CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The doctor’s sedative worked so well that the assailant didn’t awaken until three in the morning. Daniel was sitting in his room when the man stirred, moaned, and asked where he was.
Daniel arose from his chair and went to stand over the bed. “You’re at Grex, and I’m the man you were trying to kill,” he said pleasantly.
The man in the bed looked to be in his forties, with a thin, weathered face, blue eyes and slightly hooked nose. He had a brown beard that was streaked with gray and there was gray in his brown hair as well. He looked up at Daniel and muttered, “Just my luck,” in a deep Yorkshire voice.
“It was my luck that I saw your wire before my horse tripped over it,” Daniel replied.
“What wire?” the man said.
Daniel raised an eyebrow. “The wire that is now in my possession. The wire that is going to hang you at your trial.”
The man tried to sit up, gasped with pain and lay back again. “You shot me,” he said, remembering.
“The doctor says you’ll be fine.”
The thin pale face on the pillow looked both frightened and bewildered. “Why would you call a doctor for me and put me in a bed in your house?” He tried to move and winced with pain. “What do you want from me?” he ended.
Daniel pulled his chair over to the bed and sat down. “You don’t look to me like a man who’d take money to commit murder. You look more like a farmer,” he said.
“I were a farmer once. Then them bloody enclosure laws took my farm away.” He ran a tongue over his lips. “I’m thirsty. Any chance of a drink of water?”
Daniel poured a glass from the pitcher on the bedside table. He helped raise the man a little, and held the cup to his lips until the water was finished. Then he replaced the water glass and resumed his seat.
The man’s strained blue eyes held Daniel’s. “You’re treating me right good for a man who tried to kill you. Why?”
“I want to know who hired you.”
The man closed his eyes. “I canna be an informer. I have a wife and children…”
His voice ran down when Daniel laughed. “When I turn you over to the authorities you’ll never see your wife and children again. Attempted murder is a hanging offense.”
“Then God help me,” the man said wearily.
“I will help you if you tell me who hired you.”
His answer was a suspicious frown.
“I won’t report your attempt on my life. And if your information leads to my finding out the truth about who is trying to kill me, I’ll even give you a reward.”
The suspicion still remained. “What kind of reward?”
“You’re hardly in a position to bargain. Whatever reward I see fit to give you.”
The man moved restlessly and let out a curse as he jarred his shoulder.
“What’s your name?” Daniel asked.
“Michael Harmon.”
“Well, Michael, are you going to cooperate with me or shall I summon the authorities?”
Michael’s face had the look of a man who has been defeated too many times as he said gruffly, “It were Tim Williams. He lives in Leeds. He always has money, does Tim, and nobody knows how he gets it. I were working for Mr. Cassidy on his farm near Abberford when Tim come up to me and asked if I’d like to make twenty pound. He said he had heard my wife was sick and that I needed money. Twenty pound! Do you know what that would mean to Doris and me and the bairns? I’ve been slaving away on other men’s farms for a pittance. Why twenty pound would change our lives, buy medicine for Doris…” He shifted again and looked up into Daniel’s impassive face. “I didn’t want to kill you, but it were…”
“I know. It was twenty pounds. So you took the job. Did Tim say why I had to be done away with?”
“I asked him, but he only said someone from Lunnon wanted it done and would pay me twenty pounds. Williams is from Lunnon himself, so I suppose he knows folk.”
“Why didn’t he do it himself?”
Michael shook his head. “Why should he take the chance when he knew he could find someone like me?”
Daniel stretched out his legs. “So the originator of this plot lives in London.”
“That’s what Tim said.”
Daniel closed his eyes. It must be true then. Matthew had been right. His father was trying to kill him.
# # #
Anne was horrified when Daniel told her what Michael had revealed. “Your own father? Can such a thing be true, Daniel?”
He said, “I sat up for the rest of the night thinking about it. Remember - this man threw my mother out of his house the moment he heard she was with child. His child. He felt no sense of responsibility to her or to me. Matthew says he’s furious because I’m associated with the push for social reform and everyone knows I’m his son. According to Matthew he thinks I’m degrading his ancient bloodline.”
They were seated side by side on the chintz sofa in the morning room, and the sun was shining in through the windows. Anne’s chest felt tight with the terror she was trying not to show. “How can we stop him? He’s an earl, Daniel. If you accuse him no one will believe you!”
