Chapter 148 - Hundred And Forty Eight
Eric’s voice, now gaining strength, cut through the heavy, emotional atmosphere of the private tea room.
"Bring him in," he commanded.
The door opened, and Mr. Rye dragged in a man whose face was a swollen, bloody mess of bruises. His clothes were torn, and his eyes were covered by a strip of dark cloth, a blindfold. Mr. Rye, showing no pity, threw the man onto the expensive rug in front of Eric, Delia, and Lyra. The man landed, hitting his head on the floor with a pained groan.
Delia and Lyra looked at Eric in complete and utter shock. Delia’s gaze remained on him. This was a side of the calm, sophisticated, gentle husband she had never seen before.
"Thank you, Mr. Rye. You may wait outside," Eric said, his voice still dangerously quiet. Rye bowed and left, closing the door behind him.
"What is going on here, Eric?" Lyra asked, her own voice a mixture of confusion and alarm. "Who is this man?"
Eric reached down and ripped the blindfold from the man’s face. The moment the pamphleteer’s eyes focused and he saw the furious Duke looming over him, he flinched and became paralyzed with fear. He folded his bound hands in a desperate plea. "Please, spare me, Your Grace," he begged, his voice a pathetic, trembling whine. "Please, I will do anything."
Delia looked at Eric. This cold, merciless man was a stranger to her.
Eric answered his mother’s question without taking his eyes off the terrified man on the floor. "This," he said, his voice full of a cold contempt, "is the pamphleteer who printed that garbage about my wife."
He looked down at the pamphleteer. "Tell them what you told me."