Brotherhood 02 - Broken Promise (26 page)

“Bitch!” He looked down on her with the hatred and bitterness of a man possessed. Loathing filled his eyes when he realized Jonathan was no longer in her arms.

She screamed Austin’s name again as Dunstan pulled her to her feet and jerked her toward the bed.

Her arm throbbed and her flesh burned like it was on fire. The sleeve of her gown turned dark with blood and her legs wanted to give out on her, but she still fought him. She had to. She couldn’t let him reach Jonathan.

She pushed him with all her strength and he lifted his arm to fight her off. This time he had a pistol in his grip.

Sarah prepared to receive the blunt force of his blow, but Dunstan’s fist stopped mid air when Austin burst through the door and bellowed his name.

“Dunstan!”

The fear in his eyes sent a wave of alarm racing through her. Before she could react, he pulled her in front of him to use her as a shield. At the same time, he pressed the gun against her temple.

“Stop where you are, Landwell, or she dies.”

“No,” Austin said in a voice more threatening than Sarah had ever heard him use before. “You drop the gun. Or you’ll die.”

Instead of letting her go, Dunstan pulled her closer.

Blood ran down her arm and dripped on the carpet. She blinked several times trying to focus her eyes, but the room wanted to spin around her.

“Stewart?” a female voice said from behind Austin. The voice belonged to Dunstan’s mother, her tone filled with incredulity and fear. “What’s the meaning of this?”

She took a step closer to her son, but Jasper Dunstan grabbed his wife’s arm and stopped her.

Dunstan laughed. “Well, Mother, what does it appear the meaning is? I have made another attempt to eliminate the future Earl of Penderly. And this attempt has been as futile as the last two.”

Leonora Dunstan swayed on her feet. Her husband wrapped his arm around his wife’s shoulders.

“Why, Stewy?” she stammered.

“Don’t call me that!
Never
call me that again. I’m not Stewy. My name is Stewart!”

“Son,” Jasper Dunstan said, struggling to maintain a calmness when he spoke. “Why? What do you hope to gain? Surely not the title?”

Stewart Dunstan laughed. “Oh, Father. Why would I want the responsibility that goes with the Penderly title? I only want the Penderly wealth.”

His parents’ disbelieving expression stared blankly at their son.

Dunstan bellowed a demented laugh. “Oh, that’s rich! You don’t understand. Just as you’ve never understood.” He waved the gun in the air. “Let me explain it to you, Father. If I allow the brat to live, I’ll never see any of uncle’s money.

“But you’re not next in line for the title. Or the wealth,” his father responded.

“But Wesley is. And I’ve always been able to count on him for everything I need. He’s a very generous brother, you know. I’m counting on him to continue providing so I can maintain my present lifestyle. The babe will ruin all that.”

Sarah looked at the shocked expressions on Leonora and Jasper Dunstan’s faces and felt sorrow for them. They’d lost their son.

Jonathan was awake now and let out a loud cry. Dunstan’s muscles tightened around her.

“Now,” he said with a glib tone. “The only question that remains is what’s to be the outcome of this fiasco?”

“The answer’s simple,” the Earl of Penderly announced. “Release Miss Bentley, and we’ll discuss your future in private.”

“No, Uncle. That’s the wrong answer. I prefer to make my own demands.”

“And what would those be?”

“One hundred thousand pounds. That should tide me over for at least a while. And Miss Bentley comes with me until I’m safely out of the country.”

“No,” Austin answered. “Miss Bentley stays here.”

Stewart Dunstan laughed. “Ah, true love. It’s sickening.” He sighed. “Very well, I’m a reasonable man. I am willing to renegotiate.” He tightened his arm around Sarah’s waist. “My final offer is, one hundred thousand pounds, Miss Bentley comes with me until I’m safely out of the country, and…” Stewart Dunstan pointed his pistol to where Jonathan lay on the bed. “…the brat lives.”

Jonathan was fussing in earnest now. He’d thrown off his covers and was a perfect target for Stewart Dunstan.

