A Taste of Paradise

by Connie Mason

  Peg was waiting when Sophia arrived downstairs. Dunning stood nearby to open the door. Rayford arrived at precisely ten o’clock.

  “I shouldn’t be long,” Sophia informed Dunning. “Tell Casper I’m looking forward to having lunch with him.”

  Dunning peered out the window. “A hack just arrived, milady. Could that be your stepbrother?”

  Rayford stepped out of the closed black carriage with shuttered windows and waited at the curb. Dunning opened the door. Sophia walked down the stairs, Peg following close behind. Dunning watched a moment, then shut the door.

  “You brought your maid,” Ray said. “You don’t trust me.”

  “Do you blame me? Let’s just get this over with, Ray. Chris is coming over later.”

  Ray handed Sophia into the carriage. But when Peg started to enter behind her, Ray pushed the maid to the ground, jumped into the carriage and slammed the door. The carriage rattled off down the road at a fast clip.

  “Dunning! Help!” Peg cried as she picked herself off the ground and raced toward the house.

  Dunning opened the door. “What is it? Why aren’t you with your mistress?”

  “Something is wrong, Dunning. The carriage took off without me.”

  “Come in, girl, come in.”

  Shaking violently, Peg entered the house. “You have to do something, Dunning. Milady’s stepbrother shoved me to the ground and fled with milady in the carriage.”

  “I have to think,” Dunning said, looking every bit as distraught as Peg.

  “Why would milady’s stepbrother do such a thing to her?”

  “I understand the man is a ne’er-do-well, a veritable cad. Perhaps he intends to hold her for ransom.”

  Just then Casper came running down the stairs, his tutor hard on his heels. “We heard a commotion. Has something happened?”

  Wringing her hands, Peg said, “Milady has been kidnapped by her stepbrother. I was to accompany her, but he shoved me to the ground and took off with milady inside the carriage.”

  “The Earl of Standish must be told immediately,” Dunning said.

  “Someone should tell the captain,” Casper insisted. “I’ll go. Mr. Dexter has taken me to visit him at the Thorn and Thistle several times since he arrived in London.”

  He started out the door. “I’ll go with you,” Dexter said. “You shouldn’t be running about London on your own.”

  “And I’ll fetch the earl,” Dunning said. All three men sped out the door, Casper and his tutor in one direction and Dunning in another.

  Once Sophia regained her wits, she rounded on Rayford. “What is the meaning of this, Ray? What are you up to now?”

  “I had to do it, Sophia. It was either obey him or go to debtor’s prison.”

  Sophia’s heart pounded with fear. “Him? Who are you talking about?”

  “You’ll find out soon enough.”

  Sophia decided she wasn’t going to wait around to find out. She reached for the door handle, intending to jump out the door before the carriage picked up speed.

  “Oh, no, you don’t,” Ray said, reaching for her and hauling her back against the squabs. “I don’t want you to kill yourself. That wouldn’t do at all.”

  “Where are you taking me?”

  “Please understand my predicament, Sophia. You’re not going to be harmed, I promise.”

  Sophia sneered. “Don’t tell me you sold my favors again.”

  Ray refused to look her in the eye. “Claire won’t take me back. Her father threatened me when I asked for money to keep myself out of debtor’s prison. I was desperate. Then he arrived and offered to pay my creditors. He was a godsend, Sophia. I had no choice but to agree.”

  “Why me? London is full of whores willing to accommodate a man for a few coins.”

  “They’re not you. Just do this, Sophia. What can it hurt? You’re no longer a virgin.”

  “You vile bastard!” Sophia cried. She began beating on his chest and screaming for the carriage to stop.

  Ray grasped her wrists in a bruising grip. “Be still. The driver has been paid to ignore any outbursts from you. My benefactor has seen to everything.”

  “Tell me his name, Ray. I want to know what I am facing.”

  “No, it is best that you don’t know.”

  “Chris will kill you. Think about that before you carry out your nefarious plan.”

  “You and Radcliff aren’t even living together,” Ray said smugly. “He never wanted you, Sophia. If he had, he would have asked for your hand after Desmond’s death. But he didn’t. He ran off to sea and left you to face the scandal alone.”

