Lord Greyton's Fall From Grace (Lords of Avalon Novella Series) (10 page)

“I have made it my concern
, Burrow
.
If you ever beat your wife again, if you so much as lay a hand
on
her, I will know immediately. I will kill you personally
.
If you doubt my ability to do so, I can give you a list of names of the men I have killed out of duty to my country
;
of course I would have to kill you immediately after you read the names.” Marrek shrugged
nonchalantly
.
“
I have
on my person
a letter signed by the King which allows me to extinguish your life if I deem it necessary
.
You cannot hide from me. Orders are to kill you immediately if you should try to leave England’s shores
.
I will inform you that w
e have
been watching you for some time;
in case you have not
realized that
by now
.
The reason I confront you today is because I learned what you do to your wife
.
It enables me to take action now instead of later
.”

“My wife is obstinate and disobedient
.
I cannot let her get away with-“

“Silence!”
St. Erth’s tone was ominous and deadly.

“Your wife is a lady, a beautiful flower, and a gentle soul
.
You will treat her as a queen
.
You will never let a harsh word pass your lips in her presence
.
You will remain five feet away from her at all times
.
You will
never
touch her again
.”
The thought of such a pompous, bloody fool beating the beautiful and gentle Catherine for his
own sick
pleasure infuriated him.
Charlie told him Catherine’s body was bruised and
permanently
scarred
in places
f
rom the perverse torture bestowed upon her by Burrow
.
He would never understand how a man could receive sexual gratification from harming a woman.

“No woman will live in my house and
not obey me!” Lord Burrow stood. H
is puffy face
grew
red with his anger.
He seemed to notice immediately he was dwarfed by his opponent’s size and brawn.

Marrek was well aware of the effect his size and dark looks had on others
.
He scowled
.
“
I have a doc
ument for you to sign.” Marrek
removed a paper from a small secretary
.
He handed it to Burrow.

The Marquess scanned the document
.
“A divorce
!
What nonsense is this
? 
She is mine, my property, and I will keep her.” Burrow thrust the paper back at St. Erth, who made no move to retrieve it
.
It wafted to the floor.
St. Erth moved the foolscap aside with the
tip
of the
eagle-headed cane he held in one hand
.

“Let me make this
crystal clear
for you Burrow
.
You have three choices
available to you
.
The first is to grant your wife a divorce
and cooperate with His Majesty
.
The second is to keep her as your wife
,
but to never speak harshly to her or touch her again
;
or as I promised, you will die
.
You would also be expected to cooperate with His Majesty.
The third
choice you have
is to die by my hand
this very moment
if you refuse the first two choices.
”

Burrow laughed, albeit nervously. “I’m one of the best shots in all of Eng
land
.
Who says you can be
s
t me?
”

Marrek let go a bored sigh. “I do
.
I prefer to slit an opponent’s throat
, t
hat way death is eminent
.
Breaking the neck works well also, it’s less messy
.
Greyton assured me they c
an
replace the carpet easily, so the choice is mine, really
.”
Marrek
removed his gold watch and flipped open the case
.
“You have four minutes remaining to make your decision before I end your life
, Burrow
.”

The Marquess of Burrow shifted uneasily
.
His hand moved toward his coat pocket.

Before his hand could reach his pistol,
the tip of
St. Erth’s cane
cracked upon
the back of
Burrow’s hand
.
Marrek
slipped t
he weapon under his
opponent’s
arm
.
He pushed his arm far back and away from his
upper torso
.
A
substantial
ten
inch blade appeared from the cane tip and within seconds rested against Burrow’s throat
.

“Uh, uh, uh
.” A diabolical grin
s
pread across St. Erth’s face
.
H
is dark eyes gleamed
.

“I am a
peer of the realm
.
A Marquess
!
I will have you arrested
for assault
!”

“By whom, Burrow
?
” Marrek let go a wicked chuckle.
“
We have proof you have been conspiring agai
nst the King
.
I work for him. His Majesty is fully aware of your actions
.
If there
is
anyone
to
be arrested
today
it would be you
.
Y
our wife would be granted a divorce. I would deliver her petition to the King personally
.
She would be free of you the same day you found yourself in the gaoler’s cell
awaiting your trial for treason
.”