“Stewart, no!” his mother cried.

Her interference only seemed to anger Dunstan more. His hand shook and the gun wavered.

Stewart Dunstan was an unstable young man and Sarah realized Jonathan would never be safe from him. He considered the babe his nemesis, the person responsible for the loss of the money he needed to live as he wanted. Even if Jonathan survived today there would more than likely be another attempt on his life again next year. Or the next.

Sarah realized the threat had to end today. They couldn’t allow Stewart Dunstan to escape.

“What’s it to be, Uncle?”

“You won’t get away with this,” Austin said in a voice that brooked no compromise. “If you harm the babe, Lord Penderly won’t rest until you meet the same fate. If you harm one hair on Miss Bentley’s head, I’ll kill you.”

“Then maybe you’re the person I should eliminate first.”

Stewart Dunstan swung the pistol toward Austin’s chest and squeezed the trigger.

“No!” Sarah felt a fear greater than any she’d ever experienced before. She couldn’t lose Austin. She couldn’t let him die like this. She loved him too much.

She threw herself back into Stewart Dunstan and he stumbled. His arm lifted and the gun went off. It struck the corner on the far side of the room.

Austin and Major Talbot both fired in return.

A bloody circle darkened Stewart Dunstan’s chest and he spun around. The knife in his arm slashed through the air.

Sarah tried to move out of his reach but she wasn’t able to escape. A second burning sensation sliced through her flesh. Sarah pushed Stewart Dunstan away from her and sank to the floor.

…

Austin bellowed a warning as the knife in Dunstan’s hand connected with Sarah’s flesh. He’d watched the blood drip from her fingertips since he’d barged into the room. He knew she’d lost enough blood already and wouldn’t remain conscious long. But nothing prepared him for seeing Dunstan’s knife slice through her flesh a second time. His heart plummeted to the pit of his stomach when her fragile body lost consciousness.

Austin raced toward her and hunched down beside her. Bruises already darkened her cheek from where the bastard had hit her. But it was the knife wounds on her arm that concerned him. He needed to see how deeply she’d been cut.

“Carry her to the bed,” Gabe said from above him.

Austin lifted Sarah’s unconscious body in his arms and placed her on the bed. Liddy was waiting with blankets and covered Sarah as soon as he laid her down.

“How badly did he cut her?” Gabe asked stepping close. He handed Austin a knife and Austin cut the material at Sarah’s arm and pulled it away from the knife wounds.

Liddy handed him several damp cloths and he pressed them against her arm. “They’re bad enough,” he answered when he’d wiped enough blood away that he could see the damage. “But she’ll be all right.”

He pressed the cloths against her arm, praying that the bleeding would stop.

Austin turned as Lady Penderly rushed into the room.

“Jonathan’s safe now,” she announced. “The doctor will be here any minute.” Lady Penderly stopped when she reached the bed. She pushed the hair from Sarah’s forehead then reached for her hand. “She saved my grandson’s life again,” she whispered, still clutching Sarah’s hand. There were tears in her eyes when she looked at him. “I don’t know how we’ll ever repay her.”

Austin swallowed hard. “Take care of her. She deserves to be happy.”

Austin stayed at Sarah’s side until the doctor arrived, then left her in his care.

This was the third time she’d offered her life for Jonathan’s. How could he expect her to choose him over a child she cared so much for she’d nearly died to protect him?

The loss that ate at him ached like a fiery pit deep inside his heart. A hole that no amount of time would heal.

…

Sarah opened her eyes to the soft light of several flickering candles. She tried to move, but spike after spike of stabbing pain shot through her body. She’d never hurt so much in her entire life.

“Lie still,” Austin said from the shadows beside her bed. “You have some nasty cuts on your arm. The doctor sewed them up but you’ll be sore for quite a while.”

“Is Jonathan all right?”

“Yes. He’s fine.”

“And Stewart Dunstan?”

“He’s dead.”

