by Vanessa Lee
Darren raised his eyebrows again. She was back to being cold with him, for some reason. “A pity,” he said. “Well, we shall continue in our search for her. Thank you so very much for your time, Miss-?” he said in expectation, trying to get her name from her.
She clearly knew what he was trying to do. Her triumphant smile gave her away as she happily bid him a good day. “It was no trouble, really.”
He was definitely not letting her off the hook. Deciding to call her on it, he asked, “Why will you not tell me your name?”
She flushed, her frown back in full form, “Because it is my name to give, and I am choosing not to give it.”
Just then, a kindly looking matronly aunt walked over to them, clearly delighted that the girl had won the attention of a fine gentleman. The brother of a Duke, no less! “Justine, you must introduce me to your new acquaintance,” she instructed.
His eyes twinkled at her as she scrunched up her shoulders, not happy at all about being given away. She sighed and said, “Oh, very well. Aunt Lydia, this is Lord Darren Wellington.”
The lady bowed and curtsied to him. “It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Lord Darren.”
He took her hand and bowed over it. “The pleasure is all mine, milady.” Straightening, he looked at Justine and said, “Justine and I were just getting to know each other over my sister-in-law. Speaking of which, have you seen Lady Erica this evening?”
The older woman shook her head, “No, I am sorry that I have not seen her since she first arrived.”
Darren looked around for his brother and Linnus. They, too, were questioning the other guests for any information on Erica's whereabouts. Both men looked very concerned. He had best go and join them.
Turning back to the ladies in front of him, he bowed, ever the gentleman, and said, “I must excuse myself. I must go and help my brother in his search for his wife.”
He caught the look of relief on Justine's face. Oh, this one was too good to let pass. Pinning a look of the utmost politeness on his face, asked Justine's Aunt Lydia, “Madam, would it be alright if I called on you both tomorrow? I would dearly love to pay my respects and inquire on Miss Justine.”
He caught Justine's look of absolute shock and chuckled inside. Now, this was going to be a lot of fun. In complete opposite of her niece's dismay, the aunt looked like she had just been given the keys to heaven.
“Oh yes, Lord Darren, we would be most honored to receive you as a guest in our home” she said, fluttering herself with her fan rapidly. She gave him the address, then said, “I do hope that you can make it.”
He looked at Justine, who was staring at him like she wanted to slap him. Oh yes, he wouldn't miss this for anything. He bowed to the women and said, “I look forward to seeing you both in the morning.”
Giving the very pretty Justine one more smile of victory, he dashed off to rejoin his brother.
By the time he reached Nick and Linnus, Darren's mirth over his encounter with Justine had worn off. Nick and Linnus were both alarmed. No one had seen Erica recently. They had no idea how long she had been gone. Linnus was very concerned. It wasn't like his daughter to disappear from a party. The one exception had been when she had gone onto the balcony and had ended up engaged to be married to Nick! That was the first place that Nick had looked.
Locating their host, Sir Reynold, Nick urgently whispered in his ear, telling him that his wife had gone missing from the party. Looking reasonably worried, the older gentleman enlisted a few servants to look for her. They came up empty handed after a brief search of the party.
By this time, everyone in attendance at the ball knew that something was amiss. They were notified that the Duchess of Eastham had gone missing from the ball. A wave of unease and great concern for Erica washed over the entire room. The gentlemen present arranged a search party to try and locate her. Maybe something, somewhere had been overlooked during the first search that had been conducted.
In a blind panic, Nick rushed through the entire household, looking for any sign of her that he could find. He came up empty handed. The search party returned, also empty handed.
Suddenly, a shout came from the hallway just outside of the ballroom. Genevieve stood in the hallway, holding up a silk fan. “This was the fan that Erica had taken with her to the ball tonight!” “Are you sure, Genny?” her father asked.
“Yes, papa, I saw her with it, also!” Anastasia chimed in.
“What could the fan have been doing laying discarded on the hallway floor?” their hostess, Lady Amelia, asked.
Nick fumed. “She must have dropped it when someone tried to take her away from here.” he said.
Linnus looked around at everyone in the room. “But who?” he asked.
Darren asked, “Who else is missing? Does anyone notice anyone not being here that was here before?”
“Seth Collins!” called out a gentleman in the crowd.
“Oh yes, Seth Collins is not here, any longer!” said a woman who Nick did not know.
Nick's heart stopped beating. A blinding fear like he had never known engulfed him. He couldn't breathe. He was choking on his worry for her. Collins had her.
Randall had been searching the property with Abbie, who was tearfully following along with him.
They were in the back of the room when they had heard the latest development. Randall and Abbie made their way through the crowd and stopped when they were standing next to Nick. “I cannot believed that dammed ass would have the audacity,” he said. Abbie was clinging to his arm, openly weeping.
Not really seeing anything, Nick asked, “Where would he have taken her?”
Randall thought for a moment, going over everything that he knew about Seth. Suddenly, it dawned on him, and he straightened. “I believe I know.”
Nick looked at him and grabbed him by the shoulders. Fear for his wife overriding his every move.
