HisLadysKeeperfinal.wps (9 page)

“Indeed, she isn’t. She is an independent woman … no man has any influence over her.”

She made a scoffing noise. Seeking to put some distance between them, she

walked toward the door that led into her dressing rooms. He coughed in order to gain her attention.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, I’d only follow you. Unless, you have a lock on the door, in that case, I’d use these.” He held up a ring of jingling keys, and gave her a dashingly cunning smile.

“I think I must be dreaming. Earlier this afternoon, I must have been thrown by my horse, and knocked myself senseless. That’s the only explanation—this is the most ludicrous thing that I have ever been forced to endure. I should have just stayed in London with mama and the rest of my sisters. In fact, upon the morrow, I will have a carriage take me back to Mayfair.”

“I wouldn’t advise that. From what Mallory told me your sisters are no longer in residence there … they’ve gone to your country estate in the Lake District.”

“Wonderful. Everyone seems to be involved in this merry little plot to see me married off to you.” He crossed the distance she’d deliberately put between them and was about to retort, when they heard something that made her blood run cold.

The sound of a child’s scream pierced the uneasy silence between them.

HIS LADY’S KEEPER Marly Mathews 41

“You said that Charles begged to be left behind, didn’t you?” she asked

anxiously, fear creeping into her heart. At ten years of age, Charles was a cheeky little fellow.

He nodded his head. In one quick stride, he was at the open window. She raced to stand beside him. “I can’t see much … do you know if Charles went back outside to the old Oak tree he’d chosen to build his tree house in?” she inquired.

“I don’t know. I didn’t see him. I assumed he’d been tucked away for the night by his nursemaid.”

“Damnation.” She looked wildly around the room. “We have to get out there.”

She reached inside of her escritoire and produced two pistols. “These were Andrew’s.

Here.” She shoved one of them into his hands.

“This isn’t necessary, I’m already armed.”

“I don’t care. Let’s go … those bloody highwaymen must have wandered onto

the estate somehow.”

“Perhaps.”

Picking up her skirt in her hand, she looked to the door. If they went that way it would take them at least ten minutes to get outside. If they went by her secret path, they’d get outside quicker.

He had already headed toward the door. “Stop,” she ordered.

Hart looked back at her in surprise.

“We need to move quickly, if you can’t keep up in that gown of yours, I’m not surprised. Besides, you should stay here where it’s safe.”

“Safe, my arse. If Charles is in trouble, nothing can keep me here. Least of all, you. I have another path, one that will take us to Charles’s side quicker. As you say, time is of the essence, we must move with purpose.”

She walked over to the far wall of her room hating herself for what she was about to do. Reaching up, she touched the wall in just the right spot. The secret passageway opened to reveal a stone interior. “Come on, it will be drafty and dusty in here, but there’s an escape stairwell that will take us directly to an outside opening. From there, we should be able to reach Charles in under five minutes.”

“Five minutes is still a long time, by the time we reach him—”

“Don’t finish that thought. You forget you aren’t the only old chum of Mallory’s that’s here in residence. There must have been others that heard Charles besides us. And from what I’ve heard, each ‘
chum
’ of Mallory can take care of whoever is threatening Charles.”

They entered the passageway. He looked back at her. “I’m running blind here.”

She shoved a candelabrum into his hands. “You’re going to have to light the way, since I have to hold my skirt so I don’t break my bloody neck on these damn steps. Just take care, they can be slippery.” She didn’t know why she was concerned about him … he was only a huge thorn in her side.

“Let’s go.” He gave her a look of determination. “If you want to remain behind I won’t think any lesser of you,” he declared.

“I can handle myself. I’ve had two older brothers that have schooled me well in the arts of self-defense. My younger sister and I were the ones that took care of the little ones while my brothers were away at war you know. I’ve meted out my own form of justice on more than one occasion. I won’t shirk away from this challenge, Hart.”

