“Here,” he said, thrusting the dress at her.
She took it, but did not move. “My ankles.”
Hollingsby stared at her for a moment before bending and cutting the rope. When he rose, he nodded. “Get dressed.”
Elyse turned and went toward the carriage.
“Where are you going?” Elizabeth asked, stepping in front of her to block the way.
“You don’t expect me to dress in front of everyone, do you?”
Elizabeth rarely, if ever, showed Elyse any great concern, but for some reason, this request seemed to strike her differently. Stepping aside, Elizabeth motioned Elyse to continue.
When she reached the carriage, she paused to look back. Hollingsby and Elizabeth watched her carefully, and Carl, who was half-undressed, tried to hide his immense bulk behind a small tree.
Elyse went to the back of the carriage and hid herself from the others. Thinking quickly, she looked around. Twenty yards behind her was a copse of trees. They were dense enough for her to hide and to make it difficult for the others to catch her. All she had to do was reach the trees.
Make them relax. Slowly, she undid the bodice of the nightdress she’d been wearing. She stepped out of the dress, and let it fall in a pile at her feet.
As she straightened, she looked at her captors. Elizabeth watched her closely, while Hollingsby appeared completely uninterested, and turned away from her.
Making as much movement as possible, Elyse drew on the petticoats that were part of the dress, and then put on the thin chemise. All the while, her eyes kept flicking toward Elizabeth, waiting for the right opportunity.
Carl called to Elizabeth for help with his vest. Now, her mind ordered. Without giving it further thought, Elyse ran toward the trees. Halfway there, something caught her long hair from behind, jerking her from her feet. A wrenching pain tore through her scalp. She fell to the ground with a hard jar, the wind knocked from her lungs.
For brief seconds she thought she would die. Each time she tried to breathe, a searing, burning lance ripped through her chest, but finally the pain subsided and she was able to breathe again.
When she opened her eyes, she found herself staring into Hollingsby’s hard face.
The penniless nobleman wagged a finger above her. “So foolish, so stubborn. It appears that I must dress you.”
With that, Hollingsby grabbed her wrist and yanked her to her feet. He dragged her, while she fought and protested, until they were at the carriage again.
Elyse tried to pull away and Hollingsby spun on her. His hand, whip-like, struck her cheek.
“Enough!” he declared. “Either put this dress on, or I’ll do it myself!”
Glaring at him, refusing to acknowledge the pain from his blow, or the taste of blood in her mouth, Elyse took the dress and put it on. Only when she had finished, did Hollingsby speak again.
“Put out your hands.”
Knowing further resistance was useless, Elyse did as he ordered. Once again, he bound her wrists.
“I want her filthy mouth gagged,” Elizabeth ordered.
“It’s far from filthy; in fact, it’s quite lovely.” Hollingsby traced a finger traced along Elyse’s lips. Then his eyes grew cold. “Although she does have a tendency to talk too much.”
Smiling, Hollingsby lifted a piece of material and quickly covered Elyse’s mouth.
The ride through the outskirts of Kingston was done quickly, and within minutes, they were on the highway toward Spanish Town, which was the small capital of Jamaica, and where King’s House—the governor’s palace—was located.
When they crossed over the iron bridge, built just after the turn of the century, Elyse knew there would be no more chances for escape. By the time the sun reached its highest point in the clear blue sky, the carriage rolled to a stop in the central plaza, at the very gates of King’s House.
Ordering Elizabeth and Carl to watch Elyse, Hollingsby left the carriage and went up the steps into the huge white building. When he disappeared, Elyse closed her eyes.
Too late, she cried silently. Too late.
Ten minutes later, Hollingsby returned and gestured for Carl to climb down from the driver’s seat. Then, moving quickly, he untied Elyse’s hands and removed the gag.
“It’s over now, my dear. Please don’t create any more of a disturbance; it will only help our cause. After all, the governor thinks you’re addle-brained as it is.”
