Castonbury Park 01 - The Wicked Lord Montague

by Carole Mortimer

  Lily took advantage of that distraction to hurry away, slipping quietly from the throng of people towards the direction of Mrs Lovell’s campsite.

  * * *

  ‘Have you seen Miss Seagrove?’ Giles frowned his displeasure as he stood beside Mrs Stratton, having spent the past hour escorting his father about the garden, then returning the exhausted duke to his rooms and the attentions of Smithins. He now found himself free to seek out and speak to Lily, only to discover she was nowhere to be found in the gardens or the kitchens, and no one he had questioned had seen her either.

  Giles had been fully aware of Lily’s efforts to avoid conversation with him during the well-dressing ceremonies this afternoon—indeed, each time he had so much as dared a glance at her, she had quickly turned away in an effort not to meet his gaze. And if she had now decided to absent herself from the celebrations at Castonbury Park as another means of avoiding him, then Giles very much feared he would have to go to the vicarage and bring her back here by force, if necessary!

  Everyone he and his father had spoken to as the two of them moved slowly amongst their guests had only complimentary words to describe how capably Lily had organised today’s event, and the last thing Giles wanted was to deprive her of the enjoyment of all her hard work because she felt such a pressing need to avoid his own company.

  ‘She went to look for Mrs Lovell—’ Mrs Stratton glanced down at the fob watch pinned on the white collar lapel of her black gown. ‘Oh, dear, I had not noticed how the time had flown by, but I believe it is now more than an hour since Lily left to seek out the Gypsy woman. What do you think could have happened to delay them both?’ She frowned.

  Giles had no idea, but he certainly intended on finding out. Especially after a narrow-eyed glance about the milling crowds showed that Judah Lovell was not currently present amongst the guests either! ‘Do not concern yourself, my dear Mrs Stratton.’ He smiled reassuringly at the housekeeper. ‘I am sure that all will be well.’

  ‘Perhaps Mrs Lovell has fallen ill? Do you think perhaps I ought to accompany you?’ She looked flustered at the mere idea of abandoning her duties here.

  Giles patted her arm reassuringly. ‘I am sure you have quite enough to do, Mrs Stratton, without concerning yourself about this matter too,’ he assured dismissively.

  ‘Well…I do still have to oversee the entrance of Monsieur Andre’s delicious cakes and delicacies.’

  ‘Then do not let me delay you, Mrs Stratton.’ Giles nodded approvingly, keeping his smile firmly fixed in place until the housekeeper had hurried away to cluck over the French chef’s confectionaries, his expression only becoming grim as he turned to stride off in the direction of Mrs Lovell’s campsite.

  The whole way there he knew that if he discovered that rascal Judah Lovell anywhere within Lily’s vicinity, he was like to turn violent with jealousy!

  The scene that met Giles’s gaze when he reached Mrs Lovell’s campsite seemed to imply that someone had already beaten him to those feelings of violence.

  Mrs Lovell’s belongings were scattered haphazardly about the clearing—furniture and utensils thrown from the brightly coloured caravan and lying broken, clothes and other fabrics ripped into unrecognisable rags; even the fire, which Giles knew was never allowed to go out, lay in a heap of cold ashes in the centre of all the other chaos.

  But he could see no sign of Lily, or Mrs Lovell or even Judah Lovell.

  It took Giles some minutes more to realise that Judah’s much shabbier caravan and horse were no longer parked alongside his aunt’s….

  Chapter Sixteen

  Lily lay with her hands and feet tied, a dirty handkerchief stuffed in her mouth. She had been bundled into the back of a not very clean Gypsy caravan, and the lurching movement of that vehicle only seconds later gave testament to it being driven away from the campsite at great speed. What was happening to her?

  One minute she had been standing looking in astonishment at the shambles that was Mrs Lovell’s campsite, and wondering where on earth that elderly lady could be, and the next Lily had found herself grabbed from behind, a rope quickly tied about her wrists, before she was turned to face her captor.

  Judah Lovell!

  ‘What—’

  ‘There’s no time for talking now.’ His expression had been grimly determined as he’d pulled a filthy handkerchief from the pocket of his baggy trousers and pushed it into her mouth.

