Chapter Twenty-Six: Charles Augustus Milverton Part 2
October 19th, 1879
London, England, United Kingdom, Europe
"Who is Milverton?" Marie asked, and Albert squeezed her hand, face set in stone.
"He's a business tycoon who runs a few newspaper companies. He happens to love blackmailing people for fun just to see them fall. So he likely wants to threaten you with the evidence in your ledger. If you don't comply with his demands, I assume he'll make the evidence public." William explained, sipping at tea that Louis had served while they spoke.
"What demands does he have? Do you know? He hasn't gotten in contact with me." She asked, and William mulled over the question for a moment.
"He hasn't made any demands as of yet. Your room was just a piece in a bigger part of whatever plan he has going on. Likely just to scare you." He replied and handed Marie a photograph from his suit coat pocket. She glanced down to look at the man in the picture.
The man in the photo had chin-length curly hair that looked gray or white and sharp eyes, a sly smile on his lips. He was dressed sharply in a dark three-piece suit and had a pair of round glasses perched on his nose. She shuddered at the dark look in his eyes,
"This is him?" She asked quietly, voice almost a whisper. Then, glancing at Albert, she noticed his eyes were locked on the photograph, a grimace beginning to twist his lips. He obviously knew who Milverton was and what he could do.
"Yes. However, don't worry, we're going to confront him tonight. I have a plan, and I'll retrieve your ledger while I'm in there." William said reassuringly, and she nodded shakily. It was terrifying, being threatened like this. It reminded her too much of the threats from Lord Christie.
William stood up as Marie thought of something else,
"I want to come with you." She said, but he immediately shook his head.
"No. This is something for me to face and me alone." He said, but Marie stood, crossed the distance between them, and poked at his chest. William didn't budge.
"This is my ledger. He is blackmailing me. I deserve the chance to go in and retrieve it myself. I helped all those men and women, and I need to be the one to get it back." She said sternly, but still, William shook his head.
"It's too dangerous. I need to deal with Milverton, and I will not have you getting in my way." He said in a cold tone. A tone of voice that he reserved for talking to his victims. Marie flinched at the tone, mind flashing back to another time.
"Like you have any right to be asking questions of me." Lord Christie sneered, and she actually flinched at the icy tone coating his words.
Marie turned to Albert as William left the room, shutting the door harshly behind him.
"What do I do, Albert? I can't sit back and let you all deal with my problems for me." She said, leaning her forehead against his chest as he stood to hug her. She clenched at the lapels of his suit jacket, feeling his strong arms wrap around her shoulders, and held her close. He leaned his chin on her head as he spoke,
"I don't know. I want to keep you safe, and Milverton is dangerous. I think you can come along, but I doubt William will let you actually go inside Milverton's villa. That is for him, Louis, and Fred to deal with alone." He pulled back and cupped Marie's neck with both hands, thumbs stroking the sides of her face, "It'll all work out, I promise."
…
Marie held her hood close to her face as she watched for any signs of trouble as the wind and rain whipped around them. Albert had a hand around her shoulders, dressed in an identical cloak, and stood close to her side. Sebastian was with the carriage as William, Fred, and Louis entered the villa mere moments before. Lightning and thunder cracked across the sky like angry gods fighting a war.
She could see the flash of bullets firing from guns in the darkened windows. Each flash of the gun muzzles made her cringe. Albert tightened his arm around her shoulders but didn't say anything.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something. Someone was moving through the brush of the outlying forest—two figures, in fact. She recognized the ponytail of one of them as the man on the Noahtic. Wasn't his name Sherlock Holmes? She vaguely remembered William mentioning him on the ride over to the villa and before in his study. She had also occasionally seen him and his companion, John H. Watson, in the newspaper.
Marie watched as Sherlock approached the villa with bated breath and entered via a grappling hook to the balcony. William would be in the upstairs rooms by now, searching for her ledger and also for Milverton. Hopefully, Sherlock wouldn't interrupt that justice.
Minutes passed, nothing happened.
Then she saw something.
A final flash of a bullet. Then, a glow.
From where she guessed the study to be based on the blueprints of Milverton's villa that William had procured.
What was it?
A fire?
As seconds passed, flames engulfed the building until it was a roaring torrent of fire. Marie could feel the heat from the blaze and covered her face as some of the villa collapsed in a flurry of embers. Tears welled up in her eyes as smoke drifted over and got in her eyes. Albert turned his body slightly so Marie was shielded from the heat and smoke.
Just over Albert's shoulder, three figures emerged from the fire at a sprint. As they drew closer, Marie realized it was Fred, Louis, and William, all covered in soot and debris from the fire. She abruptly noticed that William had a ledger tucked under his arm.
Her ledger.
He had gotten it back.
He had succeeded.
She nearly collapsed in relief. Only Albert's arm around her shoulders kept her from falling to her knees. William handed off the soot-covered book to Marie's shaking hands, and she cradled it close to her chest, not caring about the black that smeared onto her dress. The book's edges were blackened and burned, but by some miracle, none of the pages were damaged as Marie flipped through and scanned the familiar shaky cursive.
"Thank you, William." She breathed, and he merely nodded, gesturing for everyone to follow him back to the carriage where Sebastian was waiting.
Once everyone was situated inside the carriage, Marie and Albert together, and Louis and William next to each other, Fred had sat up front with Sebastian, and they were off. William peeked out of the curtains as the carriage rattled back towards the Moriarty estate, leaving the burning villa behind them.
"Let's get started." He said, more to himself than others. However, he turned to face everyone, face grim and set in stone, "It's time for the judgment on all of the demons we have listed."
