cold
disdain. “I have no idea what you mean.”

“
You stole the documents from me,” Rupert turned toward the
others in the room who all looked decidedly unconcerned.

“
You are a thief. You are all thieves. I shall report you to
the magistrate,” his voice shook as much as the finger he pointed
towards Dominic, as his temper began to reveal itself.

“
Please do so,” Dominic invited almost mockingly. “While you
are there, you must tell him all about kidnapping your niece and
attempting to embezzle her out of her fortune to clear your debts;
debts you cannot hope to pay.”

“
We have considerable evidence,” Peter replied briskly, taking
over proceedings with officious precision. “Even if we discount the
numerous debts you have run up with various money lenders in
London, there are eyewitness accounts of your brutality in various
forms. Isobel’s confirmation that you removed her from Willowbrook
without her consent will convict you of kidnapping and holding her
against her will constitutes as imprisonment. Physical assault on
her, on more than one occasion; which I should kill you for by the
way, in addition to my attempted murder. If you don’t spend the
remainder of your days in Debtors’ prison, you will most certainly
transported to jail to await the hangman’s noose.”

“
What evidence do you have?” DeLisle demanded, resuming his
seat with a thud. He shot a contemptuous glare at his stout friend
who seemed to have run out of threats they hadn’t already heard -
and dismissed - before.

“
Numerous witness statements; financial statements of your
debts with various loan sharks and gaming houses; eyewitness
accounts from two serving staff who saw you push your third wife
down the stairs to her death,” Sebastian’s voice was so
conversational as he recounted the evidence they had collected,
Isobel nearly missed the significance of his words.

“
You’re bluffing. I did no such thing,” DeLisle snarled
pushing to his feet in outrage. “I demand you rescind the
accusation immediately.”

“
I won’t rescind anything. I do however have an arrest warrant
for you, for the murder of Harriett Barnstable, your last
wife.”

“
I didn’t kill her, she fell.” Despite his denial, DeLisle
began to look around the room nervously, as though he expected the
ghost of his third wife to pop out from behind the
curtain.

“
Of course she did. You just happened to be standing beside
her at the top of the stairs at the time, and had your bank account
open enough to catch the cash when she hit the floor.” Dominic
challenged coldly, moving to stand beside Isobel. Despite knowing
the man was cornered, he was a murderer and at the moment, he was a
murderer who was looking at the hangman’s noose. Dominic would have
felt more comfortable if Isobel was in another part of the house
entirely, but it was too late to ask her to leave now.

Carefully keeping himself between Isobel and DeLisle, Dominic
watched as Sebastian slowly approached the man from the opposite
side. Between them, they were ready for anything either Rupert or
DeLisle could throw at them.

“
You can either stand up, and allow Edward and his men to
escort you to the magistrate, where you will be bound over to jail
to await trial, or we can drag you out. Either way, your days of
being a free man are over. I can promise you one thing. You will
certainly not leave this house a free man.”

Isobel
watched as DeLisle seemed to crumble before them. Despite his
cruelty, he seemed to have the intelligence to realise the odds
were significantly stacked against him.

“
Damn your eyes,” he snarled at Isobel and Dominic as he
passed them. He was stopped beside the door where he was checked
for weapons before he was led out of the room by Edward, and two of
the armed servants.

“
Always remember Rupert, that the truth will have it’s day.”
Dominic turned to watch the taller man disappear through the
door.

Something wasn’t right, Dominic’s instincts warned him to
remain wary but he wasn’t quick enough to prevent the flurry of
movement beside him that drew his attention back to
Rupert.

“
Watch out!” Dominic barely heard Sebastian’s shout. He spun
on his heel, fast enough to watch in horror as the squalid little
man dragged Isobel before him, the pointed tip of a wickedly long
knife held to her neck.

Isobel
felt her stomach dip to her boots. She could feel the cold blade
held against her skin. Unless she was much mistaken, the tickling
on her throat was a trickle of blood from the sharpness of the
weapon being pressed so harshly against her throat.

“
Move away,” Rupert ordered, motioning towards
Dominic.

“
Edward!” Dominic bellowed at the top of his lungs, his eyes
firmly fixed on Rupert. Moments later there was another flurry of
movement, this time by the door as Edward returned, dragging
DeLisle with him.

“
You two are good, I’ll give you that. Your plan almost
worked,” Dominic snarled, watching dispassionately as DeLisle was
roughly shoved to the floor by Edward. He cursed himself for being
such a fool, and allowing his attention to be diverted so
easily.

