by Jade Lee
Maddy froze. “The earl never returned home last night?”
“No, miss. Sammy heard him come home last night and speak with Rose, but then he left again right afterward.”
Maddy nearly groaned. The gossip belowstairs was likely flying! “Well,” she lied, “that certainly is a mystery. Do you think you could ask Rose to come up here while I brush out my hair?”
“Oh no, miss. Lady Rose got up early this morning and declared that she would go shopping in Mayfair. Didn’t want me to come along,” she said with a sniff, “but took the little scullery girl Tessa.”
Maddy frowned. Her mind was too slow. “Why would Rose want Tessa? The girl is barely ten years old.”
“I wouldn’t know, miss,” Gilly answered with yet another sniff.
It made no sense at all. None of it did. Where was Uncle Frank? And Kit? She grimaced in the mirror. She would get no answers staring at herself in half dress. “Very well,” she said, as she ruthlessly pulled her brush through the knots in her hair. “Help me dress quickly and I shall see what I can discover.”
Except, of course, there was nothing to discover. No one else had any more information. Uncle Frank was gone. Rose was in Mayfair for whatever reason. And Kit had not yet called. Maddy had no choice but to drink tepid tea and toy with her breakfast. A breakfast eaten at ten past noon, no less. Certainly most of the ton lived like that, sleeping in until one or two, but not Maddy. She always had tasks to do, a menu to plan, shopping to organize. Yet even those mundane tasks eluded her today. All she was good for was drawing wet circles from the tea she’d spilled on the table.
And then—thank heaven—the knocker sounded. She rushed to the door, even though it was unseemly. Kit stood in the doorway, looking relaxed and confident as she hadn’t seen . . . ever! She barely restrained herself from throwing herself into his arms.
“Mr. Frazier!” she said warmly. “How wonderful of you to call. Please, would you care to step inside the front salon?”
He nodded politely, but his eyes were hungry as they roved over her features. She blushed at his look. Had he been thinking of her as much—and as graphically—as she had been thinking of him?
She led him into the parlor, keeping the door open out of habit. It was, after all, the proper thing to do when she had no chaperone. It wasn’t until after he bowed over her hand and began murmuring things that she realized just how silly an open door was.
“I have been thinking of you every second,” he said against her skin. Then he straightened slowly. “I have been dreaming of kissing your breasts, of pulling your tight nipples into my mouth and sucking on them as I spread your legs and—”
“Kit!” she gasped.
“Yes, Miss Wilson?” His face was the picture of innocence.
She swallowed. Her mind suffused with images of exactly what he’d described. “I think I shall like being your mistress,” she said.
Oddly enough, his smile faded at that. She had thought he would be pleased. “Kit?”
“I should tell you what has occurred,” he said as he led her to a settee.
She nodded. “Yes, please. Uncle Frank came back only briefly last night. He’s been out all morning.”
Kit nodded. “I know. He has decided to repair to his family seat as the Season is now over.”
She blinked. “But he hasn’t gotten any of his things. And he hates—”
“I’m sure he will send for them.”
“But—”
“He is gone, Maddy. You need never worry about him touching you again.”
It took a moment for his words to penetrate. But when they did, a huge weight slid from her shoulders. She hadn’t even realized how much strain she carried until it magically disappeared. She exhaled a long sigh of relief. “He never actually touched me, Kit,” she said softly. “He just—”
“He did enough. He ruined your reputation and was cornering you into a life you did not want.”
She nodded, but her eyes lifted slowly to his. “But I do want it,” she said. “With you.”
He smiled, his expression moving from urbane to passionate in a blink of an eye. But then it was quickly shuttered, and he did not allow her to touch him.
“There is more,” he said softly. “You need to hear it all.”
She nodded, encouraging him to go on.
“I would have come earlier, but I was with your uncle and his solicitor.”
She blinked. “His solicitor? Whatever for?”
“The earl has decided to gift you with a dowry, Maddy. Twelve thousand pounds.”
