by Jenna Jaxon
“I’ve had you watched every day since your marriage, but Duncan, damn him, never let you out of his sight.” He grinned, the nastiest look she had ever seen. “Did you ever wonder why you saw me so often in Hyde Park, my lady? I would have grabbed you there, but even in the early mornings you had more escorts than a royal princess. And when you sailed for Italy, I lost all hope of gaining my fortune. But Nigel has friends down on the docks who promised to let me know when your ship returned.” His expression took on a faux innocence. “Imagine my astonishment, when word came that your five month absence had been reduced to a mere month or so. When the ship docked in early July with the information that you were returning overland from Cornwall, I was jubilant. I had your house watched every day since. Today was simply my lucky day. Not only did you return, but Duncan was so distraught about something, he left you alone for once. A fatal mistake, I fear.
“I have just dispatched a ransom note to him. Ostensibly from Amorina, for I’m sure Duncan suspected her involvement in the original kidnapping. He is to bring five thousand pounds to Hyde Park at nine tonight. You will be waiting there for him. When he sees you across the pond, he has been instructed to drop the satchel with the money and run around the pond to affect your rescue. Meanwhile, Nigel will retrieve the satchel, and I shall be on my way to America on the morning tide.”
“What makes you think he won’t come after you?” She tried to keep her voice from rising, as fear clutched at her.
Redmond chortled, spreading his fingers wide. “I don’t plan to leave any loose ends. If he regained you, you would certainly inform him of my identity and he would, as you have so graciously pointed out twice now, kill me. I do not intend for that to happen.” He shook his head in mock sadness. “No, you will be tied to a tree, bound and gagged. In the darkness he won’t be able to see that you are dead until it is too late.”
Despite the devilish whirling in her mind those chilling words provoked, she forced herself to focus on Redmond alone. The emergence of the cool objectivity that always cleared her head when she faced an opponent with a sword steadied her. She would only win the coming battle by retaining her wits and awaiting an opportunity. Pray God, one would present itself in time.
Chapter 33
As the minutes ticked by, Kat considered her options. She had to get free or get word to Duncan. Who of the people here would be most willing to help her? Redmond, of course, was a lost cause. Nigel and Will were too afraid of their master to even try to bribe. That left Redmond’s mistress. She had remained silent the entire time they had been in the room. Was there a reason for that? Either she was loyal to this monster or cowed by him. But he’d said nothing of taking her with him to America. Perhaps there was little between them except a business arrangement. What if she could persuade the woman she could make a better offer? At this moment she would clutch at any idea at all. The madam must know how wealthy Duncan was, that he would pay any sum she cared to name if she helped her. It was worth a chance because there was no other chance. But how to get her alone?
“Excuse me, Mr. Redmond,” Kat said, with only a touch of her true aversion, “but I need use the necessary.”
He stared at her as though she had lost her mind. “You think I will untie you, my lady, and give you another chance to escape me?” He nodded to Nigel and Will. “They can take you and watch to see you have no tricks to try.”
“I’ll piss right here on the floor before I let them do any such thing,” she shot back. “And you will have to deal with the stench.”
Redmond narrowed his eyes. “I’ll wager you have made Duncan’s life a merry hell these past months. I’ll be doing him a favor to rid him of you.” He stared at her, as if gauging her mettle. “Then do your worst, Lady Dalbury.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ll not let you slip through my hands again.”
“For God’s sake, I’ll take her.” Amorina spoke for the first time that night. “I’ll keep her hands bound so she can’t escape.” She glanced at her partner, a tightness about her lips voicing her displeasure. “I know she would do it and I will not have a mess to clean when this is all over. Come, Lady Dalbury, but be quick about it. I must go tend to my business soon.”
Amorina untied her legs and pulled her up out of the chair, Kat wincing at the pain in her shoulders from her bound arms. Taking the candelabrum from the mantle, the madam grasped her arm and trotted her down the hallway to the small room that brought more fearful memories. As soon as the door closed, Kat opened her mouth, only to find Amorina’s hand clamped firmly over it.
