Page 151 of His Duchess in Disguise
The sound of a gong thundered through the house. “Who can that be?” the Earl rasped in irritation. “No one knows where we are.”
Moments later, there were footsteps outside the room, and a gentle tap at the door. The Earl opened it and slipped outside.
As soon as the door closed behind him, Emma went into action. She brought the heel of her shoe down on her guard’s instep, then dropped, allowing her full weight to hang from his arm. She was not an experienced fighter, and the man was wearing heavy leather boots, so her sudden resistance made little impression on her captor.
Mary, who had grown up with brothers, fared better. She used the hold her guard had on her as a fulcrum, kneed him in the groin, then brought her stout shoe down on his instep, then danced away out of his reach when he crumpled to the floor, contorted in pain.
Quickly, she turned to help Emma, but the other man was now forewarned, and he swung Emma in front of him to act as a shield against Mary. Emma tried to tangle her foot around his knee and topple him, but he stood firm as an oak.
Other guards moved up quickly, and their brief rebellion was over in a moment. They all stood breathing hard, except for the man Mary had kicked. He lay curled on the floor.
When the Earl returned, he took in the scene at a glance. “Bind them, throw all the captives in the coach, along with that old sot, her father. We’ll sort it out at Calber Cove. It seems the rumors of the Duke’s demise were somewhat over-stated and he is headed to London to reclaim my bride.”
“I thought you were a lady,” the guard who held Emma hissed in her ear as he bound her.
“I am a lady,” Emma snarled back. “One who intends to defend her honor. You are a cad to treat us so.”
“And a bounder,” added Mary, who was not making it easy for the man trying to bind her wrists.
“Enough,” said the Earl. “Knock them out, if you must, but get on with it.”
The four of them were taken outside and tossed into a carriage with little regard for their comfort. In a couple of moments, the Baron was also tossed in. “Rude party,” he muttered, clearly deeply in his cups.
The carriage lurched off at a great rate. Clearly, the Earl did not wish to be at hand when the Duke reached the Cleweme country estates. The bound passengers were jounced about. Emma and Mrs. Able, both too short to brace themselves with their feet, were thrown to the floor of the carriage. Mr. Jones made muffled, inarticulate cries, wrenching at his bindings as he tried to reach them.
Emma’s father had passed out and was snoring stentoriously, completely oblivious to his surroundings. For the first time, Emma became a little worried about him. Although he had never been attentive, he would have been unlikely to fail to respond to their plight. What had the Earl done to him?
Emma’s head banged against the edge of the hard seat when they hit a hard bump. She wriggled around, trying to avoid hurting Mrs. Able. She mentally cursed her skirts, which got in her way, and bound up around her legs, but at last she was able to get more or less upright. In so doing, she discovered that she had dislodged the gag that had been shoved in her mouth. It wasn’t much, but perhaps if she could loosen it a little bit more.
That was when she felt fingers tweaking at it. Mary had been able to brace herself, being just that much taller. Now, she had turned to her side and was trying to hook her fingers in the rag tied around Emma’s head. Emma shifted a little until at last, the thing was loosened.
Emma’s hands were still bound, and she would have had a hard time getting back up on the seat, but now that her mouth was freed, she could use her teeth. Mary’s hands were bound with leather shoelaces! This was an amazing bit of luck.
Emma worried at the laces with her teeth, at the same time working up as much spit as she could manage. It was hard, since she had not had a good drink of water since their stay in the sheep shed. Between worrying the leather with her teeth and moistening it with her mouth, she was able to loosen the knots enough that Mary was able to free first one hand, then the other.
With her hands free, Mary quickly took off her gag and removed the gags from Mr. Jones and Mrs. Able. She then helped Mrs. Able to a more comfortable sitting position, even though she could not get her off the carriage floor.
With that accomplished, Mary reached down and worried the knots on Emma’s hands until she was also free. The young ladies then undid the bonds on their own feet and turned their attention to Mr. Jones and Mrs. Able.
“Save the ties,” Mrs. Able whispered. “If they open the carriage, we need to be able to pretend to still be bound until we can determine where we are.”
Mr. Jones nodded vigorously but did not say anything. Since they were supposed to be bound and gagged, talking would quickly give them away.
The carriage stopped for a moment, there was the sound of men’s voices, but before they could try to open the doors to slip out, it was underway again. Clearly, just a stop for fresh horses for they sped on at an even greater rate. Emma tried to peek out, but all she could see from beneath the drawn blinds was darkness. Then the carriage began to go up a ramp, throwing them all against the rear seat. The horses’ hooves clonked hollowly as if crossing decking and the carriage went up another ramp.
“The Deeps at Calber Cove,” Emma whispered. “We are in the Deeps.”
Mrs. Able shuddered. Emma knew what the housekeeper was thinking. They had gone sailing as a sort of holiday one year, and Mrs. Able had declared she would never do it again. Not only did the poor woman become seasick, but she also found that being tossed about “like a nutshell in a bathtub with all that water around us” frightened her beyond mere words. Now they were about to undertake a similar voyage, with no choice or hope.
Chapter 49
Leo reached London without finding a location where he felt comfortable leaving Reggie. Indeed, he was racking his brains as he walked along, leading the horse with his irritating cousin draped over the saddle. They had attracted no few glances and furtive few stares as they entered Cheapside. There he chanced to meet Sir Draper riding along in the company of Mrs. Pearthorne.
“Egad!” exclaimed Sir Draper, “Isn’t that your cousin, Reginald? And aren’t you supposed to be dead?”
“It is,” Leo agreed. “I am at a loss as to what to do with him. The report of my death was somewhat premature. I am in a tearing hurry. Harlow has abducted Emma, apparently with help from this worthless piece of baggage.”
“You can’t ride around London like that,” observed Mrs. Pearthorne. “Here, drape my cloak over him.”
