Page 54 of A Lady's Passion Knows No Distance
“Would you really kill me?” she asked after a while.
“I’ve done a lot of killing to reach where I am today,” Lord Canton said then. “I’ve even paid men to do the killing for me from time to time.”
“You’re a monster,” Caroline stuttered.
“No, Caroline, I am a smart man. There is a grand difference.”
“Once William finds out that I’m missing, he’ll come after me,” Caroline said before she realized she’d spoken before really thinking of his words. Lord Canton stilled as she spoke, his eyes narrowing on her.
“I know it,” he hissed. “I knew that Sir Roberts and William Ryan were the same person. I have no idea how he convinced the King to knight him under a new name, but I knew in my bones that they were one in the same.”
“How does it feel to know that the man you paid off became more of a man than you’ll ever be?” Caroline asked, wanting to really hurt Lord Canton where she knew it would.
“It bothers me very little, Caroline. I have you now and that’s all that matters,” he said.
“But why me? Why can’t you go claim some young woman who would actually want you?”
“Have we not been over this before, Caroline? It’s because there is no challenge in pursuing women that are easy to claim. I’ve enjoyed hunting you for some time, but you’ve always made it rather hard. Having your parents killed was really the only solution I saw. But when you pushed me away instead of clinging to me, I knew I needed to try something different.”
Caroline’s heart seemed to stop in her chest, the air growing thick around her. For a moment, she wondered if she had heard Lord Canton wrong. Could he have really meant to say that he’d killed her parents? Caroline feared fainting but willed herself to stay awake. She didn’t want to fall unconscious in the presence of such a man. She was starting to understand what Lord Canton was capable of and became too frightened to fall into blissful unconsciousness.
“Please, don’t do this,” she whimpered, tears pooling in her eyes.
“Come now, Caroline. It’s not like you to plead or beg. Try to endure the rest of your life with some dignity. It shall be a long journey to Scotland from the coast, so I suggest you get some rest. You never know what might happen next,” Lord Canton said with a smirk, his eyes focusing on her soaked body.
Caroline pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them the best she could. She tried to face away from Lord Canton, but it seemed pointless in a carriage. She wasn’t sure how she managed it, but eventually, she fell asleep.
~*~
The morning hour was very early when William heard pounding on his door. He woke with a start and moved quickly to pull on his trousers. One hand was holding them up while the other opened the door to reveal Lord Murphy on the other side, his face pale and wet from the rain that continued to fall.
“Caroline is gone. It appears as though she was kidnapped,” the older man stammered. William felt his stomach clench and he briefly thought he was going to be sick. He stumbled back into his room, leaving the door open as he finished dressing.
“Any ideas on who?” William asked as he pulled on his boots and tugged on his jacket.
“No. And I fear to speculate regarding anyone in particular. I don’t know if Lord Goldman had any enemies, or if Lord Canton would try to do something like this?” Lord Murphy rambled.
“Lord Canton hired men to sail the open waters destroying other ships and killing men for his own gain. The man is quite capable of kidnapping,” William said, his voice matching the anger that was boiling up inside of him. “He no doubt is heading to Scotland to make things official with Caroline. Then he can gain Lord Goldman’s title and fortune.” William was already walking down the tavern’s hallway in a hurry, Lord Murphy trying to catch up with him.
“This is all a lot of speculation,” Lord Murphy said as they both jogged down the stairs and into the main room of the tavern.
“I’ve been studying Lord Canton for years, ever since he paid me off to leave Caroline alone. If anyone knows him better, I’d be very much surprised,” William said over his shoulder as he stepped outside to feel the rain still falling from the sky. However, it felt lighter than the day before. William made haste to the stables, with Lord Murphy rushing to stay close to him. William saddled his horse as soon as he could and mounted with nothing more than the clothes on his body.
“What are you going to do?” Lord Murphy asked.
“I will ride north and try to catch up to them. You should remain at home to see if you can find any sign of Caroline close by. Send Lord Sergio in another direction just in case,” William explained. “I will bring her back, I promise.”
“Here, take this,” Lord Murphy said as he removed a small pistol from his pocket and handed it to William. “It is not much, but I’d feel better knowing you had a weapon on you.”
William pocketed the gun with a nod, then steered the horse out of the stables. Once they were on the open road, he flicked the reins and sent his horse into a gallop as he leaned over the animal’s neck, wanting to shorten the distance between him and wherever Caroline was.
Fear, anxiety, and worry coursed through William’s body as he urged his horse forward at an alarming rate. Rain washed down his face as he blinked back the water, needing to see as clearly as possible. The road was wet with puddles and William knew that riding in these conditions was risky. But knowing that Caroline was no longer safe was all that William needed to take such a risk.
William paid no attention to his own needs as the day progressed. He pushed back any feeling of hunger and licked the water from his lips to quench his thirst. His horse heaved with exhaustion, yet he never let his steed slow his pace. He had to find Caroline at any cost, even if his horse were to die in the process.
Up in the distance, William could see a strange sight. A carriage had become lodged in the mud, two of its wheels appearing to be beneath the rainwater as it sat cantered on its side.
If William hadn’t been in such a rush, he would have stopped to help the people. It was only the sight of a man with black hair trying to help free the wheel that caused William to pull on the reins of the horse to immediately stop the beast.