“Speak low, my lady, for my two henchmen have followed us.” Amorina eased her hand away. “I would have you know that I have not been a willing participant in any of this.” She stared meaningfully at Kat. “Not tonight’s work, nor that in March.”
Kat met her eyes but said nothing, a flicker of hope springing up in her chest.
“I had hoped to renew my association with Lord Dalbury when he returned from Italy,” Amorina said. “I did not wish to continue with Mr. Redmond as my protector.” She seemed to choke on the word. “He, however, had other ideas and I had no power to change them, as women so often do not. I am sorry to have been party to your ruin, and even sorrier to have involved Lord Dalbury.” Her look was hard, but true regret lurked deep within her eyes. She had some affection for Duncan, then. Pray God, that would work to their advantage now.
“I believe you, Miss...” Embarrassed at not having a last name for the woman who stood between her and disaster, she stopped short.
“Vestry. It is as good a name for you to use as any other.”
“Miss Vestry. Can you help my husband and me? Is there some way you can get word to him? Or, better, to Mr. Reginald Matthews at Bow Street?”
A strange smile played over Amorina Vestry’s face. “You know Mr. Matthews?”
“He rescued me the night I left here. He was kind to me when I needed kindness.”
Amorina placed a hand on Kat’s shoulder, a tentative touch. “I am glad he helped you that night, my lady. If you can believe me, I am not unaware of the trials of your ordeal. I only hope life has been kinder to you since then.” Then she seemed to recall herself, resulting in a brisk change in manner. “If you need to use that chair, you should do it now. They will think we are plotting or you are trying to overpower me.”
With assistance from Miss Vestry, she managed to relieve herself.
When she stood up, Amorina leaned close and whispered in her ear, “I will do what I can to send for Mr. Matthews. I dare not send to Lord Dalbury. If he does not come in time, I...” For once, the small woman seemed at a loss for what to say.
“Thank you for your kindness, Miss Vestry. I pray God this ends well.” Sudden tears stung her eyes, and Amorina turned away, perhaps affected, perhaps just for privacy’s sake.
“What the hell’s the hold-up in there?” Nigel boomed behind the door. Pounding ensued, loud enough to deafen everyone in earshot. “It don’t take a racehorse this long to piss.”
“Nigel, if you don’t back away from that door I will make you wish you had.” Amorina’s icy voice sent a chill down Kat’s spine. Not a woman to cross. How had she ever fallen into the clutches of Tommy Redmond?
They left the room, Nigel giving Amorina a wide berth. After Amorina returned her to the chair in the office and Will obediently retied her legs, the woman faced Redmond. “I fear I must be about my business. The gentlemen will arrive at any moment and the girls cannot go unsupervised. They have no concept of time and, as you know, time is money. Will I see you later, my lord?” There was a hopeful lift in her voice Kat would have wagered was contrived.
“I fear not, my dear. Once the events have played out I will be off to America. I wish I could take you with me, but I will need to present a respectable front. I could hardly do that with you in tow, now, could I?”
He reached out to give Amorina’s breast a familiar squeeze, causing Kat to look away, disgusted at the man’s lack of decency. T
he sound of a rather sloppy kiss followed. Thinking of the other indignities Madam Vestry probably suffered from this vile man, her stomach heaved. And what had she endured with Duncan? The ache of jealousy shot through her; she doubted suffering had entered into that relationship.
Resolutely she got herself in hand, refusing to dwell on such images. Men were not expected to be virgins in their marriage beds, and her husband patently had not been. The vague, general knowledge that he had taken other lovers, however, was quite different from meeting a former mistress face to face.
Before Kat could continue down that road to Bedlam, she was jerked back from her brooding by the sound of the door closing. Amorina had gone to attend to the business of the House of Pleasure, leaving her alone in the company of Nigel, Will, and Tommy Redmond.
