Mara moaned. “Like where? We’d need money, and people to help us. We’d need disguises.”
“Bloody hell! Cleveland is as rich as the king. Make him pay for our escape. That would be justice!”
“Maybe I’ll kill myself.”
Alvin definitely didn’t like the direction her thoughts were taking! “Mara, you ain’t gonna kill yourself. Dumb girl. How would that help you and Jake?”
Jake lowered his eyelids in a devious squint, his handsome face looking sinister as his lips curled. “Alvin, you are a genius!”
“Huh?”
“No, ladies and gentlemen, no one needs to die, but someone does need to be kidnapped.”
“Huh?” Alvin’s verbal skills were rapidly deteriorating.
“Ransom money! Yes!” Mara jumped up, seeing the possibilities. “You hide me, he pays for me, we take the money, and we run. You are brilliant!” She hugged Jake who quickly hugged her back, pressing her to him and closing his eyes. God, he loved her! He’d do anything to make her his, and it was all he could do not to lift her face to his, and kiss her passionately right there, Alvin be damned.
“So what’s the plan?”
“Slow down a bit. I gotta think a little here.” He let go of Mara, and started pacing again. “We need to proceed carefully, and Pete and Luke have to help. We’ll need to first figure out where to go and when. And how to take the ransom money. Give me a couple of days to think things through. You two have to think on it as well. We’ll meet back in the gardener’s shed tomorrow after lunch to start planning.”
He pulled Mara close to him again. “There is no way in God’s name I am going to let you marry that bloody old man. You are mine, and only mine.” He covered her mouth with one of his kisses.
Alvin whistled and turned the other way, pretending to be somewhere else. He felt Jake’s hand on his shoulder a moment later. “Let’s get back to work. There are tools we gotta repair this afternoon.”
*****
Mara thought about the escape and kidnapping all night long, tossing and turning in bed, binding the sheets around her legs. She finally got up and walked over to the window, staring out into the cold winter night. Eventually, she got a chill that forced her to crawl back under the covers, but her mind continued to spin. Their escape would only be successful if the details were carefully planned out:
Money.
A place to go.
A day to do it.
Ransom notes.
It all swam in her head until finally she fell into a fitful sleep. But in her dreams, she dreamed of a place to go and a day to do it.
*****
The next afternoon, the three squeezed into the cold gardener’s shed, moving about the tools and buckets and planters so they’d have room to sit.
“This is the safest place I could think of, since it isn’t used in the winter.”
“We’re gonna freeze to death in here, man. Let’s keep this meeting short.”
“Wear more next time, idiot.”
“This is my only jacket, jackass—where do I find more to wear?”
“Okay, gentlemen, stop acting like children, and let’s continue planning. I have ideas.”
“Me too.”
“Not me.”
“Thanks a lot, Al. You’re a real big help.”
“Hey! It ain’t my idea!”
“It was your idea.”
“Boys! Enough!” Mara loved these two dearly, but sometimes their silly bantering drove her crazy. “We are going to America.”
Their mouths dropped open. Well, at least it shut them up.
“Are you nuts?”
“Are you jestin’?”
Okay, so it didn’t shut them up.
“No, I am not making a joke. If we are escaping, we need to do it right, and we are all escaping. All five of us. We are in this together until the end. Once I am gone, my father and the duke will stop at nothing to find me. But I don’t think they will go so far as to come to America looking for me.”
“But if we all go, they will know we ‘ad something to do with it, so ‘ow do we collect the ransom money?” Alvin still wasn’t seeing the big picture.
“I’m kinda with Al on this…how do we find money for passage and gather the ransom money?”
“We’ll work on it, but hear me out. The best day to do it is the wedding day.”
“Wow! Nothing like waiting until the last possible moment!”
“That’ll really get him in the ol’ groin.”
“What do women wear on their wedding day?” Mara quizzed.
“A big, fluffy, white dress.” answered Alvin, smugly.
Jake furrowed his brow and began to understand what Mara had in mind. “Yes, Al, but more than that. The bride always wears the biggest, brightest, most expensive jewels the family owns, and so do all the other women who attend.”
“So if you kidnap me on my wedding day, where is the money coming from?”
“Lots and lots of diamonds, silver, and gold!”
“Right. Lots and lots of jewels. I’m sure my doting husband-to-be will provide me with a tiara, a necklace, a ring, a bracelet or two, a pair of earrings…” she said as she counted off fingers.
“I like the way you think.”
“I like the way you kiss.”
“I like the way you…”
“Okay already! I dinna wanna hear what you like! We have a plan beginnin’ to formulate here, and you two need to concentrate on the plan. The bloody plan, man, the plan.”
Jake and Mara laughed at Alvin’s discomfort. “All right. Mara, your ideas have real merit, but we need to think carefully about the details. How exactly will we stage your kidnapping? Also, we need a way to carry and sell the jewels, different clothes and disguises, and different names to book passage. We need to find out when a passenger ship sails, and set the wedding date for the day before. Yeah. I like it. I really like it.”
