Tempting Miss Allender (Regency Rakes 3) (17 page)

“Of course,” Mathew said as he walked to the door. He wanted to leave before Patience had a chance to tender any more arguments or throw something hard at his head. He would let her siblings deal with her.

“You can’t just—”

Mathew closed the door on her protests and made for the front door. He was outside in his carriage before she could catch him. Smiling as he saw the front door open, he watched her appear and almost wished he could see the fire in her eyes. Instead, he looked forward and instructed his driver to take him home. Once there, he would send men to watch over the household until the Allenders were safely inside his house. There would be no more threats to the Allender family; he would ensure that, just as he would ensure that Brantley Winston was brought to justice.

CHAPTER NINE

Patience stormed back inside to find her siblings standing side by side, facing her as she walked in through the parlor door.

“We are not going!”

“It is for the best,” Lucy said calmly.

“How can moving into the Belmont household help us? Surely it can only make matters worse, as suddenly the threat to us is also to them.” Patience tried to speak calmly, yet she wanted to kick something, namely a tall marquis. How dared he turn her siblings against her? Suddenly everything appeared beyond her control, and now Lucy and Charlie were trusting Mathew, but she was not yet sure she could do that.

Liar.

Ignoring the voice, she glared at her siblings. “We cannot simply move into his household, for pity’s sake. He has not even consulted his mother, and she lives there also.”

“She will not mind,” Lucy said.

“How do you know that?”

“Because she knows it is what our mother would have wanted.”

Lucy’s words were like a blow to her stomach, propelling the air out of her. “How can you know that?”

“I just do.”

She looked at her siblings, standing hip to hip, united in their belief that they should move into Mathew’s household, and felt a surge of betrayal. They did not believe she could keep them safe any longer, and, after a few words and no more than a week in his company, suddenly Mathew could provide them with a safe haven, while she could not.

“We are not moving into his household.”

She stormed out and went up to her bedroom, where she sat on her bed, thinking furiously. Was it her growing feelings for him that were stopping her? Did she trust him? Could she keep her heart whole if she saw him continually, and he kissed her again? Was it really best for them to move to his household, and were her personal feelings towards him making her unreasonable?

“Am I balking because of selfish reasons?” Patience whispered.

Falling backward onto the bed, she lay staring at the ceiling. Exhaustion was making her irrational. Perhaps after a few minutes of rest she could make sense of everything.

Patience woke to a knock on the door, and had no idea how long she had slept. Climbing to her feet, she went to open it, certain one of her siblings would be standing there.

“A note has arrived for you, Miss Allender.”

“Thank you, Mr. Toots.” She took it, quickly broke the seal, and read the few lines.

Come at once, I have news of an alarming nature concerning your cousin.
It was signed Mr. Whitty, Private Investigator.

Shaking the last vestiges of sleep from her head, Patience quickly pulled on her bonnet and pelisse, then made sure her pistol was inside her reticule before she left.

“Where are you going, Patience?” Her sister was standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at her as she descended.

“I shall return shortly, Lucy.”

“Mathew’s carriages will be here soon. Charlie and I are nearly packed.”

“Send him a note, please, saying we are not moving.”

Lucy shook her head furiously. “I will not, not when Charlie and I wish to go. If you want to stay, then do so, but we will be leaving.”

“Lucy, I—” Patience watched as her sister walked away, but she did not have time to talk with her further. She must see what Mr. Whitty had uncovered, because perhaps that would change everything. Dear Lord, she hoped so. “Just wait until I return, please!” she called, but Lucy did not reply.

Walking out onto the street, Patience hailed a hackney. She did not have time to collect the carriage, nor did she want anyone accompanying her. She would be safe to travel there and back alone at such a time. The streets were busy, and it was not her that their cousin wanted.

Mr. Whitty’s street was busy with people and carriages. Paying her driver, she told him that if he passed by again shortly, he would secure her fare home.

“Will do.” The driver tipped his hat, then drove away.

Something made Patience turn, a shiver of awareness as she struck out for the other side of the street, where Mr. Whitty had his premises. Looking over her shoulder, she saw a man watching her, so she picked up her pace, lifted her skirts and ran. The thunder of hooves stopped her, and, looking right, she saw two horses approach.

Silly fools, to be riding at such a pace on a busy street, Patience thought, stopping to await their passing. She looked once more behind her but did not see the man anywhere. Dismissing him, she realized she was becoming paranoid. Thankfully the horses started to slow as they neared her, which saved her issuing a warning about irresponsible behavior on such a busy street.

“Miss Allender?”

The man on the horse closest to her called her name. She did not recognize him, but seconds later he had drawn abreast. She did not see the arm that bent to catch her, but suddenly she was being lifted high and seated in front of him.

“Let me go!” She struggled and swung her fists, and then watched in horror as her reticule slid from her wrist and disappeared to the street below. She had no pistol now, and no one knew where she had gone to.

“Who are you, and what do you want with me?” she cried, but the man who was holding her did not reply. Patience knew it was useless to fight him anymore, as falling from a horse at this speed would only harm her. She must save her energy for when her feet were once again on the ground.

Slowly the streets turned less inviting, the buildings less grand, until they were winding their way through narrow, dirty streets. She saw some masts in the distance and shivered, realizing they were close to the water.

The horses slowed as they approached a large grey building. The man who had been riding alongside them dismounted and pulled her down, then threw her over one shoulder. Patience pummeled his back, but he merely grunted, trapped her legs and walked beside the buildings down a narrow alley. It smelled hideous, and she did not dwell on what could have made that stench.

