by Lee, Jade
"Of course, Major. The younger Lord Blakesly cares deeply for Melissa. We are doing our absolute best to keep her from harming herself or others."
Beside him, he felt Sophia stiffen. "Melissa!" she cried, already turning toward the door, but Anthony tightened his grip, preventing her movement.
"You see, Sophia," Anthony began before she could say more. "There is nothing to worry about. And now we must return to the gardens. Getting lost as we did, I fear we have left the others for too long."
"Major—"
"I believe the stairs are this way."
"Anthony—" There was a note of desperation in Sophia's voice.
"Trust me, my dear. Please."
At last, miracle of miracles, he felt her relax. Turning, he saw that though clearly upset, she was willing to accept his leadership for now. With a pleased nod, he pulled her down the hallway, heading toward the opposite wing. She went willingly, and Anthony experienced a moment of euphoria at the sensation.
He glanced behind him to see if they were being followed, but Sween had apparently lost interest in them. The man unlocked the woman's door; then he and his footmen disappeared inside.
"Anthony," Sophia began, her voice soft.
"Wait a moment until we are outside, please," he returned, a plan already forming in his mind. He did not intend to abandon the poor woman in the room, but he could not act until he was sure Sophia was out of danger. He began to consider his options. "We must find Percy," he finally said. "You should be safe with him."
He felt her begin to stiffen, and he sighed. He should have known her compliance would be short-lived. They got as far as the stairs before she dug in her heels.
"Sophia." The word was a low warning, but she was having none of it. Before he could do more than draw breath, she lowered her shoulder and shoved him into a door right behind them. He stumbled backward, catching himself painfully on the wood as the door shuddered beneath his weight.
He heard her curse. A most unladylike word that had him smiling despite their awkward circumstances. "What are you doing?" he demanded.
"Oh, just get in the room!"
"What?"
She twisted out of his grip, then quickly reached behind him and turned the doorknob. "In!" she snapped, giving his chest a quick shove for good measure.
Anthony blinked, shocked to his toes by this new, demanding side of Sophia. It was a moment later when he realized he actually liked it. In moderation. "Whatever you wish," he said mockingly as he ducked inside the nondescript bedchamber. "You had only to ask."
Sophia followed a moment later, looking harried and perhaps a bit devious. It was that last part that bothered him. It was exactly how she had appeared before she went off to rescue those damned fighting cocks.
Suddenly, he decided waiting for her to explain all their reasons for coming here was no longer going to work. The situation had changed, and it was time he knew everything. Lord Kyle and Sophia had different reasons for coming on this trip, and Anthony was tired of being kept in the dark. Folding his arms across his chest, he regarded her with a firm expression.
"Enough foolishness, Sophia. It is time you told me what is going on."
She hesitated, clearly startled by his commanding tone. "Foolishness?" she practically squeaked. "We need to—"
He did not give her time to finish. "Tell me, Sophia. Now. And then, I promise you, I shall deal with the young lady." After I am assured of your safety, he added silently to himself.
Chapter 15
Anthony's patience was fast wearing thin, and still Sophia seemed to hesitate, shifting uncomfortably as she finally stumbled into her answer. "Uh, as to why you are here, that is somewhat complex," she admitted. She delayed things even further as she carefully shut the door behind them.
"Sophia," he warned, but she rushed into her speech, preventing him from saying more.
"It's really quite simple. You see, Reginald had this idea. Actually, it may have been Aunt Agatha's idea, but I am not entirely sure." She abruptly quieted and flushed a deep scarlet.
Anthony's misgivings became a great deal more alarming. Whatever was going on here had obviously sent Sophia into a tizzy of awkwardness, and they were fast running out of time. He had no idea how long it would be before the dangerous Mr. Sween started searching for them. "I have no interest in what Lord Kyle wants," he snapped. "And why do you do every mad thing he suggests, anyway?"
"I do not blindly follow his dictates. You should know that, as I have never followed yours!" Sophia returned, equally hot. "I would think that would be obvious by now."
