Pay the Devil - Jack Higgins [62]
“Miss Hamilton was carefully watched,” Burke said. “We wanted her to get in touch with you. When she did, she unknowingly played right into our hands. You rode straight to the Rogans to warn them, as I had expected, leaving only your servant at home, which was something else I had hoped for.” He stirred the clothing on the floor with one foot. “The final proof, Colonel Fitzgerald.”
“The proof that will hang you, by God, you damned rebel,” Sir George said, and there was a slight trace of foam on his lips.
Clay shrugged and said lightly, “There must be other ex-Confederate officers in Ireland, more than one Dragoon Colt. I hope you know what you’re doing.”
Burke moved close to him, a pale smile on his face. “We do indeed, Colonel. How is your arm this morning, by the way? Not too painful, I trust?” He gripped Clay’s left arm slightly above the elbow and squeezed for a moment, and Clay’s eyes closed as the agony flooded through him.
Sir George laughed coldly. “I think perhaps the colonel would like a seat.” Someone pulled one forward and Clay was thrust down into it. The baronet continued. “Half an hour ago, I sent a special messenger mounted on my best horse to the constabulary headquarters in Galway. I’ve told them that I’ve captured Captain Swing. I’ve pointed out that the situation in this district is bad and have asked them to send an escort of cavalry to take you into Galway. I have also said that I expect to have Kevin Rogan in my hands by the time they arrive here.”
Clay looked up and said grimly, “You’ll never take Kevin Rogan alive again.”
“Ah, but I’m afraid you underestimate the strength of brotherly love,” Sir George said. “I’ve sent the stable lad, Joseph—you’ve met him already, I understand—with a message to Shaun Rogan. I’ve told him that Dennis Rogan is in my hands, that I’ll exchange him for his brother Kevin. If he refuses, I’ll hand Dennis over to the cavalry as a confederate of Captain Swing. No judge in the land will believe the lad wasn’t, by the time Burke and I have given our evidence.”
He laughed, and the foam on his lips was more apparent. Some of the men shuffled nervously and Sir George said, “Take him away. Lock him up securely with the other until I send for him again.”
Burke pulled Clay up from the chair and pushed him roughly toward the door. One of the men opened it and they passed out into the hall. As Burke led the way up the great staircase, Clay said, “What happened to my servant?”
Burke shrugged carelessly. “A crack on the head. No more than that. I’ve heard tell black men have hard skulls.”
They passed along a wide corridor in silence, mounted a narrower flight of stairs and then another until they were on the third storey.
The two men who had originally left with Dennis lounged outside a stout door bound with iron bands, and Burke said, “Is he all right?”
One of them nodded. “Still in the land of the living, more’s the pity, Mr. Burke.”
The key was in the lock and Burke turned it and opened the door. “In you go, Colonel, and I wouldn’t waste your time in trying to find a way to escape. It doesn’t exist.”
Clay moved forward and paused, looking directly into the man’s face. “He’s insane,” he said. “You know that, don’t you?”
Burke shrugged. “I don’t get paid to think about things like that.”
“Then tell me one thing,” Clay said. “What’s happened to Miss Hamilton?”
Burke laughed harshly. “Don’t you worry about her, Colonel. Whatever she’s done, she’s still a Hamilton. Sir George will think of something suitable, I suppose. For the moment, she’s confined to her rooms. A slight indisposition. Nothing to worry about.”
He pushed Clay forward into the room, and as the door closed, his laughter echoed through the heavy oak planks and then it faded into the distance as he moved away along the