  Ray’s cruel words hurt, but he was right. Chris hadn’t wanted her. He’d run off, leaving her alone. She knew now that guilt had driven him away, but nonetheless, his feelings for her hadn’t been strong enough to keep him from fleeing.

  “I have no idea how you two met again after all these years, but I knew your marriage wouldn’t last when I learned about it. Do you really think Radcliff will care what happens to you?”

  “Damn you! Let me out of this carriage! Your plot to sell me the first time didn’t work, and it won’t work this time either.”

  She lunged for the door again but stopped herself when she realized the carriage was barreling down the road much too fast. Her rash act could kill her child, a child she desperately wanted.

  “I’m expecting Chris’s child, Ray. Have you no compassion?”

  Ray’s stunned expression quickly faded, dashing Sophia’s hopes. “I’m sure he won’t care. You look no different to me.”

  “Tell me who he is, Ray. You owe me that much.”

  “I owe you nothing. You owe me. I kept a roof over your head when Society abandoned you.”

  Sophia tried to raise the shade as the carriage sped down the road, but it had been tied down, using complicated knots. She had no idea where she was being taken or to whom. Ray had no scruples, no morals. Whatever he did was for his own benefit.

  Two hours later the carriage rolled to a stop.

  “We’re here,” Ray said. He opened the door and stepped down.

  Sophia peered out at a small shuttered cottage placed in a bucolic setting. There was nothing sinister about it, but she knew that what she’d find inside could very well place her life and that of her unborn child in jeopardy.

  The cottage door opened. Ray hauled Sophia from the carriage and shoved her through the opening. Though it was too dark to see anything, she knew she was not alone.

  A voice came out of the darkness. “You can leave, Caldwell. You can return for her in the morning.”

  Sophia gasped. She recognized the voice. “You!”

  Chris wasn’t at his lodgings when Casper and his tutor arrived.

  “Maybe he’s visiting the earl,” Dexter said.

  “If he is, Dunning will find him,” Casper replied. “But I think we should wait here for him in case he’s gone off on an errand.”

  They found an empty table in the common room and sat down to wait. Casper kept jumping up and pacing to the door to peer outside. He even counted the minutes in his head.

  “Perhaps we should return home,” Dexter suggested. “Dunning probably found the captain at the earl’s house.”

  “Can we wait a little longer?” Casper begged.

  Their patience paid off when Casper spotted Chris walking through the door soon after. “Captain!” he cried, rushing to intercept him.

  Chris sent Casper a welcoming smile. He was always happy to see the lad, but wondered what he was doing here when Casper had visited him just yesterday.

  He nodded to Dexter. “I’m surprised to see you. I thought Casper was to resume his lessons today.”

  “It’s Sophia!” Casper cried.

  Chris’s heart slammed against his chest. Had something happened to Sophia? He prayed not. He had spent the last two days thinking about Sophia, missing her, chiding himself for being too stupid to recognize love when it hit him in the gut. He had been so consumed b
y guilt and misery that he had failed Sophia utterly. But he wasn’t going to make that mistake again. He knew what he wanted and intended to make sure Sophia understood that he loved her, that she was the only woman he wanted, would ever want. They belonged together. He’d been miserable without her and hoped he wasn’t too late to make things right.

  Today Chris had intended to tell Sophia how much she meant to him. He had even purchased a wedding ring worthy of Sophia’s beauty.

  “Has something happened to Sophia?”

  “I don’t really know her reason for doing so,” Casper explained, “but Sophia went off in a carriage with Viscount Caldwell. Peg was to accompany her, but Caldwell shoved Peg to the ground and jumped in the carriage with Sophia. The carriage took off immediately, and no one knows where Caldwell took her.”

  A cold sweat broke out on Chris’s forehead. What kind of nefarious plan had Caldwell hatched for Sophia this time? Chris knew intuitively that Sophia’s abduction involved money. He’d heard that Caldwell was just a breath away from debtor’s prison.

  “Go back home,” Chris said. “I’ll find Sophia.”

  “I want to help,” Casper cried.

