Who was the mystery woman?
“Ann, I told you to remain behind on the boat,” Mallory almost shouted.
“I didn’t want to because I feared you’d throttle Archie. He is now part of a family—and you can’t rid yourself of him…” Her voice trailed off. She’d finally looked up past the rim of the hat she wore.
“Is that him?” she asked, her voice slightly choked.
At that moment, Mallory looked up. Their gazes met. He saw Mallory rest his right hand comfortably on the hilt of his cutlass.
Archie did the same.
“No weapons!” Ann ordered, studying him more closely, as she gained ground on him.
Mallory didn’t listen to her, his hand still rested firmly on his cutlass.
“I think you should turn back. Go back to Seamus, he’s waiting to row you back to the Valiant.”
“No,” her voice didn’t waver this time. He marveled at how alike she and Gemma sounded. If he didn’t know Gemma so well, he’d have a difficult time telling the difference between hers and Ann’s voice. By her stubborn refusal to return to the ship, he could tell that she shared that in common with Gemma.
“Where is she?” Mallory demanded. “I thought you would have been smart enough to bring her with you, to protect you from me. This time, I’ve brought enough men to squash your little empire here on the island.”
“I am quite certain you have, St. Martin. Alas, my wife has instructed me to make peace, not war with you. She wishes for me to relay a message to you. She says that she has found her knight.”
At his announcement, Ann pulled on Mallory’s arm. “There you see! You cannot kill him. Look at him! How could you think he would do anything to our dear Gemma?”
“He violently took her away from all that she knew and loved.”
“And yet…he gave her a new family,” Ann countered.
“I should kill you were you stand, Campbell,” Mallory roared.
“If you did, you’d have Gemma out for your hide. I don’t think you’d like having her on your back for the rest of your life. I’m telling you, she wouldn’t be the merry widow.”
“Stop it, this instant, Mallory. Mama told you to settle things in a calm headed manner. Gemma hasn’t been hurt.”
“Indeed, she has not.” Archie relaxed his grip on the hilt of his cutlass.
“What do you expect me to do, Ann? Return to his castle and dine with him?”
“I expect you to set aside your wounded pride, brother mine. Who are those men riding at a breakneck speed toward us, Lord Northam?” Ann asked.
“Archie, please.” He smiled at her.
He looked back. They weren’t all men. Isla was among one of the riders. Instantly, apprehension prickled along his scalp.
“Gemma,” he whispered, fear stabbing his heart.
He ran toward the riders.
Isla quickly dismounted, holding her reins, as if she was anxious to get back on.
“Lady Northam has been taken.”
“What?” Mallory and Archie both bellowed at the same time.
“Taken by whom?” Ann asked in a trembling voice.
“We don’t know. Whoever it was, Louis-Daniel, I mean Lord Lustleigh managed to kill one of them. In the scuffle, he was shot and taken prisoner.”
“How do you know he was shot?” Mallory asked suspiciously.
“Because he left behind the pistol you gave him for his last birthday, Lord Northam,” she explained, speaking directly to Archie whilst ignoring Mallory. “We also tracked a trail of blood through the castle, and we found this.”
She handed him Louis-Daniel’s signet ring.
He swallowed, hard. He couldn’t let them get off the island with Gemma. They wouldn’t take Louis-Daniel with them that he felt for sure. Instead, they’d dispose of him before setting sail.
“You don’t have any idea who it could have been?”
Isla reached inside of her coat. “We did find this.” She handed a handkerchief to Archie, and Ann snatched it out of his grip before he could get a good look at it.
“Duxford,” she breathed. “You should have sent him to hell when you had the chance, Mallory.”
“We still can, Ann. I think we should set aside our differences…and…” Mallory looked as if he was sucking a lemon.
“And go and rescue my wife and my brother?”
“Aye,” Mallory grunted.
“You shall need horses.” He gestured to two men. “Ian, John, we’ll need your mounts for His Grace and Lady Ann.”
