Time for Love (32 page)

Charlotte sniffed, and Alex wondered whether she was crying.

“I’m a doctor. I went to work every day and made a difference, saved lives. Here, I can diagnose illnesses, but I have very little chance of actually helping. I lack the resources, and in most cases, they wouldn’t listen to a woman anyway.”

“But you could find a way to help within the strictures of this time.” Alex thought for a second before continuing, “They have midwives. You could use your knowledge to help pregnant women. Think of the horror women go through to bring a child into the world now. You could make a huge difference.”

“I would love that.
If
I were allowed…” Charlotte’s voice sounded as bitter as Alex felt. “A woman’s life isn’t really her own here. I would need to have permission from my husband or father.”

Alex winced. “Yeah. The idea of needing a man’s permission to live my life drives me crazy. I’ve been taking care of myself since I was sixteen, and I resent the implication I’m not capable. I’m not even allowed to decide for myself who to marry.” She wished she could see Charlotte’s face as she asked the next question. “Do you think it’s possible for a man of this time to accept us and not try to run our lives?”

“I don’t know,” Charlotte said softly. “My parents,” she hesitated slightly. “My
real
parents, always discussed anything major, like when my mother wanted to go back to work when Steven, my brother, and I both started school. They argued a while, and in the end she waited a few more years before she started. I guess this wouldn’t be all that different. James knows what I’m capable of. I think he would be supportive as long as I found a way to help without causing a scandal. If Nicholas loves you, he’ll want you to be happy. Surely you’ll be able to work things out.”

Alex let out the breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding. “That’s
if
he loves me.” And if he could ever bring himself to believe her, to believe
in
her.

“Of course we have to get out of this mess first.” Charlotte’s tone turned bitter as she continued. “And hope our father doesn’t decide to sell us to some other monster the minute he finds out we’re still alive.”

“What!” Alex exclaimed. She couldn’t possibly have heard her correctly. “You think our father sold us to Lord Stone?”

“I know he did,” Charlotte said, the anger in her voice apparent. “When we were kids, I heard Mr. Timmons telling Lord Stone our father had given us to him in exchange for some vote.”

Charlotte’s pain rang clear. No wonder she had been so set against coming back here. She thought their father was responsible for the whole thing!

“That’s not true! Our family was devastated by our disappearance. Lord Downing blamed himself, but it wasn’t his fault. He was a vocal proponent in the House of Lords of a bill to end the slave trade. He received a threat against his heir.

“He hired guards, but since the threat had mentioned Gregory specifically, they focused on him, and it wasn’t too hard for Lord Stone’s man to grab us. He killed the nurse who was watching us as we played in the garden that day.”

Alex shuddered. She wished she hadn’t regained that particular memory. She could remember how kind that woman had been, always helping them out of scrapes, bringing them sweets when they’d been sent to bed without supper.

Alex shook off the thought and continued. She had to convince Charlotte of their parent’s innocence. “Our dad blamed himself for not taking the threats more seriously and backing down on the vote. He was young and cocky. He didn’t think anything could possibly get to him or his family. He’s had a virtual army of people out looking for you since the moment I came back and said you were in trouble. Please, you have to believe me.”

Alex waited anxiously for Charlotte’s response. Charlotte had spent a lifetime believing their father had betrayed them. Would she be able to accept the truth now?

Tears choked Charlotte’s voice, “I don’t know, Alex. I want to believe you, but I
heard
them.”

“We were only ten. Maybe you didn’t hear what you think you heard. Maybe it was just an expression, like
he practically handed them to me
because it was so easy for Mr. Timmons to grab us.”

Charlotte sucked in a sharp breath. “Oh my god. Could I have misunderstood all this time?”

Alex pulled Charlotte close. Her shoulders shook with her tears. Alex patted her back comfortingly and rocked slightly back and forth.

“I’ve hated him for so many years. Everything I thought I knew has turned out to be wrong. What’s next?” Charlotte gave a shaky laugh. “If Lord Stone doesn’t kill me, I think I’ll die from shock.”

“Or cold.” Alex let Charlotte go and rubbed her arms. “I’m freezing, and I’m getting a cramp from sitting for so long. I’ve got to move around a bit.”