  “You can help by returning home and keeping track of any messages that arrive. Caldwell might be holding Sophia for ransom. The man is desperate. I cannot imagine why she went off with him, knowing his penchant for mischief.”

  “Dunning went to inform the earl,” Dexter ventured.

  “Good. Perhaps he can learn something I cannot.”

  “Good luck,” Casper called as Chris hurried off. “Bring Sophia back.”

  Chris intended to do just that. No one was going to take Sophia away from him. Not after he had finally buried his ghosts and opened his heart to love. He loved Sophia. He had always loved her, despite his unwillingness to admit it. No other woman would do for him.

  Chris’s first stop would be Amanda Dartmore’s spacious home in Berkley Square. Even though she and Caldwell were no longer together, she might know where he could find the bounder. Chris retrieved his horse at the nearby livery and headed to Berkley Square. The butler opened the door to him. Chris knew him from his previous visits. His name was Warring.

  “How may I help you, Captain?” Warring asked.

  “Please announce me to Lady Dartmore.”

  “It’s rather early, sir. Milady rarely leaves her bed before noon. Perhaps you can call later.”

  Chris pushed past him. “Tell her Captain Radcliff wishes to speak with her. It’s important.”

  “Please wait here,” Warring said as he started up the staircase. “I’ll see if milady is receiving.”

  Chris didn’t have long to wait. Amanda appeared at the top of the stairs, wearing a dressing gown that left little to the imagination.

  “Chris!” she squealed. “I knew you would come to your senses. Come up, my love, I’ve been waiting forever for you.”

  His face grim, Chris mounted the stairs. When he reached the top, Amanda had already disappeared into her bedroom. Chris followed. He found her arrayed provocatively atop her bed, smiling coyly at him. She beckoned him forward.

  “This isn’t a social call, Amanda,” Chris said.

  “I don’t care as long as you’re here,” Amanda purred.

  “Where is Caldwell?”

  Frowning, Amanda sat up, shrugging so that her gown slipped off her shoulders, baring her breasts. “He’s gone. He meant nothing to me. He merely amused me for a time. Now that you’re here, I need no other man.”

  “Can you give me the direction to Caldwell’s lodgings?”

  “What is this about, Chris? If you’ve come to berate me for taking up with Caldwell, I don’t want to hear it.”

  “I’m not here for you, Amanda. I’m married. I love my wife.”

  “You love her?” Amanda choked out. “I don’t believe you.”

  “Believe what you want. Did you know Caldwell has kidnapped Sophia?”

  “Kidnapped her? Why ever for?”

  “I was hoping you could tell me.”

  “I haven’t seen him in days. His creditors are hounding him; he’s probably left the country.”

  “With Sophia?”

  She tapped her chin. “No, I don’t think so. Why would he want her tagging along?”

  “He took her for reasons I do not understand. Had he asked her for money, she might have given it to him. She had access to my bank account. Do you have any idea where he sought lodgings after you tossed him out?”

  “Someplace cheap,” Amanda guessed. “Why don’t you ask his wife?”

  “I intend to do just that. If you hear from him, please contact me at the Thorn and Thistle.” He turned to leave.

  “Chris, wait! Is this good-bye?”

  “We said our good-byes a long time ago, Amanda. I’m going to find my wife and never let her out of my sight again.”

  Turning on his heel, he left her without another word.

  Chris rode posthaste to the stately home of Lord and Lady Warpole, where Claire resided with her parents. He was told to wait in the parlor while the butler fetched Lady Caldwell. Claire, a plump, mousy woman, arrived a short time later.

  “What can I do for you, Captain Radcliff?”

  “Do you know where I can find your husband? It’s vitally important that I locate him.”

  Claire grimaced, her disgust apparent. “Don’t tell me he owes you money, too? If I never see that man again, it will be too soon.”

  “Have you seen him recently?” Chris asked, trying a different approach.

  “He called here a few days ago. Papa sent him packing.”

  “Jeeters told me we had a visitor,” Lord Warpole said as he strode into the room.

  “Here’s Papa now,” Claire said. “Captain Radcliff is inquiring after Rayford.”

