At the center of the mass of wriggling figures was Marie Laveau who paced back and forth in front of the great fire, pausing every so often to growl at the people who had been tied up in front of the blaze. Even from that distance, Gerard could recognize Arthur’s former lover, Ulrika Rittenhouse—her auburn hair lit up from behind by the fire so much so that it looked as if she had flames of her own shooting from her creamy-white face. Next to her was Charles and to the left of Charles was Arthur’s wife, Barbara Allen. Another man was bound near Ulrika—a man with dark hair and thick brows. Gerard wasn’t sure who he was, but the way that Ulrika leaned into him to speak made him think that she had already replaced Arthur as the object of her angry affections.
Gerard scanned the scene for signs of the two missing babies and saw that they were not there—at least, not in any place that he could see them. Scratching his scalp through his mess of greasy hair, Gerard sighed and thought for a moment. He had been sent out to look for the babies, hadn’t he? Well, yes. Mr. Halifax had said nothing about helping other people when he barked out his orders.
Still, those two women…
Charles bit his lip. Arthur had had some affection for both of them. Hadn’t he? Some kind of affection? Or had he? Gerard grunted. It seemed a shame for those two women to be tied up like that. Gerard recalled the way that he and Arthur had abused Ulrika when they had tried to get the diamond from her. He still felt rather sorry about that. Had he been on his own, he’d never have treated a woman that way. But, that’s what Arthur ordered. Still, Arthur was dead. Perhaps, Gerard thought, this was his chance to make it right.
And, then there was Barbara Allen. When Arthur spoke of her, he almost had a hint of love in his voice—the way he always spoke of returning to her. Was it love? Maybe it was greed. Gerard grunted again. For Arthur, love and greed had been much the same. Still, Arthur wouldn’t have wanted to see his wife tortured by Marie Laveau. Would he?
“Mr. Halifax didn’t say nothin’ ‘bout helpin’ no other people.” Gerard mumbled to himself. But, what about Charles? Sure, Charles wasn’t very nice to Gerry. But, still, they shared a room. They both worked for the same household as valets. Maybe Mr. Halifax, or the Doctor, or even the Duke himself would be appreciative if Gerard came back with the man. Gerry pictured it for a moment, “I saved Charles, Sirs. Now we’re a family.” He would say it humbly and the Duke would reward him and shower him with thanks.
And, wasn’t Barbara the Duke’s sister? Sure, she was. Arthur had said so. Surely the Duke would be grateful to see her saved.
Gerard twisted his hands together. It would be nice, wouldn’t it, to have someone be grateful to him for something. He took a deep breath and rose from his hiding place. “Maybe it ain’t what I was told to do, but the Duke will be ever so pleased.”
Meanwhile, the Duke was still quite unconscious as Iolanthe Evangeline’s grip around his throat tightened despite the pain she felt in her wounded hands and despite Gamilla’s best efforts to pull the woman away.
Gamilla slapped Iolanthe around the shoulders, neck and head from behind and screamed. “Let him go!”
“Foolish girl, I’m tyrin’ to help your master!” Iolanthe shouted. “Let me free him. He’s my enemy, but I’m doing somethin’ merciful by sendin’ him to God.” She dug her fingers into his throat.
“Ain’t his time for to go to God!” Gamilla screamed.
“That isn’t for you to decide. Don’t take away his chance at peace or my chance at salvation!”
At that very moment, deep within their shared body, Julian looked at Mr. Punch with a startled expression as the scene of their memories grew darker.
“What’s happening?”Julian asked. “Did you decide to stop this torture and take these painful thoughts away from me again?”
“No.” Mr. Punch replied quickly. “This ain’t me.”
Punch moaned as the images of Gus, Agnes and the young Julian faded into blackness. He turned to find that Julian was fading as well.
“Punch!” Julian shouted. “I feel strange!”
“Take me hand, Master!” Punch wailed. As he reached for Julian’s hand, he found that his other half had disappeared.
Along in the growing darkness, Punch began to realize that something had gone terribly wrong.
“Someone’s doin’ something to our body, they are.” Punch thought. “We’re dyin’!”
Did you miss Chapters 1-369? If so, you can read them here.
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