“I…” Ann’s voice trailed off nervously.
“Ann, you can stay behind, or ride with me,” Mallory offered.
She drew in a deep breath. “No. Gemma needs me. We shall all ride together. I can do this—I’m not a novice when it comes to horseback riding.”
“You don’t have to do it,” Mallory said gently, helping her up onto one of the waiting horses.
“Yes, I do. Gemma would do the same for me. We stick together…that’s one thing the St. Martins have always been known for. Family never abandons family.”
“Isla, get back to the castle have the doctor fetched, and be ready to attend to Louis-Daniel, when we return. I’m going to kill Duxford for this attack against me and mine.”
“No. You aren’t.” Mallory looked over at him already astride on his horse.
“And why won’t I?” Archie asked.
“Because he’s mine.”
“She is my wife!”
“She is my sister!”
“Mallory, Lord Northam,” Ann chastised. “If we continue arguing, Duxford will get away with Gemma, and your brother will be tossed into the sea.”
“She’s right,” They both said at the same time.
With that, they set off to save Gemma.
*****
“Gemma, Gemma, wake up! For the love of God open those eyes!”
She woke up. Her head was splitting in half with pain.
“Archie?” she mumbled, a bit disoriented. Her mouth felt as if someone had crammed cotton into it. She licked her lips.
“No, it’s Louis-Daniel. Wake up, now! I think they’re going to take you away soon onto a ship. We have to think of something before that happens, and since I’m slightly drunk and in a good deal of pain I’m not thinking that quickly.”
She wearily cracked her eyes open. “I still feel so sluggish.”
“Fight it. Whatever was on that handkerchief has muddled your senses.”
“You shouldn’t want to help me anyway,” she muttered, trying to fight past the pain and tiredness coursing through her.
“You are my brother’s wife. I’m a low down dirty rotten bastard, but God help me, I love my brother. I wouldn’t do anything to you it would shatter him. And I’m not that much of a bastard, anyway. I like to act—sometimes I take it a little too far.”
She shook her head, moaning when more pain cracked through her skull.
“Where are we?”
“We’re almost off the island, that’s where we are. I don’t know why Archie hasn’t tracked the carriages Duxford has yet. That damn little bitch that I was screwing, must have given Duxford all of the information he needed. I’m going to kill that slut.”
“You’ve been shot.”
“What an astute observation. Unfortunately for you, I think I’m going to live.”
She tried to smile. Instead, it only made the agony worse. “I feel like I’m dying.”
“So do I…but you have to fight through the pain, Gemma. Come on! Get your back up! A cretin just kidnapped you. For money! I would have thought that in itself would have rankled your delicate bloody senses.”
“Language, sir.”
“I don’t see you talking with a clean mouth. In your disorientation, you were spewing out a few curse words that made me blush before you finally came to. I’m surprised your vocabulary even includes some of those words. They are even worse than what you called me back at Welford Abbey. If you give into the pain, you w
ill never see Archie again.”
Her attention was caught on that one.
“Besides, how did you shoot that blackguard? I thought you’d be so foxed that you wouldn’t be able to shoot straight.”
“My dear sister-in-law, I’m never that drunk. Defending one’s family has a way of sobering a man up, unfortunately, it didn’t sober me up enough.”
“My head is so cloudy,” she moaned.
“Think of clear skies and smooth calm waters. Try, to work past it, Gemma. We only have so much time before Duxford finishes screwing that little tart of mine seven ways to Sunday. He knows he has to work fast. I feel that. I’m really good at predicting what bastards are going to do next. When they do take you, they’ll make sure they kill me first so I won’t be able to say a word to anyone. Archie will think that Mallory has taken you, and killed me. He will go after Mallory with everything he has—and Duxford will bide his time. He will wait to ask for the ransom until either Mallory or even worse, until my brother is dead. I can’t let that happen. So get up. They untied you—heaven knows why, but you’re free and I’m not. I can’t help you unless you get me untied.”