  Lily gagged at the taste and smell of that ragged piece of material, her eyes starting to water, but whether from the smell or shocked tears, she was unsure.

  Cruel humour glittered in those dark eyes as the young Romany saw her response. ‘Not what you’re used to, is it, missy? Never mind, we’ll soon ‘ave plenty of gold for ye to buy a dozen new silk ‘andkerchiefs if ye want ‘em! In the meantime—’ he turned Lily roughly and pushed her towards the back of his caravan ‘—we’d best be away from ‘ere smartish, afore someone—probably that snooty Lord as keeps sniffing about your drawers—decides to come looking for you.’

  Giles? He was referring in that derogatory way to Lord Giles Montague? The man that Lily loved with all her heart….

  ‘Thought I didn’t notice how cosy the two of you were, aye?’ Judah had eyed her tauntingly as he bundled her inside his caravan and tied her feet together with another piece of rope. ‘Never mind, you’ll forget ‘im soon as you ‘ave me between your legs, and then we’ll see who’s the better man!’

  Lily had no doubt as to who was the better man as she kicked out with furious indignation, but Judah only pushed her the rest of the way inside his caravan.

  He laughed cruelly as he saw how easily he managed to suppress that show of anger. ‘Don’t you worry, lass, I likes ‘em feisty!’ The door had been closed, shutting Lily into complete darkness.

  And here she had remained, being bounced uncomfortably against the bare wooden floor for what seemed like hours, but was in all probability only half an hour or so, all the time hoping that snooty lord would indeed realise she had gone missing and come looking for her.

  * * *

  ‘Well, don’t just stand there looking, lad, untie me!’ Mrs Lovell glared up.

  Giles had no idea how long he had been standing lost in shocked disbelief at the destruction all around him, when he heard the sound of a groan coming from the other side of Mrs Lovell’s brightly coloured caravan, his years of battle instantly telling him that it was a moan of pain. Striding hurriedly about the caravan he had come across Mrs Lovell, seated on the ground, her wrists tied to the huge wooden wheel of the caravan, the blood and bruising about her face indicative of the violence she had suffered.

  He moved quickly down onto one knee now, to begin untying the bonds about her wrists, his expression coldly grim as the elderly lady gave another groan of pain. ‘Who did this to you? Whoever it was I will see that they are—’

  ‘Never you mind about me.’ Mrs Lovell winced as she slowly lowered her hands, the unnatural position of two of the fingers on her left hand indicating that they might be broken. The split on her swollen bottom lip made her words slightly slurred. ‘He’s taken Lily—’

  ‘Who has taken Lily?’ Giles sat abruptly back on his haunches, his eyes turning glacial.

  ‘Who do you think has taken her?’ The elderly woman got awkwardly to her feet with Giles’s hand beneath her elbow—the only part of her that did not seem to be bruised or broken! ‘That black-hearted, no good, thieving, son of a murdering—’

  ‘Your nephew?’ Giles removed his handkerchief from his pocket and moved hastily to the bucket of water, dampening the silk material before wiping away the worst of the blood on Mrs Lovell’s face. ‘Are you saying that Lily has gone with Judah Lovell?’

  The old lady looked up at him with eyes as sharp and dark as a bird’s. ‘Lily wouldn’t go anywhere willingly with that evil—’

  Giles stilled. ‘You are saying that Lily has been kidnapped by your nephew?’

  ‘Tied up and bundled into the back of h
is vardo is what she’s been!’ Mrs Lovell, obviously tired of his careful dabbing at her cuts and bruises, grabbed the handkerchief from his hand and impatiently wiped the blood away herself.

  Giles eyes narrowed as he saw the amount of swelling and bruising the elderly lady had suffered. ‘Those look like the result of someone’s fists.’

  Her mouth set determinedly. ‘Oh, don’t you worry, laddie, he’ll be made to pay for every one o’ these hurts when I next sees him. In the meantime, you’d best go after him. Now. Afore any real harm befalls Lily.’

  ‘Explain, if you please.’ The years Giles had spent as an officer in the army were the only thing preventing him from reaching out and shaking Mrs Lovell within an inch of her life, and if she did not soon explain to him when and for what reason Judah had tied Lily up and taken her away with him, then he would forget those years of training and give in to his instincts.

