The Earl's Bargain (Historical Regency Romance) (27 page)

She looked up at him. "What are you
doing?"

"I am suspending myself above the doorway.
When I hear the striking of the men's boots outside the door, I
shall tuck these long legs of mine under me, then pounce on the men
when they open the door. If you are able, I will need you to
relieve them of their weapons, but take care not to get hurt."

She smiled up at him. "A brilliant plan, my
most intelligent lord."

"I'm blasted heavy to hold."

"I suspect you are."

They waited ten minutes. His arms were
killing him. They were so sore he doubted he would be able to
strike a good blow when the jailers did come.

The ten minutes stretched into twenty. If it
weren't for Louisa, he would have given up by now and accepted that
they would never get out.

He really didn't think he could last much
longer. He thought about jumping down and waiting until he heard
them before launching himself from Louisa's back again. But he
remembered that yesterday the men were upon them as soon as he'd
heard the sound of their steps.

He had to keep holding on. God, but it was
hard. The most difficult thing he had ever done. It was a wonder
his arms hadn't grown ten feet long.

Then he heard the click of the jailers'
heels.

He tucked his legs under himself, then
stretched them out parallel to the ground, which made them higher
than they would be tucked beneath them.

He heard the voice of one of the jailers.
"Don't know how long the master plans to keep 'em here."

He heard the sounds of keys
rattling.
Oh, God, please
hurry
.

Then the door squeaked open, then open
wider. The jailer with the food scanned the room for a sign of
Harry.

Harry jumped on top the other jailer, the
one with the drawn sword.

Edward was bloody tired of
Cornwall. For three days now they had gone to nearly two dozen
remote villages, surveying every livery stable in Cornwall for
Harry's coach. Though they had not come upon it, they had come
across a number of stable hands who vividly remembered the
grand coach and four
. It
was not often one came through these parts. Harry's trail pointed
steadily west.

Edward had also learned that Harry and Mrs.
Phillips were traveling as Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Such a piece of
information might or might not come in handy.

He shot a stealthy glance at Miss Sinclair.
At least Harry had the pleasure of traveling with a lady. A woman
who dressed as a woman, breasts and all. And he would wager Harry
had not had to sleep on any wooden floors, either. If he knew Harry
as he thought he knew Harry, his cousin had gotten beneath Mrs.
Phillips' skirts by now.

He glanced at Miss Sinclair and sighed. None
of his friends would believe he could travel for days on end with a
young woman, share a bedchamber with her, and not get beneath her
skirts. Or in Miss Sinclair's case, beneath her pants.

But when he came to think on it, he realized
he would never discuss this trip with Miss Sinclair to anyone. Do
her unpardonable harm. And he couldn't have that.

For the past half hour Miss Sinclair had
expounded on the finer points of Jeremy Bentham's series of talks.
Glad of it he was. For in her retelling, he thought he actually
understood what the deuced man had been saying. Not that he really
cared, but he might be called upon to discuss it with Miss
Sinclair, and he really did not like to sound like a bloody
moron.

She stopped talking, and things got quiet.
Too quiet by far. He had grown accustomed to Miss Sinclair's
prattling. Finally, she started up again. "I was wondering, Mr.
Coke. . ."

"Yes?"

"Well, I was wondering if you would like to
share the bed tonight." Before he could respond, she explained
herself. "You have proven yourself as a true gentleman, and I am
sure it must be difficult for you to ride all day when your body
must ache from sleeping on a floor the night before."

His mind streaked ahead to tonight.
Unfortunately, he responded below the waist. It really would not do
to share a bed with Miss Sinclair. After all, she unbound those
breasts at night. . .and one morning when he woke before her he saw
that she slept in a thin linen lawn under which he clearly saw the
outline of her nipples.

He was not a strong enough man to resist
such a temptation. And, besides, he had no desire to nurse for the
rest of the journey the black eye Miss Sinclair was sure to deliver
him. "I don't mind the floor at all," he lied. His debauching ways
would be the end of him yet.

