Page 62 of Daring the Forbidden Earl
And do not say it is because your love told you so.
Lizzie sighed. “Ye don’t need to know, ye just need to trust me.” She got up and dusted off her legs. “I swear, I won’t let aught happen to ye. As long as Lord Sinclair follows the rules, ye’ll both be fine.”
Johanna was about to ask her to elaborate, when a second set of footsteps echoed through the cavernous warehouse, thudding in their direction. Fear crossed Lizzie’s face, as she lunged for the discarded ball of fabric and shoved it back in Johanna’s mouth. Johanna tried to fight back, but Lizzie was surprisingly nimble, and managed to tie the strip of fabric back around Johanna’s head within seconds.
“I’m sorry,” the scrawny girl whispered. “I really am.”
No sooner had she spoken than a vast figure appeared out of the dim light, wearing the same top hat and cloak that Johanna would have recognized anywhere. Even if she did not recognize the grim, stern face that glared down at her.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Arriving back at his townhouse with renewed fire in his belly, Mark charged across the entrance hall, ignoring a startled Chalke, and exploded into the drawing room without so much as a warning.
Liam sat on the edge of the settee, precisely where Mark had left him, though he jumped in fright as Mark made his abrupt entrance. There did not seem to be any sign of the physician, nor did there seem to be any point in one being there, for Nora was sitting up against a wedge of cushions. Unlike her husband, she did not even flinch at Mark’s interruption.
“I hope that’s not how you enter every sick person’s place of rest and recuperation,” she said acerbically, though there was a weak twinkle of mischief in her eyes. “You might’ve scared me back into unconsciousness, and then where would we be?”
Mark, immediately chastened, bowed his head. “I apologize, Nora. I have had averytrying encounter, and I am finding it increasingly difficult not to punch my fist through a wall in exasperation.”
“It didn’t go well with Lord Dresday, I take it?” Nora nodded to Liam. “He told me where you and Denninson had gone. Had I awoken sooner, I would’ve insisted on coming with you, so I imagine my darling Liam is grateful my unconsciousness lasted a while longer.”
Heaving out a sigh, Mark sank down into the armchair opposite Nora’s sickbed and hurriedly recounted the tale of what he had just endured. Kenneth entered just as he was beginning to tell the story and went to pour four snifters of brandy for everyone, handing them out as Mark rattled through everything.
“So, as you can see, we are none-the-wiser as to Johanna’s whereabouts, though I am certain Lord Dresday knows something. But I cannot get him to tell me, not without kidnappinghimand interrogating him until he breaks,” Mark concluded sourly.
Kenneth took a sip of his brandy. “Can you shed any light upon what you suffered, Nora?” As ever, he was focused on solutions rather than problems. “Did you manage to see the culprit’s face, at least?”
“I did, but he isn’t known to me.” Nora shuffled into a different position. “He’s extremely tall and broad, with hands the size of my face. I didn’t stand a chance against him, though it pains me to say it.” Her voice hitched, as though she were reliving some terrible memory.
“Eye color?” Kenneth prompted.
Nora gave a small nod. “Light brown. Almost hazel. His hair was brown, too—though with a slight reddish tinge. He was handsome, surprisingly, but… that is all I could garner. I did not hear him speak, though he seemed well kept, and had excellent posture.”
“You believe him to be of the peerage?” Liam asked.
“I could not say for certain,” Nora replied. “But if he was, I would have recognized him. And I did not know this man at all.”
Kenneth settled back into the spare armchair. “Then we have no leads, I am afraid. If Lord Dresday will not speak, then we have no one to aid us in this search.” He glanced at Nora. “Might you be able to utilize your usual informants, to try and locate this fellow?”
“I will do everything I can,” she promised.
And yet, Mark felt suddenly, wretchedly helpless. What was more, he felt responsible. He had allowed Johanna to go to those apartments without him, despite knowing there was a threat looming over them. If he had just insisted, regardless of her protestations, perhaps they would be on their way to Gretna Green right now. Or, perhaps, he would also be unconscious at the foot of the staircase.
“I was most perplexed when Miss Steele said her father was at home last night,” Nora continued. “That means the fellow you met was likely the same one who attacked me and took Johanna. I’ve been trying to think of a suitable ‘HS,’ who would know Lord Dresday, but nothing is coming to me.”
Mark nodded feebly. “It is the same with me.”
“That being said, I wonder if the Baron sent one of his prizefighters to do his dirty work for him.” Nora furrowed her brow. “What do you think?”
Mark shook his head. “That notion has already been trounced, for Lord Dresday would not give anyone reason to blackmail him, least of all his supposed inferiors.”
They all settled into a defeated silence, though Mark could almost hear the cogs of everyone’s minds at work, trying to figure out a way to find Johanna. And yet, Mark had a dreadful feeling that he knew how he would find her. After all, why would someone kidnap the woman he loved, if they did not intend to use her as leverage? He anticipated that, sometime soon, another letter would arrive, sealing Johanna’s fate or leaving it in his hands.
But how can I wait for such a letter, not knowing what it will contain? What if she is already…?
He could not bring himself to contemplate the rest, not when they had been so close to gaining their happiness.
They were still wallowing in their stilted silence when a knock came at the drawing room door, and Chalke entered. He looked rather harried, and there was a puckering to his lips that suggested he was not going to be the bearer of good news.
