It did not take long for him to determine she was not anywhere inside Cherry Grove Manor. Back in his bedroom he hurriedly pulled on his clothing and boots, his mind whirling with possibilities.
He had looked in Seraphina’s wardrobe and noted the absence of her pink ball gown. His heart plunged to his toes. Had his own wife disregarded his warnings? Not only that, but when the people of the village saw her at the assembly, it would be the ultimate humiliation for him. They would all see even his wife did not trust his advice.
His earlier fatigue vanished and was replaced with anger. He knew married life would not be all happiness and merriment, but he never imagined he would be so angry with his bride such a short time after their wedding.
But, how could she? Had he so seriously misjudged her? She must have thought she could go and be back home before he returned. What other sneaky things had she been doing while he had been out working to support their family?
His heart ached, it was so burdened with hurt and disappointment. Despite the horrors he had witnessed over the past days in dealing with the sickness which seemed to be all around him, he had still looked to the future with optimism and excitement. With Seraphina by his side, it seemed nothing was impossible and only happiness lay on the horizon.
Apparently he was wrong. Very wrong.
The emotions rushing through him propelled him down the road at a rapid clip. If he had not looked down at just the right moment, he would have tripped over a large stone in the road. Not wishing for it to be a hazard to anyone else, not to mention the damage it could do to a carriage wheel, he bent over and lifted it from the ground and moved it to the side of the road before continuing on his quest to find his wife.
He supposed he could have waited for her at home, but there would be no rest for him. Besides, it was not at all proper or safe for her to be wandering around alone late at night. He was not so sure it would be safe for her backside once he found her and he reminded himself of his pledge never to punish her when he was angry. That might be more of a challenge than he expected.
He envisioned her standing naked next to their bed, her wrists secured to one of the posts of their bed as he administered a severe punishment to her backside. He would use a plug for certain, inserting it into her tight little pucker. She would protest, promise to be a good girl and insist she was more sorry than she had ever been in her whole life. Regardless, he would persist, turning the plug while it slipped past the opening of her bottom hole.
Once the plug was secure, he would bend her over until her rear was at just the right angle for punishment, with her thighs open so he could glimpse the swollen lips of her cunny, while he applied the leather strap to the cheeks of her ass. He had never spanked her with anything other than his hand, but this was a serious infraction. Extremely serious.
The strap would leave a row of red stripes down each of her white bottom cheeks. “This is what happens to wives who disobey their husbands.”
He could almost smell her arousal now, just thinking of it. Could see the glimmers of wetness on her nether lips. Bloody hell! As angry and worried as he was, all he could think about was ramming his cock into the sweet depths of her pussy, losing himself in the heat of her womanly core.
Giving himself a mental shake, he pulled himself out of that vision and realized he was at the edge of the village already. The assembly hall stood out from the darkness, the windows awash in bright light, the music and laughter spilling out onto the street.
It was galling to think he had to go in there of all places to look for his errant, disobedient, disrespectful wife.
But, what choice did he have? He had vowed to care for her, and care for he would, even if it meant dragging her out of the assembly by the hair. She was his and he would protect her, no matter how much she objected or how much it tore at his pride.
Upon entering the assembly hall the first person he encountered, of course, was Mrs. Fisk. “Ah, Dr. Spencer. I see you have realized the folly of your dire predictions. See? We are all having a merry time and not one person feels ill.”
“I am here to collect my wife. Have you seen her?”
“Your wife? Well, no Doctor, I have not seen her. Have you lost track of her already?” Her smug smile was nearly the tipping point for Lucas who was dog-tired, frustrated and embarrassed, but he managed, barely, to keep a civil tongue. With a nod to Mrs. Fisk, he moved through the crowd calling his wife’s name.
“Gone already, Doc? Must be a village record.”
“Oh, I would have remembered if I had seen your wife, Dr. Spencer. A girl pretty as her is hard to forget. You ought to keep a close eye on her.”
By the time he had reached the back of the assembly hall two things were evident, he was the laughingstock of the village and his wife had not been to the assembly.
Exiting the crowded building he gulped in the cool night air and pondered the situation. If she was not at home, and not at the ball, where could she be?
Cold fear gripped his heart at the realization his wife was, in fact, missing. Tales of highwaymen absconding with pretty young women from the remote villages filled his head. He stood there, wondering what he ought to do.
His Seraphina was missing, and he would not rest until he found her.
Seraphina pushed through the darkness, and her eyes focused on the interior of an unfamiliar carriage. Her head throbbed and she raised her hand to gently touch a lump which she felt forming on her temple. The last thing she remembered was rushing to get to the Boyds’ house, taking a stumble and suddenly everything went black.
But now she was inside a carriage. It seemed to be moving at quite a rapid pace. She glanced at the window on which she had been resting her head. Apparently she had been unconscious, at least for a few minutes. She recognized some of the small farms as they went by. Her heart began to pound in her chest. She was moving further and further away from Briar Glen and her home at Cherry Grove Manor.