  Warpole acknowledged Chris with a nod. “That cur had the nerve to ask me for money. I sent him packing and told him never to darken my door again.”

  “Papa has friends in high places,” Claire explained. “He has petitioned the court in my behalf for a divorce. When it’s granted, I’ll be rid of Rayford for good.”

  “Do you have any idea where I might find him?” Chris asked. “He kidnapped his stepsister.”

  Claire gasped. “Oh, poor Sophia!”

  “Is he demanding ransom?” Warpole asked.

  “Not that I know of, but I’m desperate to find him. Sophia and I were married in Jamaica some months ago.”

  “I didn’t know that,” Claire said. “I do wish I could help you, but Ray made no mention of Sophia during his brief visit.”

  “Caldwell’s pockets are empty,” Warpole said. “I took the liberty of having his finances looked into. He’ll probably seek cheap lodgings.”

  “Thank you,” Chris said. “I’ll start with some of the dives along the waterfront. If you happen to hear from him, I can be reached at the Thorn and Thistle.”

  Chris took his leave and reined his horse toward the river. The sun was setting and all his leads had dried up. If he didn’t find Caldwell soon, or find someone who knew where he had taken Sophia, he could lose her.

  Chris spirits began to flag after visiting three waterfront inns without success. As he came out of the third, he ran into his brother.

  “Justin, what are you doing here?”

  “Dunning told me what happened. I knew you’d want to find Caldwell and decided to check on a few of the likely places he might be found. I guess we had the same idea.”

  “I don’t know what I’ll do if I don’t find Sophia, Justin. I love her. I was going to tell her today.”

  Justin gripped Chris’s shoulder. “Buck up, old boy. We’ll find your wife. Shall we split up and meet back here in three hours?”

  Chris nodded. “When I find Caldwell, I’m going to kill the bastard.”

  Three hours later, neither Chris nor Justin had found the missing Caldwell. But Justin had some good news to impart.

  “I found where Caldwell has been staying,”
he informed Chris. “I suggest we wait and see if he turns up.” Hope was a fragile emotion. Embracing it wholeheartedly, Chris followed Justin to the disreputable inn Caldwell called home.

  Chapter Nineteen

  A light flared in the cottage. Her heart pounding, Sophia faced her worst nightmare.

  “We are finally alone,” Sir Oscar Rigby drawled. “I’ve waited a long time for this.”

  Spinning on her heel, Sophia turned and ran. He caught her at the door.

  “Oh, no, you don’t. Not this time. You owe me, and it’s long past time that you paid.”

  “If you don’t release me immediately, you’re the one who will pay. I would be very afraid of Chris if I were you.”

  “I think not,” he sneered. “According to Caldwell, you and your husband are estranged. He says there is another woman waiting in the wings for Radcliff. Amanda Dartmore is a fetching piece.”

  “Then why don’t you court her instead of coming after me?”

  “You should know the answer to that. No one makes a fool of me and gets away with it. This time I have you right where I want you, and there is no one who cares enough about you to stop me.”

  Sophia prayed that wasn’t true. Chris would care. He had to. She needed to believe he had been informed of her abduction and was searching for her. If she hadn’t decided at the last minute to take Peg with her, no one would know she was missing until it was too late.

  “You’re wrong, many people care about me. I asked my maid Peg to accompany me. When I got into the carriage, Ray shoved her aside and took off with me in the carriage. Peg will tell Dunning what happened; he will inform the earl, and the earl will tell Chris. They will find Ray and force him to tell them where he has taken me. You’re not as smart as you think, Sir Oscar.”

  Rigby cursed, raised his hand and slapped Sophia, knocking her head back. “Damn you and damn Caldwell! If you think to thwart me, you’re mistaken. Caldwell knows better than to betray me. I paid a small fortune to get him out of debt.”

  “Why me when can have any woman you want?”

  “I cannot forgive and forget. If you had submitted that night I came to your room, I would have taken my pleasure and forgotten you. But you thought yourself too good for me. You tricked me and broke a vase over my head. I almost had you in Jamaica, but then Radcliff foiled my plans.”