Rebecca

by Ferguson, Jo Ann

  Fearfully, she looked up into the tight face of the man she had longed to have for her own. He was right. If she did not do as she was told, she would be murdered. When she looked past Nicholas to their jailer, she knew she would face complete debasement before she died. For the first time in her life, she had to accept that her pretty face and full curves were not going to bend a man to her will. Neither Nicholas nor Curtis would allow her to manipulate them one against the other to gain her freedom. With a sob, she reached for the hooks of her ruined costume. Her fingers trembled violently.

  “Let me help,” offered Nicholas, softly, as he saw her struggling with the many small fasteners. He had undressed to his dark breeches as had been ordered.

  His kindness completed the destruction of her composure. She burst into tears and clung to him as he undid the dress. Although she had dreamed of him doing exactly that, she had never expected the dream to darken to this nightmare.

  With her face against his bare chest, she could not see that, as he helped her remove her clothes, his eyes remained on Rebecca’s. The gun pointed unerringly at her temple. He wondered why she was not being treated the same as them. A flash of horror erupted through him. Langston had something planned for her far worse than the death they faced.

  Curtis watched with pleasure as they obeyed his orders. He kicked the pile of discarded clothes into the gap in the tunnel floor. “Very good. Now you have no means of escaping my little cage. I will leave you here alone to enjoy yourselves as you wish. As I said before, you, my dear Clarisse, shall have the night to convince Lord Foxbridge that he wants you again. You need have no worry of chaperones. I’m afraid it won’t be comfortable, for Lady Foxbridge destroyed the comforts I offered her. I surmise the cot she used is at the bottom of the chasm.”

  He signaled to his crony. Together they crossed the plank and started to pull it away to maroon the prisoners. Nicholas leapt forward. He was not quick enough to halt them. With a curse, he gripped the board as it hung partway over the chasm. The well-honed muscles of his back stood out against his skin as he fought to bring it back toward him. In the first seconds, as he surprised them with his attempt, he pulled it toward him.

  The two men on the other side battled him in a deadly tug of war. Rebecca watched in wide-eyed fear. She was afraid to make a sound to break her husband’s concentration and send him hurtling into the pit.

  Nicholas strained to hold the board, but his sweat-encased hands slipped on its rough surface. The muscles along his bare body tightened with the effort. When he saw small hands grasp hold also, he grinned with renewed determination. Clarisse had joined him to effect their escape.

  It was useless, for Langston called for help. All but the one who held Rebecca swarmed to him. With a mighty jerk, they pulled the plank to their side. Nicholas caught the woman beside him before she could topple over the edge. Together they dropped to the floor. As he gasped for breath, he put his arm around the sobbing Clarisse. She buried her face against his bare chest. They huddled in defeat on the damp floor.

  Across the impassible chasm, tears rolled down Rebecca’s cheeks. Her husband had tried to save them, and it hurt her to see him fail. At a laugh, her eyes rose to her captor’s. He grinned a snaggletoothed smile as his hand ran enticingly along her body. She screamed.

  Langston turned at the sound. “Keep your hands off her, Dobbs! If you can’t wait, you won’t get your opportunity to enjoy the widowed Lady Foxbridge.”

  Her face blanched at the dual threat. She had not thought that Curtis would turn her over to his men to be ravaged. Then she realized it was the punishment he had devised to make her pay for escaping his prison and causing him to look like a fool before his men.

  “Please,” she begged, “don’t do this to us.” It was no time for pride. If he wanted them to debase themselves before him, they had other options. “I have told you I will do whatever you wish if you don’t hurt Nicholas.”

  He laughed and sauntered over to where the chastised man had tightened his grip painfully on her. Waving aside the gun, he put his fingers under her chin and tilted her face up to look into his eyes. “My sweet, naive Rebecca, you have no idea how infuriated it made me to discover that you had fled from my little cage.”

  “Langston!” demanded Nicholas. He was on his feet again. His fists were clenched impotently as his side. “Leave Rebecca with us.”

  “No, no, my lord. Lady Foxbridge will be helping me prepare for your demise.”

  “You will never have Rebecca.”

