Page 83 of The Pursuit of Mrs. Pennyworth
Elliot turned, Thomas right behind him. “Is there a key to this door?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Get it.”
He kept his ear to the door while he waited for Thomas. Once in a while he heard Miss Garvey’s raised voice. He considered shooting the lock, but if Miss Garvey had a gun, she might kill Charlotte before he could even get into the room.
Where the devil is Thomas?
The footman raced up, with Mrs. Blanchard right behind him, key in hand. He put his finger to his lips to keep them from speaking. They nodded as he took the key from the housekeeper’s hand and carefully inserted it into the lock.
He moved the door latch up and eased the door open. Charlotte sat facing him, her eyes growing wide as she saw him. Miss Garvey had her back to him and was speaking earnestly to Charlotte. He moved silently a few steps until he saw a large knife in Miss Garvey’s hand. He slowly slid his hand into his pocket and grasped his pistol. Afraid to approach her from behind, lest she become startled and attack Charlotte, he moved around her chair until he came into her view.
Miss Garvey sucked in a breath of air. “What areyoudoing here? I locked the door.” Her lips twisted into a snarl. “Youare the reason Anne no longer wants me.”
Elliot looked over at Charlotte and mouthed “Anne?” She shook her head and shrugged.
The woman was mad. The only thing he could do, short of killing her, was to play into her discourse and try to dissuade her from hurting Charlotte. “Miss Garvey. If you do love Anne, I suggest you put the knife down. You certainly don’t want to harm her.”
She narrowed her eyes, and raised the knife, causing Elliot to lose his breath. She was far enough away from Charlotte that she would have to lunge to reach her, and he was certain he could stop her with a bullet before she did.
“Don’t think you can fool me. Anne tried to run away with another man. Yes, that’s right. You look surprised. She’s tried this before. But I stopped her. And I will stop her again.”
“It seems your anger should be directed more toward me. Aren’t I the one who is taking Anne from you? Why don’t we let her leave the room, and you and I can talk this out? Maybe come to a compromise.”
“She’s not leaving,” Miss Garvey snarled. “Youare leaving. Now. Go.”
There was no way he was leaving Charlotte in the room with a madwoman. He pointed to the tea tray. “I see you have tea. I could use some myself. Why don’t we discuss this calmly?”
Miss Garvey didn’t move. “You know, I thought for a while that Talbot would snare Anne from me. I had my eye on him. Then you came along, and the sniveling idiot started askingmequestions. Why is it men cause so many problems?” She turned to Charlotte. “It was so much better when it was just you and me.”
She seemed to lose focus for a minute, but when Elliot shifted, she snapped her eyes at him. “Don’t move.” She looked back at Charlotte. “How did you like my last present?”
“Was that Talbot’s hand?” Elliot moved a bit closer to Charlotte as he spoke.
“Yes. Wasn’t that clever?”
“How did you get Charlotte’s glove?” Now was the time to find out if one of her staff had betrayed her.
Miss Garvey’s eyes narrowed. “She is Anne. Anne. Say it! Anne.”
“My apologies. How did you get Anne’s glove?”
She waved her hand. “Easy. One time when I was here for tea. I asked to use the facilities and wandered into her bedchamber. Her room even smelled like Anne. I just had to have one of her things to sleep with at night, until I could have her back alongside me.”
“And the bracelet, and spiders? That was very clever, it certainly had us guessing.”
Miss Garvey smiled, apparently enjoying the credit as her due.
“I asked Talbot to buy that bracelet for me. Anne always loves pretty jewelry and nosy shopkeepers ask too many questions. And the spiders? Ah, yes. Didn’t you just love that one? Although it had always seemed strange to me, Anne loved spiders, so I knew if I took a couple of those from Talbot’s house, it might remind Anne that I still love her.”
Miss Garvey’s eyes darted around the room, and her legs began to shift, as if she were growing restless. He didn’t know what the demented woman’s intentions were. Was she here to force Charlotte to go with her? Or to kill her?
If he didn’t get the knife off Miss Garvey, she was liable to rush forward and plunge it into Charlotte before he could react. The strain was showing on Charlotte’s face, and she looked as though she might collapse at any moment. It was time to draw this entire matter to an end.
“Miss Garvey, I understand your distress. Truly I do. However, holding Anne hostage with a knife will not win her favor. I suggest you put the knife down.”
“No! I have to kill her again!” She turned from Elliot and lunged in Charlotte’s direction; the knife raised above her head. Charlotte screamed, her arms up, and backed away. Elliot whipped the gun from his pocket and pulled the trigger. Miss Garvey swung her head around, her eyes growing wide. She dropped the knife and grabbed her middle where blood oozed from between her fingers.
She stumbled toward Charlotte and collapsed at her feet.
