Read Online The King's Exile (Thomas Hill Trilogy 2) by Andrew Swanston - Free Book Online

Thomas’s old tutor who had verynearly murdered Thomas as well. A fiend from hell was how Thomas had described him, a fiend who took pleasure in inflicting pain. But it could not be Rush. He was dead. The king himself had seen his body. She remembered exactly how Thomas had described it. A traitor’s death, his body broken and his face a bloody mess. She stared at the man. Could the king have been mistaken? Or was this man, for some unthinkable reason, an impostor?
    ‘I assure you it is so. The king was easily deceived about my death and your brother accepted his word. Fools, both of them.’ It was as if Rush had read her thoughts. He held up the silver-topped cane and slowly withdrew the slim blade. ‘Did he tell you about this?’ Margaret put her hand to her mouth. Not only had Thomas told her about it, there was another just like it in his bedroom. He had brought it back from Oxford. Rush slid the blade back into place and rested the cane within easy reach against a bookcase.
    ‘You have come to murder us.’
    ‘In fact, I have not. Not yet, anyway. I have come to show you these.’ He opened the leather case and withdrew the documents inside. Two of them he handed to Margaret. ‘Do not bother to destroy them. I have copies.’ Margaret spread both on the desk and read the first. Then she read it again, before turning to the second, much shorter one. Rush’s eyes never left her face as she read.
    ‘They are forgeries,’ she said calmly, without looking up.
    Rush had expected this. ‘I deny it. In any case, forgeries or not, there are three reasons why they will be enforced. First, it cannot be proved that the letter and his signature on the contract are not in Thomas Hill’s hand, as they are a perfect match for it. Second, any attempt to show otherwise will result in hissuffering greatly; and third, you have two lovely daughters.’
    ‘You would threaten my daughters?’ Margaret almost shrieked the words. Rush merely raised an eyebrow and stroked the top of the cane. ‘If my brother is alive, where is he? Tell me where he is.’
    ‘He is alive and in good hands. You do not need to know his whereabouts.’
    ‘Can you prove that he is alive?’
    ‘Can you take the risk that he is not?’
    Margaret put her head in her hands. If Thomas was alive but in the hands of this monster, he would be better dead. And so would she. Tobias Rush. It was beyond imagining. Tobias Rush, the man Thomas had proved to be a murderer and traitor, and who had died in Oxford, was standing before her. So it was he who had arranged for Thomas to be arrested. And now he claimed to own the shop and the house. And he was right. The contract transferring the title to the property from Thomas Hill to Tobias Rush was properly sealed, witnessed and signed by both parties. Had she not known better, she would have taken Thomas’s signature to be his. It was a perfect forgery. As was the letter in his hand explaining to her that he had agreed the sale of the property to Tobias Rush because he was about to be deported to the colonies and trusted his old friend to take care of both the property and his family. If he did not return, their future at least would be secure. He instructed Margaret to do exactly as Tobias Rush told her. When she could speak, Margaret asked quietly, ‘What would you have me do?’
    ‘Fetch the deeds to the property and give them to me. Andremember what I have said about your brother and your daughters.’ Despite her shock, Margaret knew she was trapped. Nothing would make her put Polly and Lucy at risk. She climbed the stairs to Thomas’s bedroom, reached under the bed and pulled out his strongbox. She used a key on her ring to open it, riffled through the documents inside, found the deeds and took them down to the shop. Without a word, she handed them to Rush. He checked that they were complete and tucked them into his case. ‘Excellent.’
    ‘My daughters will be home soon. Must they find you