CHAPTER
Twenty-Nine

The chaos that immediately took over the room at the arrival of Rookwood and everyone else gave Gabriella the opportunity she’d been waiting for. She stomped on Alonzo’s foot, then jammed an elbow into his stomach, which had him releasing her as he doubled over and began to wheeze.

The chaos intensified when a group of raggedly dressed boys burst through the doorway, all of them armed with a variety of weapons, from tree limbs to vases. One strapping boy holding a vicious-looking knife set his sights on Daphne, who took one look at him and crumpled to the floor, lying motionless in a heap of billowing fabric.

Daphne’s swoon did nothing to dissuade the boy from continuing for her, his seemingly murderous intentions only stopping when Precious came bounding into the library, snapping and snarling as she went directly for him.

A swift kick from the boy sent Precious skidding across the floor, which prompted Winston to dart out from under the settee, looking fiercer than usual as he set his one good eye on the boy who’d just kicked his lady love. A growl escaped Winston as he charged after the boy, who immediately spun around and scrambled for the door.

“Gabriella,” Eunice called from across the room, training a rifle on a boy trying to escape. “Nicholas is in trouble.”

As she spun around, Gabriella’s heart missed a beat when she saw Virgil aiming a pistol at Nicholas. He was standing a mere foot away from him, which meant a shot would be deadly. She raced across the room, dodging a boy brandishing a vase, then launched herself at Virgil, the force of her body colliding with his, sending them both to the ground.

“You dare try to thwart me again?” Virgil roared, rolling on top of her, his breath hot against her face. “You’re not going to live to regret—”

A blink of an eye later, Virgil slumped against her, only to be immediately lifted off her, Nicholas casting him aside as if he weighed nothing at all. He pulled Gabriella from the ground, took hold of her hand, then tugged her over to the other side of the room. “I don’t want you anywhere near Virgil.”

“You just knocked him out.”

“And who knows how long that state will last? Stay here until I can make certain he’s secured.”

Gabriella craned her neck to look beyond Nicholas. “Agent Clifton looks to be in the process of already doing that, and all the boys are laying down their weapons.”

Nicholas turned. “Can’t say I blame them for surrendering, not with all the Bleecker Street ladies advancing on them with their guns.”

“They’re already fairly good shots,” Phillip said, stumbling up to join them as he swiped at a bloody lip with his sleeve. He gave a grunt of disgust. “I got run over by a boy being chased by Winston. Last I saw, Winston was gaining on him. Want me to go make sure Winston’s all right?”

“That would be greatly appreciated,” Nicholas said, striding into motion. “I’m going to help Agent Clifton round everyone up.”

“What in the world is happening here?” Billie suddenly asked, appearing by Gabriella’s side and smelling very much like smoke.

“Virgil Miskel and his gang decided to pay Nicholas a visit.”

Billie’s gaze darted about the room, lingering on a boy glaring furiously at Eunice and her gun. “That’s the boy who pounded on the door to tell us a carriage house down the street was on fire.”

“Virgil set the fire on purpose to get all of you out of the house, but additional explanations are going to have to wait until the authorities can be summoned.”

“I’ll do that,” Billie said firmly, turning around and heading down the hallway.

It took a good ten minutes to get order restored to the library, ten minutes in which Daphne finally awakened, disgusted with herself for swooning again. Then Virgil came to, swearing up a storm as he struggled to free himself from the ties Agent Clifton had fastened around his wrists.

Gus staggered into the room about five minutes after that, pressing a cloth against a bleeding head, annoyed because he’d been rendered unconscious when one of Virgil’s boys had attacked him from behind.

Winston loped into the room not long after Gus, Precious scrambling to join him. He promptly began licking the spot where the boy had kicked her. Billie returned after Winston, telling Gabriella that a neighbor was summoning the authorities.

Rookwood was standing off to the side, clearly keeping an eye on everyone, although his gaze returned again and again to Nicholas.

Now that the truth was out about Rookwood being Nicholas’s father, Gabriella couldn’t believe she’d never realized the truth on her own, given the marked similarities in their appearances.

“I hope none of you believe this is over,” Virgil spat. “I’ve already set a plan into motion that will—”

“If you’re speaking about the plan where you were intending to frame Gabriella,” Agent Clifton interrupted, “I have to tell you that I, being a member of the Pinkerton Agency, already know about it and it’s been stopped in its tracks. In fact, the Linwood jewels have already been returned to their proper owner, so I’m afraid it’s over for you.”