  He laughed in response. “I shall and my men shall and the hangman as well. When it is learned that Lady Foxbridge murdered you and your mistress in a fit of jealous spite, she will meet her end quite nicely in a hangman’s noose.”

  “I will them the truth!” cried Rebecca. Her voice trembled as she fought her fear. “You will hang! Not me!”

  “Who would believe a traitorous Yankee determined to destroy the man who played her false from the beginning by taking her away from her family and the man she loved? After the scene portrayed by Nicholas and his so willing Clarisse tonight, nobody will suspect that you didn’t discover them dressed as they are now together in bed.”

  Clarisse shrieked, “Curtis, reconsider! Marry Eliza, then get rid of her, too. You have made it clear on more than one occasion that you are interested in me. Marry me. That will protect your secret, for a wife cannot testify against her husband. You will have the Cloister and a wife who brings you more wealth.”

  He did not even pause to consider it. “Thank you, but I am not interested in you or any of your most tempting offers. Believe it or not, I am quite fond of young Eliza. She will be the perfect next lady of Foxbridge Cloister when her husband assumes the duties of its lord.” His eyes caught Nicholas’, and he grinned superiorly. “In addition, I want the present Lord Foxbridge to spend his time in hell knowing that his sweet little sister is mine to use as I please.”

  Rebecca snarled, “Do you think Eliza will want you when she learns you murdered her brother? The jury may not believe me, but Eliza will.”

  Curtis grasped her and pulled her tight to him. “Are you expecting that you will be returning to Foxbridge Cloister immediately, my dear? No, no. I am going to keep you for myself here for a while. Then my men will be able to enjoy you. Only when we are finished with you will we release you to the authorities.”

  “No,” she whispered. “Curtis, don’t do this. Let me stay with my husband this one last night before you destroy us all.”

  “I don’t think it would be a good idea to leave the resourceful Rebecca unattended. It shall be much more fun to take you with me while I set the stage for your husband’s so timely death, my lady.”

  “Keep your filthy hands off my wife, Langston!”

  He smiled broadly at Nicholas’ shout and, twisting Rebecca to face him, forced her mouth under his. Her hands clawed at him, but he refused to release her. When his hand crept along her side to encircle her breast, her scream, muted by his lips, resonated through the cavern. Looking at Nicholas, he laughed. “I intend to put far more than my hands on your Rebecca, my lord. I intend to have her and your sister and your Cloister. I have worked long to arrange this.”

  “Arrange?” whispered Rebecca.

  He grinned victoriously at her, but spoke to his enemy. “Your brother Brad was simple, for his life as a roué garnered him enough enemies who wanted him dead. No one suspected there had been no duel. I wonder if he knew what would happen when I continued to ply him with drinks to make him so drunk that I could kill him readily. Your bereaved mother never did ask whom it was that Brad supposedly fought. It saved me having to devise some lies that might have been revealed as untrue.”

  Rebecca watched her husband as the unbelievable story unfolded. Nicholas’s face became hard with the cold fury which masked the much hotter rage beneath. Trying to pull away from Curtis, she cursed at him when he tightened his grip on her arms. Again he simply laughed at her.

  Langston continu
ed to smile as he admitted, “You, my lord, were much more difficult. You see, when I picked Eliza to bring me the wealth I wanted, I thought she would have only one brother to deal with. It wasn’t until I came to the Cloister for the funeral of my dear friend Lord Foxbridge that I learned you possibly were still alive. My prayers for your demise were to no avail. How was I to know that you would survive the prison hulks and come back to England with a wife?”

  She gasped. “The duel! You fixed the gun to jam!” She closed her eyes in agony as she recalled how blithely she had given him the weapon. Thinking he was their friend, she had not questioned his report. She should have realized that he could not have fired the gun behind the stable without her hearing it by Nicholas’ bedside.

  “Royce owed me a favor that I decided to collect on painlessly. He knew there was no danger to him.” Langston clutched Rebecca’s face between his fingers. Squeezing her cheeks until she gasped in pain, he glared at her shocked face. “You saved Nicholas that day by being there to aid him as soon as he fell. Otherwise, he would have been returned to Foxbridge Cloister as a corpse.” He smiled. “I didn’t want to kill you then, Rebecca, for I have been very anxious to enjoy what you offer.”

