Page 71 of Lord Gabriel’s Undoing

Sidonie nodded. “Your father’s younger half brother. It was he who was my lover. It was he who sent me to be your nursemaid. I suspect, now, but I cannot prove it, that it was he who had your father killed.” She shook her head as though in despair. “It was he who ordered me to take you. And it was he who sent the men to kill you, who chased me until I met the fine lady in her carriage that God put in my way.” She managed a watery smile. “He thought me his pawn, that I would do exactly as he said. He did not understand that I was a human being, and that I loved the baby I’d been caring for as if he was my own.” She paused. “And even if I hadn’t loved you as I did, I could never have condoned the killing of a baby. Not for anyone.”

Gabriel let out his breath. “Did he not try to find you, after you’d fled with me? He must have been very angry.”

She nodded. “He did, but he was searching for a woman and a child, and I was adept at hiding myself. Sidonie was not the name he knew me by. Once inside the Rookery of St Giles, he was unable to trace me. Perhaps you don’t know, but no one would venture in there unless they valued their own life very little.”

Little did she know, but Phoebe wasn’t about to enlighten her.

“But I found you,” Gabriel said.

She nodded. “Because now I don’t care if I am found. I have no fear of the consequences, you see.” She put her hand to her stomach. “I have a canker, milord, and the doctor who told me has said I have very little time left. There is nothing anyone can do for me. If my old milord finds me now and kills me, he will only be saving me from more pain. So I no longer care about my own death.”

Phoebe put out a hand to cover Sidonie’s and Gabriel’s. “She saved you, Gabriel. You mustn’t forget that. Don’t be angry with her. She thought herself in love and loved in return. She would have been easy to manipulate. She saved you, and she’s dying.”

Gabriel nodded slowly. For a long moment he gazed at Sidonie. “Thank you, Sidonie, or whatever your real name is. Thank you for saving me. I understand, although it is difficult for me, that you were coerced into this by an evil man, and that you would have returned me to my real mother had you been able to. I thank you for your honesty in telling me my story. But I have one last thing I must ask of you.”

Her pain-filled eyes took on a brighter light. “Yes. Whatever it is, I will do it. I have waited and hoped for a long time that I might one day help you.” More tears trickled down her sallow cheeks. “For the little boy I loved, I will do anything.”

*

Lovat drew up the grays in Berkeley Square outside Mowbray House, the London home of the Earl and Countess of Mandeville.

Gabriel, who’d been churning over what he was going to say to his uncle, turned to Phoebe. “Sidonie will come with me. You’d best wait in the carriage.”

Phoebe shook her head in determination. “I’ve come this far with you. You’re not leaving me behind. And besides, you might need a witness. It’s always possible your uncle will accuse you of being a criminal liar and try to shoot you.”

Gabriel raised his brows at her. “I sincerely hope not. What little interaction I’ve ever had with the family has not inclined me to suspect him of being a man of violence.”

“He tried to have you killed as a baby,” Phoebe retorted. “And was probably the person who had your father murdered. I have a strong feeling I need to keep you safe, and that means being by your side when you beard the lion in his den.”

Gabriel, feeling buoyed up with the excitement of the chase, grinned. “I think we can assume he didn’t dirty his hands by doing either deed himself. He will have paid someone else to do it. Killing someone yourself is very different from paying someone to do it for you. Far easier to order it done so you don’t ever see the victim.”

Phoebe huffed. “I’m still coming.”

“I’ll have the Bow Street Runners with me, don’t forget.”

“And they’ll mostly be outside, waiting to come in. Not inside with you.”

“Whiteley is accompanying me, and I plan to warn my uncle the others are outside.”

Sidonie put a hand on his arm. “Let milady come. I see with my own eyes that she loves you very much. You cannot deny love, m’sieur. She needs to know you are safe and see it for herself.”

Gabriel bit his lip, uncertain. What lay ahead was uncharted territory, and might well be dangerous. Yes, he had a carriage full of Bow Street Runners drawn up behind his own, thanks to the assistance of Officer Jack Whiteley. It also contained Abraham Coolidge, who’d been in the Brown Bear when Gabriel and Phoebe had come in asking for assistance. He’d been more than well paid, but he seemed keen to discover the end of the story he’d become involved in, so Whiteley had let him come too. They were prepared with irons to make arrests.

However, there was the worrying fact that his uncle had gone to extreme measures to dispose of rival claimants and secure the earldom for himself. Who knew what further lengths he would go to in order to hang onto it. But they were in London, not some remote spot, and surely the law prevailed here. No one in their right mind would offer violence in the middle of the city to the famous Bow Street Runners. Mr. Fielding’s Men, as he should be calling them.

Gabriel gave a nod, and all three of them descended from the carriage, leaving a somewhat bemused Atkins behind. God knew what she’d made of their unguarded conversation on their way here, via Bow Street, but as she wasn’t a foolish woman, she might well be piecing it together already.

Officer Whiteley was already standing in the street, smart in his dark uniform, his billy club concealed in his coat tails and his pistol in his pocket. His men were ranged out behind him, their faces eager.

Gabriel, followed by Whiteley, Phoebe, and Sidonie, climbed the three steps to the front door, and Whiteley tugged on the bell rope.

After a short wait, a liveried footman opened the door.

Gabriel stepped forward. “Lord Gabriel Wycliff to see the earl.”

As he spoke the words, it dawned on him that this was actually by rights his house. The footman should be his servant. He had to grit his teeth to prevent himself from saying anything. This whole place had been stolen from him.

“Of course, my lord, I shall see if the earl is at home.” He let them in, casting a curious glance over the cadaverous Sidonie in her shabby gown and the uniformed Officer Whiteley. “Won’t you come into the drawing room while I go and inquire.”