“Ouch,” Maggie muttered. She held her finger to her mouth. “That burns, it does.”
Lavinia ignored her and flew back down the stairs, the iron candlestick clutched in her right hand.
She could see Tobias and the second villain writhing on the floor of the hall. Light danced on the blade.
The first man heaved himself up into a sitting position at the foot of the stairs. He appeared dazed, but it was obvious that he was recovering rapidly from the stunning blow he had taken from Tobias’s booted foot. He scooped up the knife that had fallen from his hand and gripped one of the banister supports. He started to haul himself to his feet.
He studied the two men locked together in silent, deadly combat on the hall floor. It was clear that he was seeking the right moment to go to his companion’s assistance.
Lavinia raised the iron candlestick aloft, praying that the man at the bottom of the staircase would not look back.
Down below, Tobias and his assailant heaved and rolled violently once more. One of them grunted hoarsely. Lavinia could not tell which man had cried out in pain. Rage and fear flashed through her.
She reached the second step from the bottom and swung the iron candlestick with all of her strength.
At the last instant, the man sensed the threat behind him. He started to turn and put up an arm to protect himself.
But he was too late. The candlestick glanced heavily against the side of his head and struck his shoulder with a jolting force that Lavinia felt through her entire body. The villain staggered back against the wall. The knife clattered on the bottom step.
For a shocked second Lavinia and the man stared at each other. Then she saw the blood flow from the gash on the side of his head.
“Bitch.”
Enraged, he lunged at her with both hands, but his movements were awkward and unsteady.
Lavinia grabbed the banister and used it to lever herself up several steps. She raised the candlestick on high again, preparing to deliver another blow. The man saw the weapon and hesitated, swaying in the light.
Tobias appeared at the bottom of the stairs, looming in the shadows, his face an icy mask. He grasped the first man’s shoulder, spun him around, and slammed a fist into his jaw.
The man yelled, reeled around, and lurched blindly toward the door. The second man had it open and was already outside.
The pair fled into the fog. Their boots rang hollowly on the paving stones for a moment and then they were gone.
Heart pounding, Lavinia examined Tobias from head to toe. His neckcloth had come undone in the scuffle. There was blood on it and on the front of his greatcoat.
“You’re bleeding.” She picked up her skirts and hurried down the steps.
“The blood isn’t mine.” With a gesture of distaste he snagged the trailing end of the cravat and tossed it aside. “Are you all right?”
“Yes.” She stopped on the step above him and touched his face anxiously. “Are you certain you’re not hurt?”
“Quite certain.” He frowned. “I told you to bolt yourself in Maggie’s room.”
“Those two men were trying to kill you. Surely you didn’t expect me to just wait quietly in another room while they went about their business. I would remind you yet again, sir, that we are partners in this venture.”
“Damn it, Lavinia, you could have been seriously injured.”
Maggie chuckled above them. “Appeared as how the lady did ye a favor, if ye ask me.”
“I didn’t ask you,” Tobias said.
Maggie cackled.
“I suggest that we conduct this quarrel at some other time,” Lavinia said crisply. “We have business here, in case you have forgotten.”
He rubbed his jaw somewhat gingerly. “I have not forgotten.” He looked up at Maggie. “Do you know those two men?”
Maggie shook her head. “Never saw ‘em before. A couple of footpads that spotted ye in the lane and decided to follow ye into the hall, I expect.” She gestured grandly toward the open door behind her. “Come on up, if yer still in a mood to ask questions.”
“Yes.” Tobias climbed the steps behind Lavinia. “I’m very much in a mood to ask questions.”
They followed Maggie into a dingy little room furnished with a cot, a washstand, and a small trunk. An open bottle of gin stood on a table.
Lavinia handed the iron candlestick back to Maggie and sat down on a stool near the cold hearth. Tobias went to the window and looked down into the lane. She wondered if he was hoping to spot the two men who had attacked him. There was little chance of that, she thought.
“We wish to ask you about a man named Oscar Pelling,” he said without turning around. “We understand that he purchased your services during the past few days.”
“Pelling. That bastard.” Maggie speared the candle on the stick and set it on the table. She lowered her thin frame onto the bench and poured herself a glass of gin. “Aye, I took him on as a client for a time, but never again. Not after what he did the last time.”
“What, precisely, did he do?” Lavinia asked.
“He did this, that’s what.” Maggie turned her head so that her face was fully illuminated by the glow of the candle. “Haven’t been able to work for the past few days because of him.”
Lavinia saw for the first time that the area around Maggie’s eyes was badly discolored and bruised. “Dear God, he struck you?”
“Aye.” Maggie gulped some gin and put down the glass. “A girl has to be flexible in this business, but there’s some things I won’t put up with and that’s a fact. No man who raises his fists to me is allowed back in this room, I don’t care how fine a gennelman he is.”
Tobias had turned away from the window. He watched Maggie with a riveted expression, eyes narrowed and cold. “When did Pelling strike you?”
“The last time he came to see me.” She screwed up her face with the effort of trying to remember. “Think it was Wednesday last. No, it was Thursday. He’d behaved himself right enough on his first few visits. A little rough, but nothin’ out of the ordinary. But that last time he had himself a rare fit of rage.”
“A fit?” Lavinia repeated carefully.
“Aye. I thought he’d gone mad. And all because I teased him a bit.” Maggie poured more gin into the glass.
“Why did you tease him?” Tobias asked.
“Well, he’d come here later than usual, ye see. Almost dawn, it was. I’d just gone to bed. I looked out the window when he knocked and I could tell straightaway that he was in a foul temper. Almost didn’t let him in. But he’d been a good client. Always payin’ a little extra by way of a thank you. Rich as a nabob, he is.”
She paused to swallow more gin.
“You said you teased him,” Lavinia reminded her gently.
“Just tryin’ to put him in a better temper. But it only made things worse. He beat me somethin’ dreadful, he did. And all the while, he kept saying all sorts of terrible things about women. How they had snakes in their hair and how they turned men to stone with their eyes.” Maggie shuddered. “Like I said, he went mad. Don’t know what would have happened to me if my friend upstairs hadn’t come down to see what all the commotion was about. When she pounded on the door, he stopped hitting me.”
Lavinia recalled the terrifying ordeals Pelling’s wife, Jessica, had revealed while in a trance. “Thank God your friend came downstairs when she did.”
“Aye. The bastard like to have killed me.”
“What did Pelling do after your friend interrupted the beating?” Tobias asked.
“Just turned and walked out the door as casual as ye please. Like he’d done nothing more than have some of the usual sport. To tell ye the truth, he seemed in a better mood afterward. Not cheerful, but more calm. Hasn’t come back since, thank the Lord.”
Tobias looked thoughtful. “You didn’t say exactly what you teased him about.”