But Peregrine would not be an easy man to kill, especially now that he was on his guard. For all his dangerous skills, Kane had already failed at the job, and Weldon was unsure where to turn next. A fire perhaps? Or find another marksman?
A pity that Jimmons and the other brothel guards were no more than bullies, good at controlling unruly patrons, but no use for tasks requiring thought. Perhaps Jimmons would know another man like Kane. The trick was to find a tool who didn't turn around and blackmail the man who had hired him.
It would be best if Weldon did the deed himself, but while he was a good shot, he had no military training or experience at calculated assassination. Not that he shrank from killing. More than once his unwilling partners had proved too weak and died under his hands. But this was different.
Weldon sighed with frustration, tired of how his thoughts were running in circles. It was evening, and he was no closer to a solution than he had been that morning.
As he poured a glass of port, a startling thought hit him. Mrs. Kent had said that the captive girl was not Jenny Miller. Could Lady Sara herself have been abducted? While his former betrothed didn't really resemble Jenny, she was small and blond. She also dressed simply and looked youthful for her years.
While Weldon had not planned to seize Lady Sara, he certainly wouldn't release her if fate had dropped her into his hands. He began calculating.
If Sara was at Mrs. Kent's, Eliza could be sent away the next day to his hunting box in Scotland. Peregrine would never find her there. Eliza's absence would give Weldon the freedom to use Sara against her husband.
Deciding it would be easiest to see the captive himself, Weldon called for his carriage. The trip would not be wasted. Even if the captive wasn't Sara, for he would have one of the girls before he returned home.
* * *
Peregrine followed Slade up the steps of his house, feeling pleased with the day's work. They had just visited a magistrate called Hanlon, a man of flinty integrity who loathed the exploitation of children. Hanlon had found the evidence against Charles Weldon very convincing and was preparing to issue a warrant when Peregrine and Slade left. Now, if there was just an encouraging note from Sara waiting...
Instead of a note from Sara, the two men were met by an anxious Jenny Miller.
"Thank heavens you've come back!" The girl threw her arms around Slade without stopping her rapid speech. "Eliza Weldon disappeared, and we think she may have been taken to Mrs. Kent's house; and because you weren't here, Lady Sara went to Mrs. Kent's herself to get her out."
It took a moment to absorb the breathless speech. Then Peregrine swore to himself in Kafiri,and ushered Jenny and Slade into the drawing room for a more detailed explanation. A few questions established what had happened.
It was a relief to learn that Kuram was with Sara, but going to Mrs. Kent's was still a damned fool thing for her to do. Peregrine snapped, "How long ago did she leave?"
Jenny glanced at the clock. "About half an hour."
Frowning, Peregrine said, "I'm going after her. I'll ride to get there more quickly."
Slade frowned. "Are you sure you'll be safe? Since you visited Mrs. Kent's once, you'll be recognized. If Weldon has alerted all his employees to watch out for you, it may be harder to get out of the place than to get in."
Peregrine thought a moment. "Probably not, but I might as well be cautious. Two of the guards are here; they can follow in the large carriage. If Sara and I aren't out of the house quickly, they can come in and get us." He glanced at Jenny. "I don't like asking this of you, but will you ride in the carriage and show them the way to Mrs. Kent's?"
"Of course," Jenny replied. "I'd go crazy waiting here, wondering what's happening."
Slade started to protest, then stopped. "Very well, but I'm going with you, Jenny."
After a grateful glance for her lover, she said to Peregrine, "Everything is happening at once, isn't it?"
Peregrine nodded. "We just returned from a magistrate. A warrant is being sworn for Weldon's arrest, and Mrs. Kent's house will probably be closed down within the next couple of days."
"Please, sir." Jenny put her hand on his arm. "That's the law acting, but no one is going to care much about what will happen to the girls in the house. Can we take them away? One or two are probably girls I knew. They're going to be scared to death if the police come in a raid. They can testify against Mrs. Kent later, but until then, they're better off with someone like me who knows what they've been through."
