Page 60 of Rescuing a Tantalising Heiress
“I want to come, too,” Hugh said, and Edward smiled.
“We’ll rescue them together. You’ve offered Augusta your heart, and I’ve offered Isabella mine,” he said, and the Duke of Burlington looked at him in surprise.
“What did you say?” he demanded.
“There’s no time to explain, but I want you to know one thing—I love your daughter, and I’ll do whatever I can to get her back,” Edward replied, and now he hurried from the inn, jumping into the saddle, and urging Blaze to ride with all speed to the house with seven chimneys.
***
As the party rode across the moorland, following Benjamin, who was leading the way, Edward found himself at Isabella’s father’s side. He knew the duke was angry with him for allowing this calamity to occur, but he wanted to prove himself worthy of Isabella’s affections, and now he called out to the duke, hoping to make amends.
“I want you to know I did everything I could to protect Isabella,” he said as they rode along at a gallop.
“I shouldn’t have left her with you—I should’ve brought her back to Burlington Grange,” the duke replied.
“But she’d still have been in danger. I fear…well, I think you know who did this,” Edward replied.
The duke glanced at him angrily.
“How could I know? If I’d known, I’d have done something about it,” he replied.
But ever since the society had gathered at the inn, a creeping suspicion had come over Edward, one he could not rid himself of, even as he feared its awful possibility.
“Victor Radcliffe,” he said, and the duke almost fell off his horse in astonishment.
“Radcliffe? But…no, it can’t be,” he exclaimed.
“He’s a member of our society. I’m supposed to trust him, but I don’t, and it was just the other day he came to Howdwell Heights and saw Isabella there. I told him she was my cousin, but I know he didn’t believe me—he must’ve realized she was your daughter, he must’ve known. But why?” Edward demanded.
The look on the duke’s face told him everything he needed to know. He was right about Victor, even as Isabella’s father looked aghast.
“Yes, but I never thought…of course, it makes sense. I’m opposed to the continuation of slavery across the empire—we’ve abolished it here, but it’s still common elsewhere, particularly on the sugar plantations—hissugar plantations,” the duke said, and Edward nodded.
“Which is reason enough to snatch Isabella and make you pay for ruining his business plans,” Edward replied.
He knew Victor was involved with slavery—an abhorrent practice Edward saw as a blight on a civilized nation—and now Isabella’s kidnapping made sense. Edward could only hope they were not too late, and now he urged Blaze on at ever greater speed, praying they were not too late.
Chapter 27
“It’s no use. I can’t open it,” Isabella said, trying for the umpteenth time to force the lock on the door of the room they were held captive in.
She had lost any sense of time, though dusk was falling now, and the setting sun cast long shadows into the room. Augusta was watching, and Isabella turned to her with a sigh.
“It’s all right. We’re not going to get out that way. And we’re too high up to get out of the window. We’d fall to our deaths. All we can do is wait,” Augusta replied.
But Isabella was tired of waiting. She hated being trapped like this, and with an angry cry, she banged hard on the door.
“Let us out, your brute. You’ll be sorry for this!” she exclaimed.
But at that moment, the sound of footsteps could be heard outside, and Isabella stepped back as a key was turned in the lock. The door opened to reveal the scar-faced man and his accomplice. They were holding cords and without saying a word, they stepped forward, grabbing Isabella, who struggled in their grip.
“Let her go, your brutes!” Augusta cried, and she lashed out at the man with the scar on his face, even as he grabbed her and attempted to tie her wrists, too.
“Stop your struggling!” he snarled.
“Where are you taking us? We won’t go,” Isabella said, but the two men were far bigger and stronger than them, and now they bound their wrists, even as they struggled against them.
More footsteps now sounded in the corridor, and Victor appeared at the door with an anxious look on his face.
