by Abigail Agar
“No, Your Grace, the highwaymen took the carriage with your brother. They dealt the driver a fair blow as well. He’s upstairs recovering. We plan to take him to your estate tomorrow if he is in a fair state to do so,” the woman said, wringing her hands.
Gregory went upstairs with the innkeeper right behind him. She quietly pointed out the room, and Gregory pushed the door open just enough to see that indeed it was the driver of Jules’ carriage.
He eased the door back together to keep from waking the man. “I will square up any bills for his stay,” Gregory said quietly as he came back downstairs with the woman. “I would appreciate it if you would see him safely home. Our doctor will look after him from there.”
“Of course, Your Grace, but I will not charge an injured man for a bed that he needs,” the innkeeper said proudly.
Gregory smiled. “You are a kind woman,” he said softly. “I apologize for my tone earlier. I was just taken by surprise.”
“Anyone would have been in that situation, Your Grace. I should’ve told you straight away,” the woman said with sincerity. “The Duchess and Mr Larkin left just a bit ago on a mare of mine and Mr Larkin’s horse. They could not have gotten more than two or three miles at best.”
Gregory frowned. “But we did not meet them coming down the main road,” he said with irritation.
“Then they probably took Sterling Creek, it’s a little road that not many use, but it goes straight into London. It cuts off the main road two or three miles from here,” the innkeeper said helpfully.
Gregory smiled at the woman again. “Thank you,” he said with genuine relief. “We shall follow after them directly, or I shall. I have two men who need to rest.”
***
Talbert refused, “We can’t stay here sleeping like babes when you are out there looking for your missus and your brother.”
“Tally’s right,” Olly said fervently. “We need to help you, Your Grace.”
Gregory shook his head. “And when you fall out of your saddle? Who will you be helping then?”
“I’ll go with Your Grace,” Thompson volunteered. “I have no need of rest. I spent most of the time in the carriage seat, and I am plenty rested.”
Gregory said, “There. See, now you two need to get off to bed. Your rooms are paid for. Get rested. I expect you in London late tomorrow.”
The two brothers eventually gave up grumbling and went into the inn. Gregory tossed a couple of coins to the stable boy. “Take good care of those horses,” he called, and the boy gave him a grin as he pocketed the coins happily.
Chapter 10
Jules was trying her best not to fall asleep in the saddle. The storm seemed to be staying a few miles away, but it felt like they had been riding for hours. “Do you think that we should stop and rest somewhere?”
“Give me your reins, and I’ll pull your horse if you need to sleep,” David suggested.
Jules frowned. “I don’t fancy falling off this horse while I am asleep,” she said as she eyed the ground beneath her.
“You won’t,” David said with a shrug. “I’ve slept in the saddle before. You get used to it.”
Jules was so tired that even the idea of falling out of the saddle was not keeping her eyes open. She nodded and agreed, “Very well.” After David had her reins, she leaned over and hugged the mare’s neck. The gentle motion of the horse’s walk lulled her, and soon her eyelids were drooping.
The next time her eyes opened, the sky was streaked with yellows and pinks. Jules sat up and rubbed her eyes wearily. She ached something awful for having sat in the saddle all night. “Where are we?”
David looked around at her with a smile. “Decided to wake up, have we? We, my dear Duchess, are almost to London.”
“What?” Jules looked around frantically. “But Lord St Claire …”
David shook his head. “I saw no sign of people or carriages through the night. Rest assured that your dear Lord St Claire will no doubt be paying off his captors and being returned to his cushy bed perhaps even as we speak.”
“The Duke will be out looking for him,” Jules said as she pushed some of her hair out of her face. It had come loose from the clip she had it tucked into, and she had no inclination to worry over how she looked at the moment. “I should find the Duke and help,” she said in worry. “He’ll probably be most angry that I went off by myself with some man. I didn’t think about how it would look to him.”
David scoffed, “People are so concerned with the looks of things. All we did was ride and look for your brother-in-law. It was a noble and brave act on your part.” David shrugged and continued, “Unfortunately, we did not find him. Do you really think your Duke is going to get out and ride personally to look for you or his brother? That isn’t really how the nobles do things, Duchess.”
“You don’t know my husband or his family,” Jules said sternly. “It would do you well not to speak of them as if you do.”
David snorted and bit back, “You speak as if you do know them. You haven’t known them that long, Duchess.”
Jules sighed and turned her head away from the man. She pulled the reins back out of his hands as the tops of the houses on this side of London became visible.
Part of her wanted to dash on ahead and find Lady St Claire to explain things, but part of her also wanted to turn around and find Gregory. She knew that if he had learned of Fredrick’s abduction, the man would not have slept until his brother was found.
***
Gregory stalked through the woods. A farmer nearby had told Gregory that he had heard strange noises coming from a glen near his farm. Thompson and Gregory rode into the woods towards the place the farmer indicated and then tied the horses to trees when the woods became too thick to ride.