Sara had wanted him to care about the suffering of people he didn't know, and perhaps he owed these anonymous girls something for not having acted against Mrs. Kent earlier. "Very well," Peregrine said, "do what you can for them. Benjamin, order the carriage and a horse for me. I'll find the guards and tell them what we're planning."
A few minutes later, a pistol thrust under his cloak, he was riding through London as fast as he dared. If there was going to be trouble, he must first make sure that Sara was out of harm's way.
* * *
Weldon's hope that Lady Sara was captured died as soon as he talked to Mrs. Kent. "No, sir," the madam said emphatically. "She's just a child. Couldn't possibly be a woman in her twenties."
"Pity," Weldon said with regret. "Is she pretty?"
"Very. Long blond hair like an angel." Mrs. Kent gave an approving nod. "She could be another Jenny Miller, a girl who can play the virgin over and over. Valuable."
"We'll keep her then." Weldon glanced upward. "What room is she in? Someone has to be the first, so I think I'll take that pleasure for myself."
The madam frowned. "I've already promised her to someone else for later tonight. I've a particularly good customer who likes blondes, the younger the better."
Weldon shrugged indifferently. "He can have her second. Unless you've got another virgin in the house?"
"Not tonight. Just three of the regular girls, plus the new one. A man is bringing in two of his daughters tomorrow, just for one night." A peevish note entered her voice. "It's a lot harder running a virgin house than a regular brothel."
"Which is why you earn so much," Weldon pointed out unsympathetically. "What room is the new girl in?"
"The end of the hall, on the right."
"What's her name?"
"She wouldn't tell me. Won't do anything but cry for her father," Mrs. Kent said with contempt. "But I made her ready for her first customer." She went to her desk and pulled out a key. "Here's the key to the room."
Weldon went into the hall and climbed the stairs. Outside the new girl's room, he paused, his heart and breath quickening in anticipation.
There was such ecstasy in being the first, in knowing that no other man had ever penetrated that innocent body. Amidst the frustration of his struggle with Peregrine, he needed this to restore his power and confidence. His organ began swelling to hard potency at the thought.
After turning the key in the lock, he quietly opened the door. In the room's dim light, at first he saw only a slender body and blond hair tumbling over the pillow. As usual, the girl wore a flimsy, childish white nightgown, and her wrists were tied to the bedposts.
He licked his lips as waves of desire pulsed through him, melting his fears and frustrations. Yes, he needed this. Soft-footed, he crossed the room, anticipating the sweet taste of the child.
The girl had whimpered with fear when the door opened. Then she turned her head toward the entrance, a swath of lamplight falling across her childish features.
Weldon stopped dead in his tracks. Nausea began boiling through him, along with paralyzing grief.
The child's blue eyes widened, first with shock, then with joy. "Papa!" Eliza whispered, her voice raw from weeping. "Papa, I knew you would come."
Chapter 28
It had taken Kuram time to find Mrs. Kent's house, for in this part of London the streets were not well marked. Sara burned with impatience. When Kuram opened the door and said, "Here, lady," she jumped out immediately.
It was full dark
now, and she pulled her hood up so that it shadowed her face. Kuram directed the driver down the block to an alley where the carriage would be inconspicuous.
Sara climbed the steps quickly, Kuram close behind her. There was an interminable wait after she knocked.
Finally a small window slid open in the door. "Who are you and what do you want?" a hoarse voice asked.
Perhaps some special password was required, but Sara didn't know what it might be, so she said, "I am here on a matter of business, Profitable business for Mrs. Kent."
The window slid shut, and there was such a long wait that she feared they would not be admitted. But eventually the door swung grudgingly open, and she stepped inside, Kuram behind her.
Standing in a drab hall were a burly ruffian and a large, unpleasant-looking woman who matched Jenny's description of Mrs. Kent. Eyes wary, the madam snapped, "What's your business—do you have a daughter to sell?"
Disguising her revulsion, Sara replied, "I have reason to believe that earlier today a young girl was brought here by mistake. I will pay well for her release, no questions asked."
Mrs. Kent frowned. "How did you know to come here?"