She heard the creak of a door opening, then they were inside a darkened room.

“Lock her in and we’ll go finish the job and get the boy.”

“You will not harm my brother!”

“And what do you think you can do about it?” One of the men laughed at her.

Patience was then carried farther across the room, up some stairs, and through another door, then she was lowered to her feet.

“What will you do with me?” Spinning, she faced the man now walking back out the door. “Answer me!”

His smile wasn’t pleasant.

“Just getting you out of the way for a while, Miss Allender, while we take care of your brother. Then after that you’ll just have to wait and see, but it’s my thinking that by the time I get back here you’ll be mighty glad to see me.”

“No!” Patience ran across the room, but the door had slammed and the lock had been driven home by the time she reached it. “Please, I shall pay you more!”

Silence greeted her words.

“Dear God, Charlie,” she whispered as helpless despair gripped her. Her only hope was that her siblings would had gone against her wishes and left for the safety of Mathew’s household before these men got there.

On the other side of the room was a window that was leaking cracks of light through the boards that were nailed over it. Patience tried each to see if any were loose, but they were secure.

How long was she to be left here? Indefinitely? Would anyone come for her now, or once Charlie was… She could not even think it.

Pacing the small room, she tried to think as she looked for something, anything to loosen those boards, anything to help her escape. There was only a rickety, uncomfortable-looking chair on the foul-smelling floor, and nothing else. Patience lifted it high, then dropped it onto the floor, letting it smash into pieces. Picking up a leg, she turned toward the window.

She worked the narrow end beneath the wood, then pushed with all her strength, trying to prize it off. After repeated efforts she felt the nail loosen, and on the next attempt she had it free on one side. She gripped the loose board and pulled, and the next nail came free so easily that she stumbled backwards, landing hard on her bottom, the impact shuddering through her body. No one came to see what she was doing, or to check the noise, which suggested she was indeed alone in this building.

The work was tiring, and soon the muscles in her body were screaming at her to cease, but it was also giving Patience something to focus on rather than thinking about her brother and sister, who could right now be under attack.

Please stay safe.

The second board took longer, and by the third, blood was soaking into her gloves and her body was protesting fiercely. When the third board was free, she looked out through the dirty glass and her heart sank to her toes. Water met her eyes, lots of deep water.

Her legs lost strength, and she crumpled to the floor. There, she brought up her knees and wrapped her arms around them. She could smash the window if it did not open, but she couldn’t jump into the water, even if she did know how to keep herself afloat.

After her fall into the creek, her father had taught her to swim. She had tolerated his teachings because she knew they would save her if it ever happened again, but once the lessons were over she never stepped foot into deep water again. How could she now hurl herself from a building into the dirty grey depths below and survive?

But you have to, if you want to save your family.

She climbed to her feet, went back to the window and looked out once more. She could do this; she was strong, and it would be over in minutes…if she didn’t drown. Shutting out that thought, Patience tried to lift the window, but it wouldn’t move, which told her that it was nailed shut. She put the broken chair leg to use once again and jabbed it hard at the glass. It took four attempts but eventually she smashed it. Then she took off her bonnet, her spencer and dress, bundled the clothes around her hand and cleared out all the glass, not wishing to cut herself as she climbed through.

With her shoes off, Patience took several deep breaths, and then lifted one leg onto the frame, then the other, until she was seated on the sill looking out. Below her was a narrow path that led around the building. She would need to jump out so she did not hit it. Trying not to imagine what would happen if she mistimed her jump, Patience quickly tied her clothes into a tight bundle using the ties from her bonnet, and she then lowered it, hoping it stopped on the ledge and not in the water. She then braced her feet beneath her, her knuckles white as they gripped the frame.

“One, two, three.” Closing her eyes, she pushed off the sill, and with her arms and legs flailing she started to fall.

Mathew ran into the Allender town house. He had received word from the family, saying that he needed to get there quickly, and he had done so, riding as fast as he could through the busy London streets.

“Lord Belmont.” His footman greeted him first. “It was I who sent for you.”

“What has happened, Tim?” Closing the door, Mathew moved inside.

“I followed Miss Allender from the house, as you requested I should do if any of the family were to leave. She then took a hackney alone to Castle Street, and after she left it, two men on horseback abducted her. I tried to give chase, but they were too quick and had soon disappeared. I questioned several people, but no one could enlighten me as to which direction they had taken. I then sent word to you and kept looking for another twenty minutes.”

Mathew clenched his fists as he fought the flood of panic. He wanted to roar at the man, shake him for letting someone take Patience, yet he knew he could not.

“I know you would have done everything you could to find Miss Allender, Tim,” he said as he swallowed down the fear inside him.

“It was as if she’d disappeared, my lord.”

“Where is the family now?” Mathew asked as he realized that only one person could be responsible for abducting Patience.

“In the parlor. They have the two footmen with them, and there are two of your men outside and another at the rear of the property.”

“Have you said anything to them?”

“No, my lord.”

“We must find her, Tim.”

“Mathew!” Charlie came running toward him. “Something has happened to Patience, I know it has! She would not have left us for so long without word!”

Mathew put an arm around the boy and held him close. “Yes, she has been abducted, Charlie, but we shall get her back, I promise.” Honesty was needed now; nothing else would do. “Tim, go to Lord Kelkirk, and take my card. Tell him I need him here immediately with as many men as he can spare. Ask him to alert the Duke of Stratton also, then find this Mr. Whitty, the private investigator Miss Allender hired.”