“I know,” Daniel said.
Anne’s hands were gripping each other so tightly her knuckles had turned white. She said, “You’re certain Lord Preston hired this…this monster…to have you killed?”
“I’m as certain as it’s possible to be. The men who attacked me in London gave me Grissom’s name, and it makes sense. I know he pays a string of demobilized soldiers to carry out his so-called ‘business’ endeavors.”
Anne fought to keep her voice steady. “What can we do? Lord Preston hates you, Daniel. And if you try to accuse him to the magistrates, they won’t believe you.”
“I know.” His face looked bleak.
Anne slid closer and he put a warm arm around her. She said despairingly, “I can’t even think of someone we could turn to. No one would listen to Papa or Percival.”
They sat in silence for a few moments, then she straightened up, turned to him and said excitedly, “Perhaps we can hire someone to shoot this Mr. Grissom. Or better still, Lord Preston himself!”
“Good God.” He turned to look at her. “Is this what I’ve brought you to – planning an assassination?”
She said fiercely, “I’d shoot him myself if I could get away with it.”
He gathered her close again, dropping a kiss on her hair. “I appreciate the thought, sweetheart, but shooting isn’t the answer. What we’ve got to do is get Preston to cancel his commission with Grissom. It’s the only realistic way to solve this situation.”
Anne was close to despair. Lord Preston had no conscience. He would never voluntarily give up his pursuit of Daniel. What were they going to do? What would she do if Daniel was killed?
It wasn’t going to happen. She wouldn’t let it happen. She said firmly, “You had better keep to the house until we come up with a solution. As we’ve just seen, you aren’t even safe on your own property. That man upstairs is proof of it.”
She felt his arm stiffen. “I’m not going to let that miserable excuse for a human being dictate where I go and what I do. I need to go on the attack, Annie, not hide in my house!
Anne clutched the arm that held her. “Don’t shoot him yourself, Daniel! Please don’t shoot him. They’ll hang you if you do!”
He loosened her fingers and looked down at her. “You’re white as a sheet. I said shooting wasn’t the answer, remember.” His lips tightened. “I shouldn’t have told you. It can’t be good for you to be distressed.”
His words stung and Anne glared at him. “Of course you should have told me. I’d be furious if you kept something like this to yourself. We’re married … we’re partners … we should face our problems together!”
He nodded, worry still showing in his eyes.
“I j-just don’t want you to get killed,” she said in a shaky voice.
“I have no intention of getting killed.” He ran a gentle finger along her cheekbone. “Do you know, when I lived in India I was utterly fearless. I’d ride any horse, fight any man, climb any mountain, and damn the consequences. I never thought about dying.” He pulled her closer again, resting his cheek on the top of her head. “But it’s different now. I’m different. I have you, and soon I’ll have a child. I know what it is to be afraid. I don’t want to leave you. It’s too soon.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks and she buried her face in his shoulder to hide them.
“I think I might drive up to London to see my brother,” he said. “He’s the one who warned me against Preston. He knows his father’s weaknesses better than I do. Perhaps he’ll have a solution for us.”
All of Anne’s instincts screamed that London was dangerous. It was where that awful criminal lived. She said, “Couldn’t you send your brother a note asking him to visit you at Grex?”
“No. I need to act quickly, before they hear this last attempt was a failure. I just hope Matthew is still in town.” He bent his head to her and gave her a gentle, lingering kiss. “I know you’re worried, but I will handle this. I have no intention of getting killed, or being put in prison. For the first time I can remember, my life has meaning, and I plan to hold onto it.”
She forced a smile. “You had better.” He moved as if to stand up and she put a hand on his arm to restrain him. “What am I supposed to do with that man upstairs?”
“Oh.” Clearly, he had forgot all about Harmon. “I promised him a reward if his information led to my finding out who is trying to kill me.”
“Daniel, that man tried to kill you. You can’t give him a reward!”
“He’s just some poor farmer whose wife and children are starving because he lost his farm and can’t find work. Hold onto him until you hear from me. He won’t be any danger to you, Annie. I’d never leave him here if I thought he was.”
“How comforting,” Anne said.
He grinned. “I’ll write as soon as I know what is happening.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, and walked out into the hall. Anne heard him calling something to Thornton. He sounded happy.
She closed her eyes and began to pray.