The Care and Taming of a Rogue (27 page)

Of course she likely would have been feeling ill even in the coach’s good seat. With her feet tied together and strung to her bound hands, and a gag across her mouth, if she wasn’t so…furious, she would be terrified. More terrified—since to herself she could admit that she was terribly frightened. Letting Langley know that, though, would give him yet another advantage, so she continued to glare.

“If you’ll promise to be civil, I’ll remove the gag,” Langley said, gazing at her.

She nodded.

Langley leaned forward and yanked the cloth down past her chin. “There. Now, what shall we chat about?”

“Where were we when you threw my maid out of the carriage?”

“Somewhere near Charing Cross. With no money, if she’s resourceful, she should make it back to Eddison House by nightfall.”

Thank goodness for that. Now, though, came the question she likely shouldn’t ask. Even under the circumstances, however, she couldn’t convince herself that ignorance was more comforting than certainty. “Are you planning on murdering me?”

The captain laughed. “Good God, no. Unless you force me to, of course, which I suggest you don’t.”

“Then where are we going?”

“Well, as far as anyone else knows at this moment,
I’m
going to my family’s estate. Thrushell Manor is just west of Carlisle. Have you ever been to the Lake District?”

“No.”

“It’s rather breathtaking, even to me. And I’ve seen quite a few amazing sights.”

“If you’re going to the Lake District, where am I going?”

“Well, that’s the clever part. Because just a few hours almost directly north of Carlisle is the Scottish border. And
just
beyond that, is Gretna Green.”

Phillipa stared at him. “You’re kidnaping me into
marriage
?”

“Frizzel said you were intelligent. Actually he said you were a sharp-tongued bluestocking, but I’m attempting to withhold judgment.” He grimaced briefly. “I would have wished that it was your sister who’d attracted Wolfe and then found the journals, but I don’t suppose it signifies.”

“What?” Some of what he was saying made sense, but the more talking she could get him to do, the better. Information was always good, whether she actually wanted to hear any of it or not.

“I’ll be returning to Africa within the next few months. And though I don’t wish to kill you, I do need you to keep your mouth shut about the journals, whose work went into
Across the Continent
—all of that nonsense. Thus, marriage.”

“So I can’t testify against you? You’re kidnaping me! Of course I’ll say something.”

“I’m showing you my familial estate, and we’re continuing on to Gretna Green, spurred by our genuine, if unexpected, love.”

“Oh, please.”

Langley lifted an eyebrow. “Don’t make me gag you again.”

Phillipa stopped the very unflattering retort she wanted to make. He seemed to be proceeding along a logical path—logical to him, anyway. Perhaps logic could sway him, then, to let her go.

“What if I simply gave my word not to say anything about the journals? Then you could wait and actually marry someone because you wanted to do so.”

“Ah. If only I could believe you, Flip.”

“You can believe me. I don’t lie.” And she’d only been speaking hypothetically, because she had no intention of standing by silently while any of this went on.

“You do realize that by the time we arrive at Gretna Green you will have been in my company, unchaperoned, for a bit over two days. In fact, it’s already been six hours. You’re ruined, I’m afraid.”

She blinked. “I—”

“So I’m actually doing the gentlemanly thing.” He snapped his fingers. “And I almost forgot. If you say anything against me, you’ll be stomping all over your own future, as well. Because we’ll be married. And because I can accuse you of something nefarious, like a clandestine affair with Wolfe. If I say it happened while I was away on my triumphant return expedition to Africa, you’d be so detested, you wouldn’t be able to show your face in London.”

All of the information he was giving her so freely was supposed to be helping her, giving her the means to escape or to talk her way out of this trouble. Instead, cold despair began creeping down her spine. For a plan he’d apparently thrown together in a few minutes, it all seemed very tightly woven together.

“You’re forgetting something,” she said, feeling choked.

He sat forward, elbows on his knees. “What did I forget?”

“Bennett. He’ll come after me. And he’ll start at Langley House. He’ll tear your home apart looking for me. He’ll find the journals, just as I did.”

“Oh, I imagine he
will
tear my parents’ home apart. I hope he does. The more people who see him as a beast and a menace, the better. And he won’t find the journals, because I brought them along.” He patted the fat satchel on the seat beside him. “So I suppose I did think of everything.”

“But I don’t want to marry you.”

“I know that. You want to marry Bennett.”

“Do you hate him that much?”

He took a deep breath. “I didn’t. I hated the damned monkey, but Bennett was more of an…annoyance. But then he got hit with that spear, and he blamed me—
me
—for upsetting the idiot tribesmen.”

Phillipa made a noncommittal sound, and he scowled at her. At least he didn’t put the gag back on her.

“And then I had to sit there,” he continued, “waiting to see whether the glorious leader of our expedition would survive. I was bored, so I picked up one of the journals he was constantly scribbling in.” Langley paused, a brief look of what might have been pain crossing his handsome face. “It’s very interesting to read someone’s unedited opinion of you. And then to realize that he was going to write another of his books, and that I would be the jester of the piece.”

“So you beat him to it.”

“Yes, I did. I bested him. And now I have you, so I’ve bested him twice. Three times if we take into account the new expedition I’ll be leading. And don’t worry; I’m not taking you with me to Africa. I wouldn’t dream of dragging a complaining female somewhere I couldn’t get away from her. You can stay here and continue to defend my reputation against Wolfe’s accusations, if he dares to make any more of them.”

“I can still refuse to marry you.”

“My dear, you’ve already passed the point of no return. You’ll marry me, because that is the only thing that will make you acceptable to Society again. Just as I’m marrying you to make certain I
stay
acceptable. It’s a mutually beneficial situation.”

