Page 70 of A Duke Under Her Spell
“For God’s sake, man! She is your daughter!”
“A mistake I am soon to rectify.”
“I will kill you both for this,” Felix promised their captors.
“You should be careful not to make promises that you cannot keep,” the Earl warned.
“This one I am sure of,” Felix asserted.
Lord Enfield pressed the knife further into Marybeth’s throat. She tried not to cry out, but she could not keep herself from doing so. The pain was too sharp to ignore. “Where is it?” he growled out.
“I cannot give you what I do not have,” Felix answered in clear agony over the pain Marybeth was in.
“Then you will give me what you do have.” The Earl pulled a piece of paper from his vest pocket and unfolded it before him on a flat stone. “You will sign Blackleigh Castle and all of the land surrounding it over to me, including the tunnel.”
“The castle was entrusted to my family by royal decree. It is not mine to redistribute as I wish. Any such document of transfer would need the King’s seal.”
“That can be remedied once you have recommended that I take charge of its care,” the Earl replied as if it were nothing at all to get the King’s approval on such an exchange. A disconcerting light dawned in his eyes. “It is a shame that such would not be possible by simply killing you, but the Prince Regent would gift the property to one of his favorites.”
“I will not sign,” Felix refused.
“You will sign, or she will die in the very same horrific way I described to you.”
“No,” Felix shook his head emphatically.
“As you wish.” The Earl nodded to Lord Enfield.
Lord Enfield nodded in return and threw Marybeth over to one of his men. “See to it,” he instructed, then turned his back and walked out.
Enfield’s henchman grinned and crushed Marybeth to him. She struggled against his hold and he laughed grabbing at her skirts. “No!” she cried out biting down on his arm with all her might. The coppery taste of blood filled her mouth gagging her. The man hollered jerking back, ripping the hem of her dress. He reared back and struck her across the face. Marybeth fell back and hit her head on the stone floor. Pain shot through her skull, passing behind her eyes in blinding white.
“Marybeth!” Felix shouted her name, fear and rage tinging his voice.
Blackness played at the edges of her vision, but by some miracle she managed to hang on to consciousness. The man launched himself on top of her and they struggled. He held her down as he prepared to do his worst. An angry, agonizing roar erupted from the far side of the room and they turned to find Felix fighting off his captors with ferocious blind fury. He lashed out much like that of a wounded bear throwing his fists about, knocking the pistols out of his guard’s hands.
The man leapt from atop Marybeth and ran to subdue Felix, but instead found himself being knocked back down. “Guards! Guards!” the Earl called for help from the men outside to bring an end to the chaos. “Enfield!” Still no answer. The Earl moved over to the doorway to see where everyone had gone but found no one there. Alone, without the aid of his men, the Earl leveled the pistol at Felix. “It appears that you are out of time. Farewell, Your Grace.”
“No!” Marybeth cried out and raced toward Felix. The sound of the gun firing was the last thing she heard before the world went black.
* * *
Oliver and Mr. Wheatly raced through the forest, attempting to evade their pursuers. Gunfire echoed behind them as bullets thwacked the trees around them. Oliver began to doubt that they would escape unscathed when out of the forest Lord Alexander and his brothers came thundering out of the trees. They fired back at the men pursuing them, engaged them in a brief battle, and had them subdued in short order.
The brothers tied up the men, and Lord Alexander came to stand beside Oliver and Mr. Wheatly. “What has happened?”
“We encountered these men at Blackleigh Castle. When they saw us, they gave chase,” Oliver answered, relieved to be alive.
“Did you see Marybeth?” Lord Alexander asked, concern for his sister shining in his eyes.
“No, we did not see either Marybeth or the Duke, but we were unable to gain entry into the castle. It is quite possible, given the number of men milling about and their reaction to being discovered, that Marybeth and the Duke could have been taken prisoner inside the ruin walls.”
“How many men remain at the castle?”
“I do not know.”
Lord Alexander walked back over to the men that they had taken prisoner. “How many men remain at the castle?” The men did not answer, staring at him in stony silence. One of the brothers stepped forward and kicked one of the prisoners. Lord Alexander asked his question again. “How many men?”
“A dozen or so. I do not know the exact number,” the one who had been kicked groaned.
