The Lady and the Duke (10 page)

"Yes, of course." Will replied absently, checking out the window again. The coach had slowed, and they seemed to be heading out of the city. The trees grew thicker, the buildings further and further apart. He dropped the shade again, turning back to see Audrey's face pale. "Who else would it have been?"

"Yes. Your sister. Of course," she echoed, twisting her gloves in her lap.

"You saw me with her and thought me faithless, didn't you?" Will sat back against the cushions with a thump, the shock of realizing the extent of her distrust like a sharp jab to the gut. It hurt that she thought so little of him.

Audrey said nothing, but she didn't need to. It was in her expression, the slump of her shoulders. Then she straightened again, her forehead wrinkling.

"Wait. Did you say she was
abducted
?"

Feeling uncharitable, Will shrugged, not looking at her. "It's a long story."

Her voice tightened. "Does it have anything to do with why you said you had reasons for acting the way you did in the gazebo, but refused to enlighten me to just what they were?"

Oh, damn.

"Ah..."

"But now you have no compunction in dragging me along with you, because you need my help." Audrey waved her hand at the interior of the coach. "Is that the sort of relationship you envision for us?"

Double damn and blast it to hell. How did she manage to turn it around on him so quickly? He hadn't even had time for a good brood.

"No. No, of course not. I'd never—" Will broke off as the carriage slowed, then rolled to a stop. The little door over the rear facing seat slide open and the coachman peered in at them.

"Had to stop aways back. Man and woman got out of the other carriage, went into an inn."

Will nodded his thanks, his thoughts already halfway to the inn, and his sister. If Claremont had done anything to hurt her, he would be wishing for death before the night was out.

Chapter Eleven

Audrey stared as Will grabbed his bow, slung his quiver over his head and climbed out of the carriage, starting up the road without a word. Did he honestly think she would sit out here in the carriage, waiting for him to come back? Having been a complete fool about her assumptions earlier, she wanted to make it up to him. To help. Scrambling out of  the coach behind Will, she refused to step back when he spun around and glared at her.

"You need to stay here."

"No. I need to come with you."

She could practically hear the grinding of his teeth. "No. You need to
stay here
."

Audrey just shrugged, her heart thumping beneath the light cloak she wore. Nothing was as she had thought it to be an hour ago and she wasn't letting him out of her sight until things between them were resolved, one way or another.

"God save me from stubborn women," muttered Will. He glanced up the road at the inn, then back at her. "Fine. But don't get in the way. The man who I believe is holding my sister is unpredictable."

Audrey swallowed, but firmed her chin under his close inspection. "I'm not a fool. I'll stay out of the fray. I just want to be there in case I'm needed."

With a sigh, Will gave a bad-natured shrug, then turned to address the coachman. "Do you have a pistol?" The man nodded. "Good. Keep it close. I hope it won't be needed, but it's best to be prepared."

Without sparing Audrey a glance, Will started down the road, the coachman trailing them. She ran a few steps to catch up and huffed a few dangling curls out of her eyes. It was late, maybe three o'clock in the morning and she was tired, but she refused to even yawn. Will would use any excuse to banish her to the carriage.

Light on the bumpy road was spotty at best, with fast moving clouds sliding over the moon and when she had stumbled for the second time, Will cursed and slowed his steps, taking her arm to guide her around the larger dips.

Audrey dared to take her eyes off the road for a moment and glanced up at him. "You're angry with me."

It wasn't a question. It showed in the jerky movement of his walk, the tense grip on her elbow. Will let loose a short laugh and shook his head. She could barely see the shape of him, his hair silvered in the dim moonlight.

He didn't spare her a look, keeping his attention on the road in front of them. "Did you truly think my character so low that you assumed I could only be using you? The discovery of your lack of faith in me stings more than a little."

Audrey felt her face heat, glad there wasn't enough light for him to see her flush.

"I'm sorry for that. I think..." She sighed, staring at the growing glow of the inn as they approached it. This was not a conversation she wanted to have.

