A chill squeezing her ribs, Lily rushed into the room, shouting for him to stop as she charged after him, rapier raised.
Startled by her ferocious shriek, O’Rourke glanced over his shoulder, a scowl darkening his face when he spied her. But he didn’t let go of Fanny.
Instead he picked up the nearest weapon at hand, a bronzed bust of some Greek god, and threw it at Lily with all his might. Although Lily tried to dodge the heavy object, her momentum carried her forward too fast, so that the bust struck her shoulder.
The pain nearly made her drop her rapier, but the distraction gave Fanny an opportunity to thwart her abductor. Thrusting out one foot to tangle with O’Rourke’s legs, Fanny tripped him and shoved hard, sending him stumbling back into the room.
Her clever action gave Lily time to recover her balance. Lifting her rapier again, she swung it hard at O’Rourke, managing to crown him on the side of his head with the hilt guard. He fell to the carpet to land with a satisfying thud and lay there without making another sound.
Weak with relief, Lily moved toward a trembling Fanny and hugged her tightly. The two of them were half sobbing, half laughing when Heath burst into the room.
Lily’s relief deepened when she saw that he was safe. His breathing was still harsh after his fistfight, and there was a bloody gash on his cheekbone, but he had proved the victor in his battle, just as she had.
She wanted to go to him right then-to put her arms around him and to tend his injured face-but Fanny needed her more. Holding on to her friend, Lily let herself drink in the sight of Heath safe and sound.
When his worried gaze searched her for injuries, she gave him a fleeting smile. “Fanny and I are fine,” she said thankfully before nodding down at O’Rourke. “I don’t believe that villain can say the same.”
His attention shifting, Heath crossed to O’Rourke’s prone body and bent to examine him.
“You didn’t kill him, I see,” Heath murmured to Lily.
“No,” she admitted. “I only bashed his skull a little.”
“Remind me never to get into a fight with you, angel.”
Before she could reply, she heard a groan from the far side of the room. Basil was stirring from his stupor.
Fanny noticed him at the same time Lily did. Disengaging from their embrace, they headed toward Basil, but Fanny moved past Lily and reached him first. She knelt down beside him, while Lily did the same on his other side, Heath moving to stand behind her.
Opening his eyes, Basil gave a start to see them all looking down at him in concern, but then his gaze riveted on Fanny.
“Fanny…God, are you all right?” he demanded in a croaking voice.
“Yes,” she said, smiling softly down at him. “In truth, I seem to be in much better condition than you are.”
“O’Rourke?” he asked, trying to see beyond her.
“He is unconscious for the moment. You saved me from him, Basil,” Fanny added in a tender tone.
“I hardly saved you,” he retorted. “O’Rourke darkened my daylights.”
“You most certainly did save me. You fought him and stopped him from taking me.”
Basil gritted his jaw, obviously furious at himself for his failure to conquer O’Rourke. But when he started to rise, the effort made him groan once more and raise a hand to his bloody temple as if his head ached.
“Lie still,” Fanny urged, cradling his head gently in her lap.
Lily’s heart went out to poor Basil, his face bloodied and bruised, his pride injured. Hoping to distract him, she took the opportunity to ask Fanny what had happened. “Tait feared that O’Rourke had abducted you.”
“He did,” Fanny said, her lips compressing into a tight line. “He caught me off guard and forced me to accompany him here.”
“Did he hurt you?” Lily demanded, her anger rising all over again.
“Nothing beyond a bruise or two on my arms,” Fanny replied. “And I don’t believe Mick meant me harm. He claimed he wanted to show me the beautiful house he had built for me…” She gestured around the room, indicating the luxurious decor. “This was to be my gilded cage. Mick intended to keep me here until I agreed to wed him. He already had a special license and had bribed a vicar to perform the ceremony.”
“You cannot wed that bastard!” Basil exclaimed in outrage.
“Trust me, I won’t,” Fanny assured him with feeling, lightly stroking his forehead as she gazed down tenderly at him.
Looking dazed by her regard, the wounded Basil reached up and cupped his hand around her nape and drew her mouth down to his for a long, unexpected kiss.
Fanny froze for an instant, then returned the pressure with surprising urgency, causing Basil to wince in pain from his split lip.
When she hurriedly drew back, she seemed unaccustomedly flustered.
“Forgive me,” Basil muttered, his face turning red. “I should not have done that.”
Lily, diverted by the tender moment, was surprised when Heath reached down and took the rapier from her. But O’Rourke was regaining consciousness, it seemed.
Climbing to her feet, she followed Heath over to the prone man.
Heath went down on one knee but kept the rapier point between them as he prodded O’Rourke’s shoulder to wake him. After an interval, O’Rourke slowly opened his eyes and pushed himself up on one elbow.
Shaking his head groggily, he squinted up at Heath, but then he spied Lily and shot her a look of intense dislike. “I knew that she-devil would be the death of me.”
Heath’s grim smile held no amusement. “She very well could have been. And you were foolish not to heed my warning.”
“Oh, I heeded it, milord. I just considered it worth the risk of dying if I could have Fanny.”
The twist of his lips was bitter as he glanced across the room at Fanny, who still held Basil’s head in her lap. “I thought I could make her see reason. That she would come to love me once we were wed.” O’Rourke gazed longingly at Fanny for another moment before finally looking away, his expression one of anguish. “But I can see I was mistaken.”
Heath kept his gaze focused on O’Rourke. “I advised you of the consequences if you laid a finger on her again, remember?”
Grimacing, O’Rourke met his gaze and nodded reluctantly. “Aye, you did. So what will you do with me now?”
“Deliver you to the authorities. You will be fortunate if you don’t hang, but perhaps you will only wind up in Newgate Prison.”
Handing the rapier to Lily, Heath hauled O’Rourke to his feet and proceeded to bind the man’s hands with his own cravat. O’Rourke offered no resistance, though. All the fight had gone out of him.
When Heath finished, he turned to Lily and said in a low voice, “You should take the hack and see Fanny and Eddowes home.”
“What will you do?” she asked.
“I’ll commandeer O’Rourke’s carriage and escort him to the Bow Street Magistrate’s Court to lay charges against him.”
“Very well.”
When her gaze shifted, a pang of dismay shot through her. Heath’s cheek was still bleeding from the gash his opponent’s meaty fist had inflicted.
“Heath, you are hurt. Your cheek…”
She raised her hand gently to his face, but he drew back, avoiding her touch. “It is no matter.”
Just then his two servants appeared, reporting that all the bruisers had fled, including the one his lordship had shot. They had abandoned their employer when confronted with superior force.
Heath gave his orders to the footmen, who led the prisoner from the room. His head bowed, O’Rourke didn’t so much as glance at Fanny, although she followed his retreat with an odd mix of anger and sadness on her beautiful features.
When O’Rourke had gone, Lily returned her attention to Heath’s injured cheek. Reaching down, she lifted the hem of her gown of pale green silk-the same stylish confection she had worn to Roslyn’s wedding that morning,