Knowing he was speaking nothing but the truth, Elyse nodded her head. With Elizabeth on one side of her, and Carl on the other, she followed Jeremy Hollingsby past the two uniformed guards who stood before the door to the governor’s office, and into the office itself. When the door closed, she knew the outside world was gone.
*****
Brace and Will spent most of the morning searching through town, going to each inn and inquiring about the Sorrels. Although he chafed at the time they wasted, Brace knew he had no choice. Originally, he had wanted to go directly to the governor’s, but to go there without knowing if Elyse had been taken there could be a mistake, especially if Albright was indeed involved with the Sorrels. Yet, time was speeding by too quickly as he and Will entered the fifth inn.
Colleen said they were taking Elyse to Kingston to stand before the governor. However, the governor wasn’t in Kingston. The capital of Jamaica was not Kingston, it was its sister town, Spanish Town, though rarely was a distinction made. Spanish Town and Kingston were always spoken of together.
“A room, gentlemen?” the innkeeper asked as he approached them, taking in the cut of their clothing with an experienced eye.
“We’re looking for friends,” Will said quickly. “The Lord and Lady Sorrel.”
The innkeeper’s grin widened. “You just missed them. They left not an hour ago.”
“To where?” Brace asked quickly, his voice strained.
“I do not ask about the comings and goings of my guests,” the innkeeper replied stiffly.
“The governor’s palace in Spanish Town; we’re too late,” Brace whispered to Will. Then he turned back to the innkeeper. “Did they go by carriage?”
The innkeeper did not answer. Brace’s rage built, but before it could explode at the innkeeper, Will handed the man a coin.
The innkeeper glanced at it, and a second later, it disappeared into his pocket, almost magically.
“As a matter of fact, they did. They requested I hire a carriage for them, which of course I was more than happy to do.”
“Was there a young lady with them?”
The innkeeper shook his head. “Only Lady Sorrel and the Earl.”
“Hollingsby,” Brace stated. Spinning and dragging Will with him, Brace left the inn and went directly to a stable where he hired two horses. While they waited for the horses to be saddled, Brace explained to Will what he believed had happened.
“They must have left Elyse outside of town. If they started back an hour ago, it would take them a quarter hour to return to get her. We still have time!”
As soon as their mounts were ready, they had raced out of Kingston, galloping madly toward Spanish Town. An hour later, they rode into the plaza.
Brace and Will brought their horses to a stop at the very gates of King’s House—the governor’s palace and offices. As one, they dismounted and raced toward the steps of King’s House.
Brace, taking in the presence of the driverless livery carriage they passed, paused for a moment to look inside. There, on the floorboards, he saw a pile of clothing. Reaching in, he lifted a white nightdress. “It has to be Elyse’s!” Once again, the two men started off, racing past the first set of guards who ineffectually tried to bar their way.
Inside, Brace turned left and gazed down the hallway toward the governor’s chamber. Two uniformed guards stood at attention before the closed mahogany double doors.
He glanced at Will. “Ready?”
Will nodded.
They didn’t run this time; rather, they took long, purposeful steps. The ha
llway stretched to infinity for Brace as he neared the guards. He knew he was at the end of his journey, and Elyse waited for him behind the closed doors.
“Halt!” ordered the guard on the left, dressed in full uniform, the stripes of his rank gleaming on his sleeves.
“We must see the governor,” Brace stated.
“He is conducting business at present,” the guard said in a haughty tone. “You must see the clerk and make an appointment.”
“See here!” Will said in a loud, authoritative voice. “Do you realize you’re addressing the Duke of Wadworth? Would you dare bar him from the governor?”
The guard looked uneasily at Brace, and then at the other guard. “My lord,” he said, the tone of his voice changing, “my orders are clear; I’m sorry.”
Brace, his face hard and unforgiving, lifted the hand with the signet ring. The guard’s eyes followed it. “Do you recognize the insignia of the Royal Family?” Brace asked.
