The Forgotten Duke

by Sophie Barnes

  Refusing to be discouraged, Carlton told the hackney to wait and then glanced around. He walked along the wharf searching for clues that could lead to Regina’s whereabouts. All was quiet. Except… He tilted his head. Was that clopping? The sound grew louder and then a carriage rounded the corner. It slowed to an immediate halt as soon as the coachman saw him and clearly tried to turn. But Blayne was there, both quick and strong. He grabbed the horses by the reins and forced them to stay.

  “You’d best let us go,” the coachman said. He’d reached for a pistol, but Carlton had one of his own.

  He aimed it at the man and watched as his eyes went wide with fear. “An ye’d best do as we say.” He jutted his chin at the spot the coachman had been trying to reach. “Kindly hand over yer weapon and I just might spare ye.”

  Shaking, the man did as was asked. He gave his pistol to Blayne, who remained there with it now aimed directly at the coachman’s head.

  Carlton opened the door to the carriage and climbed up inside.

  “What the devil?”

  There was no mistaking the man’s identity. It was Mr. Reynolds, the very same upstanding fraudster Patrick had told him about. Without explaining or offering an apology, Carlton took the opposite bench and aimed his pistol directly at Reynolds’s chest.

  “If I’m not mistaken,” Reynolds said, “my meeting with you is supposed to take place tomorrow.”

  “Best not leave fer tomorrow what one can accomplish today,” Carlton sneered. “Now, ye’ll tell me what ye’re doin’ here, Reynolds. And ye’ll do so now.”

  Reynolds glanced at the window as if the foolish man imagined escape lay in that direction. “I’m supposed to meet with a business associate of mine. He’s interested in getting a good deal on some textiles that I’ll be importing from India.”

  Carlton narrowed his gaze and pulled back the hammer on his pistol. “I don’t have patience fer lies.”

  “I…I’m not lying!”

  Faster than Reynolds could blink, Carlton reached for the man’s fluffy cravat and yanked him closer so he could grab him securely by his throat. “Are ye sure about that?” Carlton asked as he pressed his pistol against Reynold’s head.

  The man trembled and Carlton tightened his hold, squeezing the trachea until he cried out in fear. Eyes wide, he stared at Carlton in horror while gasping for breath. “Now then. Would ye like to give me a different answer?” He leaned slightly forward and arched an eyebrow.

  “I don’t…I don’t…” Reynolds gasped. Carlton pressed the pistol more firmly against Reynolds head. “All right. All right,” Reynolds wheezed and Carlton loosened his hold to let the man speak. “There’s an auction tonight. It’s exclusive. Invitation only.”

  “Art?” Carlton asked on account of the forged paintings he knew Reynolds sold. It did not explain Regina’s or Ida’s whereabouts though.

  “No. It’s something else – something special that can’t be gotten anywhere else.”

  Carlton curled his hand more securely around Reynolds’s neck. “I suggest ye tell me about it quickly.”

  “Yes. Yes of course,” Reynolds stammered. “It’s women. That is…I mean…there are men with particular tastes and I…it’s been difficult since Bartholomew died. I don’t like visiting filthy brothels and he understood that. He got that there was a need for something exclusive – a place where people like me can do the things that most of the whores won’t allow.”

  Disgust began boiling inside Carlton’s stomach. He moved the pistol and pushed it up under Reynolds’s chin. “Such as?”

  “I…I…I…”

  “Spit it out, Man, before I blow yer head clean off yer shoulders.”

  Reynolds whimpered and for a second, Guthrie feared he might start crying. But then he muttered, “I like to…to hurt them.”

  “Jaysus!” Reynolds gasped as Carlton gripped his throat tighter. His eyes bulged and began to water. Deliberately, Carlton forced himself to relax his fingers. “Explain.”

  When it took Reynolds a moment to speak, Carlton narrowed his gaze. “I’ll make ye suffer unspeakable pain unless ye come clean this instant.”