Anthony ground his teeth, knowing the truth of her words. "Yes, I have long since realized you are your own woman. In truth, I would never change that."
"I am not a peahen," she continued, oblivious to what he had just said. "Nor do I think..." She stopped, frowning as she at last comprehended his words. She looked up, surprise and delight coloring her features. "Truly? You understand that I will not be ordered about?"
"God, yes," he practically growled. "Now, perhaps, would you please tell me what madness Lord Kyle has involved you in?"
But she did not answer. Instead, her pert mouth curved into an impish smile. "Are you perhaps somewhat jealous of Lord Kyle?"
Anthony felt the last of his frayed temper rip free. "I am nothing of the sort!" he bellowed, only to have Sophia clasp her hands before her in delight.
"You are! Oh, wonderful. Then there is hope. But I cannot seduce you at the moment, Major, as much as I might like it, for I have another thought in mind—"
"Sophia!" Anthony took a menacing step forward, and then her words hit him, wiping all other thoughts from his mind. "What did you say?"
She dropped her hands on her hips. "I am trying to explain, Major, just as you asked. I feel we must provide an escape—"
He shook his head. "No! What did you say before that?"
"Hmm? Oh, about the seduction? Well, that was the original plan, you know." Then she waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "But, never mind that now. I absolutely feel we must help that poor girl escape this horrible place."
She began pacing the room, clearly deep in thought, obviously hoping for his help. Unfortunately, Anthony could not seem to think at all. All his blood was pounding through his body, and none of it was going to his brain. When Sophia chanced to pass directly in front of him, he suddenly caught her, spinning her around to face him directly. He took care not to grip her too tightly, but he refused to release her until he had a straight answer.
"What do you mean, seduction?" His words were deliberate. Slow. But no less forceful.
As usual, such tactics had no effect on her. She merely pushed his hands away with an irritated gesture. "Oh, do not be so single-minded! I am talking about engineering an escape. It is obvious that that girl is being mistreated. Did you see her bruises?"
Anthony felt his hands spasm on Sophia's arm. Clearly, she would not be distracted. He would have to focus on problems other than his own. "I saw the bruise," he said softly.
"We cannot allow that to continue!" Sophia broke free, resuming her pacing. "We must find a way to get her out of this horrible place. But how?"
Anthony took a deep breath, trying to remain calm for both of them. Unfortunately, it was extremely difficult given that the word seduction continued to clamor in his brain. Nevertheless, he persevered. The first task was to quiet Sophia's fears for the incarcerated Melissa. "I quite agree that she must be rescued. In fact, if I am not mistaken, your Lord Kyle is intent on accomplishing that very thing. That is, no doubt, the very reason we are here today."
"Oh, no," she countered, clearly a bit exasperated. "Do try to keep up with me, Major. You see, Reginald thought to come here so I could seduce you. It had nothing to do with an escape."
Anthony nearly moaned out loud. There was that word again, but it made no sense. Before he could pick one of the hundreds of questions pushing to be voiced, the door flew open and Lord Kyle sauntered in.
&nbs
p; "My, my, what do we have here?" he drawled.
Sophia spun around, throwing her hands up in disgust. "Oh, not now, Reg. We have more important things to worry about. And shut that door!"
Lord Kyle lifted his quizzing glass and frowned. "Really, Sophia, I am quite disappointed. I had thought you would have accomplished the deed by now. I was hoping to catch—"
Folding her arms across her chest, she scowled at the man. "I will not seduce Anthony, or at least not now, so you may put that thought right out of your mind. I have another plan altogether."
Lord Kyle lifted an eyebrow. "Another plan?"
Anthony groaned and settled on the bed. His leg ached, and apparently insanity was infectious. He was holding on to his reason by the tiniest thread, and now Lord Kyle was adding more confusion to the mix. Fortunately, Anthony had long since learned it was best to merely ride along with the nonsense, doing what he could to mitigate the damages. Especially when Sophia was involved.