  “I won’t—”

  “But you will, my dear.” He turned to mock the man who had been listening in silence. “Did you know you had an enemy plotting against you, my lord? Is that why you made a will leaving all of Foxbridge Cloister to a pretty lass named Rebecca Wythe?” He laughed at her astonishment. “You didn’t know that? The estate isn’t entailed. It goes to whomever the present lord decides. When Nicholas dies, it’s yours. Only when you are dead will it go to Eliza. You have stymied me too many times, Rebecca!”

  “It should have taught you that neither Nicholas nor I are willing to die for your ambitions!” she snapped. She could tolerate no more of his gloating. “You are more stupid than I guessed!”

  With a growl, he swung his arm back and struck her so sharply she fell to the hard floor. Through the thick heat of her pain, she heard Nicholas’ raised voice. She huddled in agony, unable to interpret his words. She groaned as a boot against her side rolled her onto her back. In horror, she gazed up at the blurred face of Curtis Langston and watched helplessly as it came closer to her.

  “Nicholas!” she moaned as she felt her sister-in-law’s fiance’s fingers on the buttons of her riding coat. There was no one to aid her. Her fists struck out blindly, but hit him. Her heel kicked him sharply in the shin.

  Swearing vehemently, Curtis pulled her roughly to her feet. He faced his enemy who paced like a caged cat along the edge of the crevice while Clarisse watched in horror. Loudly, he ordered the plank pushed back into place. Holding his gun to Rebecca’s head, he ordered Nicholas away from it.

  When he shoved Rebecca toward the makeshift bridge, he said, “My lord, I tire of your lady.”

  She glanced at him, frightened by his sudden change of heart. That he was going to let her return to Nicholas seemed improbable. Hearing her husband calling for her to hurry, she knew he feared Langston would relent and rape her immediately. Dampening her lips, she stared at the narrow board. Only desperation had forced her across it before. She was unsure if—

  “Rebecca, now!” shouted Nicholas as she heard a click directly behind her ear. The cold point of a pistol barrel pricked her skin.

  Taking a deep breath, she fearfully stepped on the plank to cross to the prison she had escaped so recently. She concentrated on each step as she slid her feet toward the other side. She did not want to freeze in the center as she had the other time she crossed. Hearing a cruel chuckle, she looked over her shoulder to see Curtis place his foot on the board and put a bounce into it.

  “No!” she screamed as it moved wildly beneath her. Her hands rose as she tried to balance herself on the gyrating board. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nicholas rush forward, but he was ordered back as the gun in Langston’s hand aimed directly at her. In terror, she cried, “Help me!”

  Laughter filled the cave as the board was set in motion once more. It rocked her from her feet. She shrieked as she slipped. Her hands grasped the plank to keep her from falling to the bottom of the cleft surface.

  Nicholas moved without thinking of the threat of the loaded weapons. Shouting a quick order to Clarisse to stand on the board on their side, he inched across it on his hands and knees to where Rebecca hung by her fingertips. He did not pause to see that his enemy had put two of his men on the other end of the board to keep it from slipping.

  “Let go of the edge, sweetheart,” he whispered. “I have your wrists. You won’t fall.”

  Her eyes were squeezed closed. “I can’t let go.” As her voice rose hysterically, she gasped, “I’m trying, but my fingers won’t let go.”

  “I have you, sweetheart. I won’t let you fall. Trust me, Rebecca.”

  Slowly, her eyes opened. Staring at the love in his, she forced her fingers to release their convulsive grip. She moaned as she slipped downward, but Nicholas did not lose her. With care, slowly, gritting his teeth, he drew her back to the board. She swallowed her gasp of pain as her body rubbed painfully on the edge as he brought her up to sit beside him. He leaned her face on his bare chest as he bent his head over hers while he tried to regain his steady breathing. As she clutched him, unable to believe she was alive, she heard him whisper in her ear.

  “Do you still have the gun I gave you? Don’t nod. Just squeeze my arm if you have it.” He hid his smile in her disheveled hair as her fingers contracted lightly on his forearm. “Good. I have my knife, as well. Faint, Rebecca.”