  Reynolds gulped and gave a quick nod. “When Patrick came to set up the meeting with you, I learned that he’s offering something much better than the tired whores Bartholomew always supplied.” Carlton felt as though his heart had stopped beating. “Virgins. Expensive as hell but—”

  The cracking sound of the pistol connecting with bone as Carlton used it to punch Reynolds in the face cut the bastard off. Carlton hit him again, and again, until blood smeared his pistol and parts of his hand, until Reynolds fell silent and slumped back against the squabs.

  Carlton drew a deep breath. “Where?” He’d barely stopped from killing him.

  A hoarse throaty crackling sound rose from Reynolds’s throat. “On the barge.”

  Carlton took just one second to consider what to do. He could finish Reynolds off as he would have done before, but part of him wanted to be better than that. Part of him wanted to go to Regina without more blood on his hands.

  “Damn!” Time was ticking by fast and he had to be off. So he quit the carriage and tried not to regret the decision he’d made to let Reynolds go. There were more important things for him to focus on now, like making sure a lecherous reprobate didn’t acquire Regina before he showed up. “She’s out there somewhere,” he told Blayne while trying not to think of how scared Regina would be on the water. “Reynolds mentioned a barge.”

  “Let’s have a closer look.” Blayne turned his back on the carriage and went to address the rest of the men. The entire crew had now shown up and was ready to help. Carlton followed and after a couple of steps the whinnying of horses and clatter of hooves informed him that Reynolds’s carriage was taking off fast.

  Nets were heaped together on the side of the wharf. Three massive ships were docked, obstructing the view of the river. Their gangplanks were raised, which suggested their crews had already retired for the night. A pungent smell of decay filled the air, but it wasn’t any worse than what Carlton was used to in St. Giles.

  “I sent Mitch and Rupert that way,” Blayne said as two men split from the larger group and disappeared into the darkness.

  Carlton nodded. “Then the rest of us can continue toward the other end of the wharf.” He started walking and everyone else fell into step behind him. But they hadn’t gone far before Mitch came back at a run.

  “There’s a jetty over there.” He pointed behind him. “With rowboats we can use.”

  “Were ye able to see anythin’ from it?” Carlton asked. He was already following Mitch at a clipped pace. The jetty would be close to where they’d initially arrived and to where Reynolds’s carriage had been heading, but they must have missed it because of the darkness.

  “Aye,” Mitch murmured. “Lights on the water. Just enough to guide the way.”

  Carlton’s muscles began to strain with the anticipation of what was to come. He stopped when they reached the spot where Rupert waited, immediately aware of the fact that several other boats appeared to be missing. “We’ll approach the stern of the barge in complete silence. If all goes well, we’ll manage to board without anyone bein’ the wiser. Just follow me lead and don’t attack unless it becomes necessary. Our main concern is to get the women Patrick’s holdin’ to safety.” They could deal with Patrick later, but the last thing Carlton wanted was to give him more reason to hurt Regina.

  Which he just might do if he felt cornered.

  Regina’s wrists and ankles were tied so the coarse rope dug painfully into her skin every time she moved. Cut from white gauzy muslin, the gown she’d been told to put on was without a doubt the most scandalous creation she’d ever seen. The neckline was at least an inch lower than any dress she’d worn before and barely held her bosom in place. And since she hadn’t received any undergarments, she felt as naked as she would have if she’d worn nothing at all.

  She glanced sideways at where Ida was sitting
with her chin held high at a stubborn angle that bolstered Regina’s own courage. Similarly attired, the young woman hadn’t said much since Regina had met her on the barge. But when Regina had quietly told her that Carlton had been out looking for her, she’d smiled.

  “He’ll come for us,” she’d said.

  Her gaze had been firm and without any hint of the doubt that Regina felt. After all, they were on a barge in the middle of the Thames (as if that wasn’t terrifying enough), about to be auctioned off to a group of men. And Patrick wasn’t alone. Somehow, he’d formed his own band of unsavory miscreants. A group of men with leery grins and sinister gleams in their beady eyes.

