A Reluctant Assassin (Will Revill Thrillers Book 1) by John Pilkington

Author:John Pilkington [Pilkington, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sharpe Books
Published: 2022-07-12T06:00:00+00:00

NINE

It was a night to remember, Revill would think later, but not for any moment of passion. It was one of confession, for a decision occurred that in the end would bring him a measure of relief: he would throw caution aside, he decided, and tell Lady Gisela the unvarnished truth. It had become too heavy a burden, and it must be shed.

And so, he did: the whole tale, from the wet morning at the Artillery Yard in Shoreditch when he had been summoned to Walsingham’s house by Sir Thomas Heneage, to the bloody encounter that day with Turnbull’s hired men in the stables at Weybridge. By the time he had finished he was on his feet, wrapped in a coverlet against the chill, speaking of his shame at agreeing to Heneage’s brutal mission – and of his resolve, already made, that he could not carry it out. Thereafter, feeling spent, he slumped down on the bed and fell silent.

‘By heaven… you poor fellow,’ Lady Gisela said, after what seemed an eternity.

He looked up sharply.

‘And what a rogue he is,’ she added, her voice rising. ‘Not a thought for anyone but himself… greedy and unprincipled, unfit for proper society… to think he was once a handsome young blade, who had the girls flocking about him.’

‘You mean Sir Thomas Heneage, my lady?’ Revill enquired. ‘I thought-’

‘No - I mean my son!’

She cut him short, gripping the edge of the bedsheet. ‘I knew there was something dark behind it all,’ she went on, seemingly piecing it out as she spoke. ‘Norris – whose name isn’t even Norris, you tell me – never truly cared for Charis. I saw it, as did others – only Sir Abel was so beguiled by the man and his tales, he wouldn’t listen. And the poor girl was so smitten, I never found the occasion to confront her. But now…’ she shivered.

‘I knew Hugh had sunk into baseness,’ she went on. ‘I heard report of it, from men who knew and tried to warn me. Yet I never thought he would play such a cruel trick on his sister - though he tormented her often enough when they were children. When I think what a sham wedding would have done to her, once the truth was known – not to say what it would have done to Sir Abel. It could have killed him!’

She let out a breath, gazing at Revill. Neither of them needed to reflect that Heneage’s orders to him had been designed to bring about that very outcome.

‘I am undone, sir,’ she said at last, in a sorrowful voice. ‘You have undone me.’

‘And if I could call these past days back and choose another path, I would do so,’ he said, with an effort. ‘At supper you named Aubridge a coward – yet it’s I who should wear that badge. My shame is complete.’

‘No.’ Suddenly, Lady Gisela startled him by putting out a hand and laying it upon his. ‘Your love for your sister ruled you – you were entrapped.

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