“Maybe we can make our way to the surface,” Charlotte suggested. “They might not have bothered posting a guard. If they did, maybe the two of us can overpower him. Anyway, I’m with you. We have to do something.”

“Okay. Let’s go together. Grab my hand.” Alex felt around until she was able to grab Charlotte’s searching hand. “Now, grab on and follow me. I need my hands to make sure I don’t bump into anything. The ceiling gets pretty low in spots.” Alex put one hand to the wall and the other in front of her, and they inched their way slowly around the cavern.

****

Alex let her breath out in a long, slow whisper, trying to keep as quiet as possible. She tucked herself against the jagged wall of the cave entrance. The bright light of the moon helped her see Lord Stone issue orders to his servants.
Damn.
He hadn’t left them alone as she’d hoped. Alex’s blood ran cold, and Charlotte’s grip tightened on her arm.

“I need to know what the ladies know and with whom they have shared that information. I don’t care how you find out. Timmons, you stand guard while Cantor
persuades
the little ladies to talk.”

A sleazy grin crossed Cantor’s face as he received his orders.

“I will await your report at my estate. Once you are satisfied you know everything, I do not wish to have any additional problems with them. See to it they never bother me again. It is late, and I do not wish to be disturbed at too early an hour. I shall expect your report directly following breakfast.”

“Yes, milord,” Cantor answered, eager anticipation evident in his tone.

Charlotte tugged on her arm, so Alex followed her back down the tunnel where they wouldn’t be overheard.

“There’s no way out; they’re too close to the tunnel entrance for us to sneak by them. Maybe we can ambush them as they enter the cave,” Charlotte whispered as they both crouched to avoid the low ceiling.

Alex let go of Charlotte to use her arms for balance as she made her way through the cramped tunnel. When her hand slipped into the air, she knew she had reached the cave.

Charlotte whispered, “Go right. I’ll go left and maybe we can surprise them before they have the chance to stand up straight.” She cursed violently. “If only I had my gun. I think James has it.”

Alex suddenly remembered the pieces of warming bricks she had stashed in her reticule. “I weighted down my purse. I can use it as a weapon. I have a few other things up my sleeve as well. Do you have anything on you?”

“No,” Charlotte replied. “It probably wouldn’t have done any good if I had the gun anyway. I couldn’t shoot the broad side of a barn.” She laughed quietly, but without humor. “Steven tried to teach me how to shoot, and I just scoffed at him. I said I would never be able to shoot anyone, so why bother. I’ll tell you something, I wouldn’t hesitate to shoot Lord Stone or that creepy Mr. Timmons.”

“Is the gun how you proved to Lord Tyndale you weren’t lying about being from the future?” Alex asked curiously.

“The gun, my clothes, my watch, and a few pound notes I had in my jeans pocket. Sawyer and his cronies were about to strip me down and dress me in period clothing when I regained my senses and made my bid for freedom. I grabbed a gun, but the whole thing backfired, and I ended up causing the cave-in that forced me through the portal. At least I got through with my stuff.”

“I wish I hadn’t been so gullible. I just went along with everything like a good little puppet and look at me now.” Alex could picture how she must look, crouched here in the pitch black. Dirt streaked and grimy, elegant ball gown torn beyond repair, hair a rats’ nest of tangles and scattered hairpins.

She reached down and widened a tear in her skirt, straight down to the hem. Her ruined finery caused a small pang in her chest, but she wanted to free up her legs to increase her range of motion.

The shuffling of feet rustled in the tunnel and Alex tensed, all her nerves stretched tight. She gripped her reticule in both hands and held it aloft, prepared to crash it down on whatever body part made it into the cave first. She was done going with the flow.

Whoever came down that tunnel next wouldn’t know what hit him.

****

Lord Stone’s estate in Hertfordshire was located just south of the caves Alex claimed held a portal to the future. Nicholas and Tyndale agreed not to waste time seeking assistance from Tyndale’s home, which bordered Stone’s property to the north, and investigated Stone’s house first.

Nicholas chafed at the delay. The servants, in various degrees of undress, huddled together in the hall. His repeated questions returned useless information.

