Theo hoped the carriage would never reach Sarah’s home, but of course it did. Just after Jem stopped the horses, he opened the door only to say he would go to the servants’ entrance to find out how to get the lady back into her house without attracting attention.
That left Theo with a few more moments. Not enough time.
Sarah hadn’t moved, but she was watching him with those alert, grey eyes. “I should thank you for everything you’ve done for me.”
“Please don’t,” he said, thinking of the many things he’d done to her.
“I’m certain it would have gone badly for me if I hadn’t been holding those papers earlier tonight. You were the reason we found them. At so many points, it would have gone badly if you hadn’t been there.”
He rested his hand on her shoulder, uncertain of what to say.
But Sarah didn’t seem to expect anything. She gave him a smile and said, “I have a promise to ask you as well.”
“What?”
“You must promise me that you’ll work to be happy. In your life and your marriage and even in the Zodiac.”
He shook his head. “No.”
“Theo, please. I can’t bear to think I’ll ruin your life just because I asked for your help.”
“No one can promise to be happy,” he said. Especially because he knew that he wouldn’t be seeing her again.
“One can promise to try.”
He shook his head again, giving in. “I’ll try.”
“Thank you.”
He wanted to tell her he’d discovered some way to dissolve his obligations so they could be together. But he hadn’t. He bent and kissed her once, but dared not do more.
A moment later, Jem knocked once on the carriage door before he opened it. Theo saw the boy’s face, and the face of a young woman behind him. She was dark-skinned and dressed as a lady’s maid.
“Oh, no, miss!” the girl said. “You are hurt. I thought Jem was exaggerating.”
“Sorry, not this time,” Jem said.
Theo moved to help Sarah out of the vehicle. “Don’t try to walk,” he warned her.
Sarah nodded, leaning on her maid’s body as soon as she stood on the ground. “Naomi will see me inside,” she said, her eyes suddenly glassy with tears. “Thank you…for everything. You should go now. Jem will take you, yes?”
It was not the goodbye he wanted with Sarah. But he had to get used to not getting what he wanted. He gave her a nod. “Goodnight. And remember what I said earlier.”
“I will, my lord.” Sarah offered him a final smile, and let Naomi lead her back into the house via the servants’ quarters.
“Don’t worry,” Jem said in a low voice to Theo. “Miss Naomi’s been with the family for years and years. She won’t let Miss Brecknell get hurt in any way if she can help it. She’ll cover for her.”
“She’s lucky to have such loyalty.”
“It’s a good household. I’ll miss them, but I imagine you’ll be calling me back soon enough, now that this is done.”
“Can they manage without you?”
“Oh, they’ll hire a replacement. They did well enough before. Clever people,” Jem said. “If a bit prone to gossip. Naomi cried the news of Carlin’s proposal almost before the gentleman left the house.”
“He proposed to Miss Brecknell?” Theo tried not to react to that. It wasn’t unexpected, after all. But his expression was hard to control.
“That he did, sir.” Jem paused. “She has not given him a reply yet.”
“She’ll accept.” Theo hated to say it, but he knew it was the right thing for Sarah. Carlin would take care of her, even if he was too old.
“You think so, sir?” Jem asked.
“It is a reasonable and fair-minded match. Miss Brecknell is too intelligent to not see that.”
“Ah,” the boy said. “Reasonable.” He didn’t bother to hide his disdain. “Well, no sense standing around. Where to?”
“Spruce Street, where we began the evening. Miss Brecknell is out of the scene, but I am not.”
Despite Jem’s daredevil driving, Theo was the last agent to arrive back at the rendezvous. Bruce and Sophie were there first, along with Arceneau’s body, now wrapped in a bedsheet. Theo handled the detention of Rossi and Villani with the assistance of Jem and a few more nameless servants. Like Jem, they all had pasts darker than the average maid or footman, and the holding of prisoners didn’t faze them in the slightest.
“You got the easy job this time, lad,” the butler told Jem.
“And I was due for it,” Jem retorted. “Besides, the horses don’t like you, Stiles. They say you stink too much!” Grinning, he evaded the butler’s half-hearted swat. Then he left to return to his temporary duties at the Brecknell house.
Theo wished he could be as flippant. Julian was there, and he wasn’t pleased that Arceneau arrived in a shroud.
“I had questions for him,” he told Theo.
“I’m sure, sir,” Theo said. “But I wasn’t about to let anyone else get hurt on his account.”
Julian closed his eyes. “An end is an end, anyway. We’ll all get some rest now that he’s dead. And Miss Brecknell is free of her final link to the traitor Wolverton.”
“Another will take Arceneau’s place,” Chattan warned. “No one lets power like he had remain uncontrolled for long.”
“It will take months to rebuild a network like Arceneau’s,” Sophie said. “Perhaps years. And we can keep an eye on the situation the whole time.”
“Indeed,” Bruce agreed, with a proud smile toward his wife.
“Not to mention,” Chattan said, “We managed a short, joint assignment tonight where none of the agents tried to kill each other! I’d say it was a success.”
It was all true, but Theo didn’t feel like celebrating. As soon as he could, he left for home. His servants, of course, never questioned his comings and goings. That was Theo’s great privilege at work. He said he needed nothing and headed to his bedroom, where he closed and locked the door to shut out the world for a few hours.
He fell asleep immediately, and slept until the sun was high in the sky the next morning. He didn’t hear knocking at his door, or footsteps outside, or anything at all. He didn’t remember dreaming, but when he finally woke up, he was certain Sarah should have been beside him. But she was not.