A Sense of Fate (Perceptions Book 7)

by Wendy Soliman

  ‘You!’ She glanced up at him and tried to snatch her wrist from his grasp, but he was too strong for her. She dug her heels in and resisted him with all her strength, screaming at the top of her voice. But the alleyway was devoid of human presence in the middle of a working day and Elroy had acted so quickly that no one on the main street had noticed a thing. If they had, he would have heard them coming after him by now.

  ‘Be quiet and come with me like a good girl, or it will be the worse for your sister. A friend of mine has just now gone to pay her a visit.’

  Melanie’s eyes were as large as saucers and he got a thrill from her fear. ‘You wouldn’t dare! Lord Felsham will cut you in two.’

  ‘Lord Felsham is welcome to try, but he can barely stand up. Now come along and don’t be difficult.’

  He prodded her in the small of her back and she stumbled forward, almost losing her footing. Elroy grabbed her upper arm hard enough to make her cry out and dragged her into an empty barn with a sagging roof that was situated at the end of the alleyway and on the edge of farmland.

  ‘What are you going to do now?’ Melanie appeared to have recovered from her initial shock and sent him a combative look that made Elroy scowl. She was supposed to be petrified, not challenging him. ‘You haven’t thought this through, have you? If you imagine that I will go with you willingly, then you are delusional. You saw me on the street and acted on impulse. So I ask again, now what?’

  ‘Now we wait for your sister to find you. Then the three of us will have a little discussion about familial duty.’

  ‘You are a fine one to talk,’ she said, elevating her nose.

  How the devil did she know…She couldn’t possibly, could she?

  The ground was muddy inside the barn, where the sleet and rain had penetrated the sagging roof. Mindless of the muck, Melanie sank down onto a crate and ignored him. She closed her eyes and Elroy sensed she was concentrating hard. But on what? They were close to the village yet isolated from it. If she decided to shout then no one would hear her.

  He found it interesting and, if he was honest with himself, a little disconcerting that Melanie immediately invoked Lord Felsham’s name. Perhaps he would come in search of Melanie in person. Elroy hadn’t supposed that would be possible, given his disability, but cheered up no end at the prospect. It would be a case of retribution long overdue.

  Felsham was everything that Elroy most despised yet aspired to be. Debonair, popular, handsome, wealthy and entitled. He had been fencing champion at Oxford three years in succession, was an excellent rower, captained the college’s cricket eleven and rode the most spirited of horses—accomplishing all these feats with apparently effortless ease. He also ran through a swathe of obliging females without having to put any energy into attracting them. Elroy had hero-worshipped the man, but Felsham had barely known he was alive.

  It was infuriating.

  Melanie was right about one thing, he conceded, now that his blood had cooled. He had taken an almighty risk. He could bundle her off to the following day’s location and restore her to her father’s care, but how was he supposed to get her there? His horse was at the Stag’s mews and he had no way of restraining Melanie while he went to fetch it. Even if he could, a man riding with an unwilling female thrown over his horse’s back would hardly go unnoticed.

  The moment the alarm was raised, the first place anyone would go for information would be the local tavern. His horse would be seen, his owner’s description circulated and he would have handed the advantage to Felsham on a silver platter.

  Stupid, stupid!

  Everything he had worked to achieve was on the brink of fruition, and he’d risked it all on a whim driven by a burning desire for revenge.

  It wasn’t too late to save his own hide. He ought to leave her here and make a rapid getaway while he still could. He had allowed his pride and resentment to get the better of him. Elroy was a survivor and ordinarily put his own interests first—but now that he had Melanie, he couldn’t bring himself to give her back.

  They would be found if they remained here, but he was fairly sure it would be Flora who came for her, and he knew that Latimer didn’t much care what happened to her, just so long as she was silenced. Elroy smacked his lips together, aroused by the prospect of being the one to do the silencing.

  He settled down beside Melanie, willing to wait, and fingered the dagger that he always carried with him. Melanie had her eyes closed in intense concentration and Elroy was unable to decide whether she was terrified or simply praying. Probably a little of both. She came from a family who prayed for deliverance at the drop of a hat. Elroy curled his upper lip, thinking that she had never been more in need of divine intervention.