"No matter." Sara waved one hand negligently, trying to look more confident than she felt. The house reeked of evil. Even if Eliza wasn't here, Sara would willingly use her money to buy the freedom of any other captive children.
The madam shot a quick, hard glance to her guard. "Come into my office where we can talk."
Sara nodded and began following the woman. She had gone only a few steps when the noise of a fight exploded behind her. Whirling, Sara saw that the burly guard must have received a hidden signal from Mrs. Kent, for he had attacked Kuram.
The two men rolled across the floor of the hall, kicking and swearing. The Pathan fought like a fury, but his opponent outweighed him and had the advantage of surprise.
Sara scanned the hall, looking for some weapon to use on the guard. As her gaze fell on a wooden chair, Mrs. Kent seized Sara's arms in a powerful grip.
Though Sara struggled to free herself, the other woman effortlessly immobilized her. "I don't know who you are, my fine lady," the madam snarled, "but you got no business here."
Kuram managed to throw off his assailant, but the other man grabbed a stone doorstop from the corner of the hall when he fell. The fight ended abruptly when the guard smashed the heavy weight into the side of Kuram's head.
The Pathan groaned and went limp. As blood began soaking through the white fabric of his turban, Sara cried out and tried to go to him, but she couldn't break the madam's grip.
"Tie him up in the back room," Mrs. Kent ordered the guard. "The master may want to question him, so don't kill him yet."
Sara's hood had fallen back when the women struggled. Mrs. Kent studied her captive with narrowed eyes, then gave a slow, unpleasant smile. "I'd lay fifty quid you're the older wench my master described not more'n ten minutes ago. He's going to be right pleased to see you." She twisted Sara's wrist viciously. "You'll wait in my office till he's through upstairs."
In the office the madam searched her captive with rough thoroughness, giving a grunt of satisfaction when she discovered the money hidden in the cloak. "This is a day for good things coming out of bad. First a mistake gave me a new girl for the house, and now you walk in ripe for the fleecing."
Mrs. Kent pushed Sara into a heavy chair, then lashed her wrists together and tied them to one wooden arm. Knowing that the more helpless she appeared, the more careless and contemptuous Mrs. Kent would be, Sara shrank back in the chair, letting her fear show.
Looking frightened was easy, for Jenny had been right—Sara was a fool to have come here. Not only had she failed to help Eliza, her disastrous error in judgment might cost her and Kuram their lives.
Worst of all, Mikahl might come and be taken unaware by the guard. Closing her eyes, Sara forced herself to calmness. Then she began to pray.
* * *
As his daughter spoke, Weldon stood stock-still, his body chill with stupefaction. He, who always had prided himself on being unshockable, now found that the sight of his daughter's plight was like a blade thrust mortally deep into his heart.
Eliza's voice traded off uncertainly. "Papa... Papa, are you all right?"
Her question snapped Weldon from his horror-struck trance into molten, coruscating rage. If it had not been for Peregrine, Eliza would never have been abducted. Her presence in this foul place was an abomination, a corruption of innocence for which that bastard was responsible, and for which he would be made to pay an unspeakable price.
The sight of Eliza's wide, panicky eyes forced Weldon to curb his rage. Before vengeance could be executed, his daughter must be freed. With clumsy fingers, he began undoing the sashes that bound her to the bed. "Don't worry, darling," he said in a shattered voice. "Papa's here. I won't let anyone hurt you."
Released from her bonds, Eliza sat up and leaned into her father's embrace as she shook with desperate sobs. "I was going to call on Lady Sara, just for a few minutes, but they grabbed me on the street just outside Haddonfield House," she gasped. "They had a smelly rag that put me to sleep. When I woke up, I was here and a horrible woman was touching me. She said I could never go home again. She said I would have to..."
As his daughter's voice broke entirely, Weldon patted her on the back, crooning over and over that she was safe now, that her father would never let anyone harm her. When Eliza's sobs finally subsided, he asked, "Are your clothes here?"
