No. She would not allow it. She’d had enough, and she would not permit the rest of her life to continue this way.
Mr. Templeton stepped in front of her, concern in face. “Is everything all right, Your Grace?” For once she was happy to see one of the Four Guardians. “Will you please escort me home, Mr. Templeton? I am not feeling well.”
He frowned. “Where is Bedford?”
She waved behind her. “Back there. I prefer to leave right away.”
Mr. Templeton scanned the crowd, but extended his arm for her to take. She was grateful for his strength since she needed to hold onto something. Shivers racked her body, and she almost felt as though she were getting sick. They made their way to the entrance hall of the townhouse, when Alex’s deep voice cut through Mr. Templeton’s request for his carriage to be brought around.
“I will tend to my wife, Templeton.” Alex nodded at the footman at the door. “Please have my carriage readied.” He took her shawl from the butler and draped it over her shoulders. She stood stiffly, not wanting to even acknowledge his presence. Mr. Templeton gave her a slight bow. “Good night, Your Grace.” He cast a concerned look at Alex and left them.
The only reason she took Alex’s arm was to prevent falling on the slippery pathway. It would be hard to maintain her dignity and righteous anger sitting on her arse with her skirts up around her knees.
Alex helped her into the carriage, climbed in, and settled across from her. She turned her head and stared out the window. The lights of the townhouse faded as they moved down the street, the sound of the horses and the turning of the carriage wheels the only sound.
After a night of tossing and turning, with Alex sleeping in his bedchamber and she in hers, Patience arose with a headache and a feeling of despondency. Since their night at the inn, they’d shared a bed every night and had made love at least once a day. Oftentimes spontaneously, whenever she saw that look in Alex’s eyes right before he locked the door to whatever room they were in at the time. She sometimes wondered what the staff thought of that.
Aside from the sex, it seemed all her hopes for a successful marriage were slowly fading. He had become a domineering tyrant.
She had spent enough years with her father to know how difficult life could be for a woman married to such a man. With a heavy heart, she summoned Polly. “Once we have had breakfast, I would like to take a trip to Bond Street and do a bit of shopping.”
“Will the dowager be accompanying us?”
“No. It will be only you and me. Furthermore, I will instruct the footmen to leave us in peace. I do not want to be trailed.”
“Your Grace, I don’t think His Grace wants you to leave the house without the footmen. He was adamant about it, if you remember.”
She tried to keep the anger from her voice as she waved her maid’s objection away. “Leave it to me. I will make sure we have a day of shopping without men following us about like puppies.”
Alex was absent from breakfast, which was just as well, since she did not want to share her day’s plans with him. She was not very good at lying, so any conversation between them would turn into another argument.
Polly joined her as they made their way into the carriage. She tolerated the ever-present footmen, when they’d been adamant about attending her, per His Grace’s instructions, but assured her maid they would have their freedom once they arrived at Bond Street. Her spirits rising with the idea of independence, Patience planned on which shops she wanted to visit. No sticking pins into her body today. Perhaps they would view the items for sale in Grafton House, and then onto Twinings for tea, and maybe a stop at Wedgewood’s to see about a new set of china.
They would top off their expedition with tea and sandwiches at Gunter’s. With the balmy breeze and sunshine, it was a perfect day for such a trip. They alighted the carriage and entered a small milliner’s shop, one of her favorite’s. Once inside, with the two footmen standing on the pavement in front of the shop, Patience looked to her heart’s content, then took Polly’s hand, and placing her finger over her mouth, tugged her toward the side door that led to the alley between the milliner and Twinings Tea Shop.
Laughing gaily at the trick they had pulled on the footmen, Patience and Polly rounded the back wall of Twinings and walked in the opposite direction of the footmen. Taking in a deep breath of free air, Patience said, “Now onto Gunter’s.”
They had barely sat at the table when a gentleman approached them. He was older, very distinguished looking, his eyes darting from side to side as he moved to their table. “Excuse my impertinence, but are you not Her Grace, The Duchess of Bedford?”
A bit suspicious of a stranger approaching them, she said, “Yes. That is so.”
He gave them a deep bow. “It is a pleasure to meet you, and I apologize for my forwardness, but I did want to give you my regards.”
Patience smiled at the man, but grew a little more concerned when he wiped his forehead and continued to glance around, as if expecting someone.
“I am a longtime friend of your husband.” He smiled, revealing teeth that reminded her of a drawing she’d seen in a children’s book.
She immediately relaxed. “Indeed? And your name, so I can convey your regards?”
“Lord Loverly at your service, Your Grace.”
…
Alex flattened his hands on the desk and came eye-to-eye with the commander. “What the hell is taking so long to catch Loverly?”
The much overworked commander shook his head. “The man is invisible, I swear. No one has seen him—except you—and I have every available man on the streets looking for him.”
Alex collapsed in the seat in front of the commander’s desk. “I have someone watching my wife every minute of the day. I’m sure he’s going to try to use her to get the money he asked for. Except for her, he knows I have absolutely no reason to give it to him.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know how much longer I can keep her wrapped up like this. I don’t mind telling you this is causing problems between us.”