HIS LADY’S KEEPER Marly Mathews 42

Within a few minutes, they were out in the chilly night air. She should have grabbed a shawl and thrown it over her shoulders, but in her haste, she’d forgotten.

“Over there!” She pointed toward a grouping of horses and what looked like

Charles struggling madly against two men that were trying to drag him away.

“Blast and damn, what do they think they’re doing?” Her breath came in ragged gasps, as they ran to help Charles.

“Well, my dearest, I think they might just be kidnapping Charles.”

HIS LADY’S KEEPER Marly Mathews 43

Her heart was thudding so loudly in her ears that she could barely hear what Hart had said. She heard nonetheless, and that’s when she froze.

“Why?” she croaked out hoarsely.

“How would I know? Maybe because your dear brother has officially adopted

him?”

She shook her head. “This makes no bloody sense. Charles is not a true St.

Martin though he may be loved like one, he will not inherit Mallory’s title or wealth.”

“That doesn’t take away from the fact that some men of ill reputation could seek to capitalize on the fact that Charles is treasured by Mallory and Elizabeth. Face it Gemma, they would pay a King’s ransom for him, if he was taken.”

“I—just let’s rescue him before it’s too late. You there!” She pointed at the man restraining a wildly struggling Charles. “You put that boy down and stop this instant!”

Her shout echoed across the landscape. She could see that one of the men was holding his hand over Charles’s mouth. Charles bit his hand, and for one brief second the would-be kidnapper dropped his hand away from the tenacious boy’s mouth.

“Get back to the house, it’s a trap!” Charles yelled at the top of his lungs.

“Trap?” she echoed.

Hart stopped, and grabbed onto her elbow pulling her backward. She slammed against him.

“What are you doing? Just let me go so I get a clean shot, I should be able to hit one of the men. I’ll just wing him so he’ll release Charles.”

“Didn’t you hear Charles? He’s trying to warn us.” The sound of carriage wheels caught her attention. She tried to still her ragged breathing. The cold night air seared her lungs, making it difficult for her to breathe. She gripped Hart so tightly she was probably bruising his arm. “I think we’re being watched. How the hell did this many people get on the Estate without Mallory noticing? He’s being remiss in his duties to protect his family. When I get a hold of him, I’m going to give him such a what-for that his ears will be ringing for days!”

Distantly, she heard Hart, though her eyes were furtively scanning the landscape.

“Hart.” She narrowed her eyes, squinting them tightly together. Now, she really had reason to worry. “Hart, my God, that’s our carriage.”

“Our carriage? What do you—” His voice trailed off. “Bollocks. I can’t believe this … are you telling me that’s Mallory’s carriage?”

“Aye. I am. Don’t you see our family crest?” Behind the St. Martin carriage rolled another carriage. She could only assume this carriage was filled with men well armed to the teeth. “Hart … what do we do?” she asked plaintively.

Her family was in dire peril. She had to do something fast before it all blew away from her like dust on the wind.

“Wait for my instructions. You will follow my orders to the T. Am I

understood?” Numbly, she nodded her head.

HIS LADY’S KEEPER Marly Mathews 44

He looked down at her. Suddenly, she was so happy to have him on her side, on
their
side. She knew if there was one person that could save her family, it would be Hart.

The carriages rolled to a stop. The second carriage opened first. A dark haired man descended the steps. He was around Mallory’s age, and quite good-looking. He carried himself with a refined grace, and yet, she could tell that he wasn’t a man she would like to meet in a darkened room. The coolly detached expression he wore on his visage made her heartbeat quicken. This man was deadly. And right now, he held in his hands, the lives of her brother, sister-in-law and niece. She tried to swallow past the huge lump in her throat.

“Lady Gemma, I presume,” he proclaimed, locking his dark gaze on her.

She started at the sound of her name rolling over his tongue. He had a slight accent … one that sounded distinctly Spanish. He held his hand up in a commanding gesture. “There is no need for you to speak, my lovely lady, you are not in danger.

However, in due course, you will understand the terms I have.”

“What terms?” Hart asked. She looked wildly at him, her heart constricting in her chest.

