Page 34 of A Lady's Past
Victor climbed in and sat across from them with his gun leveled at Honoria.
Taking Honoria’s hand, Diana steadied her nerves as once again her fate spun out of her control.
Knees high, as his extreme height made riding in a carriage awkward, Caron watched the two of them with his beady eyes narrowed. “What is your name, old woman?”
“I seriously doubt you will live to grow old, given your chosen profession, but if you do, I hope someone treats you as rudely. My name is Lady Honoria Chervil. And what might your name be, sir?”
Victor wrinkled his nose as if he recognized the likely truth of Honoria’s words. The expression fell away, leaving only his hateful glare. “I am Victor Caron. I would like very much to hear more about this money you claim to have.”
“You don’t believe me?” Honoria giggled.
“Don’t laugh at me.” Victor waved his gun about.
Sobering, Honoria stared at him. The woman was fearless, either because she had lived a long time or because she had the upper hand with her knowledge that a man like Victor must be greedy rather than honorable, regardless of his claims to be a patriot of France. “I beg your pardon, monsieur. It is common knowledge in London that I have been widowed three times, and each time became richer than the last. It’s quite late now, but if you will keep my friend and I alive and unharmed, I will take you to my man of business and he will give you as much money as you require. However, if you harm one finger, bone, or inch of flesh on either of us, I will see you in hell. Do I make myself clear?”
Victor blinked, and even in the dark carriage, it was clear he was taken aback by Honoria’s bravery. “How much money?”
If their situation hadn’t been so dire, Diana would have smiled at how easily Victor was manipulated.
With a shrug, Honoria examined her gloved hand. “More than you can fathom with your limited imagination.”
“And you will give it to me?” He waved his gun around carelessly.
“If you will ensure that both Diana and I will be unharmed, I will give you money. In fact, as a good-faith gesture, I shall give you this ring.” She handed over an emerald ring that was likely worth more than Victor made in a year. “Then tomorrow, I can give you as much as you want, a thousand pounds? Of course, I need your guarantee that we will be released.”
“My superiors want her in France.”
“Then I suppose you shall not be a rich man, Mr. Caron. But I quite understand you have a duty to fulfill.” Honoria squeezed Diana’s hand as they rounded a corner.
The foul smells of the port flooded the carriage. A fire must have started; pungent smoke wafted in with rotting fish and sewage.
They stopped and Victor jumped down. “Come on. I will think about your offer. In the meantime, I will promise only to not kill you.”
Honoria stepped down into the filthy street, in a dangerous neighborhood, as if she were the queen walking into court. She stepped close to Victor and stared up at him, as he was more than a foot taller than her. “If you harm either of us, I’ll give you nothing. As you keep mentioning, I’m an old woman. Dying is not a threat. You seem to need Diana for some nefarious purpose and won’t harm her. You only have my life to bargain with, and I promise you this, monsieur, should you so much as cause a bruise on that girl’s flesh, I will die before I give you a penny. I suggest you have that ring examined so that you will know I am a woman of my word. You will find it is worth quite a fortune.”
“You speak too boldly for a woman in your predicament.” Tightening his fist around the ring, he turned to his two men. “Put them both in the room and see they are not harmed.” Getting back in the carriage, he knocked on the roof to indicate he was ready.
The man who was with Victor in the garden, Percival Reneau, held his gun pointed at Diana. Not as well educated, his accent was thick and guttural. “Get inside, ladies. I cannot keep you safe on these streets.”
Diana and Honoria complied and were locked in a small bedroom. The furniture was old, but the house was clean. A guard walked back and forth outside their door for several minutes before dragging a chair down the hall and sitting. The walls were thin enough to hear everything, even the creak of the chair as he sat.
The noise from the street made its way inside as if they were part of the dock community. Diana spoke close to Honoria’s ear. “You must be crazy to threaten Victor Caron. He’s a vicious man and would think nothing of killing you. I’ll never forgive myself if you’re harmed.”
Honoria pulled her into a tight hug. “He won’t hurt either of us. He’ll want the money, my dear. Once we are out of this house, we’ll need to find a way to make our location known. We must believe Bertram and Mr. Laurent are alive and will get help to look for us.”
Panic rose up in Diana’s throat. “You should have stayed with the carriage. You would be safe. He wouldn’t have seen you as a threat and would have left you unharmed. Now, he’ll use you to get to me.”
Pulling her to the bed, Honoria sat them both down. “Calm down, Diana. I know you have some experience with this man, and I’m sure you’re right about him being capable of horrible things. However, neither you nor your parents had the means to bribe him. I think you will find he is equally motivated by riches as he was by his warped sense of duty. He will have the ring investigated, and when he learns how much it’s worth, his greed for more will take over. That will get us out into London and to the bank before they drag you off to France. We cannot let him put you on a boat.”
“I suppose your plan has merit. He might have put me directly in the hull of a boat tonight if not for the promise of riches. If Jacques is alive, he will get help.” Her heart ached with the possibility that the blow to Jacques’s head might have been fatal. Poor Bertram lay in the street. More people harmed trying to protect her.
Honoria patted her hand. “Don’t fret. Those men are strong. They’ll live.”
Nodding, Diana swallowed down her worry and focused on something she could do, rather than on things she was powerless to change. “I will tear the lace on my petticoat. Perhaps we can leave a trail of bread crumbs.”
“An excellent idea. Perhaps we can bribe these guards to let us go.” Honoria rubbed the emeralds around her neck and stared at the door.
“Let’s not risk it. Victor is smart and he has a strange obsession with regard to me. If these two tell him you tried to win our freedom, all will be lost, and I’ll be on the next boat to France.