He hated admitting such a thing, even to himself, but there it was. Their rift last night was a serious one. Most times they slept together in his bed, but last night she had entered her room with a curt “good night” and closed the door. Firmly. Leaving him on the other side, staring at the polished wooden surface.
Shortly after leaving his meeting at the War Department, Alex departed for home, having sent notes around to Hawk, Cam, and Templeton to meet him there. They had to come up with some sort of strategy to end this. He had a great deal of work to do regarding his estates, his position in Parliament, and his marriage.
His marriage.
He pushed the problem with Patience from his mind. There was nothing he could do about it. Until Loverly was caught and dealt with, he had to make sure she was always protected. A wedding trip would be nice. They could travel to all his estates, mixing duty with pleasure. From what he’d gathered, such a trip could take more than a year.
Monroe, the London butler, met him at the door with the news that Templeton and Cam had already arrived. As he handed his gloves, cane, and hat to the butler, he asked after Patience.
“She and Polly left a bit ago. They were traveling to Bond Street, I believe.”
His jaw tightened. Why the devil couldn’t she remain at home embroidering, or counting the linens or silver, like a proper duchess? Why did she always have to roam around?
“How many footmen went with them?”
“Two, Your Grace. Plus the driver has a pistol on him, as well.” Alex had been forced to bring the driver, footmen, and Monroe into the plan to keep Patience safe. After discovering someone on his staff had let Loverly in, he kept his counsel from everyone except the men ordered to protect her. He was slowly interviewing the staff, many of whom he had met when he had assumed his title. Most of the servants who had been at their townhouse when he’d been a child were no longer in service.
Feeling even more out of sorts, he greeted Temple
ton and Cam and settled into a chair in front of the fireplace. He hadn’t spoken more than a few words when Hawk strode into the room. “Is there news?” he asked.
Alex waved him to a seat. “I was just going over my meeting with the commander. The very short meeting since Loverly has not been found, no one has seen him—except me—and the commander has everyone he can possibly dispense with looking for him.”
A footman entered the room, carrying a tray with coffee, tea, biscuits, and tarts. He placed the tray on the table in front of their grouping of chairs. On his heels came a white-faced Polly, her hair disheveled, her breathing erratic. “Your Grace.” With a shaky hand, she held something out to him.
Alex stared at the folded paper as if it would rear up and bite him. He knew what was written there. He took it from her hand and slowly opened it. His heart sank. He looked up, tight-lipped.
“Loverly has her.”
Chapter Nineteen
Patience glared at Loverly who sat across from her, pouring another glass of whiskey. “I suppose you are the reason my husband has had people following me around.” Since he had just removed the cloth from around her mouth, it was her first opportunity to speak to the horrid man who had feigned friendship and then kidnapped her.
Assuming Loverly was a friend of Alex’s, especially when he’d mentioned he’d been on the same ship traveling back with him from America, she had foolishly allowed the man to escort her and Polly back to their carriage. Except he had hailed a coach that had apparently been waiting for him. Confused as to what he was doing, and before she could ask him what he was about, he’d shoved her into the carriage, throwing her to her knees, then turned to Polly and thrust a piece of paper into her hands with instructions to give it to Alex.
Had her better senses prevailed, she would have shouted, but still stunned by the turn of events, they were well on their way before she realized what he had done. She’d opened her mouth and he’d shoved a handkerchief in and had whipped out a very large knife and waved it at her.
She’d fainted.
When she had finally awoken, she was in a dreadful room that smelled of liquor and other nasty things she did not care to identify. She jumped up from the bed that smelled even worse than the rest of the room. She would have to scrub herself raw when she finally got out of here.
“Yes, Your Grace, ’twas becoming quite annoying that you always had footmen behind you. And those three friends of your husband were even worse. I even wasted my time breaking into Andrews’s townhouse during his event. He grinned, stroking his beard. “Amazing how a few years away and a little facial hair erases a person from one’s memory. There I was right in the middle of their smashing success of a soiree, and no one recognized me.”
“What do you want? Why accost me? I have done nothing to you.”
He leaned forward, the stench of liquor wafting from his breath. His eyes were bloodshot and his lip curled in disdain. “No, not you. It’s your husband I want. I want his money so I can get on a ship and disappear—for good this time.”
Money. All of this was about money. “Why do you want to disappear? You are a lord. Surely you can raise the money in a more lawful way.”
Loverly snorted and took a large gulp of whiskey. “You see, Your Grace, there is the little problem of being hunted by the War Department.”
“The War Department?” This entire matter became more confusing and convoluted by the minute. “Why would the War Department want you?”
He leaned back in his chair, balancing on two legs. If only she could move fast enough, she could kick the legs out from under him and run. She shook her head. No, that was foolish, even though he’d been drinking, he was bigger and most likely faster than she was.
“Nosy little chit, aren’t you?”
Patience drew herself up. “I am a duchess.”
Loverly burst out laughing. “You know, I might decide to take you with me when I leave. I imagine you would be very entertaining in my bed.” Just as quickly, his mood changed, and she leaned back when he leered at her. “A few years back, my need for money led me to pass along a few items of interest to the French.” He pointed his finger at her. “His Majesty’s men did not like that.”