"Major, whatever is the woman talking about?" demanded Lord Kyle.
"She intends to engineer an escape for the young lady prisoner," he commented, his tone as exhausted as he felt. "Be so good as to explain that you are already doing that."
"What young lady?" exclaimed Lord Kyle, his expression suddenly intent. "What prison?"
Sophia shook her head. "Anthony has it all confused. He says that you intended to come here and effect a rescue in the first place."
Reginald let his quizzing glass fill from his hand and his voice dropped to a lower tone. "I do intend to remove Lord Blakesly directly. I have already discovered him. He was chained up in the most abominable way upstairs."
"Oh, my," Sophia moaned. "Now we must engineer two escapes!"
"It has already been done—" cut in Kyle.
"As I told you, Sophia," inserted Anthony.
"—but I knew nothing about a woman."
Sophia leapt forward. "We cannot leave her here! She is being hurt."
Lord Kyle reached out, grasping Sophia and pulling her to face him directly. "Describe to me this woman in detail and her circumstances," he said, his expression fierce.
"It is the most awful situation—"
"Where is she?"
"I absolutely will not allow you to ignore her."
"Sophia!"
Anthony tried not to listen as the two began bickering like magpies, but he could not block them out. In the end, he decided it was best for him to take control. Pushing off the bed, he strode over to them.
"Sophia! I understand your concern, but you cannot expect to simply open the door as you would a cage. There is something else at work here. It is dangerous!" He would not let her be hurt.
"What is that to the point?" she asked, her expression as stern as that of a mother protecting her children. "I would not treat a dog as that woman is being treated."
"Sophia," returned Lord Kyle, his expression nearly distraught with frustration. "If you do not tell me where this woman is, I swear I shall strangle you right now."
Ignoring him, she planted her fists on her hips and glared at both men; then she focused on Anthony. "Last month, I went to free those roosters unaided, and the event was ill-conceived, ill-timed, and it landed us both in gaol. This time, I am asking for your assistance so that such a disaster will not occur again."
Anthony paused, his emotions colliding in a tumult. On the one hand, the knowledge that she was at last turning to him for help was a great joy to him in ways he could not even express. But she was asking him to willfully endanger her.
"Can you not simply rely on me?" he asked softly.
"I trust you implicitly," she responded. "Which is why I have asked for your help. But if you do not wish to be of assistance, I shall be forced to work on my own."
"Good God," gasped Lord Kyle, clearly appalled. "You cannot do that! These men are well paid to keep things exactly as they are."
Sophia spared not even a glance for her friend. Her entire being was focused on Anthony. "You must help me," she entreated.
What could he do? The woman he loved had just pleaded with him to assist her. He could not refuse. With a sigh, he turned to Lord Kyle. "How did you obtain Lord Blakesly's release?"
"I cannot bribe Mr. Sween. Blakesly's son is paying him too handsomely to even consider it."
Anthony nodded. "I imagine the elder Lord Blakesly tried before with no success."
"Yes." The one word was grim and held a wealth of undercurrents. Anthony did not wish to guess what the elderly gentleman had been through. "Of course," added Lord Kyle with a grin, "Sween's assistants were somewhat less loyal. I bribed them."
Anthony returned the smile. "Good. How did you intend to set the escape in motion?"
Lord Kyle shrugged. "I had intended to create a commotion by discovering you in the midst of a seduction, then spirit him away."
Anthony raised an eyebrow as his gaze sought out Sophia's scarlet face. "This was all part of some mad scheme?" he asked, suddenly hurt. "You would endanger yourself and your reputation for this?"
"No!" she answered hotly. "The one has absolutely nothing to do with the other—"
Before she could explain, the door burst open and Lady Agatha barreled through. "What is going on in here?" she cried out. Then her eyes widened as she focused on the tableau before her. "Really, Sophia," she gasped. "Both gentlemen? I do not believe that was the plan."