"These past two Seasons have been demoralizing. I'm not what most men in Town look for in a bride, for the same reasons I stated earlier today in the garden. It's been made very plain to me—"

Damn that Beatrice Lettington and her nastiness for getting to her after all.

"—that I am not society's ideal. I've tried not to let it affect me, I truly have, and for the most part it doesn't, but it's incredibly hard not to take
some
of that in."

"Fools, the lot of them." Will growled, and she warmed at the anger in his voice, that he should be offended on her behalf.

"I suppose they have been raised to expect one thing and I am something else entirely. And most of the time
I am just fine with that
. Which is why I had decided to either remain unmarried or go back to the country, and find some willing gentleman farmer I could find contentment with." His grip on her elbow shifted and she smiled as he slid one arm around her shoulders possessively, drawing her nearer to the heat of his body. She turned her nose into his shoulder and breathed in the spicy scent of his cologne. "Then you came along and made me want something more."

"But you still didn't trust me."

With a tug on his sleeve, Audrey halted them just outside the light cast by the inn's windows, and lowered her voice. "I was scared, Will. I didn't think I could be enough for you, that you would regret marrying me. That one day you would wake up and not want the country girl, but one of the elegant ladies swanning around Bond Street."

"I would never—"

"I know."

She reached up and placed her hands on either side of his face. The coachman stopped a few feet away, and squinted off into the darkness, giving them a moment. Will drew one of her hands down, placing his mouth in the center of her palm, and Audrey shivered at the heat of him against her skin.

"I know," she repeated, hoping her could hear the earnestness in her voice. "And I also know this isn't the time to hash this all out. After we rescue your sister, we'll talk."

"Right," murmured Will against her palm, then he dropped it with a sigh. Stepping away, he gestured to John, who immediately joined them in the shadows of the building. "I have no idea what to expect. I don't know if they'll be in a room or the common area."

He turned to the coachman. "I'd like you to go around back, make sure Claremont doesn't try to make a run for it that way." The man nodded and slipped around the corner of the inn silently. Will looked at Audrey for a long moment. "You can come with me but if they are in a private room, you will stay downstairs."

She opened her mouth to protest and he held up a hand, forestalling her.

"Audrey, your presence is distracting. It would divide my attention to have you there."

"I can help."

"Yes, you can. By staying downstairs and waiting to comfort my sister." Will ran his hands down her arms. "Please, love. I'm not used to compromising, but I'm trying."

***

Will was relieved when Audrey finally nodded. He placed her hand on his arm and they mounted the steps to the inn. His heart was racing as he pulled open the heavy wooden door and ushered her inside. He must be mad to bring her along, knowing that Claremont was clearly in an unstable frame of mind, but what else could he do? She would just sneak along behind him if he had left her in the carriage. The woman was determined to be of some assistance, a martial light gleaming in her eye when he had suggested she stay back.

A thump in one of the rooms upstairs drew Will's attention over their heads.

Did Claremont think Will wouldn't realize who had taken his sister? The fury he had held at bay by concentrating on Audrey, and what had turned her from him, came rushing back. He usually detested using his consequence to get preferred treatment but when the innkeeper came rushing around the bar to greet them, Will drew himself up. producing his haughtiest mien.

"I am the Duke of Halford and this is my wife," announced Will, ignoring Audrey's jolt next to him. "We want your best rooms."

Knowing Claremont, the man had demanded just the same. Once Will knew where the bastard was holding Lisle, he was going to strangle the viscount with his bare hands. It really didn't matter any longer
why
the man had done what he had. The idiot was living on borrowed time and had been from the moment he removed Will's sister from that ballroom.

"Oh, ah, welcome, Your Grace." The man didn't blink at Will and Audrey's costumes, which confirmed they were not the first to show up that evening in fancy dress. His sister and the viscount were definitely here.

The innkeeper looked a little panicked as he glanced at the stairs, calculation running across his face. He was probably wondering how to shuffle his two illustrious guests without offending either and losing business. "It will just be a few moments. The rooms are, uh, not quite ready. May I offer you supper? I still have some lamb and roasted potatoes."