Virgil’s eyes glittered as he turned toward Gabriella. “I suppose you’re responsible for foiling me?”

Gabriella smiled. “Guilty as charged. I caught the two children you sent to stash those jewels in my room. And, to be clear, you won’t ever be able to harm them again because Nicholas and I are going to take over their care.”

“You took Charlie and Henrietta?”

“I did.”

“Do you honestly believe that I’ll never find a way to escape whatever prison I’m sent to, and then come and retrieve all that you’ve taken from me?”

The hair on the back of her neck stood up.

“Know this, my delicious Gabriella,” Virgil continued, “when I do escape, I’m coming directly for you. I’ll then retrieve Charlie and Henrietta. A good beating should suffice to keep Charlie in line, but I believe I’ll take Henrietta to Madame Maxine’s. The good madame has been pestering me relentlessly to buy her. The only reason I’ve hesitated is because Henrietta’s one of the best pickpockets on the street. However, she reminds me far too much of you, what with her sassy attitude, but I imagine a year or two in a brothel will change that.” He turned his attention to Nicholas. “Don’t fret that I’ll forget about you when I make my escape. Since you’ve decided to help yourself to children that belong to me, I’ll make sure to stop by and help myself to that darling little Bridget. Madame Maxine longs to add her to the stables, and I can only imagine the favors I’ll be owed by the madame if I’m able to deliver the girl she’s had her eye on from practically the moment Minnie gave birth to her.”

A gasp from the doorway emitted by Minnie attracted Gabriella’s attention, along with everyone else’s attention, right before Virgil released a yell and surged forward, breaking free of the ties that had secured him. He rushed directly for Daphne, who’d only just gotten to her feet, and snatched the gun she was holding right out of her hand. He then spun around, aimed the gun at Nicholas, and cocked it.

Gabriella didn’t hesitate as she launched herself at Virgil right as a gunshot rent the air.

Her heart stopped beating when she hit the ground, pain flowing through her because she’d not been successful in stopping Virgil. He’d been standing remarkably close to Nicholas, which meant the shot he’d fired would have met its mark.

She flipped from her stomach to her back, disbelief mixed with pure joy coursing through her when she opened her eyes and found Nicholas looming over her.

Her heart began beating again with a vengeance when she realized he was unhurt. Glancing to the right, she saw Virgil on the floor beside her, his blood seeping into the carpet. Before she could fully process that sight, Nicholas was pulling her up and into his arms, holding on to her as if he would never let go.

“Don’t ever do that again” were the first words out of his mouth.

“I can’t make any promises because if someone aims a gun at you again, I’ll react accordingly.”

“You’re very annoying.”

“I’ve never claimed differently, but who shot him?”

Nicholas drew back and nodded to the doorway.

Gabriella turned and found Minnie laying a smoking pistol on the ground before she held up her hands and looked at Agent Clifton.

“I had to do it,” Minnie whispered, her gaze switching to Nicholas. “You know he would have found a way to escape, and I couldn’t let that happen.”

Agent Clifton bent over Virgil, placed two fingers against his neck, then straightened and shook his head. “He’s dead.” He moved across the room, stopping in front of Minnie, who stuck her hands out toward him, quite as if she expected him to arrest her. “I’m not going to take you into custody,” Agent Clifton said quietly. “You had no choice but to shoot. Virgil was determined to kill Nicholas.”

Minnie blinked. “But I just killed a man.”

“Again, you had no choice. In fact, you showed a great deal of bravery when you leapt into action,” Agent Clifton said right as police rushed into the room, weapons drawn.

They quickly cleared everyone from the library and into the sitting room, stating that no one was to leave because they needed to take statements after they removed Virgil’s body and carted Virgil’s band of criminals off to jail.

Nicholas joined Minnie in the sitting room, helping her to a fainting couch, then drawing her close as he spoke quietly to her, some of the color returning to Minnie’s pale cheeks the longer Nicholas sat with her.

Gabriella found she couldn’t look away from him.

He was a man one could count on in any situation, a man who looked after those around him, and . . . he was a man she loved with all her heart.