At which point Sophia threw up her hands in disgust. "Oh, not now, Aunt Agatha. I have finally got them doing exactly as I wish. You cannot mean to interrupt us now."
"B-but—" stammered the poor lady.
Lord Kyle turned politely to the elderly lady. "We are attempting to rescue Lord—"
"A prisoner," interrupted Sophia.
"Good," said the dear lady with a smile. "I was hoping we would do something here. It is so dismal, I cannot think Blakesly enjoys it."
"Not Blakesly," returned Sophia curtly. "The woman!"
Anthony finally managed to clear his mind enough to set his goals. His first priority was to keep Sophia safe. Second, to assist in the rescue. And lastly, to have a long discussion with Sophia about exactly what she had been planning to do here.
First was the issue of her safety. Since he could not remove Sophia from the environment, he simply had to stay by her side. As for the rescue attempt, he turned to Lord Kyle. "Is the elder Lord Blakesly set to escape?"
Kyle nodded. "All we need is a distraction, then we can get him to our coach."
Anthony began cataloging possibilities. "The ruckus must be large enough to distract Sween and his staff for a very long time. Did you have any other ideas?"
Lady Agatha stepped forward. "A distraction, you say? I have just the idea." Then she turned to her niece. "Sophia, have you ever seen Lydia's mother in the midst of hysterics? She is most excellent at it"
Sophia's eyes widened. "Er, no, I haven't." Then she shook her head. "But what help can that be? Lydia's mother is not here."
Lady Agatha grinned. "What the mother can do, I am sure the daughter can, too. I shall set her to it immediately."
Anthony nodded, thinking that might just accomplish what they needed. He turned to Kyle. "Can you go with her and ensure their safety?"
Kyle hesitated. "But the woman—"
"Sophia and I will handle that."
Lord Kyle appeared to waver, but Sophia stepped forward. "Anthony can pick locks. Trust him, Reg. He shall set everything to rights."
It took Kyle a moment, but eventually he relented. "Very well," he said. Then, with a nod to them all, he extended his arm to Lady Agatha. "Shall we?"
The older woman dimpled at his courtly manner, but when she spoke, it was on a regretful sigh. "I still think a seduction would have been better. But I should have expected Sophia to be contrary. She was ever so, you know. Why, even as a child..."
They left, with Lady Agatha still chatting away. In truth, Anthony had an urge to follow them. He would quite prefer hearing about Sophia's childish antics to
this dangerous mission with his beloved, but at least he would have her standing nearby, easily protectable and once again alone with him. He now could focus on his third goal—a pointed discussion about Sophia's intentions.
He turned to face her, his determination quite clear. "Soph-umph!" The word was cut off as she literally fell into his arms. Indeed, it was all he could do to keep standing as he found himself holding the most tempting and delectable woman.
"Thank you, Anthony. I am sure this will work excellently," she said, her voice infused with enthusiasm—and something else. Gratitude?
He smiled down at her, his head lowering automatically toward her lips. She was stretching upward to him, her expression open and eager. But he stopped himself.
Now was not the time. Nothing could progress between them until he understood what had happened. This morning he had left the Rathburn household with the certain understanding that she wished nothing to do with him. That she had suggested her mother, in fact, assist him in finding a different bride.
But now? He shook his head. Now she spoke of seduction and threw herself into his arms. He did not know which was fact and which was fiction. And hard as it was—indeed, it was perhaps the hardest thing he had ever done—he forced himself to set her aside. He gently stood her back on her feet and watched as the joy dimmed in her eyes. Then, he folded his arms to keep his hands off of her and straightened his spine.
"Sophia, I must have my explanation. Now."
She looked away, her demeanor downcast. "Of course," she said softly. "I understand." Then she paused, obviously gathering her courage. "It began this morning, really, when you visited me. I suddenly realized—"
At that very moment, the air was torn by a piercing scream. Anthony recognized the voice immediately, as well as the tone. It was the sound of a woman having severe hysterics, and it could only be coming from Miss Smyth.