  Archie’s heart plummeted when he saw Will galloping up his long driveway on Amethyst, Flora’s spirited gelding.

  ‘What the devil…’

  Despite his infirmity, Archie was on the front steps, Pawson at his side, by the time Will reached them and dismounted breathlessly.

  ‘Miss Latimer sent me to fetch you. Her sister’s been abducted off the street in Lyneham.’

  Pawson scowled. ‘I’ll fetch the curricle.’

  ‘Where is Miss Latimer now?’

  ‘Looking for her.’ Archie glowered. ‘I tried to stop her but she wouldn’t listen.’

  Archie didn’t bother to ask any more questions or to chastise the man for leaving Flora unprotected. He was well aware that no one would have been able to stop her running headlong towards danger in order to protect a sister she already felt she had disappointed.

  It seemed to take an age for Pawson to bring the curricle around, but it could only have been a few minutes before Archie was installed in it and Pawson set the team to a canter down the driveway. Archie grimaced against the jolting pain in his leg as the flimsy carriage lurched from side to side, and fingered the handle of the sword stick he had brought with him. He might not be able to walk unaided, but he could still brandish a pretty mean sword from a standing position.

  ‘You think it’s Conrad who’s taken her?’ Pawson asked, concentrating on his driving.

  ‘Who else?’

  ‘The man has some nerve, I’ll give him that. He can’t have known that Melanie would be in the village today, or that he’d get an opportunity to grab her. He must have acted impulsively.’

  ‘He probably intended to draw Flora to him, which is precisely what it’s done,’ Archie growled.

  ‘At least she sent for you.’

  Archie was too worried to think rationally. ‘But she didn’t wait for me to arrive, did she?’

  ‘Neither girl will submit to him willingly, if that is what you suppose, guv’nor, and he can’t control ’em both.’

  ‘By threatening to harm Melanie, he will be assured of Flora’s submissiveness. She feels responsible for the girl and her conscience troubles her because she left her behind when she herself quit the family home.’

  ‘Don’t underestimate Flora. Besides, like I say, he hasn’t thought this through. But now that he has, I’ll wager he’s hoping you will show your face. It’s you he resents.’

  ‘He will get his wish,’ Archie said, grinding his jaw as Pawson slowed his team at the approach to the main street.

  Will had ridden ahead and dismounted at an alleyway between the haberdashery and a grocery store. A small crowd of angry men surrounded him.

  ‘What’s happening?’ Archie asked, leaving the conveyance without a thought for the pain it caused him to move so fast.

  ‘They’re in a barn on the edge of Saunders’ farm,’ Trench said. ‘Miss Latimer sent us back. Said the man would harm her sister if anyone other than you interfered.’

  ‘Let’s give him his wish, Pawson,’ Archie replied, icy rage roiling through him as he set off at a greater speed than would have ordinarily been comfortable for him to maintain. Concern for Flora’s wellbeing banished all thoughts of his own abilities to the back of his mind. Were he not so worried about the ladies, he would alm
ost welcome this opportunity to prove himself the whole man he would never be again.

  ‘It’s a trap,’ Pawson said, striding alone beside Archie. ‘He’s probably got a pistol and won’t play fair.’

  ‘I would be surprised if he did.’ Archie rubbed the bridge of his nose with his free hand. ‘I’m not much of a man anymore, Pawson, but my instincts are still sound. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to those young women because I was worried about my own hide.’

  Pawson flashed a resigned grimace. ‘I know you have no choice in the matter and, unless I miss my guess, you’re spoiling to prove yourself.’

  ‘I dislike Conrad intensely, but I will not risk the ladies’ lives in order to settle an old score.’

  They reached the barn in question and Archie held up a hand to prevent Pawson from entering it. They loitered instead and listened as Flora’s voice ran out louder than seemed necessary, probably because she hoped to be overheard.