“Care to help me make some tea?” Eunice asked, drawing Gabriella’s attention. “Daphne’s still a bit shaky, and Minnie could probably use some tea as well. Thankfully, Nicholas’s butler—I believe he said his name was Billie—told me that Minnie’s daughter, Bridget, is spending the night with a friend, so at least she was spared this horrible ordeal.”

Walking with Eunice into the kitchen, Gabriella set water to boiling as Eunice rummaged through the cupboards for teacups, propping her hip against the counter after she put the cups on a tray.

“Ivan’s going to be very annoyed when he hears about this,” Eunice said.

“Where is Ivan?”

“He’s tracking down the husband of a woman who came to see us at the agency earlier. She was desperate because her husband had snatched their little boy and had threatened to hand him over to people he’d heard would pay good money for a boy.” Eunice flipped her veil up, her eyes haunted. “I can’t imagine the anguish that mother is going through, nor can I imagine a father selling his own child for money. Ivan was the only one capable of taking on this case, so after I assured him we’d be fine, he left.”

“I’m sure he won’t be that annoyed once he learns you and the rest of the women were responsible for saving the day as well as saving my life and Nicholas’s.”

“It’s Ivan. In case you haven’t noticed, he’s always annoyed.”

“And I’m sure there’s a reason behind that, but the water is boiling, so we’ll need to put your story on hold for a bit.”

“My story’s going to be put on hold indefinitely, because it’s not one I’m comfortable sharing.”

“Then I won’t expect you to,” Gabriella said simply. To change the subject, she asked, “How was it that Rookwood, Agent Clifton, and the rest of you ended up here in such a timely manner?”

“Rookwood told us that he’d been having this bad feeling ever since you and Nicholas paid him a visit. He’d decided he needed to tell Nicholas about his suspicions about Virgil being the Knickerbocker Bandit, even though he knew he could be placing a lot of people in harm’s way. The boardinghouse is on his way here, so he stopped by to check if Nicholas and you had returned from the de Peysters’. Once Agent Clifton, who had just arrived before Rookwood, found out the two of you had yet to return, they decided to see if you’d stopped at Nicholas’s house.” Eunice shook her head. “After Daphne heard Rookwood say his bad feeling was increasing, she decided all of us should go—save Alma, who is watching over Charlie and Henrietta.”

“I’m certainly glad you all arrived to save us,” Gabriella said, exchanging a smile with Eunice before she set about making the tea. Together, they took the tea to the drawing room and handed it out, Daphne taking her cup with a trembling hand.

“Are you all right?” Gabriella asked.

“I’ll be fine,” Daphne said, taking a large gulp of tea, one that immediately set her eyes to watering. “Annoyed with myself for fainting, but at least no one had to use my smelling salts to get me to come to.” She took another gulp of tea. “How are you?”

“Surprisingly, I’m fine.”

Daphne eyed Gabriella over the rim of her cup. “How’d the meeting go with your father?”

“Oh, that was awful.”

“And yet you’re fine?”

“Curiously enough, I really am.”

“Are you fine because you’re still alive or fine because you and Nicholas have sorted matters out between you?”

“I suppose both, although Nicholas and I still have matters left unresolved. But speaking of Nicholas, would you excuse me? He’s heading over to join Rookwood and Professor Cameron. I’d like to be with him to hear why Rookwood withheld his true relationship from Nicholas all this time.”

Daphne pulled a notepad out of her pocket. “Don’t worry about me. After today’s event, I have enough fodder to keep me busy for years.”

Leaving Daphne scribbling away, Gabriella walked across the drawing room, Nicholas immediately taking hold of her hand when she reached his side.

“How’s Daphne doing?” he asked, drawing her down beside him on the divan that was situated next to the chairs Rookwood and Professor Cameron occupied.

“She claims to be fine, but she’s still a bit rattled.”

“I see she has her trusty notepad out.”

“She certainly enjoys writing things down.”

“I imagine her poetry does keep her busy,” Nicholas said, sending Gabriella a bit of a wink. He then turned to Rookwood and blew out a breath. “I think I deserve an explanation.”

“I can’t argue with that,” Rookwood began. “But before I say anything else, I want you to know that I’ve always loved you, and I didn’t give you over to Professor Cameron lightly.”

“He felt you were in danger,” Professor Cameron added.

Nicholas frowned. “From Virgil?”