Sarah squeezed her eyes shut.

Austin rose from his chair and stepped closer to the bed. Sarah felt his nearness more than saw it. Even before she lost consciousness, she knew he would be with her when she woke. She could always trust him to be with her, to protect her. He was loyal to a fault.

She slowly turned her head and focused on him. Her heart swelled with an emotion to which she could now put a name. An emotion she knew would cause her as much pain as it did joy. She loved Austin with her whole heart. Even though it was the same heart that loved Jonathan.

Austin sat on the edge of the bed and reached for her hand.

“Have Mr. and Mrs. Dunstan gone home?” she asked.

“Yes. Lady Penderly tried to comfort them, but words aren’t much comfort when you watch one of your sons die.”

“Is that what happened to you?”

Austin’s eyebrows lifted. “I don’t have a son. I can hardly lose something I’ve never had.”

“You had in your care countless sons of parents just like the Dunstans. You had Lord and Lady Penderly’s son. He served with you.”

“Yes, but—”

“The day the Earl and Countess of Penderly came to Etherhouse, would you have let them leave without knowing they had a grandson?”

“I told you I’d let you make that decision. I trusted you would realize Penderly wasn’t responsible for the attempts on Jonathan’s life. I trusted that you would do what was right.”

“And if I had not?”

He didn’t answer. She knew he wouldn’t—couldn’t.

“What debt do you owe them?”

“Debt?”

“Yes. Why are you so indebted to Lord Penderly?”

Austin released her hand and rested his forearms on his knees. For several long seconds he didn’t speak. When he did, his voice held a harsh quiet that was filled with pain.

“I owe Penderly a son. I killed the one he gave me to take care of.”

“That was war, Austin. Men die in the war.”

“This was different.” He swiped his hand over his face.

She waited for him to speak, remembered what Liddy had told her, that she prayed some day Austin would share what had happened with someone. She wanted that someone to be her.

She couldn’t give up. She had to do whatever she could to make him share his burden. “How was it different?”

He breathed a heavy sigh and she heard his agonizing pain. At first she didn’t think he intended to answer her, then he turned to face her.

“I was captured in France and put in prison. I possessed a certain knowledge the French were desperate to get. I sacrificed Penderly’s son to save a man I considered more valuable.”

“Was this man important to Britain?”

He nodded.

“If you were given the opportunity, would you make the same decision a second time?”

Without hesitation, he nodded. “I’d have to.”

“Then you did what you had to do.”

His confused expression said he didn’t understand.

“Not all of life is easy, Austin. Nor is it without regrets. You are luckier than most.”

His frown deepened.

“When tragedy strikes, most people wish they could go back and make a different choice or do something different. They live with regrets that are impossible to change. You live with the knowledge that you made the only choice you could. Take comfort in that. The choice you made was the right one.”

“You sound as if you’re speaking from experience.”

“Perhaps I am.”

“What choice did you make you wish you could change?”

A painful lump settled around her heart. The words were difficult to say. “Perhaps I haven’t had to make that choice yet.”

She saw his features change. He knew the choice she had to make. Knew the decision she would make that would affect both of their lives, their futures.

“Are you afraid you may make the wrong choice?”

Sarah sank back into the pillow and closed her eyes. “No. The decision I make will be the only one I can live with.”

She turned her head away from him so he couldn’t see the tears that ran from the corners of her eyes. She didn’t want him to see the loss she would feel and think he was responsible for it.

The room was quiet. Nothing sounded except the pounding of her heart inside her breast. She waited, hoping he’d say something. Knowing there was nothing to say. Finally, he leaned down and kissed her lightly on the cheek.

“Rest now. I’ll send someone to sit with you.”

“Are you leaving?”

“Yes. It’s time.” He crossed the room and opened the door. A light from the lamps in the hallway cast him in shadows.

“Goodbye, Austin,” she whispered before he left her.

“Goodbye, Sarah.”

The door closed softly behind him, and she was alone.

Truly alone.