“
Let’s recap over events so far.” Dominic’s gaze flickered
between DeLisle on the floor and Rupert standing a few feet away,
before he continued. “You kidnapped Isobel from her home at
Willowbrook, and held her against her will at Gosport Hall, which
wasn’t your house, but one you had broken into. You then proceeded
to beat her daily, and attempt to get her to sign a false betrothal
document while claiming to be her guardian, knowing full well that
you had no such legal entitlement.” Dominic’s voice rang clearly
around the room, his voice clipped and almost businesslike as he
stated the cold facts.

When
everybody remained silent, he continued. “So that’s kidnap, false
imprisonment, attempted embezzlement, breaking and entering,
physical assault and now you, Rupert, are threatening murder.”
Dominic’s eyes were coldly contemptuous as he tried hard not to
allow his fear for his wife to show.

“
Gosport Hall should be mine,” Rupert’s voice shook with fury
as he bristled at the list of crimes Dominic recounted. “The stupid
hag who called herself my mother should have willed it to me. She
would have willed it to me, if it wasn’t for this greedy little
bitch.”

Isobel
winced, and fought hard not to whimper as Rupert jostled her,
pushing the knife deeper into the soft flesh beneath her chin.
Tears sprang into her eyes and as fear for her life began to build,
she sought and found the reassuring gaze of her husband. His
steady, almost calm gaze immediately settled her quivering nerves
she took a deep breath to steady herself.

“
Is that what this is all about? Gosport Hall?” Peter’s voice
was incredulous as he thought about the events of the last few
weeks.

“
It should be mine - Gosport Hall. The lands, and the money,
are all rightly mine.” Rupert’s voice held a manic edge that grew
the more wild as his anger built.

“
Do you really think I care that pox ridden despot wanted to
drag the little whore off to bed?” He nodded to DeLisle, who cursed
roundly from his position on the floor.

“
But what did you hope to gain by forcing Isobel into marriage
to DeLisle? Why try to get her to sign the betrothal document? It
didn’t have any impact on the house or fortune,” Peter reasoned,
struggling to understand Rupert’s logic.

Rupert’s
laugh was almost wild as he sneered at his nephew. “He paid me for
her! He actually paid me to take the little bitch to wife,” Rupert
declared contemptuously, shooting a filthy glare at his partner in
crime for his stupidity. He turned back to his audience almost
proudly. “I needed the money to keep my debtors at bay while I got
her to sign the transfer papers for the house and land. DeLisle was
going to give me half of her worth once they were married, it was
part of my payment for her.”

DeLisle
began to swear fluidly at Rupert’s duplicity declaring, “We had
planned for me to persuade her to sign over Gosport Hall, and
control of her funds, once we were married. If she wasn’t with
child in six months, she would go the way of the other useless
bitches I married.” He glared at the man whom he had considered a
comrade in arms. “You got greedy Rupert; greedy and
stupid.”

Rupert
scoffed at DeLisle. “You are calling me stupid? You’re the one tied
up like a chicken facing the gallows.” His mirth was high and
unnatural. He mocked the flurry of insults DeLisle threw at him
while he was dragged out of the room once more by Edward and
Peter.

“
I’m not greedy,” Rupert argued. “I just want what should
rightly be mine.”

“
No wonder you were cast out of the family,” Isobel snapped,
turning her head sideways to stare contemptuously at the sweaty
face of her uncle. “You are evil through and through.”

“
Isobel,” Dominic’s voice held a tone of warning that was
impossible to miss.

“
Don’t think I won’t cut you girlie. You have cost me dear,
and I demand retribution.” Rupert’s voice was snide; his eyes lit
with a mix of greed and malice.

Isobel
wondered briefly if he was sane. Could a madman be so calculating?
She wasn’t certain, but she did know his logic wasn’t born out of
reality.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

BANG!

“
What the hell?” Rupert swore and jumped. Everyone within the
room jolted with surprise at the sound of gunfire coming from
outside.

Rupert,
momentarily distracted by the noise, eased his hold upon Isobel
enough to give Sebastian the opportunity he needed. Grabbing Isobel
tightly around the waist, he literally threw her over the back of
the chaise lounge. She landed with a solid thump on the floor, with
Sebastian beside her, still clutching Rupert’s knife in a shaky
hand.

Ignoring
Sebastian’s attempts to hold her back, Isobel pushed herself to her
feet and peered over the back of the chaise.

Rupert’s
face was purpled with rage. Without a weapon, or Isobel, his rage
broke free and he launched himself at Dominic with a snarl of fury.
The fists he threw at Dominic did little damage, even when they did
hit. The volley of insults and epithets Rupert spat out were
accompanied by the brutal sounds of flesh meeting flesh as
Dominic’s punches landed home.

“
Easy, Dominic,” Peter warned after several brief moments,
when Dominic showed no signs of letting up. He eyed the bloodied
face of his uncle with disdain, and wondered briefly if he could
just leave Dominic to pound the odious creature into the ground.
“We need to leave him alive for the gallows.”