She struggled to move. She had to focus on Archie, and Archie only.
“I am trying.”
“That’s it, Gemma. You’re doing it.”
She sat up. Her head started humming again, but she ignored it, just like Louis-Daniel had urged her to.
“Turn your body so I can untie your arms,” she mumbled.
He did so. She inhaled deeply when she saw all of the blood on his hands and on the seat.
“They didn’t even tie a handkerchief around your wound?”
“Not even close. I’m sure they’re wishing I’d bleed to death and save them the trouble of slitting my throat open.”
She shivered. Reaching down to untie his legs, she waited while he flexed his fingers. After she’d untied his legs, she ripped off some of her slip, and tied it quickly around his wound.
“Thank you,” he mumbled. His eyes rested soundly on her face. “Your eyes are bloodshot. Gads, you look like you’ve walked straight through hell.”
“You don’t look so great yourself.”
He grinned at her. “You’re feeling a bit better, I see.”
He moved toward the carriage door. “Cocky son of a bitch. He really thought he had us. Stay behind me, just in case one of his blockheads is guarding the door. If they are, hopefully, I’m still quick enough to disarm them, and then you must get onto a horse. Don’t wait for me, just ride like the wind back to the castle, and sound the alarm, just in case they haven’t already noticed what went on. Though I have to say, my mother probably noticed it. I’m hoping she’s already sent someone to get Archie.”
“I hope you are right,” she whispered, moving back when he told her to do so.
“Christ’s Teeth,” he swore, after creaking the carriage door open. “That sod is coming back here. Quick, take this thing off my arm, and make it look like I’m still tied up.”
“Did you hear that?” she asked.
“Hear what?” he said, as she followed all of his instructions.
“I think I hear horses coming our way.”
“Hopefully, it’s Archie.”
“And Mallory,” she added.
“Mayhap,” Louis-Daniel frowned at her. “Be a good little actress and act as if you’re a halfwit when he comes up into the carriage. He’ll expect you to be out of it, he’s not going to expect you to be as alert as you are now.” She nodded her head.
They could hear Duxford letting loose with a colorful line of expletives, as he came toward the carriage.
“Get us down to the docks on the double,” he ordered. “I think we have company coming, and we have to be on the jolly boats before they get here. Good thing I had the foresight to have the ship waiting out at sea, we’ll be able to get started on our voyage that much quicker.”
Duxford stopped talking and pulled open the carriage door. Her heart started racing in her chest again. She darted a quick glance at Louis-Daniel, and then, slumped against the satin squabs.
“Ah, Gemma, I see you are awake. Capital,” Duxford murmured. “I’m sorry I had to induce your slumber like that, I wanted you to remain asleep until we set sail. Alas, it is unfortunate you shall have to see me do what I have to do.” Her heart leapt up into her throat when he pulled out a pistol. “Of course, you have been slowed down a bit. You won’t be able to stop me, and that little frog is tied up. Ah, well. My father used to say the only good frog was a dead one.”
He was going to kill Louis-Daniel. The realization made time stop for her. She couldn’t allow him to murder Archie’s brother. Not while she still drew a breath.
“Once we get onto the ship, I’ll be sampling what you have to offer, Gemma, since your husband has no doubt already deflowered you. I don’t really like virgins, but since you’re not one anymore, I’ll have to see what Archie has taught you.”
Louis-Daniel let out an animalistic growl.
“He sounds like a demon spawned from hell, doesn’t he?” Duxford laughed, and aimed the pistol at Louis-Daniel. In the next few moments, everything went by in a blur. She lunged at Duxford, Louis-Daniel moved into action, and shouts and screams were heard from outside.
The carriage door was wrenched roughly open. She was still struggling with Duxford, and Louis-Daniel was pounding the hell out of his face. “Let go, Gemma,” he instructed, grunting as his fist made contact with Duxford’s face again.