“Where, dammit! Where did he take her?”
His eyes narrowing, Randall said, “Come with me.”
Chapter 14
Erica's head felt groggy. There was a piercing ache on the back of her head that would not go away. Slowly opening her eyes, her vision was shaky and she felt nauseous. Looking around, she realized that she was in a living room area that she had never seen before. Erica was sitting in a chair, and her feet were bound to the legs of it. Even worse, her hands were tied behind her. Where in God's name was she?
“Hello?” she called out. “Is anyone there?”
“Yes, I'm here, you silly twit.” The voice came from behind her. Erica turned her head to see that it was Seth Collins. Of all the things she had ever expected from Seth, and she had certainly expected the worst from him, she had never suspected that he would be capable of doing something like this.
“Let me go right this moment! Why have you taken me?” she demanded.
Seth shook his head at her. “No, I shall never let you go,” he told her. “In fact, what I should have done is ruined you a long time ago, like your pathetic husband chose to do. But, no matter. I will remedy that situation now.”
Erica tugged on her ropes. They would not give.
“Oh, do not vex yourself by trying to undo the knots, my dear. I have you good and well,” he said, leering at her insolently.
“You do not have me at all. And it is you who are pathetic!” she said, completely disgusted with him.
“But, I do have you, my sweet. You see, I have taken you from the ball, and having done so, I will take you away from here. You have somehow convinced the Madisons to turn against me, and Randall, that good for nothing traitor, chose to completely ruin me.”
His face turned a dark shade of red, and for the first time, Erica saw his rage. His mindless, thoughtless anger. She was very afraid at the look on his face.
“So,” he continued, almost conversationally, “now that I have no prospects for an income or for gaining an acceptable wife, I must resort to taking a wife and leaving to make an income elsewhere.”
“Be reasonable, Seth. You cannot take me away from here. I am already someone's wife! And my father is a very important man with connections all over the globe. There is no where you can run to that he will not find you!”
Seth laughed, an arrogant, condescending laugh. “Oh, you sincerely miscalculate my resourcefulness, madam. And you dare to talk about your husband, now? The worthless gnat disowned you when he heard about our little tryst,” he said into her ear, repulsing her entirely.
“We didn't have a tryst, you forced yourself on me!” she yelled.
Pushing violently at the back of her chair, almost with enough force to knock her over, he said, “Oh no, that was not forcing myself on you. But believe me, by the time tonight is over, I will have forced myself on you time and time again!”
Fear began to overwhelm her. She prayed to God that her father, or someone, anyone at all, found her. Seth had completely lost his mind. Erica believed him when he said that he could take her away from here. He was sneaky and manipulative enough to do just that. She had no doubt that he would pay some miserable soul to look the other way while he escaped with her. And what he had said about tonight...Dear God, she prayed, that would not happen.
Seth laughed again, taking great delight in her fear and discomfort. “Why don't you just sit and enjoy yourself here my dear, while I go and pack. You and I have a very long voyage ahead of us, and I would like to be well prepared.”
Leaving her alone, he left for his rooms. Erica sat and hoped for a miracle. Before it was too late.
***
Randall had the carriages stopped a good 20 meters from the cottage. He had said that it would be best if Seth didn't hear them coming and Nick agreed. The last thing he wanted was to give Seth a chance to hurt Erica in haste. If he hadn't, already. Nick's gut twisted at the thought.
Seth's carriage was parked in the drive. A hunting party of gentleman had been organized at the ball to accompany them on their mission to rescue Erica. At the moment, the entire party was quietly approaching Seth's country home. It was after dusk, so it was easy for them to remain unseen as they made their approach. They had every entrance covered, so there would be no way that he could escape.
They continued to move forward, crouched down so as to not be seen if Seth looked out the window, until they reached the side of the house. Slowly looking up over the windowsill, Nick peered into a room that was lit by the fireplace. He saw Erica, she was tied to a chair in the middle of the room. His heart raced joyfully, and he wanted to jump through the window, grab Erica, and get her the hell out of here. But he knew he would have to wait.
They didn't know where Seth was, or if he was armed and waiting for them. They had all agreed that when they got to Seth's cottage they would locate Seth first, unarm him or rush him and take him down. Then they would see to Erica. She appeared to be alright at the moment, if not weeping quietly.
Oh God, Nick thought, what had the bastard done to her?
He heard a soft whistle sound and looked over at one of the other men. He was below a candle lit window and indicated with his hand motions that he had found Seth. The two men under the window stood up, busted the window, and jumped inside to apprehend Seth.
Nick was done waiting. He smashed the window above him and climbed inside. Erica had turned her head towards Seth's room when she heard the commotion, but when the window shattered in the room that she was in, she looked to see Nick climbing in through the window.
Erica had never been happier to see anyone in her life. She didn't care that Nick hated her, or that he didn't want anything to do with her. He was here now, rescuing her, and she was so deeply grateful.