The guard’s eyes went to the ring. Without hesitating, Brace’s arm lashed out, his hand already balled into a fist, and struck the guard squarely on his jaw. At his side, Will did the same to the other. Both guards collapsed in a heap on the floor.
“I always thought those rings had some value,” Will commented dryly as he relieved one of the guard’s musket.
Brace didn’t respond; instead he went to the door and opened it just enough to hear what was happening inside.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Standing just inside the doorway, Elyse took in the ornate chamber. Gilt fixtures abounded; hand-painted silk covered the walls. An oval oriental carpet of mixed blues covered the polished wooden floor that separated her from the governor.
Even as her eyes registered the opulence of the office, she studied the man sitting behind the large mahogany desk. Above his shoulder hung a portrait of William the Fourth, King of England.
The acting governor was a small, compact man with a full gray mustache and a thinning head of matching gray hair. As acting governor, he did not wear the formal wig of office. His eyes were a pale blue, and when Elyse looked into them, she saw nothing at all.
Off to one side, at another desk, the governor’s clerk and scribe turned at their entrance to stare at Elyse with open curiosity.
“Well, my lord,” the governor said in a low voice to Hollingsby, “it seems you have found your errant fiancée.” He turned his gaze onto Elizabeth. “Lady Sorrel, you have the documents?”
“Yes, Your Excellency.” She gave a fawning head bow before turning to her husband. “Carl.”
Carl opened the case he carried. After removing several sheets of paper, he brought them to the governor and placed them on his desk. Then he returned to his wife’s side.
Through it all, Elyse continued to watch everything that happened with a sense of unreality. When the governor picked up the papers and started to read them, Elyse could no longer stand still. Stepping forward quickly, she spoke, hoping against hope that not everything she had overheard from her captors about the acting governor was true.
“Your Excellency,” she called.
Albright looked up at her.
“Whatever documents my aunt has given you, they are false! I have been abducted from my home by these three, and they are trying to take away everything that I own.”
“You are saying that these good people kidnapped you?”
“Yes, Excellency.”
“Yet no word of such an act has reached us here. Would not the ...” he paused for a moment as if in thought. “The Denhams, I believe, are the people who oversee your plantation. They are responsible people, even if they are debtors. Wouldn’t they have sent immediate word to us?”
“It happened the night before last; there has not been time enough.”
“How did you come here? By ship?”
“Over land,” she replied.
The governor raised his eyebrows and then glanced at his two assistants. “How long would it take a carriage to reach here from Montego Bay?”
The first clerk shook his head. “At least three days. The passage through the mountains is slow.”
“I think, Lady Louden, that perhaps you are mistaken.”
“I tell you they kidnapped me!” she shouted, unable to maintain the level tones of her voice any longer. “They have no right!”
“Please try to restrain yourself,” the acting governor advised in a high-handed manner. “At least until I’ve finished reading the warrant issued by the high judge.”
Elyse wanted to scream, to yell at him that he was a fool, but she didn’t, she knew now that he was in full league with the others. Lowering her eyes, Elyse stepped back, her last futile hope crushed beneath the weight of her knowledge.
The acting governor paused in his reading to look at the Sorrels and Hollingsby. “I must read the entire document aloud so that my clerk can record it properly.”
Reading aloud, he spoke in a sonorous monotone that threatened to make Elyse scream. However, she did not; rather, she listened intently to the warrant, which charged her with being an unstable, incompetent person, unable to care for herself, her lands, or her money.
He read over the incidents, which supported the charges, and then referred to another document that was the sworn affidavit of two doctors.
When the acting governor paused for a breath, Elyse took a deep one of her own. “It’s a lie. All of it!”
“Of course,” the mustached man said.
“It’s a lie,” Elyse said again, her voice barely above a whisper. At her side, her aunt smiled in victory.