He removed his watch again and looked at the time. “One minute remaining before you bleed all over Greyton’s carpet
.
And your decision would be?”
He looked into Burrow’s wide eyes.

“What must I do
, St. Erth
?
”
The Marq
uess sighed in defeat.
“
I am not a fool
.
If you allow me to keep my wife and remain out of prison, there will be a price for me to pay
,
of that
I am we
l
l aware
.
”

“Ah, thank goodness you are not a complete fool.
I was beginning to wonder.
” Marrek fla
s
hed him a
particularly
sardonic grin
.
“
You will continue to work with Lords Grenville and Somerton, and send me all correspondence and paperwork regarding your
transactions and
schemes
.
You will relay information I give you to them, without their knowing it’s from me, of course
.
You will allow Lady Burrow to send me a letter every two days
.
She will seal it with a special seal I
will
give her
.
If it is tampered with, or if I do not receive her letters like routine clockwork, myself or one of my men will appear quite suddenly
when you least expect it
.
I am leaving two men who will be with her at all times
when she is not in her chamber
, and who will guard her
person
night and day
.
I also am giving her a new maid who reports directly to me
.
I will send you a draft
every three months
to pay for their
boarding
.
”

Marrek continued, “
If anything happens to one or all of them, there will be no questions asked, you will die
, most likely by my hand
,
when you least expect it
.
”

“So are you saying that I cannot
exercise my
husbandly rights with my own wife?”

St. Erth’s black brow shot up.
“Yes
, that is what I’m saying
.”

Burrow cursed under his breath
.
“Why should I even keep her then
,
damn you?”

“That is a very good question, Burrow.”
Marrek
kicked the forgotten
paper
on the floor toward him
.
“You may sign the document
.”

“I’ll take my chances
.
I’ll do the devil’s work for you, but I’m keeping my wife
.
She’s mine
.
No one else will have her
!
”

St. Erth hid the anger rising inside him well. True his superior wanted Grenville an
d Somerton at all costs, and th
at required
Burrow’s cooperation
.
Marrek
, Charlie and his
former love, the beauteous
Catherine, wanted her freedom. This could work in their favor. Eventually, Burrow would slip and
Marrek
could
personally
free
Catherine
once and for all from her evil husband. “You may keep her only on my terms
.
Do you agree to them?”

“Yes,
” Burrow sniffed
with disdain. “For how long?” t
he Marques
s
asked
in irritation
.
He lifted a bushy brow.

“Forever, if necessary.”

“When you have Lord Grenville and Lord Somerton then I
will be
free?”

“Mayhap. Mayhap not.
” Marrek shrugged.
“
That
particular decision shall
be left up to the King
.
I suggest you cooperate well with His Majesty
’s dictates
.
He may be forgiving
of your treason
.
Personally, I say
once a traitor always a traitor.”

“Fine
!
I am leaving, for I find your company most offensive.
I take it you will see
my wife
is delivered to her mother’s house.”

St. Erth nodded.
“
Of course.
You will receive detailed instructions
from me
tomorrow morning
at ten o’clock
on how I shall receive information from you
.
You will always give what I need to Lady’s Burrows guards
.
They w
ill see that I get it.” Marrek
removed the Sword cane from the Marquess’ throat
.
“By the way, her guards shall return with her today
.
Her maid will be sent to you once you return to Bath
.”

Two large, muscled men stepped into the room
.
They both turned and watched the Marquess hasten from the room
with amused gazes
.

St. Erth watched Lord Burrow
exit with a sardonic smile
.
He turned to Creed St. Ge
rmans, Viscount Roscarrow, o
ne of his fellows at the
D
epartment.
“Creed, go find Charlie and bring him to the study
.
Tell him to wait for me there
.
I must find Lady Burrow and speak with her privately.”

“She’s in the garden,
Marrek
,
”
Ruan Menwennick, the Earl of Ince, also a colleague whom he worked with at the Department informed him
.