She took a deep breath, her eyes wide. “You are a traitor to the Crown?”
“Oh, how shocked you are. Imagine, an aristocrat turning on the Crown? My, my. How terrible it must all seem to you. Well, it supported a very nice life for me before it all came to an end. I managed to escape from France to America, where life was quite pleasant, even though they are all savages there.”
He took another drink and turned his angry eyes on her. “Then your husband, noble man that he is, was sent to America to drag me back.”
She breathed out the words. “The trip you said you took with Alex.”
“Ha. Pretty and smart. I just might take you with me.”
Patience tried very hard to tamp down the anger at Alex treating her so shamefully. He had never once told her this man existed, or that he would try to kidnap her. Here she was, followed around like a recalcitrant child, while all that time he’d known she was in danger.
She was not a stupid woman. Had she known, she could have protected herself, as well, and she certainly would not have walked off alone with Polly.
Her mind in a whirl, she knew Alex would bring whatever money Loverly wanted, but she had a sinking feeling in her stomach that Loverly had no intention of letting her go.
Kidnappers rarely did.
…
Alex crushed the paper in his hand and tossed it into the cold fireplace. “He wants ten thousand pounds now. I’m to meet him at the West India dock tonight.” His stomach roiled at the thought of Loverly having Patience in his control. Would he molest her?
Cam let out with a low whistle.
“What’s the plan?” Hawk had a way of always zeroing in on the important points. It helped to anchor him, kept him from thinking about his wife in the hands of that traitor.
Alex jumped up from his seat and paced. “If I give him the money, he has no way to disappear unless he takes Patience with him.”
“Agreed,” Cam said.
He looked around the circle of his three friends who had become such an important part of his new life. Even though they’d spent the past few years apart, he felt he could trust them, and count on them like no one else in his life. “The one thing we can be assured of is it will be foggy at the dock. We might be able to use that for some cover.”
“How long will it take you to get the ten thousand pounds?” Templeton, always the practical one, chimed in.
“I can have it in hand before five this afternoon. He wants to meet me at ten tonight.” Alex pinched the bridge of his nose. This was precisely why he’d kept Patience under wraps since they’d returned to London. He should not have allowed footmen to accompany her. He should have done it himself. Even though she’d been mad at him. Her safety should have come first. Problems caused by what she perceived as his bullying could have been dealt with later.
Realizing Polly had fled once she’d handed over the paper, he rang for Monroe to fetch the girl. She might know something that would help them. He had no problem with handing over the money for his wife, but since there was no guarantee the man would, in fact, let her go, it would be best if they could rescue her before the meet up at the West India docks.
“Yes, Your Grace.” The poor girl did not look any better than when she’d handed over the note. Her eyes were swollen and red and she clutched a handkerchief that she twisted in her hands.
“Take a seat, Polly. I just want to ask you a few questions.”
She burst into tears, and it took all his fortitude not to grab the woman by the shoulders and shake her. Taking a calming breath, he said, “Polly, please try to compose yourself. You might have information that could help us rescue your lady.”
Polly gulped a few times and nodded. “Yes, Your Grace.” She turned tear-filled eyes toward him. “I told her w
e should not fool the footmen and wander about without them.”
That explained how Loverly had gotten to her. “How did you get back here?”
“I was so upset when that awful man took Her Grace that I even forgot we had our own carriage with us, so I waved down a hackney that Monroe paid for once I arrived. I’m sorry he had to pay for a carriage for me.”
Once more Alex felt the need to shake her. What did he care about paying for a hackney when his wife’s life was in danger? “That is not an issue, Polly. Do you have any idea where the carriage and my footmen are?”
She wiped her nose with the now soggy handkerchief. “Yes. We left them outside of a store on Bond Street, and then we went out the side door so they wouldn’t follow us.”
Clever wife. So clever her life was now threatened. Once he got his hands on her, he didn’t know if he would kiss her to death or throttle her. Probably both.
Despite the wall he’d built around himself from the horrors he’d seen, and the things he’d been responsible for in the line of duty, he realized Patience had managed to chip away at it.
All those feelings he’d thought were long gone had not left at all. They’d been buried deep inside him, and it had only taken a matter of weeks before he’d fallen as madly in love with Patience as he had when he’d walked away from her four years ago.
And now he could lose her once more. Could he survive it again?
…
Loverly examined his timepiece. He’d been steadily drinking and checking the time for what seemed like hours. Patience had grown stiff sitting in the chair with her hands tied behind her. He’d done that when he went outside to relieve himself, but hadn’t bothered to untie them once he’d returned. When she had asked him to, he’d ignored her.
From the stench coming in through the window, they were near the water. If she did escape, she would probably be murdered before she could find a hackney. She had finally come to the realization that it had not been one of her better ideas to sneak away from the footmen. On the other hand, if Alex had only explained to her that she was in danger of being snatched off the public streets, she wouldn’t have done it. Once she was freed of this unspeakable man, she would certainly let her husband know how angry she was over his treatment of her.
Denying the Duke (Lords & Ladies in Love) Page 18