“What!” She was so shocked she straightened bolt upright. “No! It’s not possible,” she said, shaking her head. “He wouldn’t.”
“He did, Maddy. He has.”
Maddy tried to imagine it, but she couldn’t. It just didn’t fit. “No, Kit, he wouldn’t. What did you do?”
“I pointed out his sins, that is all. Told him he has to make up for what he did to you.”
“But—”
“He was the one who made it that amount, Maddy. Twelve thousand pounds. The documents were signed this morning.” Then he pressed her hands between his. “Think on it for a moment. You are an heiress, now. You can have another Season, pay for your own clothes, look as high as you want for your husband.”
She shook her head. “No, no. I don’t want someone else.”
“Think on it!” he said, his voice harsh. “You can have anything you want. Even . . .” He swallowed. “Even virginity can be faked,” he said softly. “Women have been doing it for centuries.”
She didn’t know what to say. What she wanted was so clear in her mind. She wanted to stay in society, selling Kit’s jewelry and being his lover. She wanted a husband and children and a respectable life. But apparently those weren’t possible all together. Kit had done everything he could to give her what she wanted . . . except for himself.
“What about you?” she whispered. It wasn’t a clear question. She wasn’t sure if she meant would he offer for her? Or would he disappear to the country again?
“I know what I want, Maddy. Thanks to you, I am temporarily employed with Sysselmann Shipping, teaching them how to protect against pirates. Brandon and Scher’s money is repairing my ship, and Alex—sweet young Alex—has worked a miracle as well. He and his father have found a cargo for me. I shall have income and purpose again. And there is always the sale of the jewelry.”
“You won’t stop that?”
He shook his head. “You are too good a saleswoman for me to walk away from that much money.”
She smiled, but it was only a halfhearted smile as it was only half her desires. “Kit . . .” she began, not even knowing what she wanted to say. Then the door suddenly burst wide as Gilly rushed forward, a tiny Tessa stumbling after.
“Miss! Miss, you must hear this!”
Both Maddy and Kit jumped to their feet. The poor scullery girl Tessa was shaking in terror, tears streaking down her cheeks. In her fist was a crumpled piece of paper.
“Easy, easy,” murmured Kit as he smiled at the girl.
“Really, Gilly!” said Maddy with a voice that struggled to be calm. “You’re scaring us and the girl.”
“Lady Rose has been stolen!” Gilly cried. “Tell her!” She shoved Tessa forward.
“Don’t be ridiculous!” Maddy snapped, much too used to Rose’s flights of fancy to tolerate it in the servants. But neither girl appeared to be exaggerating.
“What’s this you have in your hand?” asked Kit gently as he went to touch the crumpled paper. The girl jerked it away from him, her eyes huge, but then she did extend it to Maddy.
“They took ’er right off the street!” said Gilly. “That’s what she said. Right off the street!”
“Hush!” admonished Maddy, though confusion warred with fear in her heart. How could a person be stolen? Meanwhile, she had finally gotten the linen out of Tessa’s hand. She didn’t even look at it, but kept her eyes on the girl while passing the page to Kit. He w
ould read it for her while she focused on the girl. “Now let’s start from the beginning,” she said. “You went to Mayfair with Lady Rose?”
Tessa nodded, her eyes huge, but at least she wasn’t crying so hard now.
“Then what happened?”
It took three tries before the girl would speak, but eventually she got the words out. “She t-told me to w-wait. Said I was to stand on the c-corner and watch.”
“Which corner?” Kit asked.
The girl started, shying away from his curt tone. Maddy didn’t have to look to know that his face had gone dark and cold. So she interspersed her body between his and Tessa’s, going down on her knees so that she could be eye-to-eye with young girl.
“Don’t look at him. Look at me,” she said gently. “Where were you?”
“Outside the milliner. She t-told m-me to stand on the corner. Two stores away! I couldn’t help her, mum. I t-tried, but I couldn’t! She were gone afore I could do anything!”