“I have been waiting for you to awaken, my dear,” an eerie voice said in the darkness inside the carriage. Seraphina turned toward the voice, her eyes adjusting to the dimness of the interior of the carriage which was lit by the bright moonlight coming through the windows.
To her utter horror, the voice belonged to none other than Lord Alfred Ross. She felt a small amount of bile rise up in her throat, and she considered spitting it upon the man seated across from her.
“You have no right,” she said. “Take me home right now. I insist upon it.”
“I am taking you home,” he said calmly.
“My home is Cherry Grove Manor.”
“Not anymore. We had a deal. An arrangement. A contract. And I expect you to hold up your end of the bargain.”
“I made no such agreement. I never wanted to be with you. You make my skin crawl.”
“Well, you had best get used to it, because I plan to crawl all over your skin at every opportunity. I had wanted so much for you, to make things nice for you, but you had to ruin it all by running away. You got married. No one runs away from me. Do you understand?”
Seraphina clearly understood this man had lost his mind. She had suspected as much before, or at least that he was of the most dastardly character imaginable. She had begged and begged Mrs. Hartpence not to make her go with Lord Ross at the appointed date and time. The madame had even started to soften and Seraphina hoped to be able to avoid such a deplorable fate.
That was why the arrival of Colonel St. Clair was such a godsend. Not only was he kind, and eminently trustworthy, but he had allowed her to get away from the fate which had been set for her by Mrs. Hartpence and the deplorable Lord Alfred Ross.
She thought it had all been handled, that once she was in Colonel St. Clair’s care, she would no longer have to worry about anything from her past, most especially the disgusting Lord Ross.
And yet, here he was. Here she was, trapped in a moving carriage with precisely the man she had hoped to never see or think about again in her life.
&nb
sp; Having experienced intimacy with a man, love with her husband Lucas, the very idea of engaging in similar acts with any other man, let alone one as repulsive as Lord Ross, was utterly unbearable. Vomiting all over the floor of the carriage was a very real possibility.
“You are no longer the innocent which I had hoped to deflower myself,” he said.
She could feel his gaze upon her body, and she was filled with revulsion. To remember the tender way her husband had introduced her to the marital bed and then consider such an act with the depraved man whose nearness sickened her was simply unthinkable. Glancing about the dim interior of the carriage she considered her options.
As the familiar homes of Briar Glen moved further and further into the distance while they sped by, her desperation to escape escalated as well.
If only she had stayed home as Lucas had told her to, none of this would have happened. Oh, how she yearned to be back in the safety of Cherry Grove Manor. Held close in her husband’s protective arms.
“I see you looking about for a means of escape. I shall save you the effort. There is no escape, so do not even think about it.” He held his hand to the window and the bright moonlight glinted off the shiny surface of a pistol. “I am not putting up with any more shenanigans from you. You are mine, bought and paid for.”
Cold terror shivered down her spine. What if she never saw Lucas again? Never gazed into his dark eyes filled with love? Or shared his tender kisses?
She squelched a shriek of pure despair and forced herself to keep her wits about her. A quick glance out the window told her they were nearing a tight turn in the road. Surely the driver would have to slow down for it. It was her only hope, thought of the gun no longer frightened her. Death would be preferable to the defilement which Lord Ross no doubt had planned for her. How could she ever let another man touch her after experiencing the sweet love making of her husband, Lucas? A shudder ran through her at the thought of never seeing him again, never sleeping held in the safety of his arms.
No! She would not allow this demented wretch to deprive her of life with her husband. She would survive. She had to.
Not wanting to alert him to her thoughts, she forced herself to look at him instead of the window or the door.
From the corner of her eye she saw the last farm before the bend.
18
Anxious and uncertain, Lucas had no idea where to look for Seraphina. Seeing some light coming through the windows of the Boyds’ cottage, he stopped there. He told himself it was to check on Mrs. Boyd’s well-being, but mostly it was for the comfort and wisdom of the older couple.
“I saw a carriage that wasn’t from around here,” said Angus, who had remained at the Boyds’ house out of concern for Mrs. Boyd and to be of assistance to Mr. Boyd. “I noticed because it was the fanciest I had ever seen. I assumed it was going to the assembly, but it was actually heading out of town. I saw it when I was on my way back from speaking to you in Hemmerly.”
Lucas leapt from his seat. “Where did you see it? What did it look like? Could you see Seraphina?”
“I didna think it would be so important, Doctor, or I would have looked more closely. There was a family crest on the side, and I did see a bright color inside. Pink, it might have been.”
“Pink?” Lucas headed for the door. “That’s Seraphina.”
“Wait, wait for me,” Angus called after him but Lucas, fueled by love and adrenaline quickly left the younger man behind.
Lucas ran until he got to the assembly hall. He had neither the speed nor stamina to catch up to the carriage which he felt certain contained his beloved Seraphina. Only the fastest of carriages would suit his purposes and when he spotted a barouche parked in a place of prominence outside the assembly hall, it was an answer to his prayers. The driver had stepped away, no doubt around back with the other drivers having a bit of whiskey and throwing dice to pass the time. So much the better for him, though in his current state he would not have been put off by a driver, or even a hundred of them. He needed to get to his wife, and he needed to get there fast.