"For my wife, yes. I am not hungry." Will gestured for Audrey to seat herself at one of the tables. She rolled her eyes but complied. The innkeeper nodded and disappeared into the kitchen.

"I'm going to follow him. For the love of God, Audrey, please wait downstairs."

"I said I would, and I am. Go. Rescue your sister. I will be waiting for you right here." She smiled up at him and swung her cloak off, placing it on the chair next to her. "I'll keep the food warm, in case he hasn't fed her."

Will looked down at her, all glossy curls and seductive curves encased in warm brown velvet, and didn't care that there were several other people tucked into the corners of the room chatting quietly or snoring as the wall. He bent down and crushed his mouth to hers for one long moment before tearing himself away. With a grin, Will straightened as she glanced around with flushed cheeks in the most adorable manner.

"I'd better go now, before I don't have the will to leave."

Despite his teasing comment, he waited another moment . The innkeeper would have taken the back stairs to the floor above. Heading up the front staircase, Will took the steps two at a time. His calculations had been impeccable. As he reached the top of the staircase and rounded the corner, Will could see the innkeeper arguing softly with someone at the end of the hall.

As he walked down the corridor, the man turned and started toward him. "Oh, Your Grace. I—"

Claremont's startled gaze found Will from where he stood in the doorway of the room and he began to swing the door shut. Will leaped forward, shoving the inn's owner aside, managing to wedge his foot in the door. With a snarl, he slammed his shoulder against the wood, pushing as Claremont leaned against the other side, and slammed it open. The viscount tumbled back, scrambling to where Lisle sat by the cold fireplace, her hands tied in front of her, dried tear marks tracking down her face. At Will's abrupt entrance, she tried to stand but Claremont placed a hand on her shoulder and held her firmly in the chair as he scooted around behind her.

"Using a woman as a shield? Even for you, Claremont, that's low." Will snarled softly, pulling his quiver over his head and tossing it, with the bow, into the corner of the room. He wanted his bare hands on the viscount.

Will paced around the chair, his smirk firmly in place, hoping to provoke the worm into attacking. The viscount kept shuffling however, keeping Lisle between them. The innkeeper peered into the room, took one look at the scene and scuttled off—probably to call the magistrate.

Will hoped the law didn't come too soon. He had a few issues with the viscount that needed addressing.

"Now, Halford, this is between your sister and me. You should have kept your nose out of it." Claremont drew a pistol out of his coat pocket and Will stopped moving, a frisson of fear shooting through him at how near the gun was to his sister. The man stood too close to Lisle for comfort. Will's gaze was drawn to her as she made a distressed sound, her tired green eyes shimmering with tears.

His hands in plain sight, Will kept his posture loose and easy, caution harnessing the urge to wrap his hands around Claremont's throat. No need to rile the man further. The viscount was wound so tight he twitched at every creak of the inn's floor.

Claremont's smile was tight as he gestured with the hand that held the pistol. "Go sit on the bed."

Will raised his eyebrows, but followed the man's directions. Hopefully Audrey would think to send her coachman above stairs. If not, he would just wait for his chance to wrestle the gun from Claremont. Surely it would be soon. There was nothing in the room to keep him down.

Claremont waited until he was settled on the bed, then grabbed Lisle by the hair and hauled her to her feet.

"Rupert, don't do this—" Lisle's plea was cut off when the man gave her a hard shake.

"Shut up, you. It's your fault I'm in this mess," snapped the viscount. Will started to leap off the bed when she yelped with pain but Claremont shoved the gun into her ribs, and Will froze. Blood boiling but unable to do anything while the pistol was positioned where it was, he resettled himself on the mattress as the viscount glared at him, his intention to escape clear in his eyes.

As soon as he was able to, Will was going to take this pathetic excuse of a man apart, piece by piece, and he made sure it was in
his
eyes. The viscount paled a little, cursing as he backed up toward the hall. Watching with impotent fury as Claremont inched toward the open door, dragging Lisle with him, Will waited for his chance.