  ‘There’s no time for that now,’ the elderly woman snapped her impatience. ‘It’s enough for you to know he’s taken Lily against her will, heading Buxton way, and that he means to marry her as soon as possible.’

  Giles staggered a step back. ‘Marry her!’

  ‘Thought that might get your attention.’ Mrs Lovell eyed him knowingly. ‘Yes, he means to marry her. But she don’t want to marry him. So if you want to put a stop to it you’d best follow on pretty smartish. ‘Cos once he’s made her his wife there’ll be no stopping him. Now go and get that big horse of your’n and get after him. Now!’ she added grimly.

  Giles still had absolutely no idea why Judah Lovell should have taken Lily, or why he meant to marry her; it was enough for now to know that she had not gone willingly. ‘You will be all right alone here whilst I am gone?’

  Mrs Lovell gave a grimace. ‘I don’t know of anyone else as wants to punch and kick me, if that’s what you mean!’

  For beating up a lone elderly lady, Judah Lovell deserved to be thrashed. For daring to tie up and take an unwilling Lily, he deserved, and would receive, so much more!

  * * *

  Bounced and jostled, every inch of her battered and bruised, Lily had no idea how much longer she could bear to suffer the darkness and discomfort of the caravan, along with the worry about Mrs Lovell’s condition, let alone not knowing the reason for any of it.

  Surely Giles—someone—would have noticed by now that she was missing, and attempt to seek her out? To find Mrs Lovell too….

  Surely Judah was not so low, so base, as to have harmed his own aunt? The state of that dear lady’s belongings, broken and ripped, along with the fact that she was nowhere to be seen, would seem to indicate that he had.

  As he meant to harm Lily?

  But why?

  What possible reason could Judah Lovell have for kidnapping her? Was it possible that he was somehow mentally deranged? Lily could think of no other reason—

  All thoughts ceased as Lily heard the sound of shouting outside, accompanied by the caravan surging forward as the horse was encouraged to speed up, several painful splinters going into her bare arms as she was once again thrown across the rough wooden floor, only to be tossed back in the other direction as the caravan came to a lurching stop.

  There was the sound of more shouting—could one of those voices possibly be Giles’s or was that just wishful thinking on Lily’s part?—followed by a brief silence, before the door at the back of the caravan was wrenched open and the blinding sunlight streamed inside to where she lay.

  * * *

  Giles’s earlier anger was as nothing compared to the blinding rage that consumed him as he wrenched open the door at the back of Judah’s caravan and saw Lily lying on the dirty floor, her hands and feet tied, a dirty gag filling her pretty mouth, all making Giles wish that he had inflicted mortal damage on Judah Lovell rather than just landing a blow which had rendered him unconscious.

  His fury abated slightly—but only slightly—as he saw the way Lily’s eyes lit up at the sight of him, before those green eyes instantly became awash with tears. Hopefully ones of relief at being rescued, rather than from physical pain, else Giles really would be pushed into committing an act of violence from which Judah Lovell might not recover!

  ‘Lily!’ Giles climbed into the caravan to lift her quickly up into his arms and cradle her against him as he untied the rope from her wrists and removed the gag from her mouth. ‘You— I— Thank God I found you in time!’ His arms tightened about her and he buried his face against her throat once he had discarded the rope and filthy rag, no longer sure whose tears were dampening her skin, her own or his. He rocked her backwards and forwards in his arms as if he never wanted to let her go again.

  In time for what, Lily was unsure; she only knew she was so glad to see Giles, to be held safely in his arms. She no longer cared if she revealed her feelings for him as she threw her arms about his neck and clung to him as if she never wished to let him go.

  * * *

  ‘Do you feel up to receiving a visitor?’

  Lily looked over to where Giles stood in the doorway of one of the guest bedchambers at Castonbury Park.

  In truth she was still slightly disorientated at having been brought here at all, once Giles had issued orders for the grooms who had accompanied him to follow on behind and bring the unconscious Judah Lovell back with them to the house, before then sitting astride Genghis with Lily cradled gently in his arms.