  “What?” she whispered into his sweaty skin.

  “Faint, my love. When I put you on the floor, take out your gun and shoot whoever is closest. I can kill at least one more of them.”

  She did not reply. Their enemies numbered five. Nicholas must hope to terrify the others into flight. Following his orders, she fell limp against him. It was nearly impossible to stay motionless as he rose. Her fear of the long fall to the bottom of the chasm urged her to grasp him, but she forced her arms and legs to drop around him.

  “The other way, Wythe!” came the order in Langston’s voice.

  “She has fainted. Let me put her down before I drop her. Perhaps that might not be such a bad idea. It would save Rebecca from your fantasized lusts.”

  “All right, bring her here. One false move, and you are both dead, as well as Clarisse.”

  With a step toward him, Nicholas said in a grim tone, “I understand completely.”

  Her eyes opened slightly as he lowered her to the ground. When his body shielded her momentarily from the sight of the others, she reached into her skirt for the hidden weapon. Curtis had not guessed it was fear of this gun being discovered that had caused her to scream when his animal dared to stroke her.

  “Can someone get some water for her forehead?” called Nicholas in a falsely distressed voice. “She’s got quite a bruise.”

  Foolishly, Langston ordered one of his men to get a bucketful from the ocean water pulsating higher into the cave. “Let me look at her, Wythe!”

  Nicholas kept his body between the man and Rebecca until the very last moment. Curtis bent over her and pushed aside her hair to search for a wound. The only one had been bandaged already.

  “Don’t touch me ever again!” she hissed. With a smile more vengeful than his, she pressed the long barrel of her pistol to the tip of his nose. “If you don’t want what little brains you have separated from your skull, I suggest you order all your men to the other side of the chasm. First, tell them to give Nicholas their weapons. Don’t forget the one on his way out. Call him back.”

  “You will pay for this,” he snarled as he reached for the weapon. He froze when her thumb settled on the hammer.

  “Will I? I think I have already. It’s your turn!” she taunted. “Do as I said!”

  Not daring to move, he shouted to his men. Stupefied by the sudden change, they obeyed. Clarisse did not hesitate as
she crossed the chasm after jeering at her one-time captors.

  “Now you, Curtis!” Rebecca ordered.

  Slowly he rose. She scrambled to her feet while Nicholas aimed one of his commandeered weapons straight at their enemy. Her husband looked down at her smiling face and winked. When she handed him her gun, he took it and placed the other on the ground near his feet. The others he had tossed into the pit, not wanting to chance them being used against him again.

  He smiled as he pointed the familiar weapon at Langston. “Rebecca asked you to go over to your little cage, as you are so fond of calling it.”

  “Yes, do go, Curtis,” seconded Clarisse. As he stepped onto the board, he paused as she continued, “I plan to come to see you hang. Perhaps Rebecca will help me host a fete for when you are done swinging.”

  Rebecca gasped, shocked, “Clarisse!”

  “Why not?” she demanded. “He tried to kill us all so he could marry poor Eliza only to gain control of Foxbridge Cloister.”

  “No! That can’t be true!”

  They turned to see the ghostly-pale face of Eliza Wythe. In that moment of surprise, Curtis jumped forward in a flying leap. He tackled Nicholas, sending him crashing to the rock. The gun went skidding across the floor to drop into the crevice. The second pistol vanished beneath the struggling men.

  Rebecca kicked the board into the chasm before the others could cross. She turned to see how she could help her husband. She screamed as she saw the bared blade in Curtis’s hand. It was the same one that had cut her.

  She ran to Eliza, pulling Clarisse with her as Nicholas kicked his way out from under the other man. The three women watched as the men grappled too close to the edge of the precipice. As the men circled each other, weighing the weaknesses and strengths of the other, she noticed Nicholas had his shorter knife in his hand.

  So intensely she was watching the fight, she did not see Eliza rush forward to grasp the lone gun. The young woman scooped it up and balanced it easily in her hand.

  “Stop!” she cried. “Stop, both of you, or I will shoot!”