Page 58 of Rescuing a Tantalising Heiress
“I’ve never been here before,” Isabella whispered as the man brandishing the knife leaned down and cut the cords binding her ankles.
“You can walk now but try to run, and you know what’ll happen. This way,” he snarled.
Isabella and Augusta were led up the steps to the house, entering a hallway lined with paintings and portraits, from which a carpeted staircase led up to a gallery above. There was no clue as to who the owner might be, and none of the portraits depicted anyone she recognized.
“Aren’t you at least going to tell us who you are?” she demanded, but the two men remained silent.
They led them up to the gallery and along a corridor leading to a narrow flight of stairs. Isabella noted every detail of the house, hoping to use the observation to her advantage in any possible escape.
“Up there,” one of them said, pushing Isabella roughly.
She did as she was told, knowing it was futile to resist with her wrists bound. At the top of the stairs, the man with the scar across his chin unlocked a small door leading to a box room. A tray with bread and a jug of water and a cup was set on the floor, and the cords around Isabella’s wrists were cut as she was pushed roughly inside. They did the same to Augusta, and the door was slammed shut, and the key turned in the lock.
“I suppose they were only expecting one of us,” Isabella said, pouring water into the cup and offering it to Augusta, who drank deeply.
“But what do they want with us? Is it only money? I don’t want Edward to be ruined,” she said, sinking down to the floor and sobbing.
“It’s not come to that yet. We don’t know what they want or who’s expected to pay. We don’t even know whotheyare,” Isabella replied, for she felt certain those responsible for this wickedness were not the two men who had brought them here.
They shared the bread and drank half the jug of water, saving some lest it be a while before they were fed and watered again. But as they had finished eating, the sound of footsteps could be heard outside, and the key now turned in the lock…
Chapter 25
“You!” Isabella cried as Victor Radcliffe stepped through the door, flanked by the two men who had snatched Isabella and Augusta from Howdwell Heights.
He smiled at them and nodded.
“I knew I recognized you—Ididrecognize you,” he replied.
“Edward never trusted you. He was right not to!” Augusta exclaimed, and Victor laughed.
“Ah, yes, your redoubtable brother. All that nonsense about a cousin. Well, he was right not to trust me. But fortunately, I’ve covered my tracks well enough for you not to be found. He won’t know where you are—not until I’m in receipt of all the money for the children’s hospital and the Duke of Burlington’s substantial fortune. Before you’re found, I’ll be long gone,” Victor said, still smiling as Isabella and Augusta faced him defiantly.
“But we know it’s you—and everyone’s going to know. You won’t get away with it,” Isabella replied.
“But I already have, haven’t I? You’re here, they’ll receive the ransom demand, not knowing anything of who sent it, and then I’ll disappear. They’ll guess, of course, but I’ll be far away, and I won’t be coming back,” Victor said, leaning on the doorframe and fixing Isabella with an unpleasant smile.
Isabella had been certain of her instincts about Victor, and now she was proved correct in them. He had been behind the kidnapping all the time, and her unexpected arrival at Howdwell Heights had led her straight into his hands. It was terrifying, but still, she did not know his reasons for kidnapping her. As far as she knew, Isabella’s father had nothing to do with Victor, nor was there any reason for animosity between them.
“But why? Why are you doing this?” she demanded.
He narrowed his eyes, considering his answer for a moment, before shaking his head.
“Your father isn’t the good and honest man you might take him for. He and I have had…dealings. But it’s his political activities I object to. He lobbies the House of Lords for changes to the law—he wants to do away with the plantations and stop the practice of slavery. But how can I profit without the slaves?” Victor demanded.
His words made Isabella feel sick. Her father was a great advocate for the end of slavery across the empire. Whilst the abhorrent practice had been outlawed in the motherland, it was still widespread, particularly in the Caribbean, on the sugar plantations.
There were still many men who profited from such human misery, and Isabella’s father had made himself unpopular in certain quarters by his vocal opposition to the practice. Isabella felt proud of her father for making such a stand, and the two of them had often discussed their abhorrence of this crime against such persons.
“You deserve to lose everything!” Isabella exclaimed, but Victor only laughed.
“But I think your father will first—if only to save you,” he said, and signalling to the two men at his side, he left the room, turning the key in the lock behind him.
Isabella ran to bang her fists on the door, hurling insults at Victor, whose smug expression and wicked words had roused her anger to uncontrollable heights.
“What a terrible man. A wicked, wicked man!” Augusta cried, and Isabella slumped to the floor, putting her head into her hands and letting out an angry cry.
“Slavery? It’s too abhorrent. My father wants to put an end to it, and yet that…man would kidnap us to punish him for doing so,” she said as Augusta came and put her arm around her.