* * * *
Duncan left Dunham House with no clear idea where to look for Lord Manning. Trying to be methodical, he started at the earl’s house, hoping the butler would be more forthcoming than he had been with Grayson. He swung down from Saxon, ran up to the door and beat upon it with a clenched fist.
Simons opened it and, after one shocked glance, hid his surprise. His lordship was indeed from home, although he was in town, having just returned from the country. He believed that the earl could be found at Angelo’s this afternoon, though he had said something about Barberry’s as well. With a nod of thanks, Duncan returned to Saxon and quickly set out for the heart of London’s Soho district.
He reached the familiar establishment in good time, and scanned the many familiar faces as he entered. Several men stopped him to express surprise at his abrupt return to London. Rather than ignore them, he gave an abbreviated version of the story, all the while searching the fencers for Manning. He was rewarded at last with the sight of the earl, damp hair plastered to his head, defending a skillful thrust to his right flank. The bout seemed never to end, and he restrained the urge to snatch up a weapon and leap upon his brother-in-law.
Winded but smiling at his performance, Manning at last relinquished his weapon to the master, Angelo himself.
“You progress well, Signore Manning,” Angelo said. “If you return often enough, you will indeed become a superior swordsman.” The slight, wiry Italian master’s praise was hard to come by, Duncan knew from experience. For the first time he wondered if he would have been able to win Katarina had he fought her brother instead.
Manning nodded his thanks, then turned and stopped dead at the sight of him. A great smile spread across his face. He strode forward and clasped his hand. “Dalbury! What the devil are you doing in town?” Then a look of fear washed over him and he tightened his grip. “My sister, where is she?”
Duncan unclasped his hand and stepped back, assessing Jack coolly. “I came to ask you the very same question, Manning.”
“Where Kat is?” His eyes widened in alarm. “Don’t you know?”
“No, imbecile, where is my sister?”
“’Struth, Dalbury, why would I know where Juliet was? I’ve been at the Braeton’s house party this past month. I haven’t seen her since you sailed.” Apprehension increased in his voice. “Now, what have you done with Katarina? Where is she?”
“Peace, Manning. She is sleeping at Dunham House, perfectly fine.” He couldn’t resist adding, “Sleeping alone for the first time in over a month.”
Jack’s mouth formed a silent O.
Unabashed, Duncan grinned. “We have finally come to an accord.”
Face suffused with red, Manning tugged him to a more secluded area of the club and forced him to recount the entire story. At the end, the earl leaned his head back against a wall, eyes closed. “She told me you were crossing the Channel and heading to Italy overland. I ought to beat the wench.”
“Funny, I said the same thing when she told me about her tendency to seasickness. After the fact. Perhaps we should take turns. Or alternate days?” Manning’s perplexed expression darkened, but Duncan met his brother-in-law’s eyes and clamped a hand on his shoulder. “I must confess I am much happier with the way things stand. And I can assure you, your sister is happier now as well. We have been blissfully content these seven weeks and would be, still, were it not for Juliet.”
He swiftly related everything he had learned regarding Juliet’s disappearance. Manning shook his head in puzzlement. “Why would she call another man by my name? I swear, Dalbury, I left for Braeton’s the day you sailed. I went there alone, though I ended up much in the company of a Miss Forsythe. I think the Braetons were a fair ways toward matchmaking us. You can check with them if you wish, but they will tell you the same thing.”
“I did not really believe you had run off with Juliet, Manning. But if she is not with you, where is she? No one has seen her in almost seven weeks.” Christ. Now he was even more desperate. Where in hell was she?
“We will go back to your house and send to Bow Street,” Manning said. “Reginald Matthews will get to the bottom of this if anyone can. He was called in when Katarina was...” He trailed off, and turned a stricken look on him. “Do you think she was taken, as Kat was?”
Duncan shook his head. “Not if she went willingly. No, there is something else going on here. Something to do with St. Cyr, I’ll be bound.”
“Come on, then. Matthews is your man for this job.”