Jumping into the driver’s seat, he took up the reins and set the horses, four of them for greater speed, to work.
“What do you think you are doing?” A woman’s voice screeched from the doorway of the assembly hall, carrying across the street to the parking area and over the noise of the dance happening behind her. Lucas glanced toward the sound. Mrs. Fisk. Of course.
“I shall return your carriage as soon as possible,” he called over his shoulder, “this is an emergency.”
With a surprising amount of agility and determination, Mrs. Fisk made her way, in a ball gown no less, across the street and flung herself into the open carriage as it made its way through the crowded streets of Briar Glen. Once she righted herself, she grabbed the back of Lucas’ coat. “I said, what do you think you are doing? I just took delivery of this barouche last month and I will not have it ruined by an amateur driver such as yourself.” She gave a mighty tug to his clothing and nearly toppled him.
By this time, Lucas had managed to get to the outskirts of town and he gave the horses their head, and they picked up speed at an alarming rate. Lucas had never experienced a carriage that could move so rapidly. Under other circumstances, he would have found this quite exhilarating but right now his thoughts were only of his wife and the possible danger she might be in.
“Dr. Spencer, did you not hear me? Explain yourself.” Mrs. Fisk would not be denied.
“My wife has gone missing and I believe she has been abducted. This speedy carriage is my best hope of getting to her in time.”
“In time for what?”
“To save her.”
“Who took her? How do you know she has not run off? Everyone knows you have barely been home for an evening since your marriage. Maybe she thinks you no longer care for her.”
Damn that woman. Did she have to give voice to the fear that had been nagging at him ever since he realized Seraphina was not to be found anywhere in Briar Glen? As much as he had missed her, he knew—or thought he knew—she had longed for him as well. Perhaps not.
No, he told himself, he would not think such a thing of his Seraphina. He had to get to her and protect her. She was his, no one else’s.
“That is what happens when you marry a stranger. You do not know one thing about the girl’s background or family, do you? You could have been very happy with my Caroline, a sensible, stable young lady who is not given to flights of fancy or unpredictability.”
They were nearing a tight bend in the road and Lucas knew he would have to slow the horses down. He tightened his grip on the reins and began the process of slowing the horses.
“What are you doing?”
Finally Lucas had had enough. “Mrs. Fisk,” he said through gritted teeth, “while I appreciate the use of your carriage, I most certainly do not appreciate or need your commentary.”
“Oh, the nerve.”
In the distance, Lucas thought he could see movement to the side of the road and slowed the horses even more, hoping to make their approach as quietly as possible.
Mrs. Fisk was perched on her knees in the seat behind Lucas, pushing her head and shoulders past him to try to catch a glimpse of what lay ahead. “Make haste! I see a carriage ahead. Why are you slowing down?” Mrs. Fisk reached across Lucas’ body as if to grab the reins.
Without thinking about what he was doing and to whom, Lucas gave her a hard elbow to the shoulder and sent her sprawling back onto the floor of the carriage where she landed with a thud and a shriek of indignation.
So much for attempting to make a quiet approach. However, he had to agree with Mrs. Fisk on one thing, there did appear to be a carriage ahead, where he had seen movement just a moment before. His heart thundered in his chest. He had to get to Seraphina.
In his rush to rescue his wife, he had failed to consider how he planned to extricate her from the hands of those who intended her harm. He had no weapon and had left before Angus could acc
ompany him.
With a glance over his shoulder he realized his only assistance in this rescue was a middle-aged woman in a ball gown and large hat whose dignity had suffered greatly in the last few moments.
He needed a miracle.
Seraphina had timed her escape perfectly, just as the horses slowed to take the sharp bend in the road, she leapt for the door and managed to get out of the carriage and land on the ground without injuring herself, though her beautiful pink dress would never be the same. For that, she had no concern. She had already determined if she survived this ordeal she would burn the dress, for now it carried only hideous reminders of a terrifying night.
Her strategy for evading capture, such as it was, had relied upon the element of surprise as well as her plan to jump from the carriage and run back toward Briar Glen while the carriage containing the vile Lord Ross would continue on in the opposite direction, thus giving her a few minutes and some distance in order to get a head start or possibly find a place to hide before the carriage could get stopped and turned around to look for her. It was not the most elaborate or brilliant of plans, but it was the only one she had.
She paused for a moment to watch the vehicle continue moving away from her, an immense feeling of relief and freedom washing over her. But she had no time to waste and lifted her skirts and began to run as fast as she could. Her thoughts focused solely on returning to the safety of her husband’s arms. It would be only a matter of moments before the carriage and its occupants came looking for her.
The moon was still bright in the cloudless sky. It lighted her way, but also made it easier for her to be seen. Pushing the thought away, she hurried along the road, determined to put as much distance between herself and Lord Ross as possible.
A horrible crashing sound, accompanied by the shrill cries of the horses, caused her to stop in her tracks and turn to see what had happened.
Lessons for His Bride (Regency Matchmaker Book 3) Page 15