If highwaymen were getting things as big as carriages in and out of these woods, there clearly had to be another way in, Gregory mused to himself. “I see why no one has found anything when they have come to look,” Gregory said quietly to Thompson.
Thompson nodded, “It’s a right squeeze. Do you really think it’s them?”
“It’s the best lead we’ve had all night. With dawn coming, we may not get a better one,” Gregory said softly as his breath came in bursts. He was bone weary but determined to find his brother and his wife.
They had seen no signs of either Fred or Jules, but the same farmer said that he saw two riders go by a couple of hours before Gregory and Thompson. Gregory wagered that was probably Jules and Mr Larkin. They would be near to London by now.
Thompson and Gregory eased through the trees. Ahead they could see a flicker of a fire. At least the rain had left them be, but Gregory was still chilled to the bone from the previous shower. The sound of voices made Gregory and Thompson still.
“How long do we have to sit on this one?” The voice was male and irritated. It spat, “Why don’t we just kill him? Isn’t that what we were hired to do?”
Another voice replied, “We were hired to get him out of the way. We were only to kill him if necessary, now be quiet before he wakes up.”
The words made hope soar in Gregory’s heart that his brother was indeed still alive and well. Though the idea that someone had paid the highwaymen to do this made Gregory’s blood boil.
He meant to have the scoundrel’s name, but first, he had to figure out how many men were actually holding his brother. Two voices did not take into account any who might be silent or sleeping.
Gregory motioned for Thompson to stay still which the man was happy to do. Through the thick trees, Gregory could easily slip without drawing attention from those around the fire.
He could make out two men, probably the two who had been talking by the fire. There was a third figure slumped against a tree which Gregory recognized immediately as Fredrick.
It took a few minutes to get close to his brother. Fredrick appeared to be sleeping or unconscious as Gregory took in what he could see of the camp. He glanced across the way and where he thought Thompson’s positi
on was. There were only two men visible, but there was the carriage which could have men sleeping inside it.
The horses from the carriage were unburdened and loitered near the tree line. Gregory dared not try to grab one or he might spook the creatures that appeared to be dozing. Gregory instead slipped up near Fredrick and nudged the man cautiously.
Fredrick’s rough voice said, “Stop poking me, you knaves.”
The men turned to look over at Fredrick curiously. Gregory was well back in the shadows and cursing his luck. One of the men walked over and gave Fredrick’s wooden leg a kick. “What are you on about?” the man asked gruffly.
“I said leave me be,” Fredrick said as he kicked out with his good leg. The kick had apparently not been expected as the man howled in surprise as Fredrick’s boot connected with his knee.
The man staggered backward yelling for his companion, “He’s bent my knee. He’s crippled me!”
“The man only has the one leg,” the other man scoffed. “You are a louse and a beggar’s wife. How can you let him get the better of you?”
The man that Fredrick had kicked fumed, “I didn’t know he could kick me. He’s crippled!”
“Louie, if your mother weren’t a saint of a woman, I’d take you to the hangman myself,” the other man spat. “Now get over here and shut up before you call the whole of the countryside on us with your neighing.”
The wounded man limped over to the fire and sat down sullenly. His eyes cut over to Fredrick, but he was silent. Gregory let out a breath and whispered, “Fredrick.”
Fredrick stirred a bit and blinked. He looked at his captors then whispered hoarsely, “Who’s there?”
“It’s Gregory,” Gregory whispered back. “Listen, Thompson is with me. Are there more men here?” Fredrick’s head swayed from side to side. Gregory eased up and loosened Fredrick’s rope. “I’m going to go get Thompson, and we’ll draw their attention while you get yourself into the woods. Head straight this way, and you’ll run into the road. We’ll meet you there. Understand?” Fredrick nodded, and Gregory gave his brother’s arm a squeeze before he slipped back into the underbrush.
Thompson jerked his head around when Gregory came through the brush. “You scared me something fierce,” Thompson whispered. “Are there more?”
“Fred says there are only two. I loosened his ropes. We are going to draw their attention while Fred escapes through the woods then we will meet up with him on the road,” Gregory said quietly with more confidence than he felt. After riding all night, his legs were starting to feel like they were made more of custard than bone and muscle.
Thompson looked doubtful about their prospects as well, but the man nodded his head in agreement. “Let us proceed then before I pass out on my face,” Thompson said with a grin.
“Good man,” Gregory said as he clapped his hand on the man’s shoulder.
***
Jules drew in a deep breath as they stopped outside a building that she did not recognize. “Where are we? I thought we were going to see the guild?”
“No, I said I had to come back to London to help. This is the best place to help,” David said with a smile as he slipped out of his saddle and onto the ground.
Jules had no idea how the man could be so full of energy. She felt as if her legs were made of lead and her arms of jelly. She did not recognize the street, but it looked to be a more affluent street than she would expect David to have friends on.