  ‘You really are a very stupid man, Mr Conrad. Either that or you are too conceited for words. Do you really imagine that confining two females against their will in this muddy hovel is likely to work out well for you? You might have a dagger but I can see you have no other weapons about your person and you can hardly stab us both.’

  ‘Good girl,’ Archie muttered approvingly.

  ‘Besides, what would my father have to say if you harm either one of us? What would that do for your close friendship and lucrative partnership?’

  Archie sent Pawson a bemused look. ‘How the hell does she know?’ he whispered.

  ‘I think she’s guessing. But at least we know that he only has a dagger.’

  ‘Which he’ll hold to one of the girl’s throats if we go barging in there.’

  ‘Aye, more than likely.’

  ‘We need a distraction. Go round the back of the barn, Pawson, but don’t come in unless I’m at death’s door.’ Archie fixed Pawson with a merciless look and ground his jaw. ‘And Conrad is mine.’

  ‘Right you are.’

  Pawson disappeared on near silent feet. Archie could hear the distant murmur of the enraged crowd in the street way behind him, drawn to the unfolding drama of their lame marquess’s rescue of ladies in distress.

  ‘I hope you are not expecting Lord Felsham to arrive any time soon.’ Flora’s voice sounded haughty, disinterested. ‘I know you resent him and want to be more like him, but that will never happen, no matter how much money you manage to amass through your dishonest means. Gentlemen are born, not made, don’t you know that?’

  Oh, Flora. Don’t taunt him.

  ‘He will come to rescue his mistress.’ Conrad chuckled. ‘How the mighty have fallen, or been obliged to adjust their sights, more like. He could have had anyone he smiled at when he was a whole man. Now he has to make do with you.’

  ‘Oh, I can assure you that he has no complaints about the service I provide for him.’ Flora’s voice sounded smug and superior, causing Archie to wonder what game she thought she was playing. She had just made it sound as though they were lovers; the very situation she had taken him to task for allowing people to assume.

  He got his answer when Conrad bellowed like a raging bull. Conrad had taken a liking to Flora, she’d picked up on his interest and implied that Archie had beaten him to the spoils—yet again. Elroy was now blinded by jealousy and Archie would never have a better opportunity.

  He pushed the door open and stood in the aperture.

  ‘Did someone mention my name?’ he asked indolently.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Conrad’s grudge against Archie had obviously unsettled his mind. Flora suspected that he and her father had a mutually lucrative arrangement of some sort in place that was neither ethical nor legal. That explanation made sense of such an unlikely friendship and Conrad’s willingness to pay court to her.

  Papa had been worried that she would make sense of her grandmother’s diaries. He knew that his mother faithfully recorded everything in writing and that her journals had remained with her lawyer after her death, forming part of Flora’s inheritance. Her father had probably assumed that she would still be at home living beneath his absolute authority, when that time came. And so he had exercised patience, no doubt planning to appropriate the books and destroy them.

  No wonder he had worried so much and gone to such extreme lengths to get her to return home. When that strategy had failed, he had tried not once but twice to marry her off to men of his choosing. Conrad probably intended to oblige Papa by returning Melanie home and avenging himself on Archie by stealing what he thought was his property.

  Ah, if only!

  Flora was proud of Melanie. She knew nothing of Conrad’s motives and remained unaware that they were both pawns in Conrad’s ever more desperate quest for revenge. She must have been terrified, yet she had kept her senses about her and reached out to Remus. Their spirit guide was now more visible, although luminous perspiration glistened on his brow and Flora could sense his mental exhaustion.

  Oddly enough, Flora felt no fear for herself. Conrad had acted out of character, and had Flora not been foolish enough to enrage him by mentioning Archie’s name he probably would have come to his senses and let them go. All well and good, but her actions had brought Archie to this dilapidated barn with a muddy floor that would make it hard for him to remain on his feet, and now they had a stand-off. Archie had murder in his eyes, but Conrad would never back down.

  ‘Let them go,’ Archie said, in a mordant tone. ‘Your argument is with me.’

  ‘Glad you could join us, your lordship,’ Conrad replied with a mocking bow. As he straightened himself up, he pulled Melanie to her feet and held the dagger to her throat.