  Regina shuddered. What chance did Carlton have of getting to them in time? What information could he have learned to aid in her rescue? She already knew that Patrick had sent him to Hackney Meadows. The odds of him returning and figuring out where she was in time were so slim they barely existed at all.

  She swallowed as she looked toward the other girls being held captive. They were so young. One did not look more than eight years of age. Her stomach curdled at that thought – at what their fates would be when they left with their owners.

  “Stop worrying,” Ida hissed beneath her breath. “They’ll smell your fear and use it against you.”

  As if on cue, Patrick appeared. He walked the length of the area where they all sat, considering each girl in turn until his focus went to a girl who was practically trembling with fright while tears streaked over her cheeks. A smirk appeared on Patricks’s lips, removing all lingering traces of the agreeable man he’d appeared to be at The Black Swan. “Bring her,” he commanded the man who’d followed him to the stern of the ship where they waited.

  “No. Please…” The girl shook her shoulders in a futile attempt to push the man away. He lifted her effortlessly into his arms and carried her toward the bow where the auction was set to take place.

  Patrick smirked. “A pity Reynolds didn’t show. He did say he liked them young and feisty.”

  Reynolds? Was he really involved in all this?

  Regina swallowed the bile rising up her throat and shuddered. She glared after Patrick as he strolled away casually, cursing him to perdition and beyond. But Ida was right. Panicking wouldn’t help and neither would getting riled up. The only hope she had of escape was if she stayed calm. So she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, tried not to think of the dark water all around her or how deep it was.

  The creaking of timber caused her to flinch. Could a barge splinter and break apart? And if it suddenly filled with water, how long would it take for the boat to sink? How long would it take her to drown? Her heart started pounding with furious vigor and air rushed in and out of her lungs with increasingly short breaths. Her limbs began to shake and her skin felt like it might suffocate her if she didn’t escape it.

  “Stop,” Ida gritted. “Pull yourself together.”

  Regina could only marvel over the younger woman’s ability to maintain her composure, but she might not suffer the same debilitating phobia Regina had struggled against for most of her life. And if it weren’t for the water, the truth was that being held captive like this wouldn’t be quite as bad. She’d keep her mind sharp and focused. She’d think of some way to get out of this mess, even if it meant killing someone.

  But it was as if her brain was filled with an all-consuming darkness that threatened to swallow her up any second. “I can’t,” she gasped, hating how weak and defeated she sounded. “I’m afraid.”

  “We all are,” Ida told her quietly. “You’re not alone in this.”

  “It’s the water,” Regina muttered. “I have to get off the water.”

  Ida turned her head and looked straight at her with the clearest blue eyes she’d ever seen. “There’s nothing to fear from the water.” She held Regina’s gaze until Regina relaxed with sudden understanding. Whatever the water might do to her, it would never be as bad as what she would face at the hands of the man who bought her. So if Carlton didn’t come, the river might be the only thing that would save her.

  Footsteps approached once more, bringing Patrick with them. He considered the girls before nodding at Ida. A different man than before hauled Ida to her feet, lifted her into his arms and carried her off. Patrick followed, leaving Regina behind with two other girls, both of whom looked just as frightened as she felt.

  The procedure for auctioning off the women repeated until only Regina remained. When the same man who’d come to fetch Ida came to collect her as well, she waited until he bent to pick her up, then knocked her head hard against his. He stumbled sideways with a groan and Regina scrambled away, banging one knee against the deck as she stumbled toward the side of the barge. But the railing remained a distant goal as she felt a thick arm reach around her, pulling her forcefully back in the arms of the man she’d tried to escape.

  “Little bitch,” he spat. “You’re lucky I’m not allowed to hit you or I’d have given you several bruises by now.” He hoisted her high in his arms and held on tight as he started to walk. “But you’ll fetch more blunt if your skin is unblemished. No doubt the man who buys you will want to know he’s the only one ever to mark you.”

  Instinctively, she pressed her thighs together and turned her face away in a pointless attempt at hiding as much of herself as possible. Before she was ready he set her down, and when she straightened, she saw that she was standing on a dais in front of a half dozen well-dressed men. All appeared to be members of the gentry or… Her gaze shifted and her entire body convulsed when she recognized one as someone she’d actually danced with a few weeks earlier. Baron Naughton, Viscount Islington’s son, was watching her with cool interest.

