Page 58 of Daring the Forbidden Earl
Kenneth nodded. “Then I suppose I ought to come with you, for I am the one with the better aim.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
After gaining entry to the building where Lord Dresday’s apartments could be found, by pulling every bell until someone answered, Mark stomped up the staircase to meet his adversary. Kenneth walked at his side, armed with Mark’s spare pistol. Liam, meanwhile, had remained at Mark’s townhouse so he could take care of his wife, and inform the physician of what had occurred when the fellow arrived.
Halfway up the staircase, Mark glanced back, and shuddered as he observed the short distance between the foot of the stairs and the front door. That was where Liam had found Nora, but what had happened to Johanna? Had she been with Nora up until that point? Had Nora escaped Lord Dresday’s apartments to try and seek help, and been caught by the bastard just before she reached the door?
Lord Dresday is the only one with the answers…
With that in mind, Mark hurried the rest of the way to Lord Dresday’s front door. Reaching the imposing, thick wood, he wasted no time in hammering upon it with his fists. Either the Baron could do this the easy way, and let him in, or he could do it the hard way, and have the lock shot to pieces.
“Lord Dresday, you wretched snake, open this door at once!” Mark commanded. “I know you have done something to my darling! I know you have her in there! If you did not, why would you forbid my friend from having an audience with you?!”
He hammered harder upon the door as Kenneth readied his pistol to shoot at the lock. The taller fellow was the quietest of the trio of friends, but there was power in his silence, and he had always been skilled in a majority of sports—fencing, shooting, boxing, riding—he was an expert at them all. If anyone could shoot the lock in order to loosen it, it was Kenneth.
“The Countess of Keswick is languishing, unconscious, in my townhouse because of you!” Mark roared, knowing that might inspire Lord Dresday to open up. “What do you think the papers will say of you and your reputation—not to mention that of your daughter—if I inform them of this despicable act? No gentleman of any standing will ever want to wed her, when they discover you hurt society’s darling!”
He paused and listened for sounds of movement beyond the door. When he heard nothing, he gave a nod of permission to Kenneth.
“Stand back,” Kenneth warned.
Obediently, his knuckles raw from pounding upon the wood, Mark walked backward to a safe distance. Putting his fingers in his ears, he watched as Kenneth raised his pistol and peered down the sights, before an explosivebangerupted through the otherwise quiet hallway.
“It might need one more,” Kenneth said, as he swiftly reloaded the flintlock. He had just raised the weapon to fire again, when the door opened in a wild swing. Framed in the doorway, Lord Dresday stared out at the two men in disbelief, his mouth agape.
“What in heaven’s name do you think you are doing?” the Baron cried, eyeing the poised pistol with visible wariness. “I informed your friend that he was not welcome here, and nowyouhave come here to… to… toshootat my residence?”
Mark could not hold himself back. In one fluid move, he had Lord Dresday by the front of his collar and was pushing him back into the apartments. He did not stop until they reached the far wall, where Mark shoved him against it.
“Where is she, Lord Dresday?” Mark spat. “I know you have done something to her, or with her.”
The Baron looked suitably terrified. “I d-do not even know who y-you are talking about!”
“Johanna Carlton, the lady who was here with the Countess of Keswick. The lady who is to be my wife. Where is she? What have you done with her?” Mark gripped the Baron’s collar tighter. “I know you are responsible. It is not coincidence that she came here to speak with your daughter, only to disappear shortly afterward. Not to mention the fact that the Countess was found unconscious at the bottom ofyourstaircase!”
Just then, an almighty scream pierced the air as a young woman emerged from a door on the left. Mark shot a curious glance at her, and vaguely recognized her as the girl who had caused all of this upset. Miss Steele. In that moment, Mark was quite certain he had never taken this creature to his bed.
The Baron made a gurgling noise and gestured frantically at the front door. “Fetch… the… dog,” he rasped, but Miss Steele did not move. “What are… you waiting for? Fetch… the dog!”
“Miss Steele, I presume?” Kenneth put himself between the young woman and the door, though it did not appear as though she intended to do her father’s bidding.
Miss Steele nodded. “Are you here to punish me?” Her voice came out just a hair above a whisper.
“I am here to punish your father,” Mark replied tersely. “He has done something with my love—the lady who spoke with you today.” He repeated the part about Nora being found at the bottom of the staircase, eliciting a gasp of horror from Miss Steele.
“Did you do that, Father?” Her eyes widened to the whites. “Did you… hurt Lady Keswick and Lady Clevedon?”
Lady Clevedon?
It took Mark a moment to realize that she was talking about Johanna. Evidently, his dearest love had given a somewhat false name to this young woman, so no one would be able to trace her. It confused him a little, for he was not sure how Lord Dresday would have known to hurt Johanna, in order to get to Mark, if the Baron had not known her real identity.
He must have been following me… The wretched viper!
It was the only conclusion Mark could make.
Lord Dresday tried to shake his head, but Mark’s grip was too tight. “I do not even know of a Lady Clevedon! Nor would I be so foolish as to inflict any harm upon the Countess of Keswick!” He narrowed his eyes at Mark. “Why would you suspect me? My quarrel is with you, no one else.”
“You wrote me letters.” Mark released one hand from the Baron’s collar and fished inside his pocket for the offending correspondence. Flattening it out awkwardly with his one hand, he shoved the paper in Lord Dresday’s face. “Are you not Henry Steele—the “HS” at the bottom of this letter?”