David led the way to the door of the building and gave it three sharp knocks with his knuckles. The door opened, and David gave the person a smile. Jules could not see who it was, but she trudged up to the door and forced a smile to replace the worried frown on her face.
“Is this the Duchess that you were talking about? She sure doesn’t look like much,” said a young woman with dull, brown hair and a nose so pinched that it looked like she permanently smelled foul air. “Come in,” the young woman said. “I’m Nina, the housekeeper here.”
Jules wanted to snap at the girl for her rude tone, but she would do no service to Duke St Claire’s household by lashing out at the girl. “Nice to meet you, Nina,” Jules said with the forced smile still on her face.
“Go get Henry, would you, Nina?” David said with a wink. “I’ve got some business to talk to him about.
Nina gave David a smile and Jules a nod. “Right away,” Nina said as she left the room.
“Who lives here?” Jules asked curiously as soon as Nina was out of the room.
David shrugged, “Captain of the Guards. He’s a good friend of mine.”
“Are you serious? After what they did to the guild?” Jules was livid as she looked at the man incredulously. “How did this happen?”
David shrugged, “I got caught a time or two for silly little things, but things that could have landed me in jail for a long time. We all know that nobles are the only ones who don’t go to jail in London, Jules.”
David took a breath and said, “So, I made a deal. I give them information when they need it. Like who isn’t being a good citizen and so on.”
“But those boys had done nothing,” Jules said. “Did you tell them that they had?”
David laughed and shook his head. “No. You don’t get to blame me for this. I named the right names, but your Duke had to go and interfere. The Lords want someone to blame, or they’ll come for everyone, Jules. It’s just the way things are.”
“You are going to stand there and blame Duke St Claire and me because we somehow spoiled your plans?” Jules turned to leave, but David reached out and grabbed her. “Let go of my arm,” Jules ground out through her teeth.
David said, “You aren’t going anywhere, Jules. Not until Henry gets a good look at you.”
Jules would have asked who Henry was, but it was at that moment that a large man covered in coarse white hair ducked his head to come in through the low doorway. “Ah, David,” the man boomed.
“Henry, wonderful timing,” David said as he let go of Jules’ arm abruptly, causing Jules to stumble slightly. “This is Julia Kelley, the one I told you about.”
Henry nodded and eyed Jules’ clothes. “She is a might dirty for a Duchess. You been working your way up through the ranks, aye?”
“I—” Jules cleared her throat and pulled her shoulders back. “I demand that I be released. My husband will be most angry when he hears that I have been detained.”
Henry chuckled and slapped his chest. “Will he now? How’s he going to know where you are? I never saw you. Did you, Nina?”
“Haven’t seen a soul all night,” Nina said with a smile at the distraught Jules.
Fear was creeping into her. “What do you mean to do with me? Someone will eventually find out what happened.” Jules tried to sound defiant, but fear was all she found in her voice.
Henry said, “We mean to give you the treatment that you should have gotten in the first place, Duchess. You see, you’ve been labelled a libellous traitor to the crown. You’ve called out for people to disobey and be belligerent. There’s an order for your arrest.”
Jules laughed. “You can’t be serious. You can’t just arrest me. I’m a Duchess,” Jules said grasping at what little she knew of the laws governing nobles.
“True, but I doubt the Duke will come running to save a wife that is both a traitor to him and the crown,” Henry said. “David, take her to the back. We’ve got a room ready for her until she can be taken to the jail.”
David grabbed Jules by the arm, and despite how she resisted, the man dragged her. Jules seethed. “I have never betrayed the crown or my husband.”
“Trust me, that isn’t how your Duke will hear it,” David said with a chuckle to Jules’ dismay.
***
Gregory’s lungs burned with exertion. Adrenaline kept him moving forward, but only just. As much as Gregory wanted answers about his brother’s abduction, he knew that he would not get them tonight.
Thompson and Gregory had drawn the men into the woods leaving Fredrick
free to make his escape. Only now they had gotten separated, and Gregory just prayed that Thompson remembered where the road was.
He broke free of the trees and onto the clear space of the road. Gregory could not stop the laughter that spilled from his throat as he deliriously gave thanks for the road. He looked around, and in the distance, he saw a huddled figure that he ran towards.
Fredrick looked up with a start at the sound of Gregory’s footfalls. “Curses, Gregory, don’t run up on me,” Fredrick said with a hand over his heart. Fredrick rose to his feet. “Where’s Thompson?”
“I fear he must have gotten turned around,” Gregory said in worry.
There was a commotion that sounded like a bear crashing through the woods which ended with Thompson bursting forth from the trees as if the Devil’s hounds were hot on his heels. The man panted and sucked in a breath as he exclaimed, “You two are such a lovely sight. Quickly, I fear they might be behind me.”