The acting governor ignored Elyse’s words and continued. “Based on the evidence of the affidavits of Doctors Lewis and Goldbrick, I, on this twentieth day of March, 1837, do hereby declare Carl and Elizabeth Sorrel, Lord and Lady of Chatsworth, to be named legal guardians of Lady Elyse Louden. They are directed to oversee, protect, and manage all properties and monies until such time as Lady Elyse Louden recovers her full mental abilities.”
Albright looked up. “This document was signed by the high judge, and it is legal and binding.”
They had won, Elyse realized. She knew she had to find a way to stop what was happening. Grasping desperately for anything, she pushed herself to think. In a few moments, the acting governor would sign the orders that his clerk was finishing, and he would then bind her over to her aunt’s custody, and her life, as well as Devonairre’s would be over. No! In a calm moment of desperation, she knew what she must do.
I love you, Brace, she said to herself. I love you and know you will understand why I have to do this.
She looked around the chamber, frantically seeking a weapon, a means to end her own life, for if she did that now—before she was married to Hollingsby, and the state of her inheritance forever changed—she would be able to thwart her aunt. The terms of her father’s will had been very specific, and legally binding, even now. If she died before marrying, Devonairre would revert to Charles Denham.
On the wall behind her, were several ornamental daggers. Taking a deep breath, she willed her muscles to obey and moved quickly. Reaching the wall before anyone could react, she grabbed one of the daggers and pulled it from its sheath.
Turning back, she stared at the faces fixed upon her.
“That won’t help you, Lady Louden,” the governor said. “There is no way for you to escape. The soldiers will disarm you. Please, put the dagger down.”
Elyse looked first at Hollingsby, and then at Elizabeth. “Escape?” she echoed. Her bitter tones were more eloquent than the single word. “No, Excellency that is not at all what I have in mind.”
She looked at her aunt. “Did you think I would let you take all that my father worked for? And you!” she said, her eyes going to Hollingsby, who was trying to edge nearer to her.
He froze when she turned to him, his eyes raking across her face even as her voice, cold and hard, struck out at him. “You will never put a hand on me again, never!”
Hollingsby started tow
ard her again, but Elyse shook her head and turned the dagger’s blade toward herself. She rested the tip over her heart, and felt the cool metal touch the edge of her breasts.
She looked at each of them very carefully, and then tightened her grip on the blade.
Brace stood transfixed as he listened to the governor read the damning warrant of the high judge, but even as the foppish man finished, his words struck a chord in Brace’s memory.
Then, Brace opened the door a little wider as Elyse took the dagger from the wall. He heard her defiance against her captors. A cold chill washed through him when he realized what she intended.
Moving fast, he stepped into the governor’s chamber, even as footsteps echoed in the hallway behind him. His blood raced through his body. His eyes flicked over the tableau until they came to a halt on Elyse, the long dagger in her hand, standing against the wall.
Seeing the determination on her face, his anger and rage exploded. His hands trembled as he fought to suppress it. “Elyse,” he shouted out to her. He saw her deep green eyes widen, and the stiff lines of her face ease. His love for her swelled within him, and he knew that no powers in this world would keep them apart any longer.
When Elyse had started to press the blade into her chest, the commotion outside the door grew louder. The door burst open behind her, but she refused to take her eyes from her captors. Then she heard her name. Her breath exploded in her chest, her heart pounded, and as she heard Brace’s voice, her hands loosened around the dagger’s handle.
“Brace,” she whispered. She closed her eyes for a moment as the emotions of a lifetime raced through her. When she opened them, he was still there.
“What is the meaning of this?” the acting governor demanded. “Guards!”
Will spun, his musket at the ready as two more guards entered the chamber. Both men froze when they saw the barrel pointing at them. “Outside! Close the doors,” he ordered them. The guards backed out and followed Will’s instructions. When the door closed, he went to it and locked it.
Brace looked at the governor, and as he did, Elyse started toward him. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Hollingsby launch himself at Elyse, grab her arm, and spin her to him. Even as the dagger flew from her hand, a red rage filmed his eyes.
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