  They had entered Castonbury Park along the front driveway rather than the back, well away from the curious eyes of the people attending the well-dressing celebrations in the gardens. Giles had refused to relinquish her even once he had slid down from Genghis’s back, but instead carried her into the house and up the stairs to this magnificent bedchamber, all the time issuing orders to the servants for hot water to be brought up for a bath, and soothing lotions, all to be delivered immediately if not sooner. Indeed, Lily felt sure Giles would have remained in the bedchamber whilst she took her much-needed bath—and that Lily would have let him—if Mrs Stratton had not shooed him out of the room!

  An hour later, freshly bathed, with her hair washed and still damp about her shoulders, she was dressed in one of Phaedra’s night-rails. Mrs Stratton tucked her into the warm bed before disappearing along with the bathwater, and Lily now felt as if being tied up and carried away by Judah Lovell must have been a dream. Or a nightmare.

  At least, she might have thought that, if not for the soreness of her wrists and ankles where the ropes had chaffed her skin, and the aches and pains in her body from being thrown uncomfortably about the floor of the dirty caravan.

  She felt a little shy now as she faced Giles across the width of the bedchamber. ‘Of course you must come in, Giles.’ Her voice was huskily inviting. ‘I have yet to thank you for rescuing me, and—’

  ‘I am not in need of thanks,’ he assured her gruffly as he entered, closing the door behind him but making no effort to cross the bedchamber to her bedside.

  Lily drank in her fill of him, noting that he had changed out of the clothing he had worn earlier—no doubt it was as filthy as Lily’s gown had been. He appeared to Lily now as every dear and beloved inch the aristocratically handsome Lord Giles Montague.

  ‘Nevertheless, I do thank you.’ Lily looked down at the gold-coloured brocade coverlet under which she lay. ‘I do not know why Mr Lovell behaved in the way that he did, but I am grateful for your rescue. If not for you, I am sure I would have suffered a much worse fate.’ She repressed a shiver of revulsion as she recalled the physical threat the golden-haired Romany had made to her before he closed her inside the confines of his caravan.

  ‘Do not think of that now, Lily!’ Giles crossed the room in three long strides until he reached her bedside, and was able to take one of her hands firmly within his grasp as he looked down at how tiny and fragile she looked as she sat propped up against the pile of lace pillows.

  Tears once again flooded those moss-green eyes. ‘I could not find Mrs Lovell earlier. Do you think it possible—?’


  ‘She is safe in the bedchamber next to this one,’ Giles assured quickly.

  A look of relief instantly came over her pale features. ‘I was so worried. I saw the destruction of her home and belongings, and feared that—’ She gave a pained frown. ‘He did not harm her?’

  Giles’s expression was grim. ‘He beat and kicked her cruelly, and deliberately broke two of her fingers, but the doctor has seen her and says she will recover in time.’ He would not soften the blow by lying to Lily after all that she had already suffered.

  She gasped. ‘I must go to her—’

  ‘And so you shall.’ Giles released her hand to firmly grasp her shoulders instead as he looked down into the pale beauty of her face.

  ‘Lily, I thought I had lost you earlier today!’

  Her throat moved convulsively as she swallowed before speaking softly. ‘I, too, thought I was lost.’

  Giles looked down at her searchingly. ‘It must not be allowed to happen again.’

  ‘No.’ After the ordeal Lily had suffered today, of believing herself to have been taken away from Giles for ever, of that wicked young man carrying out his threat to claim her for his own, she no longer cared in what capacity she might remain in Giles’s life, lover or mistress, only that she should never be parted from him again.

  ‘Heavens, how I love you, Lily!’ Giles gathered her up into his arms. ‘I love you so very much that I will not allow anyone or anything to take you from me ever again!’

  Giles loved her?

  He loved her?

  He raised his head to look down at her as he sensed how she had stilled with shock. ‘You did not listen to me properly earlier today, Lily, when I spoke of marriage between the two of us. I love you, I am in love with you and I wish—above and beyond all else—to have you for my wife!’

  Lily stared up at him, not sure she could have heard him correctly. Had Giles really just said—? Had he just stated—?