Hart had a look of thunder on his face, if the odds weren’t so heavily stacked against them, she felt sure he would have killed the Spaniard with his bare hands.

“I did not give you permission to speak, Highlander.”

Her heart still hammered against her corset, this day had turned into a living nightmare. Why hadn’t Mallory enlisted more security to guard the Estate? If he knew he had these sorts of enemies, he should have taken great pains to protect his family.

Again, he had let the family down. She closed her eyes, saying a silent quick prayer before she opened them again to meet the Daego’s gaze.

“I am only addressing, Lady Gemma, your presence to me has no relevance. If you speak again, one of my men will put you out of my misery, are we understood?”

“Yes.” She didn’t know why she’d spoken so quickly to defend Hart. But right now, seeing him gunned down beside her wasn’t something she wanted to experience.

She needed Hart … just as much as he needed her. Maybe there was something to the love at first sight malarkey after all.

“Excellent. Lady Gemma, you will be happy to know that your brother, his wife and your niece are quite alive, for the moment. Though I have put a formidable hole in your brother, he gave us quite the trouble when we tried to disrupt his traveling plans.”

She drew her breath in sharply. “If he dies—”

The Spaniard laughed. “You have no bargaining ground here, Lady Gemma.

You are on unequal footing. You shall wait on baited breath for what I have to say. I am after all the one holding the reins of power.”

“This will not go unpunished,” she promised. “Ramifications await you. Even now, forces will be summoned.”

“Heavy words for a woman such as yourself. You don’t look capable of doing me any bodily harm. With that willowy figure of yours, you could blow over in a great gust of wind.” She bit her lip. He was only trying to make her angry—she couldn’t lose her head not when she had so much at stake. “As much as I like to talk to you, Lady Gemma, I have other things to say, that relate to you even if they do not center in on you. I will be taking two people with me away from this estate this night. Two hostages if you will …

you see, your brother took something from me, so I shall endeavor to pay him back in HIS LADY’S KEEPER Marly Mathews 45

kind. The way I view it, I shall be leaving with the Duchess, and her darling baby girl.

She is a picture of perfection, from what I can see, she favors her father’s side of the family.”

“No.” Gemma’s heart stopped. “No. You can take me, you don’t need Susan.

She will only slow you down. Traveling with a baby won’t be as easy as you think—

Susan needs special care, her health is delicate—”

“None of which matters to me. Unfortunately, sentimentality falls short on me, as such, the brat’s health is of no concern to me.”

“I am more valuable to you.”

“You are not the duke’s daughter.”

“Not the current duke, but I am a duke’s daughter … and I am worth much more to you then Susan or Elizabeth—”

“I fail to see the logic in your proposition. No, I am still quite determined to take the duchess and her child. However, I am not prepared to leave witnesses. I will be sad to see you dead, Lady Gemma but sometimes sacrifices must be made for the greater good.”

She exchanged a quick glance with Hart. She didn’t like the way this was going

… before the Spaniard had the time to do anything they couldn’t take back, they had to stop him. The carriage that Elizabeth and Mallory were being held in started to lurch from side to side. Obviously, Mallory was putting up some sort of resistance. They had to strike while the iron was hot.

Without thinking, she aimed her pistol at the Spaniard and shot. That’s when all hell broke loose. She hit him squarely in the shoulder. Grunting, he let out a slew of swear words in Spanish and staggered backward, though by the looks of him, she hadn’t served him a deathblow.

“
Get down
,” Hart ordered, pulling her a little too roughly down to the ground with him.

Shouts rang through the air. Finally, Mallory’s men had been roused into action.

It had taken them long enough to come their aid, but she would point out that sad fact to Mallory once she knew he was alive and well. In the haze of all of the combat, she somehow managed to slip out of Hart’s ironclad grasp. She had to make it to the carriage carrying Mallory, Elizabeth and Susan. Charles had managed to break free and he was fighting like a little hellion. She had to admire his grit and determination.