She couldn’t.
Louis-Daniel probably thought that Duxford had dropped the pistol and he had, but he was reaching for it, and Louis-Daniel couldn’t see how close he was to it.
Duxford’s fingers found the pistol. She looked up in time to stare into Archie’s glorious dark eyes.
And then, Duxford fired.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Pain exploded through her body. She went limp.
Louis-Daniel caught her, and pulled her out of the way. Archie looked so enraged. He hauled Duxford out of the carriage, and then, she heard another shot.
“That son of a bitch is dead,” Archie growled.
She felt cold. She’d been shot in the side.
“Gemma?” Archie sounded like he was losing it. He’d climbed up into the carriage and was reaching his arms out for her.
Mallory came into view. “Good God. Get the carriage turned around, I have a doctor on my ship.”
“We need to get her to our doctor and he better be sober,” Louis-Daniel said, quickly handing her to Archie. “Get someone to turn this bloody carriage around!”
“Let me see! She’s my sister!” Ann’s voice rattled her even more.
Ann.
She would know what to do. Ann had spent a good deal of time with the village doctor aiding him when he needed it.
“Get Ann,” she rasped.
“I was so bloody stupid,” Archie muttered.
She shook her head.
Ann climbed up into the carriage, pushing her way past Louis-Daniel.
Her eyes lit on Gemma and fear coalesced into their deep blue depths.
“Let me see the wound. I might be able to do something for her while we drive back to your family home. Mallory, you get the carriage moving. You, sit down!” She motioned to Louis-Daniel, reaching back to shut the door.
“Your entire family is just like you, Gemma,” Archie whispered against her ear.
She smiled. She was so sleepy. “I love you, Archie,” she whispered, closing her eyes.
*****
When Gemma woke up, she was looking into Archie’s eyes. People were gathered around her bed. She recognized Mallory and Ann, was she on her deathbed?
“She is awake.”
“And she’s come through the fever, she’ll survive,” Isla whispered, moving away from the bed.
“What happened?” She remembered Duxford taking her, and then, she remembered getting shot.
Damnation.
“You are
safe, sweetheart. And you’re on your way to a full recovery,” Archie whispered, brushing a lock of hair off her face. She smiled at him. “Now that’s the sight I’ve been waiting to see, those dimples of yours could brighten my day no matter how sad it was.”
“Where is Louis-Daniel?”
“He is resting in his chambers,” Archie answered gruffly, his eyes watering. Such a strong man, and filled with such passion. All of it was for her. She clasped his hand tighter. She loved Archie with all of her heart and soul. She would have been so mad if she’d died without living.
“Why did Duxford take me?” She still felt weak, but she had to know the answer.
“I can answer that one.” Ann stepped forward. “He took you because he is as poor as a church mouse. He wanted your dowry, and when Archie took you instead, he was incensed beyond reasoning. I knew he’d left England but I never dreamt he’d come for you in order to seek out retribution against our family. He also had the authorities after him for a more gruesome crime. You don’t need to know about that, dearest Gemma.”
“Let’s just say, we were all right when we warned you against marrying that piece of filth,” Mallory said.
She knew he would be the one to say ‘I told you so,’ and in a way, it didn’t rankle her as much as it might have once. She couldn’t argue the fact that Mallory and Archie had been right all along. She’d been foolish to think that a cold fish like Duxford could ever give her the kind of love she craved from her husband.
He never could have loved her the way that Archie did.
She smiled at Ann. “You look tired. I think you should go and get some sleep, you too, Mallory.”
“Aye, that sounds agreeable. I would like to spend some time just adoring my wife for a while.”
“Adore her from a distance man, she’s still too weak to…”
“Mallory!” Ann snapped. “We should take our leave now.”
They all turned their heads at the sound of a knock on the open bedroom door.
His to Keep (Regency Scoundrels Book 2) Page 24