Page 85 of My Secret Duke
“I wouldn’t be surprised, given the amount you eat. Now, from which window did this tragedy take place?”
They were on the front steps now, and Edwina pointed to the right. Olivia remembered from her visit earlier that the nursery overlooked this part of the property. It shouldn’t be too hard to find the defenestrated doll and bring it safely back into her sister’s arms. A cold gust of wind blew across the driveway, and with it came splatters of rain. The stars were hidden behind the clouds, and it was dark and dreary. Not the place for a small girl in her nightdress with bare feet.
“Go upstairs to the nursery and look out of the window, Edwina. You can direct me to the right place.”
As Edwina padded back up the stairs, Olivia took a lantern from the table in the foyer and headed outside once more. Another gust of wind made her shiver. Shewasn’t dressed for this either, in her pretty gown and slippers, but needs must. Holding the lantern high, she descended the steps and crossed toward the side of the house Edwina had indicated.
At least it was more sheltered here, with a shrubbery to protect her. She could hear Georgia and Edwina arguing from somewhere above and in front of her. She kept walking, until she saw her sisters’ pale faces peering down from one of the upper windows.
“Here we are! Olivia! Here, here!”
“I see you,” she called back, biting her lip on laughter. “So where is this poor doll? Georgia, you shouldn’t throw Edwina’s babies from the window, you know that.”
“They’re silly,” Georgia retorted in a sulky voice. “She’d rather play with them than me.”
Ah, perhaps that was the real reason for Georgia’s meanness. She was jealous. She wanted the attention Edwina gave to her imaginary companions all for herself. It was something to consider next time the two girls argued.
Edwina was pointing down, and after a brief search, Olivia found the doll. It looked unharmed, but it was hard to tell. Her sister’s dolls were all well loved.
“Pardon. Mademoiselle?”
A quiet voice made her start. Olivia straightened, the lantern swinging wildly in her hand as she turned around.
There was a gentleman behind her in a plain jacket and breeches and, oddly, boots that came up over his knees. His dark hair was pulled back at his nape in an old-fashioned queue and he was watching her intently with brown eyes in a narrow face. Well, one eye. The other was turned outward and appeared more white than brown.
Her first thought was that he must be a servant, because if he was a guest, she would have known him. And she didn’t.
“You are Lady Olivia Ashton?”
Now she heard his faint French accent. Had someone been asking for her inside the house? Had they seen her go outside and were worried? But that didn’t quite make sense.
“YouareLady Olivia Ashton?” he repeated, watching her with that strange intensity.
“Yes, I am. Who are you?”
He didn’t answer her question, instead saying, “Will you come with me, please?” in a polite but firm voice.
Suddenly, Olivia did not like the expression on his face. But before she could tell him she wasn’t going anywhere, he had taken her arm in a tight, painful grip.
Fear overwhelmed her. “Let me go!”
“Olivia! Olivia!” Edwina was calling frantically.
“Tell Northam I have taken his woman,” the stranger shouted up at the girls. “Now I will have my revenge.”
“Ivo…” Olivia tried to understand his meaning, but her sisters’ screaming, and the man’s painful grip on her as he dragged her away, made it difficult to think. “This—this is because of Ivo?”
“He forced me to leave, and took what should have been mine. All of this.” He gestured about him at the house and garden. “I thought to send him to the gallows, but his men are too stupid to speak against him. This will be better,” he said with satisfaction. “To take what he loves most and leave him alive and suffering. Yes, this revenge is better.”
Olivia knew she had to escape. Now. She opened her mouth to shout for help, at the same time resistinghis pull. But before she could utter more than a squeak, he wrapped his arm around her, and his hand closed over her mouth. She could taste the saltiness of his skin, and her stomach lurched. He was thin but taller than her, and he had a wiry strength. She fought him desperately, the lantern swinging wildly until he took it from her.
And then, for a brief, ecstatic moment, she was free. Until she realized he’d only released her so that he could cover her head with something coarse and rough that completely blinded her. A sack? It smelled of fish. Her stomach heaved in earnest, and she only just managed to swallow back the bile.
He was tying a rope around her, binding her arms to her sides beneath the cloth covering, and although she kicked and squirmed, it was no use. At least her mouth was free, so she screamed as loudly as she could—which wasn’t very loud with her face covered. Her cries were choked off when he gave a vicious tug on the loose end of the rope. She was falling, and with her arms bound, she could not save herself. Panic made her heart beat so loudly she could not hear anything else.
She didn’t fall. He was holding her up, but only until she regained her balance again. Then he began to pull her along by the rope tether, leading her like an animal.
“Where are you taking me?” Her voice wobbled and broke. “Please, let me go!”