"Oh," she said meekly. She almost sounded
disappointed.

They rode for another great while with her
saying no more to him. He excessively disliked a quiet Miss
Sinclair. And he also feared he had upset her.

Therefore it was with relief he heard her
call him. "Mr. Coke?"

"Yes," he said, smiling because she did not
appear to sound angry.

"You must tell me of your other brave
deeds."

"Other?"

"Racing through the whole of West England in
singlehanded pursuit of evil-doers is a most brave thing, to be
sure."

"Now, Miss Sinclair, we do not know that
your sister and Harry have come upon evil-doers."

"But if they have, you are bravely prepared
to deal with them."

He stuck out his chest with self importance
"That I am most assuredly, Miss Sinclair."

They rode but a short distance more when she
asked, "Have you ever fought a duel, Mr. Coke?"

How he wished he could tell her an elaborate
tale about dueling with swords on Primrose Hill over a lady's
honor, but, alas, he could not lie to Miss Sinclair. "I have not
had that pleasure," he said sadly. That did not come out at all as
he had wanted it to.

"See what I mean! You are so brave that to
you a duel is a pleasure."

She really was an awfully clever girl. "Rest
assured," he said, "that I am well prepared if a duel should
present itself."

"You are trained in swords?"

No nodded cockily. "And with pistols."

Filled with wonder, her face lifted to his.
Quite a taking thing she was, too.

Enough talk about him. The girl would take
him for a braggart, and he couldn't have that.

He looked at the sky and saw the sun had
dropped lower. They would be lucky to reach Falwell before
dark.

* * *

Taken completely by surprise, the armed
guard crashed to the ground. Harry quickly relieved the man of his
weapon, put his boot on the fallen man's stomach, and probed his
chest with the sword's tip. In the meantime, the man carrying the
food had dropped it in his haste to draw his weapon, but Louisa had
been too fast for him. She quickly drew his sword from its sheath
and held it to his chin.

She was not at all sure if the food-bearer's
look of complete surprise was due to the dangerous situation he
found himself in or to the discovery that the lad had breasts. For
the man could not remove his eyes from the humps beneath her boy's
shirt.

"Back him into a corner, my love," Harry
ordered. Waving the sword swiftly at him, the man, his eyes huge
and his arms raised, backed up until his shoulder bumped into the
cold stone. At the same time, Harry backed up his man until the two
guards were shoulder-to-shoulder against the wall.

"Pray that you do not learn of my legendary
skill with a sword," Harry said to the men. "Louisa, my dear, find
your bindings, if you will, and tie the men's hands behind their
backs."

She did as instructed and still had more
strips of cloth left. For good measure, she thoroughly gagged each
man.

"Good job, my love," Harry commended.

She and Harry backed out of the cell. The
keys had been left in the lock. They locked the door and took the
keys with them.

It was still dark, so hopefully many in the
house would still be sleeping. They would have better luck exiting
by the main door at this hour. It was too early for the butler and
footmen to be about. At the back door they were sure to run into
the scullery maids.

Under the blanket of darkness, they moved
quietly through the castle, going first down the main staircase,
then across the great hall, then through the vestibule.

She worried that the castle's main door, a
huge timbered affair hinged with heavy forged iron, would be
locked, but it was not. They passed right through it into the
castle yard.

That is when Louisa was most thankful for
the dark, for a number of men were about in the castle yard,
including the man churning down the drawbridge.

Harry's arm shot out to stop her progress
forward. "We'll wait here in the dark until he finishes and is
gone," Harry whispered.

The bruising hulk of a man soon finished,
then strolled across the castle yard away from Harry and
Louisa.

Louisa's glance darted to the drawbridge
some fifteen yards away. If no one were around she and Harry could
run and easily be off the castle grounds in a matter of seconds.
Then they could run like the wind until they reached Falwell.

