Page 95 of Too Wanton to Wed
Actually, he heard horse hooves right now. He paused, spine bent over his daughter, and strained to listen. Perhaps one of his worthless beasts was finally coming to him, instead of the other way around. Smiling, he lifted his head to call out to Violet when the horse burst around the corner.
Not his stallion.
The horseman dug in his heels and sped straight toward Violet. The rider’s blinding white cravat fluttered in the wind, clashing incongruously with the black slash of his eye patch.
“Violet!” Alistair screamed, but the wind whipped his words over the trees.
The rider yanked Violet up by her hair and the back of her gown. He swung her up across his legs and yanked her upright into his lap.
Alistair hobbled forward, unable to move any faster with his injured daughter in his arms but equally unable to countenance the horrific abduction taking place before his very eyes.
With a self-congratulatory smile, the one-eyed knave tipped his hat and rode off with the woman Alistair loved.
Chapter 40
Scalp stinging from her hair being half-ripped from her head, Violet flailed at her captor. Mr. Percy Livingstone had found her at last. There had been no chance of avoiding capture. And now that he had her, he planned to kill her. If she let him. She struggled to break free.
He trapped her arms to her chest and chuckled in her ear. “It won’t be as easy as all that, Miss Whitechapel. I may only be able to enjoy watching with one eye, but I’ve finally got you where I want you.”
Violet slammed the back of her head against his chin. “On a horse?”
“On my lap.” He jerked her to one side, ripping a hole in her gown. “You interrupted my fun with your little student. I intend to finish what I started with you instead.”
Furious, she tried to slam an elbow into his groin. “Good luck. You’ve got to get down sometime, and when you do I’ll gouge your other eye out.”
He tsked. “Why so unfriendly? Surely you’re not saving yourself for your reclusive benefactor.” He laughed. “If so, don’t bother. I whipped those simpletons into such a frenzy that not even a cinder of that abbey will remain.”
Violet choked. “You—”
“Turnabout is fair play, is it not?” Percy Livingstone’s chilling tone set gooseflesh down her back. “Surely you cannot fault me for seeking vengeance. A fire seemed terribly apt.”
She jerked away from him. “The people in that abbey are innocent!”
“Not my problem. Besides, the smithy and his boys are only after the little vampire girl and her father. The rest are just icing on the cake. Aren’t backwater superstitions a delight?”
She struggled against his tight grip. “Why are you doing this?”
“I believe my countenance speaks for itself. An eye for an eye, as they say. And I could hardly forgo a tête à tête once your lover ruined my good name in the courtroom.”
She stilled. “What?”
“Didn’t he tell you? I was informed only yesterday, myself. All accusations ruled invalid. Imagine,mehaving to apologize toyoufor vilification of character! Andmonetary recompense. The very idea. I decided to pay you what you deserved face to face.” He pinched her cheek roughly. “A hundred pounds loosens many tongues. Imagine my further delight to discover the townsfolk more than willing to fight my battles for me. And all I had to do was sit back, light my pipe, and wait for the cockroaches to scuttle free.”
Violet’s mind raced as his meaning sank in.Invalid accusations. Alistair hadn’t told her yet, because Alistair hadn’t known. They hadn’t stepped foot outside the sanctuary since the previous morning, much less inquired after correspondence. His solicitor had won. She was free!
Or would be, if she weren’t trapped atop a horse with a madman.
She had to think. She had no pistol. She had no knife. She had no weapon of any kind except her brain, and if she couldn’t come up with something brilliant soon, she would be halfway to Lancashire before sunrise.
The horse. The horse was the answer! Rather than try to slip free, what she ought to do was knockhimloose. But how, when he held the ribbons and she bounced upon his lap?
Slowly, she eased upright. He shot her a suspicious glance, but when she made no sudden move, he returned his attention to the uneven road. She would only have one chance. She would have to do it now, and do it fast.
Violet shot one hand forward to snatch up the reins. She jerked the ribbons from his startled grasp at the same time she pistoned backward with her other arm. Her elbow caught him square in the neck, snapping his chin upward and his head back.
His torso careening off-balance, he windmilled wildly to regain his equilibrium. Before he could do so, Violet swung her shoulder hard into his ribs and her elbow into his groin.
With a tiny “Oof!” he fell sideways off the horse, landing hard on the dirt and gravel.