  “This lovely creature is quite the rarity,” Patrick began as he slid one finger along the length of Regina’s arm. When she flinched in response, Patrick grinned, right before pushing one hand into her spine while pulling her shoulders back sharply. With a gasp of surprise, Regina did as Patrick intended and arched, pushing her breasts up until they threatened to spill from her bodice.

  The men who were watching leaned forward, their hungry eyes fixed upon her like vultures eagerly admiring a carcass that they could devour. Naughton smirked and Regina deliberately looked away from him and the rest of the men. Ida and the other girls who’d been sold were now seated directly behind them, awaiting their departure.

  “She’s the Earl of Hedgewick’s daughter,” Patrick continued, “so she won’t come cheap and you’ll have to make sure that no one finds out that you have her, but I dare say it will be worth it for a taste of her virgin body. We’ll start the bidding at one thousand pounds.”

  Regina froze in response to the staggering sum.

  “Two thousand,” an older man said.

  “Two thousand five hundred,” the one sitting next to him muttered.

  The numbers increased to five thousand without Naughton saying a word, until the first man’s offer of five thousand one hundred seemed to go uncontested.

  At which point Naughton casually stated, “Ten thousand pounds.” His eyes were pinned on Regina like needles piercing her flesh. A murmur rose from the rest of the men but when none of them chose to counter, Patrick announced that Regina was sold.

  Naughton stood and approached, and because she was scared, because she was frightened of what he would do and of what would happen to her if she ended up locked away in his home, she almost missed the thud that came from the stern and the muffled voices that followed. She barely registered the gesture Patrick made to one of his men before Carlton strolled forward, as casually as if he was walking down Bond Street.

  He cast a quick glance in Regina’s direction, and she saw that he wasn’t nearly as composed as he was letting on. The muscles in his face were tense, the smile on his lips completely disingenuous and his eyes as hard as steel.

  “What are you doing here?” Patrick asked, his cool façade cracking to reveal his alarm over being found.

  “Lookin’ fer ye,” Carlton m
urmured. He stared at Patrick and eventually asked, “What the hell are ye thinkin’?”

  “That I’m tired of always being third in command with no hope of advancement.”

  “Are ye stupid?”

  Patrick balled his hands into fists. “It’s time for me to make it on my own, Guthrie. I want to be a leader, not a follower, and after all the years I’ve given you, it’s clear that the only way to achieve that is to set off on my own.”

  “And ye decided to do so by causin’ harm to young women, did ye?” Carlton cursed under his breath and when he spoke again, his voice was harsh. “Ida is yer friend. And Scarlet…” He glanced around, his gaze lingering only briefly on Regina before moving back to Patrick. “Where’s she?”

  “I’ve no idea,” Patrick muttered.

  Carlton’s posture stiffened. “If ye know what’s good fer ye, ye’ll step back and let me return these girls to their rightful homes.”

  “Now hold on one moment,” one of the buyers began. “You can’t just—”

  Carlton held up a hand, silencing him without having to utter a word. “Ye know what I’m capable of, Patrick.”

  Incredibly, Patrick raised his chin. “Yes, I do, but I have you outnumbered. And in any case, you’ve arrived too late. The girls have already been sold.”

  “Includin’ her ladyship?”

  Patrick smiled like the cocky young fool he apparently was. “She was just bought for a grand sum of ten thousand pounds.”

  “By whom?” Carlton asked, his voice low but clear.

  “By me,” Naughton said as he came to grab Regina by her arm. She winced in response to the hard grip.

  “Let her go,” Carlton said, again without any force behind the words, which only made them sound even more threatening.

  “So you can have her?”

  “Now there’s a thought,” Carlton agreed. He tilted his head to one side, seemingly oblivious to Patrick’s men moving in around him. Where were MacNeil and the rest of Carlton’s crew? Surely he hadn’t come alone?