Nick ran to her and cupped her face in hands, placing sweet, adoring kisses all over forehead, nose, and cheeks. She was stunned by his actions, not sure she was seeing things right. Why was he kissing her? Wasn't he angry with her?
Nick looked deeply into her eyes, and she saw that his were moist and filled with great concern.
“Sweetheart,” he said, “hang on and I will cut you lose from these ropes.” Sweetheart? Had he really called her that?
Erica started bawling. She was so overwhelmed with relief and happiness, for being rescued from
Seth and for Nick being here and being so wonderful. Her body was convulsing with her sobs and after Nick finished cutting the ropes, he picked her up in his arms and carried her out the door.
Erica clung to him, wrapping her arms around his neck, breathing him in. She took great comfort from his warm, muscular strength.
“Oh, Erica! You are safe!” she heard a woman cry. She lifted her head from Nick's shoulder and saw Abbie running towards her, followed by her father.
Nick set her down and continued to hold her until he was certain that she could stand on her own. Who knew what horrors she had survived that the hands of that devil. “Erica,” he whispered against her forehead, “are you alright? Did he hurt you?” he asked.
Erica continued to lean into Nick. She rubbed her forehead against Nick's chin, eager for his closeness, for his warmth. “No,” she said, “he hadn't gotten the chance to truly hurt me.” She looked away, “Not yet. He had said that he was going to take me away from here.”
“Thank heaven we got to you in time, my dear girl,” Linnus replied, and grabbed his daughter away from Nick to pull her in close for a hug.
“Oh, Erica, how terrible!” Abbie said. “After all these years of knowing Seth, I cannot believe he would do something so despicable.”
“I thought the same thing,” Erica said. “Even though I have always detested this man, I never thought he would be capable of doing something like this.”
Abbie shook her head, feeling very guilty about the ordeal Erica had just gone through. “Randall had intentionally set off a chain reaction to ruin Seth. We should have anticipated him doing something like this.”
Erica patted her arm. “I am still grateful that you ruined him. It was exactly the fate he had in mind for me. He ruined my life.”
Nick squeezed her close to him, “Your life isn't ruined. It is only just beginning.”
Erica looked up at her husband, captivated by the intense emotion in his eyes. “Is it?”
He nodded, “It is. I think that you and I should talk.”
They excused themselves from everyone else. Nick guided her away from the group that had gathered at Seth's house. The hunting party had Seth detained and they were waiting for the lawman to arrive. Someone had gone to fetch the constable.
When they reached the wooded area, Nick leaned back against a fallen tree. He pulled Erica up against him and wrapped his arms tightly around her. He kissed the top of her head and nuzzled her hair, murmuring softly, “I am so relieved that you are alright.”
Erica let herself be held. She was thoroughly enjoying this moment with her husband. Being in his embrace had felt just as good as she remembered. She had missed him. “As am I.” she said. Pulling back a little to look at him, she said, “I thought you hated me.”
He squeezed her against him and said, “I have never hated you. I hated the thought that you were thinking of someone else while we...”
She looked at him, her eyes widening in surprise, “Oh, Nick! You thought that I was thinking of him while you and I were-”
“Yes,” he said, cutting her off. “However, I have come to realize that wasn't the case. I know now that you were only thinking of me.”
“Yes, I only think of you,” she assured him. Curious as to what had changed his mind, she asked,
“What convinced you of this?”
Nick inhaled deeply, feeling so rotten about the way he had acted toward her. He had some serious amends that he needed to make to his beautiful wife. He was only grateful tha
t he would have a good long while to make them. The rest of their lives. “My jealous mind finally cleared enough to let me see that you would never be interested in a slug like Collins, and that you would never betray me," he explained.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because you are wonderful,” he answered, looking deeply, adoringly into her eyes. Nick released his grip on her waist and brought her hand up to his lips to kiss the back of it softly, just as he did during their first encounter, which seemed like such a very long time ago. “And, because you love me.”
She smiled at him now, a pure, radiant smile that let him know that all would be well. “You believe me!” she exclaimed, looking at him with all of the love in that she had for him in her heart.
Marveling that she still loved him after all that he done, he was humbled that such a miracle was possible. Nick nodded at her, and said, “I do.” Lifting her chin with his thumb, he said, “I love you, too,” mere seconds before his mouth crashed down on her mouth. He kissed her like a starved man, trying to draw every bit of sweetness from her. Erica wrapped her arms around Nick's neck and let him take away all of the pain and replace it with his love.
When Nick finally let them up for air, he hugged her close to him once more, and said, “I am never letting you go again. Your place is with me, you belong in my home. Do you understand?”
She agreed, entirely. “I understand husband. I will return home with you, but only under one condition.” she said.
Narrowing his eyes at her, he asked, “What is your condition?”
She brought her hands up to the side of his dear face, and said, “That you will believe me over all others. I love you, Nick. I would never hurt you.”
He rested his head against her forehead. “I am sorry that I didn't believe you when you told me about Collins. It is very difficult for me to trust anyone. I have felt the knife of betrayal cut deeply into me from many who I had mistakenly put my faith in. For the longest time, I have trusted only myself.”