“If one overlooks the theft and the fraud and the kidnaping.”

Langley clucked his tongue. “Now you’re being unpleasant again.” He leaned forward, grabbing her chin with one hand when she tried to pull away, and lifted the gag once more. Then he sat back to pull out his pocket watch and flip it open. “We’ll change horses in a bit, and then again before midnight. We should be at Thrushell Manor by afternoon tomorrow.”

They weren’t stopping. Sharp dread cut through her again. She hadn’t continued with her list of what Bennett would do, mostly because she didn’t want to remind Langley now if he
had
forgotten something. But she knew what would happen after he tore through Langley House. He would figure out where Langley would be taking her, and he would come after them. After her.

But now she had another worry. He would be at least a few hours behind them. What if he couldn’t catch up in time?

Phillipa clenched her jaw. It seemed she was going to have to rescue herself. It never occurred to her to give in and allow herself to be married to Langley. She’d spent years thinking she would end up alone with her books and perhaps a cat or two. And then Bennett had found her. And she wanted him. No one else, under any circumstances. Only Bennett Wolfe. Now.

And to think, Olivia had called her previous few weeks an adventure. What would her sister call this?

Chapter Twenty-two

“I’m not telling you again, Wolfe!” Lord Thrushell squawked from close to the doorway, all bluster and no balls. “Cease destroying David’s specimens or I will have you shot!”

Swinging around to pin a glare at the earl, Bennett flipped the knife into the air and caught it again by its handle. “Tell me where David’s gone, or I will bring this house down around you.” He couldn’t stop the deep growl that touched his voice, but he didn’t particularly want to. Phillipa had been here; the bloody-nosed butler had admitted to that, and he could practically smell the citrus scent of her in the air.

“You expect me to reveal my son’s location to a knife-wielding madman? I think not. And I’ve sent for Sommerset, since he seems to be the only man who can control you, you animal.”

He had no idea
. “Your son,” Bennett bit back, “has Lady Phillipa Eddison with him. According to your groom, she was bound, and he had luggage.”

Thrushell’s ruddy face paled a little. “I only returned here an hour ago. I have no idea where—”

“Cumbria, Bennett.”

Bennett whipped around as Jack strode into the room, Olivia and a bedraggled-looking maid with him. He stalked up to the servant, slowing his approach only when her already distressed gaze lowered to his knife. “You’re certain?” he asked, attempting to soften his tone.

She nodded. “Oh, yes, sir. I heard the driver telling the tiger with him when they dragged me out of the coach. They were grumbling about driving all the way north to Carlisle in the middle of the Season.”

“What’s in Cumbria?” he demanded, rounding on Thrushell again.

The earl backed away a step. “You have no proof of any of this. That girl’s a servant, for God’s sake. She’ll say anything for a shilling. How do I know that you have any reason to be here at all?”

“Is that the stance you mean to take?” Bennett shot back, fury heating his blood.

“Thrushell Manor is in Cumbria,” the lower voice of the Duke of Sommerset came as he, too, stepped into the room. The duke was armed with a pistol; apparently he had a better sense of danger than did Thrushell. “You’ve killed the damned animals twice, Wolfe.” He glanced at the extensive carnage in the room. “Seems a bit harsh.”

“I didn’t shoot them the first time. And I’m going to Cumbria.” Bennett shoved the knife back into his boot and headed for the door.

“I’m going with you,” Jack said, grabbing his shoulder. “If he’s taken Flip, he needs to be stopped.”

“I don’t need your help, Jack.” Nor did he want anyone attempting to reason with him or slow him down.

Sommerset moved sideways to block the doorway. “Wait a moment,” he murmured, then looked up at the earl. “Do you know anything about this, Thrushell?”

“No, Your Grace. As I told Wolfe before he began destroying my home, I only returned here an hour ago. No one was here.”

“We arrived at ten o’clock,” the maid piped up, her voice stronger now. “We were gone again before eleven. I tried to stay inside the coach with Lady Flip, but Captain Langley wouldn’t allow it. He said I wouldn’t be required.”

Olivia covered her mouth with both hands, stifling a sob. “Go!” she ordered him. “For heaven’s sake, go find my sister!”

“I am.” He faced Sommerset again. “Get out of my way.”

The duke moved aside. “I’ll join you.”

As they left the room, Jack fell behind, putting an arm across Olivia’s shoulders and guiding her out with him. “Tell your parents what’s happened, and make certain they stay at Eddison House. We’ll be back with Flip before you know it.”

“Not before the rest of London knows it.” She sobbed again. “She’s ruined, John. How could Captain Langley do that? Drag her off without a chaperone?”

“Jack!” Bennett barked, descending the stairs at a near run. Now that he had a destination, he was not about to dally.

The battered butler remained slumped in a foyer chair. Bennett noted that the servant was no longer a threat, and otherwise ignored him. Nothing else mattered but finding Phillipa. And if she was headed for Cumbria, then so was he. He swung up on the waiting Ares.

“Bennett, wait until Livi’s safely away from here.”

He snarled at the delay, but nodded. Putting one sister in danger because he couldn’t wait two minutes before he galloped off to save the other—Phillipa would never forgive him.

Jack ushered Olivia and the maid into their barouche and spoke to the driver. Once the vehicle left the drive, the other two men mounted, Jack on Brody, and Sommerset on his monstrous black thoroughbred, Khan. Bennett could spend time arguing that he didn’t need them along, but in truth both of them more than likely knew the roads better than he did. “Keep up,” he snapped, and set off north at a gallop.