Page 57
Dr. John Gregory, A Father’s Legacy to His Daughters
Ashot rang out.
Sophia screamed in fear and clamped her hands over her ears. Then she scolded herself for being a scared little mouse, stiffened her resolve, and carefully peered around the curving banister of the staircase, which afforded a little protection.
Both men were prone on the floor, Lord Wood on top of her beloved Richard. Please, she prayed, please let Richard be unhurt. Neither man moved. Were they both dead? Panic clawed at the thought that her wonderful, foolish husband might be gone.
Slowly, she reached behind her onto a table to grab a vase as an impromptu weapon and then, crouching down, she scampered over to where they lay. Lord Wood rolled off Richard, and Sophia panicked, her eyes filling with tears until she realized it was Richard who had pushed the large man off, causing him to roll as if he were still alive.
She wept in relief, taking in Lord Wood’s sightless eyes and blood seeping through the gold brocade of his waistcoat.
Richard scrambled to his knees to grasp Sophia in a hard embrace while she sobbed out her relief into his shoulder, the vase she held in her hand trapped uncomfortably between their bodies.
Sophia gasped. “You are hurt!” she exclaimed, touching his blood-soaked jacket.
“Nay, it is Lord Wood’s blood. Sophia, my love, I must take care of Lady Wood. Can you be strong for me while I check on her?” Sophia realized she was still sobbing. Calming herself, she nodded.
He let her go and crawled over the few feet to where Lady Wood lay near Radcliffe, who had collapsed in a stupor. His butler noticed Richard’s arrival and exhaled in deep relief. “My lord.”
“Are you all right, Radcliffe?”
“Just a little dazed. I will collect myself back together, my lord.”
“Take your time, Radcliffe. This is not a typical evening.”
The butler bobbed his head, drawing in a deep breath while Richard turned his attention to the slight form.
“Evaline?” He touched the trembling woman on her shoulder and she flinched, cowering in a huddle.
“Evaline? Are you all right?” She shuddered and then looked up at him.
“It is over?” she whispered, her eyes unfocused and her face as pale as a white sheet.
“Yes,” Richard assented. “But, my lady, Lord Wood … I am afraid … he is no longer with us.”
She stared up at him with empty eyes until, in a hollow voice, she replied, “I could do with a strong drink, if I may?”
“I will take you to my study in a moment, as soon as I check on John over there.”
Sophia watched her husband move over to the shorter John, carefully turning him over from the position he had fallen in after Lord Wood surprised him with a blow to the head with the pistol. The guardsman mumbled, to her relief, opening his eyes to look up into the earl’s face. He bore a nasty gash on his temple that was bleeding profusely, and his gaze skittered about.
“Your lordship?”
“Yes, it is I. Radcliffe is calling for a doctor.” Richard glanced over to the servant, who gave a quick nod and clamored to his feet.
Sophia dried her eyes, taking pride in the man she had married. Her heart had nearly stopped when her husband hurled into Lord Wood, but he had succeeded in his heroic antics and now ensured the well-being of each person, despite the ordeal he had just faced.
Richard had just saved her life.
And killed a man.
Richard placed his wife and Lady Wood in a carriage to return to the Woods’ residence, promising to follow the two women later.
Then he dispatched footmen to dig Perry out of whichever club he was gambling in that evening in his bid to gather intelligence.
Finally, Richard sent for the authorities.
When the Bow Street Runners arrived, he informed the grim-faced strangers that Lord Wood and himself had been playing cards together the day before and that Lord Wood had shown up that evening to accuse him of cheating before attempting to shoot him. Richard had been forced to wrestle him for his pistol, and the man was killed in the ensuing struggle.
