He grabbed the bag the maid had packed and nudged her out the door and down the stairs.
“Will you be returning soon, my lady?” Malcolm stood at the door as they descended. He blinked rapidly as Sir Daniel put his arm around Olivia, and pulled her close to his side.
“She won’t be returning, my good man.” He handed the note to the butler. “See that his lordship gets this missive.”
He hustled her down the front stairs and into the carriage. “London.”
Olivia leaned against the soft leather of the seat as the coach moved forward. Her heart continued to pound as if it wanted to escape the confines of her body. She clenched her hands in her lap to keep them from shaking.
Sir Daniel kept the pistol pointed at her, a smirk on his face. She prayed Jason would read the silent message she’d left him. If not, all was lost. She would be dead and Jason would be bitter and heartbroken.
…
Jason bounded up the steps as Malcolm opened the front door.
“Good evening, my lord. I have a note for you.”
“Goodness, Malcolm, can I get inside first?” His grin faded as he observed the butler’s ashen face. “What is it?”
“Her ladyship departed with Sir Daniel about two hours ago. She left this note for you.” He handed Jason a folded and sealed piece of velum.
“Thank you. I’ll be in the library.” His stomach muscles tightened. Something was wrong. He had told Sir Daniel to stay away from Olivia. Jason broke the seal on the letter and sat abruptly in the leather chair behind his desk as he read the first few lines.
J, I am leaving you. Sir Daniel and I have been lovers, and I have decided to make my life with him. Please do not follow me. I shan’t return.
He set the note down, walked to the sideboard, and poured a brandy with shaking hands. Returning to the desk, he picked up the missive and continued.
There was no hope for our marriage. Your contention that you will continue seeing your mistress, and your plans to shortly return to London, leaving me alone here in the country once more...has factored into my decision.
O.
His heart pounded. He might be a fool to believe so, but Olivia did not leave willingly. And the last two sentences were her way of letting him know that. For whatever purpose the bastard had kidnapped her.
“Malcolm!”
Apparently waiting right outside the door, the butler stepped into the room.
“Yes, my lord.”
“How long ago did you say her ladyship and Sir Daniel left?”
“They left in your carriage about two hours ago. I have taken the liberty of having a fresh horse readied for you.”
“Thank you.” Jason strode past the butler, and headed for the door.
“Your lordship?” Malcolm followed him.
Jason turned. “Yes.”
“Bring our lady back to us.”
…
After several hours on the road, Olivia continued to stare out at the blackness of the night through the coach window as her mind raced. Would Jason understand her message? Or would he be so hurt at the first few lines, he wouldn’t read any further? It was the only thing she could think of to let him know she hadn’t betrayed him.
She’d held her heart from him for too long. She should have told him how she felt, that she was deeply in love with him. Had she told him when he confessed to her, he would never believe the lies in that note.
Sir Daniel tapped on the roof of the coach. “We will rest here for the night. Don’t try to do anything foolish. It would bother me not at all to kill one of the tavern keepers. And that would be on your conscience.”
Tight-lipped, she nodded. Once again, he held the pistol to her side as they entered the noisy inn. They approached the innkeeper who greeted them enthusiastically.
Sir Daniel looked down his nose at the man. “My wife and I require a private dining room.”
Olivia gasped and Sir Daniel dug into her ribs with the gun.
“And her ladyship would like a bath,” he continued.
The innkeeper tugged at his forelock and bowed, rushing off to do as they bid.
“I am not your wife! And I will certainly not share a room with you.” Olivia hissed under her breath as Sir Daniel tightened his grip on her shoulders and moved her toward the dining room the innkeeper’s wife led them to.
“My dear, you are tired and overwrought. A hot bath and soft bed will restore you.” He spoke in a raised voice.
Would he really shoot one of these innocent people if I cried out?
He bent and whispered into her ear. “I can see your mind working, my dear. Do not think to bring down my wrath on you.” Sir Daniel gazed around the room. “My first shot will be directed at the child.” He nodded toward the far wall where a small girl, most likely the daughter of the innkeepers, sat eating a bowl of soup.
“You are a vile, vicious man. No wonder my husband despises you.”
Olivia sucked in air through her clenched teeth when he pulled her arm back, wrenching it upward. Tears welled in her eyes, but she blinked rapidly, not wishing the wretched man to know the pain he caused her.