Rookwood nodded. “Virgil was always jealous of you, and he knew I favored you. His jealousy was increasing the longer he lived with us, and I was terrified he’d do something terrible to you. That’s why, when Professor Cameron believed he’d enjoy more success if I would allow him to take over the complete care of one of my charges, and after he flatly refused to consider Virgil, I didn’t hesitate to suggest he take you.”

“But why did you never tell me that you’re my father?”

Rookwood took a sip of his tea. “It’s difficult to explain, but I suppose I’ll start with your mother, Molly. We met when we were remarkably young, both of us working in a grand house on Fifth Avenue. Molly was a scullery maid, and I was a stable boy.” He smiled. “We were thick as thieves, pardon the expression, and as we got older, we knew we loved each other and not merely as friends. We got married when we were only sixteen, and everything was fine until Molly learned she was expecting.” He shook his head. “We hadn’t let anyone at the big house know we were married because that was against the house rules. But when Molly’s pregnancy became apparent, she was called into the housekeeper’s office and told she no longer had a job, even after she explained she was married to me. I then found my employment terminated, and we both found ourselves on the street with no money, no home, no anything.”

“You were terminated even though you were married?” Gabriella asked.

“We’d broken the rules.” Rookwood took another sip of tea. “Work was difficult to come by, but I took on odd jobs here and there, as did Molly. The larger she got, though, the fewer jobs she could find. And then she began getting sick, but we didn’t have the money to pay for a doctor.” His eyes grew distant as he glanced out the window. “Because we spent a lot of time living on the streets when we didn’t have money to pay for a room, I’d become acquainted with a group of street thieves. They’d been teaching me some of the tricks of their trade whenever I wasn’t working, and I’d gotten rather good at picking pockets. When Molly’s health took a turn for the worse, I decided I was going to become a pickpocket in order to provide her with the care she needed.”

He looked to Nicholas. “I walked into Central Park, then walked out less than five minutes later with a fine-looking billfold I’d nicked from a fancy gentleman. The money in that billfold was enough to get Molly the care she needed, and I didn’t have a shred of remorse for what I’d done. It was easy after that to take to life on the streets, but I wanted larger fish, which is why I decided I was going to rob a society house, or more specifically, a particular society house—the house of my old employers—the people responsible for casting Molly and me to the streets.”

“Was Molly in agreement with what you were doing?” Gabriella asked.

Rookwood frowned. “I didn’t tell her. I imagine she had an inkling, though, because one minute we were on the streets and the next we had a room in a boardinghouse and food on the table. She never said anything about it, though, but that might have been because she was still incredibly weak, even though she was getting care from a local doctor.”

“What did you steal from your old employer?” Nicholas asked.

“A handful of precious jewelry that paid for a nicer boardinghouse room and more food for your mother.” Rookwood leaned back in his chair. “Molly gave birth to you not long after I did that job, and for a few short weeks, I was convinced she was going to be fine. Her color was returning, and she spent every minute cooing over you.” He smiled at Nicholas. “She loved you very much. But then she developed a fever, one that wouldn’t go away, and before I knew it, she was gone.”

Rookwood paused, took another sip of tea, then set the cup aside. “I knew I couldn’t raise you at that point in time, not with how I was gone from the house at all hours of the day and night and still didn’t have much money to my name. I found a young couple who’d recently had a child of their own and asked them if they’d be willing to take you in. They agreed because they needed the money I gave them. They took wonderful care of you, but I had this ache in my heart, and I knew that Molly would have been disappointed that I’d given her precious son to someone else to raise. That’s why I decided to bring you home. You were about two, and that’s when I also decided I was going to expand my solo thievery into something a little larger.

“I began spreading rumors about a nefarious reputation I hadn’t earned, while also taking charge of street children who weren’t that much younger than myself. Skills were honed, houses were observed, rumors were spread, and before I knew it, I was being touted as the most dangerous criminal in the Lower East Side. My reputation is why I decided to withhold the fact that I was your father, because you would have become a target for rival thieves. It was difficult pretending you were just some orphan I’d taken in, although because I’d told everyone you were Nicholas Quinn, and Quinn was your mother’s surname before she married me, I was reminded of your mother every time someone called out your last name.” He blew out a breath. “It was still difficult withholding my true relationship to you, but I didn’t have another choice—or rather, the only choice I had would have been to send you away, something I didn’t want to do.”

“But you eventually did send me away.”