“Of course you tried, Tessa, but let’s go back a moment. You were standing on the corner. What happened next?”
“She went into the shop. Then she came out. Then s-she went back in. Then she came out again.”
“She went in and out twice?”
“Yes, miss.”
Maddy frowned. None of this made any sense. Why would Rose go in and out of a shop? And why would she direct the girl to wait on the corner so far away? “Was she meeting someone, do you think?”
The girl shrugged. “I don’t know, miss.”
“Very well. Go on.”
Tessa took a moment. She was still obviously shaken and was trying to catch her breath.
“Aw, go on,” snapped Gilly. “Tell ’er about the men!” Maddy threw the maid an irritated look, but it was Kit who silenced the woman. He simply took the maid’s arm and steered her out the door, speaking in charming accents.
“I’m going to need to write a letter,” he said to her. “Would you please fetch me the implements? Paper, ink—”
“But—”
“Right now, please. It’s most urgent.”
“Yes, sir. Right away, sir.”
That took care of Gilly, thankfully, which left Maddy free to focus on calming Tessa. “Come now, Tessa,” she said gently. “Rose went in and out of the shop twice. And then . . .”
“These men just up and grabbed ’er! Three of ’em on horses. Right off the street! She screamed, miss. She screamed right loud, but it happened so fast.”
“Three men snatched her off the street?” But how could that be? And why? Meanwhile, Kit returned to Maddy’s side, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. It was the lightest of touches, but it felt like a single source of heat against her very cold body.
“What did they look like, Tessa?” asked Kit in a soft voice.
“Dock rats. Smelled like dock rats.”
Maddy bit her lip and glanced up at Kit. She didn’t know what to ask. She couldn’t make sense of it all. He didn’t say anything but extended the crumpled piece of paper for her to read. It was mashed and smeared with tears, but mostly legible. And it was written in Rose’s own hand.
I have been kidnapped by pirates!!!! They want gold and rubies! Help me else I will surely die!! Oh, what will happen to me?
Rose
Maddy read the missive three times before she looked up. A horrible picture was forming in her mind, one that was as ridiculous as it was completely plausible. Meanwhile, Kit spoke with Tessa, his voice as gentle as possible.
“How did you get that letter?”
“One of ’em. The men. He threw it at me as they were riding away.”
“He threw it at you,” Maddy said, knowing that Kit already guessed what had happened. “So he already had the letter when he grabbed Lady Rose?”
The girl nodded, but her eyes went to the crumpled missive. “What does it say?”
Maddy sighed, as she straightened to her feet. “It says that Rose is a bloody idiot.”
She would have said more, but at that moment the door burst open again as Gilly came in with a tray with paper, ink, and quill. She set it down in a rush, her gaze hopping from Tessa to Kit to Maddy.
“Excellent timing, Gilly. Tessa here has been most helpful and deserves a treat. Would you please take her to the kitchen? See that she gets whatever she wants?”
The woman nodded, then sternly took hold of Tessa’s hand. The two disappeared a moment later, and Maddy was quick to close the door behind her. But she couldn’t turn around and face Kit. How did she tell a man that Rose had just had herself abducted so that she could get her hands on his gold? It was beyond idiotic, but she was absolutely certain that Rose had done just that.
Then she felt his hand on her shoulder. He applied gentle pressure to pull her back against him. She fought at first. She was about to impose dreadfully on him, but he insisted. Within a moment, she surrendered and allowed herself to fall backward into his embrace.
His chest was solid and his arms were warm as they enfolded her. Then he pressed his cheek against the side of her head and just held her. For two wonderful breaths, neither one of them said a word. But after that, Maddy had to speak.
“I’m so sorry, Kit.”
“Did you know of this scheme ahead of time?”
She twisted abruptly in his arms. “Of course not!”
He smiled at her, and she saw a gentleness in his eyes despite the hard cut to his jaw. “Then it is not your fault. But you must tell me what you think has happened.”