They looked in all directions until they
were sure no one was near. The need for haste increased, for with
every second the sun rose higher and the light grew brighter.

"Now!" Harry whispered.

The two of them stole slowly across the
bricks between them and the drawbridge, careful to stay close to
the building. Once their feet touched the wood of the drawbridge,
they took off running, praying that no one saw them.

They both ran as hard and as fast as they
could, peering over their shoulders to assure themselves they were
not being followed. Harry, of course, was faster than she, but once
they had clear vision of the castle behind them, he stopped and
waited for her.

Arm in arm, the ill-dressed couple walked to
the Speckled Goose Inn, where all the guests still slept. The only
sounds heard were those coming from the kitchen. They tiptoed up
the stairway, entered their bedchamber, and changed into clothing
appropriate to their station.

When he went to the local magistrate, it
would be as one peer charging another. "I'm warning you now," he
said to Louisa, "our days of sharing a room as Mr. and Mrs. Smith
are over. Very soon, we shall share a chamber as Lord and Lady
Wycliff – if you'll do me the very great honor of consenting to
become my wife."

"Of course I shall have to
become your wife. I
am
a reformer, and you must own, you do need
reforming."

The magistrate already knew what a nasty
piece of work Lord Tremaine was, and Harry brought him a statement
of charges that would stand up in a court of their peers – rather
what the magistrate had been hoping for.

Once Harry had given his statement, he told
Louisa he wished to be on the road before Tremaine's evil henchman
came after them. One quick meal in the private parlor, and they
would be off.

Louisa was disappointed to
see two seated men -- or were they boys? -- facing the fire, their
backs to them. She was disappointed because she had thought of it
as
their
private
parlor since there were no other persons of Quality staying at the
inn. Harry led her to the table farthest away from the fire so they
could enjoy privacy.

She and Harry held hands as they waited for
the serving maid. Feeling thoroughly content, she smiled up at
Harry. "I believe Mrs. Winston may have been a most intelligent
observer, after all."

He smiled back.

The serving maid re-entered the room to
bring the pair at the front their ale. Louisa could have sworn she
heard a familiar voice. "Does not that lad sound much like my
sister?"

Harry cocked his head and listened. "By God,
that's Edward! Know his voice anywhere."

Frozen to her seat, Louisa watched as Harry
leapt to his feet and crossed the room. "Edward Coke, what are you
doing here? You're supposed to be keeping an eye on Miss Sinclair
in London."

First Edward turned around to meet his gaze.
Then the boy turned. And he was Ellie!

Edward stood, kicking his chair back as he
did so. "I will have you know I have come here with my future
wife."

Now Ellie stood. "Your what, Mr. Coke?"

Edward turned to Ellie. "I am not so
dishonorable a gentleman to travel all the way to Cornwall with a
young lady and not offer marriage."

"Then you will marry me solely for the sake
of propriety?"

"Told you I was an honorable man, Miss
Sinclair."

Her hands thrust to her
hips, Ellie glared it him. "You can forget your
noble
offer, sir! I would not marry
you were you the last man in England."

"But. . ." he stammered, throwing a
questioning glance at his cousin as Ellie stomped off to sit down
with her sister.

"Oh, Louisa, I am so glad you are unhurt.
Has your quest been successful?"

"How did you know of the quest?"

"That. . ." Ellie elevated her brows
haughtily, "that horrid man told me."

"Mr. Coke?"

Ellie nodded. Then the two women turned to
see the cousins talking animatedly.

"You mean you actually had Aunt Isobel's
portrait in your hands?" Edward asked.

"Yes," Harry said, clapping a hand on his
cousin's back. "Have you eaten yet?"

"No, and I could eat an ox."

"Then we must order two," Harry said,
walking toward the table shared by the two women. "Let's all sit
together and eat. It's very good to see you, Edward."

They did not eat two oxen, but they did go
through enough food to feed half the village of Falwell. And
throughout the dinner, Harry narrated the events of the last two
days.