“Only because I knew you were in danger.” Rookwood leaned forward. “I took your well-being very seriously, and I’d promised your mother that I would do whatever was in my power to keep you safe. When Professor Cameron showed up in our lives, I was skeptical at first, until he told me the story about his sister and how he knew if he could help a disadvantaged boy that he’d find some peace from the demons that plagued him.” He smiled. “I eventually concluded that Professor Cameron’s unexpected offer of taking you in was God’s way of sending me a sign, one that let me know that, even though it would break my heart to give you up, living with Professor Cameron and learning a new way of life would keep you safe, while also allowing me to honor the promise I made to Molly.”

Nicholas glanced to Professor Cameron, who’d been remarkably quiet throughout Rookwood’s explanation. “You did keep me safe.”

“My goal was to turn you into a gentleman, and that would have been difficult to accomplish if I’d placed you in dangerous situations,” Professor Cameron said with a curve of his lips before he frowned, his gaze shifting to Gabriella. “But good heavens, where are my manners? We’ve not been formally introduced, my dear. I’m Professor Lawrence Cameron, and you, of course, are Gabriella.” He smiled. “Clearly, you’re Josephine Larrimore’s daughter because you look extraordinarily like her. I enjoyed watching her perform on stage. She was an incredible actress, and I often saw the two of you in the park, taking in the sunshine as you moseyed along on your pony.”

“I don’t remember my pony.”

“I’ll have to get you a new one,” Nicholas said.

She grinned. “And won’t that just have society talking?”

Nicholas returned the grin before he sobered and nodded to Professor Cameron. “Because Gabriella’s broached the matter of society, I have to tell you that I’m intending to withdraw from it. They won’t accept Gabriella, and I won’t allow her to be slighted.”

“If you’re worried I’ll try to stand in your way or use guilt to change your mind, you have nothing to fear,” Professor Cameron surprised Gabriella by saying. “I was wrong to meddle in my sister’s life, and I won’t make the same mistake again. You deserve more than marriage to a society lady who will expect you to adhere to rules and to a life I’m no longer convinced you should have to be living.” He smiled at Gabriella. “You deserve a life that includes a lady who didn’t hesitate to risk her life in order to save yours.”

“She is rather remarkable,” Nicholas said, his eyes warm as his gaze lingered on her before he suddenly rose to his feet, pulled her up next to him, and inclined his head to Rookwood and Professor Cameron. “If you’ll excuse us, all this talk about how remarkable Gabriella is has reminded me that she and I have some pressing unfinished business.” With that, he held tightly to her hand as he walked with her out of the room, not stopping until he reached a fainting couch that was positioned underneath a window at the end of the hallway.

He pulled her down beside him on the couch, raising her hand to his lips, and smiled. “I should apologize for whisking you away like that.”

“Do you hear me complaining?”

“Well, no, but it was rather assertive behavior on my part.”

“In this particular instance, I don’t take issue with your assertiveness. In fact, I rather enjoyed it, among other things.”

“What other things?”

“I definitely enjoy that you’re still alive.” She smiled. “But I suppose what I enjoy most of all is having this second chance to simply be with you. I’ve missed that more than I knew.”

He returned her smile before he leaned forward and gave her a kiss that was light as a feather. “I enjoy being with you as well, which has allowed me to realize that . . .”

“That what?” she asked when he stopped talking and took to watching her rather intently.

Instead of answering her, though, he got off the settee, knelt beside her, and took hold of her hand. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. “This is not how I imagined I’d go about this, but we almost lost each other again tonight, and I’m not willing to go another moment without getting matters settled between us.”

“Matters?”

“Indeed.” He kissed her hand again. “I have to tell you that I have loved you since the day you came to live with Rookwood. Back then, my love for you was that of friendship, but I thought, even as young as we were, that we were meant to be together forever—until circumstances tore us apart. We have been given a second chance, and that second chance has caused my love for you to change, to deepen and intensify. I’ll always consider you my best friend, but I’d like to be something more to you, something that would allow me to have you by my side for as long as we both shall live.”

Her breath caught in her throat as he kissed her hand again, his eyes shining with promise.

“Gabriella Goodhue Larrimore, would you do me the honor of marrying me and sharing my life from this point forward?”

“I would love nothing more than to share my life with you, so yes, of course I’ll marry you.”

Nicholas grinned, a grin she immediately returned before he rose from bended knee, joined her on the fainting couch, pulled her into his arms, and then . . . he kissed her.