Mara smiled. “I’m not daft after all, eh?”
“Can we take all the wedding gifts, too? They’ll be worth a lot, won’t they?”
Mara and Jake stared at Alvin. “Al, you are a bloomin’ genius. We don’t need you to come up with plans, just with ideas. We’ll handle the details. First kidnapping Mara, then kidnapping the wedding gifts, too. Blimey. I think you are onto something, Al! I think you are onto something!”
And with that they began to flesh out the plan to kidnap Mara.
Chapter 31
They met again the next day to continue making plans. They talked for about an hour in the cold shed, trying to determine the best course of action. Many questions still needed to be answered. How would they collect the ransom money? Would Mara’s jewels provide enough capital to fund their journey to America? How would they sell the jewels? Should they use the services of a messenger?
Finally they decided to write a series of letters to make everyone think they were still somewhere in the British Isles. Mara would write them, using her vast knowledge of Shakespeare, Chaucer, Voltaire, and others to come up with good stories.
Questions remained about how best to deal with the jewels. They walked away with much to consider. They also walked away chilled to the bone. They’d all end up with pneumonia if they kept meeting in the gardener’s shed.
*****
Mara decided their next meeting should be in the attic, at midnight. They would be tired, but warmer.
Luke joined them that night, sneaking onto the grounds and into the stables to meet Alvin and Jake. They all crept silently into the house and up to the attic. The door squeaked horribly, and Jake decided he and Alvin had to do something about it, or they would all be doomed.
Luke listened as the group repeated the ideas they had discussed days prior. They debated more.
“Okay. I get the gist of the plan. ‘Ow many ladies are we talking about here?” Alvin and Jake rolled their eyes. Of course, Casanova had women on his mind.
“What ladies?”
“Well I assume Mara won�
��t be going to the wedding all by herself; someone will be with her. We will steal their jewelry, too. The more the merrier.”
They all looked at Mara. “Yeah, how do weddings work?”
“I have no idea. I’ve never been to a wedding!”
“You think we have?”
“Okay, okay. I will need to speak with Mother to learn more about weddings. I understand.”
“Mother. At least you mum will be in the carriage, right?”
“I assume so. My aunt, too. Probably also Cecilia, my ladies’ maid.”
“Ah,” said Jake. “There’s a problem in the making.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean Cecilia. How are we going to keep her nose out of all this?”
“That could be a problem, mate, could be.”
Mara frowned. What would happen to Cecilia when they were all gone? Without Mara, Cecilia would be out of a job, and her father would terminate her immediately. He’d already tried once. And this time, he’d succeed.
“Take her along? Make her an accomplice?”
That threw them into another long and heated discussion about secrecy and commitment and confidentiality and trust.
They finally decided that Cecilia would be a good ally to have, and would probably end up going to America with them. It was up to Mara to broach the subject with her without giving anything away, to see where Cecilia’s loyalties lay.
They agreed to meet again in two days, giving all the ideas a chance to simmer in their minds a bit.
*****
Mara closed and locked her bedroom door, then turned to her maid.
“Cecilia?”
“Yes, m’lady?”
“I wish to speak with you about the wedding.”
Cecilia glanced up from her sewing, and looked at her young charge. Mara had been ranting and moping over her engagement since that fateful night, and Cecilia wasn’t sure she wanted to hear more. It wasn’t that she didn’t sympathize with Mara—she did! But she knew there was no way out of the marriage, and a maid certainly had no say in the matter.
She sighed. “Of course, m’lady.”
“I am not going to marry the duke.”
Here we go again, thought Cecilia. She lowered her gaze to her sewing once more.
“I don’t believe you have a choice in the matter, Miss Mara.” Her voice sounded resigned.
“You may have given up, but I haven’t!” Mara exclaimed. “And neither have the boys.”
Cecilia looked up again. Uh, oh. The boys always spelled trouble.
“Now don’t you be gettin’ foolish ideas in your heads. Those boys can do nothing for you, Miss Mara. Nothing.”
“Do you want me to be miserable for the rest of my life? Do you want me to throw away my love for Jake and submit to a man whose touch makes my skin crawl? Do you want me to marry a man older than my father? Do you hate me so much that you don’t care that at the age of seventeen I am being thrown to the wolves?”
Cecilia sighed again. Mara’s revelation of her love for Jake wasn’t startling, but it did add another complication to an already difficult situation. She had suspected for some time that the nature of their relationship had changed. With Jake arriving to Mara’s bedchamber a few nights ago, she wondered how far they had gone in their relationship.
“Of course I care, my dear. But you and I, Jake and Alvin and all the money in the world can’t do a thing for you. You are a young lady, and must do as your father says. You are the granddaughter of a viscount and the betrothed of a duke, a member of the aristocracy. You are going to be a duchess.” She paused, waiting to see if her words had sunk in.