After a meal of fish stew, hot bread, cheese, and fruit that Sir Daniel devoured, but Olivia pushed around her plate, the innkeeper’s wife entered to tell Olivia her bath had been readied upstairs in their room. Her stomach rolled. Obviously Sir Daniel would not want to let her out of his sight, but her biggest fear of sharing a room with him was the look of lust in his eyes. Why had she ever thought him charming and good company? What a fool she’d been.
“I’ll escort my wife upstairs.” He nodded at the woman and pulled Olivia’s chair out. He anchored her against him once more and they moved forward. Once they were in the large noisy common room, Sir Daniel stopped and patted the young girl on the head, and turned to the Innkeeper’s wife. “Your child?”
The woman beamed. “Yes, that’s our Gertie.”
“Beautiful. Isn’t she, my dear?” He tugged Olivia closer.
“Yes,” she whispered, fully aware of the warning.
Once upstairs, he shoved her into the room where a large tub sat in the center, directly in front of a low burning fireplace. Olivia crossed her arms and lifted her chin. “I do not wish to bathe this evening.”
Sir Daniel leaned against the closed door, his arms crossed. “I care not for what you wish, my lady. The bath is yours, as is the bed. Where I will be joining you in a short time. Make of it what you will.”
He closed the door softly and the lock clicked.
…
Jason spotted the lights of another inn from a few miles away. He’d stopped at the last two with no luck in finding Olivia and Sir Daniel. Frustrated, he pondered whether he should waste the time once more to check, assuming they would stop for the night, or to continue on ahead.
His heart thundered in rhythm with the hoof beats. Olivia had not left willingly. Whatever it was Sir Daniel wanted, once he had it, there was a good chance he would kill her. The confusion lay in why he would take Olivia with him if he’d found whatever it was he had been searching for. Jason now had no doubt that was the reason for Sir Daniel’s visit. Malcolm had confirmed the two of them had left the house after spending time in the library, where an array of papers had been scattered on the floor, and two drawers of the desk left standing empty.
He pulled up in front of the inn and immediately spotted his coach. “You, boy, give my horse a good rubdown, and some feed. I’ll be here for a bit.” Jason tossed a coin at the young stable lad and inhaled deeply.
His blood pumping, Jason strode to the door and whipped it open. Smoke, noise. and the smell of ale greeted him. The common room held dozens of men in various states of inebriation. He scanned the room, not seeing Sir Daniel. Jason made his way past tables, his shoulders moving men aside as he wound through the crowd. Several patrons glanced at his tightened jaw and rigid stance and moved out of the way.
“Olivia!” He shouted above the din. The force of his vo
ice silenced the room. From the corner of his eye, he caught a movement. Sir Daniel raced up the stairs.
Jason crashed through the table in front of him, knocking men, glasses and chairs out of the way. He jumped over the bannister, and grabbed Sir Daniel by his cravat. “Where’s my wife?”
“Olivia’s with me. She no longer wishes to be married to you.”
Jason snorted right before he smashed his fist into Sir Daniel’s face, knocking him back. He slid down the steps, bouncing and rolling. Jason followed him down, drew him up, and threw a punch into his soft stomach.
“I asked you where she is.”
“Upstairs. Room three.” Sir Daniel panted out the words and brought his hands up to cover his face.
“If you’re still here when I come down, the next suit of fancy clothes on your body will be for your burial.”
Jason raced up the stairs, glancing at room numbers on worn wooden doors as he strode down the passageway until he reached number three. After finding the door locked, he stood back, and kicked the door open, just in time to see his wife climb out the window.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Jason!” Olivia shouted as her bottom slid from the window sill. “Ouch.” Her hip and legs struck the side of the building as she fisted the sheets she’d tied together. She peered below her at the distance to the ground and her heart pounded. She gasped and slid several inches.
“What in heaven’s name are you doing climbing out the window?” Jason’s face peered at her from above.
“Do you suppose if you thought real hard, my lord, you might determine what I’m doing?” Honestly, sometimes the man could be so frustrating.
He reached for her, the tips of his fingers a slight distance from her head. If he used the sheet to pull her up, he might drag her against the stones of the building. “I can’t grab you, but don’t move, I’m coming down to catch you.”
Olivia rolled her eyes. “I don’t plan on falling.” Her hands ached where she gripped the sheet as she swayed back and forth, crashing into the building. She had no intention of dangling here while Jason made his way downstairs. This idea had not been one of her better ones. She was cold, scared, and her arms felt like they were stretched on a rack. Her fingers eased a bit, and her stomach lurched as she slid a few more inches.