She swallowed, then spoke with a heartbreaking attempt at bravery. "The awful woman put them in that chest of drawers."
"You get dressed while I go downstairs and make sure it is safe for you to leave." Weldon's trembling hand touched his daughter's bright hair as she gazed at him with trustful eyes.
"Yes, Papa." In her father's presence, Eliza was recovering from her terror. "I knew you would come and everything would be all right."
Out in the corridor, Weldon leaned back against the closed door, his breath coming in ragged gasps as he struggled to suppress horrifying images of what would have been done to Eliza if he hadn't chanced to come to the house. His precious daughter would have been defiled by some filthy brute who did not recognize true innocence when he saw it.
Peregrine was behind this, but Mrs. Kent and the guards who had kidnapped Eliza were also guilty. They should have known as soon as they saw her that she was pure; they should never have laid their vile hands on her. They would pay. By God, all of them would pay!
Weldon always carried a small pistol when he came to this part of London. He pulled the weapon from under his coat, checked the loading, cocked it, then concealed it again. White-hot with fury, he went downstairs to Mrs. Kent's office.
When he opened the door, the madam said, "We've a visitor, sir. This female just pranced in, bold as brass. Is she the one you told me about earlier?"
The words Weldon had meant to hurl at his employee were temporarily forgotten when he saw Sara tied to the chair. Incredulous, he exclaimed, "What the hell are you doing here?"
Sara stared back, vivid shock on her face. "I might ask you the same, Charles. I refused to believe that you could be involved in something so sordid, but I see that I was wrong." A mask of cool control smoothed her expression. "I came because I feared Eliza had been brought here. Is she upstairs?"
"Yes, but she's about to leave." Weldon gave a smile of deep, malicious satisfaction. "You, however, will not." He turned to Mrs. Kent, his expression vicious. "The girl upstairs is my daughter, you stupid bitch. Are the two beasts who abducted her in the house?"
Mrs. Kent paled. "One went back to Mrs. Cambridge's, where he usually works. The other is here, in the back room watching the servant who came with this lady."
"For laying hands on my daughter, you must die,"Weldon growled as he reached under his coat and withdrew a small, ugly pistol.
Her gaze fixed on the gun, Mrs. Kent gave a strangled gasp. "You can't blame me for not blowing who she was!
The girl wouldn't even tell me her name."
"You should have known she was an innocent!" he said relentlessly, his finger tightening on the trigger. "Instead you treated her as just another worthless slut."
Finally believing that her master meant what he said, Mrs. Kent screamed and tried to run away, but flight came too late. The pistol discharged, the noise deafening in the small room.
The ball caught Mrs. Kent in the temple and she crashed to the floor, knocking over a wooden chair. She sprawled in an ungainly heap, her eyes still wide with desperate disbelief as the room filled with acrid smoke.
"Fortunate that this house has such good soundproofing." Weldon turned to Sara, a wild, dangerous gleam in his eyes as he reloaded his pistol. "Before I am done, you will wish that I had killed you so quickly. I have some business to take care of, but I will be back soon."
He strode from the room, the door behind him not quite closing. Sara began to work frantically to loosen her bonds. Before she would not have believed it possible that Charles would hurt her, but now she knew that he was capable of any kind of mad violence.
She tensed as she heard a single shot in the back of the house. Had he killed the guard or Kuram? Considering how he had executed Mrs. Kent for the mistaken abduction, probably he had shot the guard and spared Kuram, at least for the moment. Weldon was mad, thoroughly, terrifyingly mad, executing others for the same crime he had routinely committed against other children.
Weldon's footsteps ascended on the stairs again. Several minutes later, two sets of feet sounded, one heavy, one light.
Listening hard, Sara heard Eliza say fearfully, "Is that awful woman gone?"
"Yes, darling," Weldon said in the soft, comforting voice of a perfect father. "You're safe now. Papa will let no one harm you. But you must be brave and ride home in the carriage alone. The driver will take you straight back to your uncle's house."
"You can't come with me?"
"No, darling, there are some things that must be done before I can leave. The people who hurt you must be punished."