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ Archie sneered at him, waving a hand in casual dismissal of his desperate actions. ‘If you harm a hair on her head, then you will swing for your crime. I know you are perhaps not the most intelligent of men, but even you must be able to see that you will never get away with it.’

  ‘You always were an arrogant bastard, Felsham.’

  ‘Arrogant possibly, but I am no bastard.’ Archie sauntered further into the barn, showing no signs of the strain Flora knew he must be feeling as he waded through thick mud. She had the satisfaction of seeing the surprise on Conrad’s face as Archie walked upright and apparently at ease. Archie sent Flora a look of mild concern. ‘Has this person dared to harm you?’ he asked.

  ‘No, not me, but he keeps threatening Melanie, presumably because she is smaller and therefore easier to subdue.’

  ‘I might be small but I am not afraid of this…this oaf!’

  ‘I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised to see you hiding behind a child’s petticoats,’ Archie drawled.

  Flora smiled, proud of her sister’s resistance. She had a dagger held to her throat but still didn’t show the fear she must be feeling.

  Good girl!

  I refuse to give him the satisfaction.

  The telepathy between them was strong now that they were in the same place and Remus didn’t have to communicate across wide distances.

  Stay strong.

  Remus flew close to Conrad’s face, and pulled ugly faces at him that caused Flora to smile in spite of the tense situation. Conrad felt the draught and waved his free hand in front of his face, looking momentarily bemused.

  ‘Is this parody of an abduction being carried out on Latimer’s orders?’ Archie asked idly. ‘I should have thought that he would be more concerned with his next exorcism.’

  ‘Exorcism?’ Flora and Melanie breathed in unison, sharing a bemused look.

  Conrad appeared equally shocked and abruptly released Melanie, throwing her to the muddy floor of the barn. Flora seized the opportunity to spring forward, grasped her sister’s hand and pulled her to safety.

  ‘Go, the pair of you!’ Archie didn’t remove a concentrated gaze that was filled with venom from Conrad’s face.

  ‘You too, Archie.’ Flora tugged at his hand with her free
one. ‘Leave him to the authorities. We have grounds now for his arrest.’

  ‘Yes go, Felsham.’ Conrad waved a hand, goading him. ‘It wouldn’t be a fair fight.’

  ‘Oh, I don’t know.’ Flora groaned when Archie walked closer to his adversary. ‘My incapacity makes us about even, I’d say.’

  ‘Your incapacities have done nothing to temper your arrogance,’ Conrad sneered. ‘You used to swan around Oxford like you owned the entire city, and half the population fell at your feet. Everything you touched turned to gold.’ He sent Archie a sneer that didn’t entirely disguise his envy. ‘Nothing has changed in that regard.’

  ‘You must be devastated to know that your efforts to do away with me failed.’

  ‘What?’ Flora gasped softly.

  Conrad sent Archie a smug look. ‘Took you long enough to work that out.’

  ‘Which highlights the differences between us. You have never stopped resenting me, whereas I haven’t spared you a passing thought over these past twelve years.’ Archie allowed a significant pause. ‘And even now that you have been drawn to my attention again, I look upon you as being no more significant than an irritating fly.’

  There was the sound of a crowd approaching the barn but Flora heard Pawson’s voice warning them to stay back. She wondered at first why Pawson wasn’t at Archie’s shoulder, groaning when realisation dawned. Archie wanted…needed to settle this business with Conrad without anyone else’s help. Men! She rolled her eyes, even if a small part of her could understand Archie’s need.

  ‘Leave if you want to and you will be taken in charge,’ Archie continued conversationally. ‘Or face me like the gentleman you aspire to be but never will. You have clearly never stopped bearing me a grudge, so here I am and here is your opportunity.’

  Conrad’s options were few, and both men clearly knew it. It would be cowardly if he backed down now. Flora’s heart flew into her mouth when, with a feral growl, Conrad leapt forward, brandishing his dagger. She gasped as Archie withdrew a vicious sword from the innocent-looking stick he carried before Conrad had covered half the distance between them.