…
Jason raced from the room, taking the stairs two at a time. The sight of Olivia sliding from the windowsill scared him like nothing else in his life. If he didn’t reach her in time, she could be killed from the fall. Heads turned toward him as he reached the bottom. The innkeeper attempted to stop him, but he brushed him off.
As Jason hurried through the room, he passed the young stable boy speaking with Sir Daniel who held a bloody cloth to his nose.
The damp night air enveloped him as he stalked from the building. He jogged around the corner just as Olivia yelped and her hands released the sheet. He dashed forward and grunted as he caught her.
“It’s about time,” she said between gulps of air.
Jason bent his head and seized possession of her mouth. Olivia wrapped her arms around his neck, and returned his kiss with a ferociousness he’d never felt from her before. He moved his mouth over hers, devouring its softness.
“Dear God, my heart almost stopped beating when I saw you fall.” His lips brushed against hers as he spoke.
She closed her eyes and shuddered. “Mine too.” She reached up and cupped his cheek. “I didn’t mean anything I wrote in that note.”
“No? You didn’t intend to run off with Sir Daniel?”
Her beautiful violet eyes filled with tears. “No, my lord. It seems your ladyship has done the very much un-ton thing and fallen in love with her husband.”
He leaned his forehead against hers. “Does this mean you’ve changed your mind about trusting me?”
Olivia leaned away from him and narrowed her eyes. “Yes. I’m giving you my heart, and if you don’t protect it, I will hunt you down and do damage to your person.”
Jason threw his head back and roared with laughter. How he loved this woman who’d been foisted upon him by the old Earl’s edict, and then had crawled her way into his heart.
Epilogue
SEVERAL WEEKS LATER
Olivia studied Jason from her position at the library door as he perused the letter from his solicitors.
“Any news on Sir Daniel?”
The man hadn’t been heard from since the fateful night at the inn. The stable boy had told them he had hurried out, stole one of their horses and fled into the night.
“No. No news on the scoundrel.” Jason shook his head. “I still can’t believe that whole incident. My father never had a liking for Sir Daniel or his father, but I never would have guessed he would do something so foolish.”
“And the London Townhouse?”
“Still being guarded. The poor deranged arse never should have listened to the ramblings of his father.”
Olivia moved around the large desk and climbed onto his lap. Sliding her palms up his broad chest, she linked her fingers behind his neck. She played with the silky hair teasing the top of his cravat. “Did you really think I would leave you?”
“Only for a moment, love. I wasn’t yet sure if I’d captured your heart. But, your little message eased one pain, then created another when I realized you had been snatched from my arms.”
He brushed aside the curls that had fallen from her knot. He skimmed his warm lips over her skin, causing her newly sensitized nipples to contract almost painfully. The tension started in her stomach, and before she lost herself in him, she placed her hands on his chest and pushed.
“I have something important to tell you.”
Jason tugged her back. “It can wait.”
She laughed and moved further away. “No. This is important.”
Jason sighed and rested against the chair, his eyebrows raised.
Heat rose to her face as she placed his hand on her belly. “It appears that in several months it will be time to set up our nursery.”
He studied her for a moment, his eyes lighting up. Then he gathered her into his arms, settling her against him and rested his chin on her head. “Have I told you lately how much I love you, my lady?”
“Yes, but I never tire of hearing it, my Lord Arrogant.”
Acknowledgements
To Char Chaffin, my critique partner and author extraordinaire. Thank you for slapping my hands and cutting me off from those nasty repetitive words that creep into every author’s manuscript.
To Regency author, Ella Quinn, for her help and guidance in getting all the Regency terms correct. Any remaining mistakes herein are my own.
To my editor, Erin Molta, for her patience and diligence in slashing and burning the excess in The Elusive Wife.
To my family members, who put up with only seeing my back as I type away on my laptop.
To my three dogs who sit in front of the back door next to my desk where they think I stay to let them in and out a hundred times a day. If it weren’t for them, I’d get no exercise.
About the Author
Callie has been making up stories since elementary school, and writing gave her a way to turn off the voices in her head. She’s had a number of articles and interviews published over the years, and finally decided to put her writing skills to the test and write novels.
Oklahoma is where she hangs her hat with her husband of thirty-six years, two young adult children, and three dogs.
You can catch her hanging out at Facebook, Twitter- @CallieHutton, and her home base, www.calliehutton.com. Stop by sometime and say hello.
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