The only servant willing to speak to them had little to say. Yes, he had seen one of the ladies in question, but no, he had no idea where she was at that moment.

The knowledge Charlotte had been there early that morning brought only temporary relief. She had been in perfect health, if her struggles and over loud cursing were any indication, but that she had left early and unwillingly renewed their fears for her safety.

Would their decision to search the estate first cause them to arrive too late to save their women?

They ran to the stables, where a quick jab to the head groom’s jaw overrode any objection to their borrowing two of Stone’s best hunting horses in place of their own ragged and weary mounts.

The sound of a carriage barreling down the road reached their ears as they were discussing whether to turn off the drive and head over the fields.

“Over there.” Tyndale pointed to a row of trees lining the drive to their left and maneuvered his horse behind them. In the dark, it shielded them from sight of the road but provided a decent view of the carriage’s approach.

Nicholas had no doubt it belonged to Lord Stone. No one else would approach his manor at such a breakneck pace at this time of night.

The question was whether he had Alex or Charlotte with him. Nicholas kept a tight rein on his fresh, high-strung horse and prayed the carriage made enough noise to mask the restless stamping and neighing of the animal.

A preternatural calm descended upon him as they waited for the carriage to come into view. It was often like this, moments before a battle. He had experienced the sensation frequently during the war. As he’d stood his post among the others, his fears would fade into the background. Time would slow, and he would watch the enemy approach at a crawl until the first cannon fired and set time back in motion.

The carriage careened around the corner, and they got their first good look at the flashy, one-horse cabriolet. Not the type of carriage one would normally drive across country in the middle of the night. It appeared to Nicholas almost as a painting, the image was so clear.

Light from the cabriolet’s lantern cast an eerie glow on the dust raised from the horse’s hooves. Flecks of spittle at his mouth and lash marks on his sides showed he had been ridden hard that night, and his driver had little care for his welfare.

Nicholas recognized the man holding the reins instantly, and if Lord Stone was driving himself, he must have left his coachman to take care of other business.

“They’re not with him,” Nicholas said to Tyndale, who nodded in immediate agreement with Nicholas’s assessment. “Shall we stop him, before he reaches his estate and has servants to come to his aid?”

“Yes, I believe that would be the wisest course of action,” Tyndale responded, his voice as calm and cold as Nicholas’s nerves.

Nicholas pressed his heels to his horse’s flanks and followed Tyndale to block the coach’s path.

Chapter Twenty-Four

The cabriolet’s horse came to a screaming stop, fighting the reins that kept him in place, eyes wide in terror at the specter suddenly blocking his path. Nicholas took a moment to admire Tyndale’s nerve as the horse bucked and plunged within an inch of his mount.

Nicholas kept a steel grip on his own horse, which looked ready to bolt if not for the calm, firm grip on its head. Nicholas blinked as a gun appeared in Tyndale’s hand. He’d never seen its like but had no time to think on it further as he approached the side of the carriage and the cause of all his worries that evening.

That cause seemed much less worrisome face-to-face. Nicholas almost laughed to see the panic so clearly written on Lord Stone’s visage. Almost. Then he thought about Alex and what it could mean that Stone was here, without her.

Almost involuntarily, he reached out and grabbed Lord Stone around the neck, dragging him off the carriage and giving free rein to the horse. Tyndale pulled back, and the carriage tore past.

Nicholas let Stone go abruptly and watched as he fell to the ground, sprawled in the mud at the horse’s feet. He stood slowly and attempted to wipe the mud from his clothing. As he realized the effort was futile, Nicholas could see Stone’s fear change to anger.

“How dare you!” Stone raged. “You will be punished severely for your affront to my person. I demand you turn over your horse to me at once and go fetch my carriage.”

Nicholas and Tyndale laughed. Stone’s confident demeanor faded slightly as he looked between the two men in the dim light available from the moon and stars overhead. “I fail to see the humor in this situation.”

“We simply find it amusing that you demand our horses,” Nicholas said, “considering they are yours.”

“Mine!” Stone spluttered. “You have stolen my horses! I shall have you hanged for this. I am a Baron, you cannot get away with this atrocity.”