“There are worse things in the world,” she continued. “Besides, what alternatives are there? Marry Jake? And live on what? He barely makes enough money to support himself! Your father would first beat him senseless and then fire him without references. Then where would you two be? You’d have plenty of love, but nowhere to live, and no money to live on!”
“You will be in the same boat, you know,” Mara replied. “As soon as I am gone, you won’t be needed.”
Cecilia nodded and pursed her lips. She was well aware that her position at the Markham household would end the day after the wedding.
Mara’s next question to Cecilia was carefully phrased. “What if there was a way to keep the marriage from happening? Would you help me if you could?”
Cecilia loved this child with all her being. She knew her young charge’s heart shattered at the situation, causing her own to ache. But what could she do to help? Nothing would change the fact that Mara was a girl and her father had jurisdiction over her. She didn’t see a way out of this betrothal and marriage. Besides, marrying a duke was the dream of every other girl in the aristocracy, and definitely the dream of every mother of a girl in the peerage. If it weren’t for Jake, Mara would probably be thrilled at the thought of becoming a duchess.
“My dear,” she said cautiously. “I would go to the ends of the earth for you, but the end isn’t far enough to run from your father.”
“Is America far enough?”
Cecilia gave Mara a sideways glance, wondering where this conversation turned.
“Cecilia, before I say any more, I need to know if you are with us or against us.”
The older woman sighed. “What do you have in mind?”
“We are going to run away to America,” answered Mara emphatically.
Cecilia stared at the girl in stunned silence. She had no idea Mara had been making such drastic plans.
“I want to protect you too, Cecilia, because when Jake and I are gone, what will you do? You already admitted Father will let you go. He tried once before, and you won’t be needed in the household anymore. Come to America with us. Start a new life. Be my friend and confidant for the rest of our lives.”
Cecilia gaped at Mara, trying to put her mind around what the child had just said.
“Will you come with us?” Mara asked softly. “I would miss you terribly if you weren’t with me in America. You’ve been more of a mother to me than my real mother.”
Cecilia closed her eyes, fighting back tears. How could she not agree to help the girl she had loved like a daughter all these years? How could she not help her reach for her dreams? How could she throw her to the wolves?
“I am with you, my child. I have always been with you, and I will always be with you.”
Mara ran over and threw her arms around Cecilia. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love you so much! I am so glad you are staying with me. You won’t regret it.”
I hope not, thought Cecilia, as she held her charge close. I certainly hope not.
*****
Cecilia proved to be a tremendous help to them. She knew all about weddings. She knew about dresses and wardrobes and invitations and wedding gifts and packing. What she didn’t know, she had ways of finding out. She knew all the shopkeepers and street vendors. She could learn everything the group needed to know.
For the plan to work, Mara would need her parents’ cooperation. But, of course, they couldn’t realize they were helping her escape. She spent quite a bit of time thinking about how best to approach them. Finally, she was ready.
“Mother, Father, I wish to speak with you about my marriage to the duke.”
The Markhams held their breath. They were probably in for another temper-driven onslaught, and they braced themselves.
“I am resigned to the fact that I am to marry a duke. I could do a lot worse in this life, and I will make the best of it.”
Her parents looked at each other, surprised at the change in her attitude.
“My dear! We are so pleased you have come to your senses and finally see what a great match this is for you.”
Mara smiled at her father. Great match, my arse, she thought.
“I want my wedding to be spectacular—the talk of the town.”
“Of course, my dearest,” cooed her mother. “Nothing but the best for the future wife of a duke.”
“I have a few small requests.”
Her parents glanced at each other again. Her father shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t care what she wanted. After all, the duke was paying for the entire thing!
“I would like the wedding to be in the spring or early summer, when the weather is lovely.”
They nodded. It would take time to plan a spectacular wedding, and that would give her time.
“I would like all wedding gifts sent here before the wedding so I can see them, catalog them, pack them, and write thank-you notes so that I can simply enjoy my honeymoon without worrying about protocol.”
They nodded again. Unusual, but logical.
“I want to invite everyone of importance in the peerage. After all, this will be the social event of the season!”
Mara’s mother smiled. “The reception can be held in the ballroom at Stafford House; that will accommodate several hundred people. The duke’s major domo can tell you exactly. I think it is wonderful you want to include all the London gentry. It will show that you are a generous and gracious hostess. Don’t you agree, Evelyn?” Lord Markham nodded. He wasn’t paying for it—he didn’t care if Mara invited all of bloody England!
“I want Lady May and Lady April to be my bridesmaids.”
“Splendid idea! The duke’s daughters and his bride all at the altar with him. How lovely!”
“Oh, thank you so much Mother, Father. I am actually starting to look forward to my wedding.” Mara gave a little bow and left her parents to marvel over the change in their daughter. Markham leaned back comfortably and drank his libation. Ah, he smiled to himself. Working perfectly. Working perfectly.
Mara: A Georgian Romance Page 17