The sun was low in the sky half an hour later when he arrived at Dunham Place with Manning. The mansion, strangely, was deserted. No one appeared outside the front door to take their horses, so they rode around to the stable, where chaos had broken out. Grayson stood on the lawn, wringing his hands. Two of his grooms and a stable boy were sitting about on the grass, rubbing their heads, blinking as cook dished up hot tea for all. In the middle of the manicured lawn, barking orders and making meticulous notes, stood Reginald Matthews.
“Matthews!” Duncan shouted. “Praise God, we were just going to send to you. But what has happened here? Why are my grooms sitting about?”
Matthews looked at him dispassionately, his mouth a firm line.
Duncan’s stomach sank into the tips of his riding boots. “You have found her? Is she alive?” Wincing, he braced for the worst news about his sister.
Matthews stared at him with a look of amazement. “My lord, I have not yet begun to search for her. But you knew she was gone?” he asked sharply.
“Since we arrived home this afternoon. We thought she might have gone with Manning, but that is not the case.” He pointed at the still groaning men, impatience making it difficult to keep from raising his voice. “But what do the grooms have to do with Lady Juliet’s disappearance?”
For once, Reginald Matthews seemed at a complete loss for words. Then, “My lord,” he said gently, “it is not your sister I have come to find, but your wife. The servants discovered the grooms unconscious and the carriage missing. Her maid had the presence of mind to check on Lady Dalbury late this afternoon, found her gone, and sent for me.”
During most of this speech Duncan breathed carefully, trying to keep at bay the awful blackness that encroached on the corners of his vision. Falling unconscious would serve no purpose, though it was preferable to admitting Katarina was missing. He turned to Manning, whose grim expression surely mirrored his own. Before he could even think to frame a question, another Bow Street agent came puffing up, paper in hand.
Matthews seized it, read it, thrust it into Duncan’s hands and issued a curt, “Come on!”
Blindly following before he had time to read the note, Duncan vaulted onto Saxon and followed the Runner, now also mounted. “What does it say?” he called to Matthews.
“Amorina Vestry says your wife is being held again at the House of Pleasure and if I want to see her alive, I must stop her bodyguards from dispatching her at nine o’clock tonight.”
“The devil, you say!”
“There is more,” Matthews shouted above the clatter of hooves, “but I believe it wise if we wait until we arrive at Madam Vestry’s and make our plans more carefully.”
“Only if they include me skewering whoever sought to lay hands on my wife again.”
Though he’d spoken in a quiet tone, Matthews must have heard him, for he replied with as much menace, “That, I believe, can be arranged, my lord.”
Chapter 34
The two men were still stationed beside the door and stocky Tommy Redmond paced from window to window. The sun had set, and with the encroaching darkness, panic settled on Kat like a suffocating mantle. Shortly, they would kill her and leave her lifeless body for Duncan to discover. The devastation this would cause her husband made her stiffen her resolve not to let the bastard get away with his reprehensible scheme. What could she do to forestall him? Distract him? Gain more time for her rescue?
As Redmond wandered about the room, she gauged the depth of his thinly veneered composure. By taunting him, she had broken through that self-possession twice. Perhaps a third time would be the charm. She studied the tall, solid man before her, assessing him as she would a fencing opponent, and biting her lip, summoned her courage.
“If I didn’t know better, Mr. Redmond,” she began, making her tone deeply sarcastic, “I would swear you are afraid of me.”
He stopped and stared at her with frank astonishment. “Afraid of a woman, my lady? Why would I fear you?”
“I have no idea. Yet you still have me trussed up like a chicken, bound hands and feet. Even with your bodyguards in attendance you are not comfortable unless I am rendered completely helpless. I suppose I should be flattered to be thought so dangerous an opponent.” Kat laughed softly.
“I merely wish to make sure you have no chance to escape, Lady Dalbury.”
She raised an eyebrow at him. “And if I had use of my arms and legs there would be a danger of that?” Kat shook her head. “Perhaps if I had a sword in my hand I would agree with you, but one against three with no weapon? You truly flatter me, sir.”