Maddy threw up her hands in disgust. “I think Rose was upset because her father insisted on throwing me out of the house. So she hatched a plan.”
Kit nodded. “She needs money, so she had herself abducted? So her father would pay the ransom?”
Maddy put her face into her hands. How did she explain that it was so much worse than that? “No,” she said. “That’s not her plan at all.” She focused on Kit’s face, on his mouth and then the kindness in his eyes. “Rose believes that you and she are destined to be wed, and I think she was rather upset that you kidnapped me last night rather than her.”
Kit huffed out a disgusted breath. “I have never given her any encouragement.”
“I know. Rose doesn’t need any encouragement to spin her own romantic view. Though I believe what you did sparked her idea. She told me last night that she had a plan, but I was so tired and confused—”
“You couldn’t have expected this.” He shook his head. “So Rose thinks it’s romantic to be abducted by pirates?”
“No, no,” murmured Maddy, thinking hard. “That wouldn’t be it at all.” Then she knew. “That’s why she said pirate gold! She wants pirate gold! And you’re the pirate!”
Kit stared at her, a brow lifted in question.
“It’s the not kidnapping that is romantic, Kit, it’s the rescue. She wants you to rescue her, and she thinks once you do, you’ll fall instantly in love with her.”
“What about the gold and rubies? Does she really believe I have such things?”
Maddy nodded. “Of course she does. She thinks you’ll rescue her, marry her, and then I can come live with you two as your housekeeper so I won’t have to be a governess somewhere.”
Kit took a moment to process what she’d just said. Then he grimaced. “Do you think she mentioned the gold and rubies to the men who abducted her?”
Maddy frowned, not understanding.
“She had to hire someone to abduct her, right? Dock rats.”
“Yes. Yes, she’d have to.”
“Do you think she told them—”
“Oh! Of course! She doesn’t have any pin money of her own. She would have hired them on the promise of payment afterward.”
“And those men will be expecting gold . . .”
“And rubies. Oh, bloody hell.” Her gaze connected with Kit’s. “What will these men do if things don’t go as she predicts? If she’s not a cooperative captive?”
Kit stroked her arm in a long caress. “It w
on’t come to that.”
Maddy gripped his other hand. “Of course it will! Do you know how whiny she can get when one of her plans goes awry? Good God, I love the girl, but I often want to—” She abruptly cut off her words. She was about to say she often wanted to strangle Rose just to silence her. “Oh my God,” she whispered.
Kit wrapped her in his arms, tucking her tight against him. “Don’t worry. I’m going to write a quick note to Alex. He’s a good man in a crisis, young as he is. With his help, we can find Rose. We’ll save her. And then we’ll beat some sense into her.”
Chapter 27
Alex came quickly enough and with the rope that Kit had requested. Kit met him at the door and explained the situation, including the fact that the earl had retired just this morning to the family estate and would not be able to help. True to form, Alex asked one thing.
“Just how stupid is this girl?”
Kit simply shrugged, but he glanced significantly at Maddy, who was pacing the parlor with increasing agitation. He needn’t have worried that she would be upset by Alex’s characterization.
“She’s silly and romantic and young. Very, very young.” Her gaze sought out Kit’s. “And we need to find her.”
“We will,” he returned gently as he crossed back to her side. “They need the ransom. They will contact us—” He hadn’t even finished speaking when Gilly hauled a dirty boy into the room. This time she was accompanied by the butler as well.
“Miss! Miss!” the woman gasped. “He came to the kitchen door.”
Maddy came forward quickly, but she didn’t speak. She simply folded her arms across her chest and arched her brows in query. It was a pose designed to intimidate, and she did it very well. So well in fact, that the boy’s angry glare at the maid settled into a sullen pout in front of Maddy.
And then they stood there, Maddy arching her brow in query and the boy shoving his hands in his pockets and looking at the floor with a mulish expression. The child appeared to be about twelve years old, small for his age, but already hard. He would not be the one to break first.