“You are right,” I told him in the spirit of contrition. “It was good of you to try.”
He brightened. “Thank you. Although I am afraid of what will happen next,” he added in a confiding tone. “Isabel is an impatient woman. She does not like to be thwarted.”
He eyed the stains on Stoker’s collar. “I see she has attempted to work her wiles upon you. No doubt you rejected her?”
“She did not get everything she wanted,” Stoker temporized.
Harry shook his head. “She will only try that once. And now you’ve pricked her pride, she will not like that at all. I fear she will loose Göran on you next, and I am quite certain you will enjoy that much less.” He paused, then rushed on. “She will let him hurt you. In ways you cannot imagine.”
He fell silent whilst we imagined a few of those ways. Then Harry went on, haltingly. “I am sorry for this. She would never have come into your lives if it were not for me. I have blundered again, when all I wanted was to make things right,” he said mournfully. “She will not rest until she gets that bloody diamond, and I know she will not hesitate to harm you both if you stand in her way. Perhaps if I offer myself up . . .” He let the sentence trail off suggestively.
Stoker batted it away. “She cannot get the diamond from you because you do not know where it is. And if she instructed Göran to torture you, it would do no good except to leave you bloody and injured in those ways we cannot imagine.”
Harry shuddered and Stoker went on. “And, of course, it is entirely possible she will kill us anyway. We have seen her face. Really, it is just a matter of time before she gets frustrated enough to let Göran do away with us. There is a pond in the front garden. Do you think that is where she will have him dump our lifeless bodies?”
Harry’s pale face had taken on a greenish cast. He summoned a brave smile. “For all her sins, she seldom turns to murder.”
“Seldom?” I said, my voice rising.
“I cannot make promises, she is a little unpredictable. But she is a pragmatist. I do not think she would risk the penalties for murder if she has what she wants,” he said, although a note of doubt had crept into his voice.
“And if she has the diamond, Stoker is not the only one she might be willing to let go,” I ventured.
“Of course!” Harry exploded in a harsh whisper. “Yes, I am thinking of my own prospects, Veronica. Have you ever known me to do otherwise? But this serves all of us. Isabel gets her bloody diamond and you and Stoker are out of it. Everyone walks away with what they wanted. Otherwise—”
“Otherwise, she may very well make carp food of us all,” Stoker put in cheerfully. “Do you think that pond has carp?”
Harry shuddered. “How can you speak of such things so calmly?”
“Because I know that is not going to happen,” Stoker replied. Harry and I stared at him.
“How can you be so certain?” I asked. “We are all in agreement that Mrs. MacGregor is bent upon getting her hands upon the jewel and her henchman will do whatever she bids him. She is bound to be frustrated at this point, and seduction having failed, torture is indeed the next logical step.”
“Yes, and one I do not mean to let her take,” Stoker said. “I am going to tell her where the diamond is.”
Harry sagged in relief. “Thank you. I think we can make her see reason if she has it. She might be persuaded to let you go free and to let me live if she is able to retrieve it.”
“She would never find it,” Stoker replied. “She has not seen the inside of the Belvedere. It would have to be someone who is familiar with the place. It must be retrieved for her.”
“Well, that’s only the three of us,” Harry said. “And you are shackled.”
“Then it will be left to you and Veronica,” Stoker told him.
Harry and I both began to speak at once, but Stoker held up a quelling hand. “I do not like it, but it is our best chance of securing our freedom. Mrs. MacGregor will no doubt be willing to liberate us for the Eye of the Dawn itself. The pair of you will have a means of bargaining with the diamond in hand.”
“Absolutely not,” I said flatly. I jerked my chin at Harry. “He cannot be trusted.”
“I say, that is ungrateful,” Harry protested. He held up a hand with raw knuckles. “Do you see the blood there? I scraped myself to come to your aid. I’ve walked my feet raw, risked Göran cooking my kidneys, and do not even ask me what sort of horrors Isabel might inflict if she put her mind to it, because just the idea gives me the shudders.”
Stoker fixed him with a piercing stare. “Stiffen your resolve, Harry. I know you’ve a history of fecklessness, but I believe you can do this.”
Harry dipped his head, clearly pleased, and I spoke up. “As delightful as this scene of manly admiration is, I must know the reason for your change of heart, Stoker.”
He flicked a glance in my direction. “My objection to telling her the location of the diamond was twofold. First, I had hoped to restore it to its legitimate owner, but that possibility grows more remote as each hour passes and Mrs. MacGregor becomes increasingly intemperate.”
“And the second?” I asked.
“Without someone to retrieve the diamond for us, we had nothing with which to bargain. I did not trust Mrs. MacGregor or her Swedish blackguard to secure it without bringing some danger to Lord Rosemorran’s family should they stumble upon these villains. You know how often the children are in and about the Belvedere even if it is forbidden. What chance would they have if they encountered Göran?”
“None,” Harry put in. “He is a fiend, as I have good cause to know. That does make perfect sense, my dear fellow. With the diamond in hand, Veronica and I can rescue you and purchase my own life from Isabel as well. It is the best solution to an imperfect situation. If you do think I am up to the challenge,” he added with a bashful look at Stoker. I had never known Harry to be so lacking in confidence, but I could also understand where the dogged pursuit of Mrs. MacGregor had worn him down. She had, after all, tracked him across three continents. Of course, comparing himself to Stoker would be a blow to his self-regard as well, I reflected. As it would be for most men.
I was silent a long moment, and Harry was clever enough to do the same, giving me a few precious moments to think. “We have never failed to see justice done,” I told Stoker. “This feels like a failure. The first. And it is exceedingly bitter.”
Harry put a hand over mine, and out of the tail of my eye, I saw Stoker flinch. “Veronica, I understand your convictions. I remember well how firm you are in matters of right and wrong. But surely you can do a small wrong like abetting the theft of a jewel in order to save him?”