Page 77 of The Untamed Heart

“Colonel Hamilton, how surprising to find you hiding in the shadows. One would think a hero of your calibre would face me.”

“Oh, I’ll face you, don’t you worry. But let Miss Foxworthy go.”

“But she wants to see all the fun. Don’t you, my dear?” Keller said with a sneer as he snatched at Eustacia’s wrist and held it in his savage grasp. “We can’t have her miss it all.”

“No!” Eustacia cried out. “Marcus, don’t—”

But suddenly there he was, stepping out of the undergrowth and standing before them.

Eustacia’s heart kicked painfully behind her ribs, an unbearable surge of terror for him stealing her breath.

“Well, well, what a happy reunion,” Keller said with a sneer.

Marcus’s face showed no emotion, it was a mask, hard and set, but his voice was cold with fury. “You’ve got what you wanted. Now, prove to me you are not entirely devoid of honour, and let her go.”

“Oh, no. I shan’t do that. It would spoil everything,” Keller said with a laugh. “But I think first, we should make you a little less mobile.”

He raised his pistol and Eustacia knew at once what he intended. Using all her weight and might, she slammed into Keller, sending him reeling off balance and careening backwards, straight into the vicious thorns of the rosebush Marcus had so carefully pruned.

The pistol went off, the sound deafening at close quarters, and Eustacia screamed, praying it had not hit Marcus. She stumbled away from Keller as he let go of her, arms flailing as the rosebush clawed at him. He shrieked with pain as the savage thorns left bloody scratches over his face and hands and tore through his clothes. Looking around desperately, Eustacia saw Marcus, to her relief whole and unharmed, but she saw death in his eyes as he ran forward and grabbed hold of Keller, wrenching him from the rosebush and throwing him to the ground. The cold-blooded fury in Marcus’s expression scared her as much as anything had that day, for if he gave in to it, Keller would win.

She stared helplessly at the ground, at the two men pummelling each other in a ferocious battle for their lives, exchanging blows of such viciousness she seemed to feel each one herself as panic overtook her. This had to stop, she must stop them, but how?

To her horror, she saw a telltale glint of metal and shrieked with alarm.

“Marcus, he has a knife!”

Marcus caught the man’s wrist just as the downward stroke thrust towards his heart.

Oh, do something! Do something! Eustacia told herself, but she was too terrified to take her eyes off the two men and their desperate battle. Marcus was holding his own, but he was tiring. The wound in his side must be weakening him. Keller would know that, of course, and he would know just where to strike.

She must trust Marcus to stay alive just a little longer. Though it was the hardest thing she had ever done, Eustacia turned away from the fight and ran to the little potting shed where she wrenched the door open. For a second, a fleeting memory of Marcus’s dismayed expression the day the door had fallen off in his hands flitted behind her eyes, but she pushed it away. She did not need memories. She needed a future with the man she loved.

Determined and furious now, she snatched up the shovel and ran back towards the two men with it raised above her head. Yelling as she went, she could only imagine the spectacle she must make, certainly it was enough to take Keller’s attention for a moment, for his head snapped up.

Eustacia took a breath, about to bring the shovel down with all her force, when a shot rang out.

She froze in terror, and then almost cried with relief as she saw Hawkney standing in the gateway to the garden. He held a pistol in each hand, and, from one, a wisp of smoke curled lazily skywards. The shovel clattered to the ground.

“Give it up, Keller. You’re done, and you’re damned lucky I came when I did, or the lady would have brained you.”

Keller focused on Hawkney for a moment, considering his options, and then he looked down at Marcus.

“You should have died at the Hollow Road like you were supposed to.”

He moved so fast, for a moment Eustacia could not tell what had happened. The knife was nothing but a blur of light and there was a grunt of pain, but Marcus slammed Keller onto his back, and the knife flew out of his hand. Marcus snatched it up. He lifted it, the determination to drive it into Keller blazing in his eyes.

“Marcus!”

His hand stilled at the sound of her voice.

“Get out of here, Eustacia,” he snarled, the words vibrating with fury.

“No. No, I won’t go. If you do this thing, I shall watch, I shall be a part of it, but that’s not what you want, Marcus. That has never been the man you are. He wants to die at your hands, to tarnish your honour. Don’t give him that power over you, my love. It’s over. He’s finished. He can’t hurt either of us anymore.”

Marcus stared down at Keller, a muscle ticking in his jaw, but he pushed away from the man and got to his feet. Hawkney stepped closer, his pistol trained on Keller, who glared back at the duke with mute fury.

“Get on your knees,” Hawkney said coldly. “And don’t think about trying to get me to kill you, for if you try anything, I shan’t aim at your head, but a good deal lower.”