Page 16 of Persuasions of an Earl's Daughter

He muttered a thank you and strode out of the next door that led into the courtyard. She had such an affinity with horses maybe she was simply checking on her horse.

Or maybe she was in trouble.

Having known Lilly for a mere week and all of two meetings, that seemed the most likely outcome. The woman was pure trouble.

Usually he’d like that. Women who were trouble helped him solidify his downright devilish reputation without him so much as laying a finger on them. But usually he wasn’t trying to buy a horse that rightfully belonged to him and was now missing.

A groom he didn’t recognize paused brushing down a horse when he spotted August approach.

“A woman, have you seen her?” August demanded before the lad could ask if he could help. “Dark-haired, slim. Muddy hems.” He glanced about the empty courtyard. “Exceedingly pretty,” he added, though he wasn’t certain why.

The boy’s face paled, and he slowly set down the brush, his gaze darting from August to a spot just behind him and back again. August was on him before he could make a move. He captured the boy’s collar and ignored the squirming of his skinny frame. “What do you know of her? Where is she?” he demanded.

“It weren’t nothing to do with me,” he protested.

“What wasn’t?”

“I only told ‘em what the man said. I didn’t know they’d take ‘er.”

“What men? Take her where?” August tightened his grip as a rush of cold fear bore through him and settled low in his gut. “Who took her?”

“Fred and Billy. But they won’t ‘arm her, I swear. They just want the ‘orse.”

August let loose a stream of curses so rough, even the boy’s eyes widened, but if now wasn’t the time for stepping back to his roots, he didn’t know when was.

“Tell me everything you know,” he ordered gruffly. “Everything.”

Chapter Six

All she had to do was not panic.

Lilly wasn’t the first Musgrave to be kidnapped, after all.

A strange claim to be able to make but it was true. So now all she needed to do was recall what Ivy had experienced and figure out a way out of this.

And breathe.

Yes, breathing was the main thing. However, the sack over her head muffled her breaths with its rough, thick fabric as it chafed against her nose and filled her nostrils with the scent of hops.

The wooden surface beneath her snagged on her dress as she rolled onto her back. The movement of what she assumed was a wagon of some kind tossed her back onto her side, so she moved again and stretched her bound hands outward. Smooth wood met her fingertips and she gripped it and hauled herself upward to sitting.

From there, she paused a moment and took a few shuddering intakes of musty air. The creak of the wheels and the clop of horse hooves combined with the sack muffled most of the low conversation between who she thought were two men and she still had no idea why they had taken her. There were several women at the inn, all dressed well and implying at least some wealth. Was this just a crime of opportunity?

Regardless, she could not very well sit around and find out. She shook her head from side to side to see if the sack would come loose. It shifted, the heavy weight rubbing against her face and making her skin feel like when she wore a woolen cloak, and it made her skin all prickly.

Next, she curled her legs underneath her and dropped her head low. Thank goodness they had not bound her legs as well or else she’d be rolling around like a loose barrel and would be bruised all over. She shook again like a dog trying to dry after a dip in a lake and the sack shifted. After inhaling deeply once more, she repeated the movement until it slid over her chin and with a toss of her head it dropped away.

Lilly blinked the dust from her eyes and gulped down the pleasant air of the country. Open fields passed by, dotted with flocks of sheep in the distance. She didn’t recognize the narrow road, one that would scarcely accommodate a big closed carriage, and the road was rough with the tracks of farm vehicles.

Her kidnappers sat at the front of the wagon, oblivious to her tiny taste of freedom. She spied the sack on the floor of the vehicle, grasped it and flung it over the side. She smiled as it dropped to the side of the road amongst the bushes, and they continued on. Unless they had an endless supply of sacks, they would not be able to cover her head again.

Now she just needed to focus on her bonds. She gave them a tug and followed the line of rope to spot where it was tied to the seat at the front. One of the men whipped his head around and she froze and offered an innocent smile as though that would get her out of trouble.

The man cursed. Almost as old as her father with a ruddy face and a large, red nose, one could be mistaken for thinking he might be a sweet old man. But when he cursed and flung the back of a hand in her direction, Lilly quickly corrected that assumption and jolted back to avoid a slap.

“Get her covered again,” the man barked to the younger man seated next to him. “And tie her better. We can’t have anyone seeing we’ve got her.”

The man’s shoulders dropped, and he stood, a hand to the seat back for support then climbed into the rear with her. He dropped onto his haunches and glanced around the wagon.

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