Leonard would not be afraid. Leonard would throw these doors wide open and face whatever was out there without fear. You can do the same.
Without another second to waste, she shoved the door with the flat of her palms…
But nothing happened. The door did not move. Elizabeth’s mouth parted and she stared up at it in confusion before trying again. It still did not swing outward as she expected.
A deep wave of frustration flooded her body and a guttural howl formed in the pit of her stomach. Her sanity was breaking and no amount of reason would bring it back. She began to pound on the door with both fists, the screams of anguish filling her mouth but something primal inside her, some inherent desire to survive forced her stop moving. She choked back the howls of protest until she gagged.
Slowly, her fists fell back to her side and she was left in a smouldering, trembling mass of distress. The door was locked from the outside. There did not need to be a guard for she had no escape route.
There was nothing she could do except wait for her captors to return and discover that she had not behaved as she had promised.
There is nothing I can do except await my inevitable death.
“…stay there! Why do you insist on following me every time I go to see the princess? If I did not know better, Mark, I would say you have designs on her!”
Elizabeth’s heart leapt as the voice grew closer but she remained crouched in her spot. In seconds, she would be exposed, in Cooper’s furious pathway, as untied.
“I do not!” Mark protested. “I come only as your guard.”
“Do you think I require a bloody guard?” Cooper retorted. “You are the fool who got kicked by a woman! Off with you now. I will not tell you again! I already made the mistake of permitting you to see her and you bloody well nearly set her free!”
“Have you taken leave of your senses? I would not do such a thing!” Mark protested.
“I will not quibble with you over what I saw with my own eyes. Off with you. Do not make me tell you a third time.”
Their voices were directly above and Elizabeth could make out the shadows passing over the slats. There was a grunt of annoyance but Elizabeth knew Mark had obeyed Cooper’s instructions, leaving him alone to deal with the now-freed lady below.
She heard the sound of the door creaking and suddenly, Cooper stood, illuminated with a greyish light at his back. The sun had disappeared behind the clouds, indicating rain was on the horizon but that was truly the least of Elizabeth’s concerns. Immediately, her only thought was of the man looming above. He held the water she so desperately wanted in a canteen, and in the other hand, a satchel she assumed contained food. Cooper blinked, his sardonic smirk faltering from his lips.
“Miss Elizabeth?” he called, uncertainty tainting his voice. “Where have you gone, you cunning wench?”
He had seen the fallen chair and the binds and he slowly descended the steps. His eyes darted around the dim cellar but even with the pale light of the daytime streaming inside, he could not make out every corner of the basement.
“Miss Elizabeth,” Cooper tried again, an almost lyrical amusement in his tone. “You cannot hide here. There is nowhere for you to go.”
She remained in place, holding her breath as she watched him with wary eyes.
“Ballocks,” she heard him mutter but he had had yet to see her crouched among the preserves. In seconds he would see her, however. She had a limited opportunity to escape and she needed to seize it while she maintained the small element of surprise.
“Come out, wench!” Cooper howled, his good mood dissipating instantly. “When I get my hands on your —”
Elizabeth sprung forward, smashing the jar of preserves she was clutching against his face. The glass shattered and Cooper released a gut-wrenching howl of pain as the brine seared his eyes.
Without waiting to see how badly injured he was, she turned and sprinted up the steps and outside. She did not look one way or another, only forward as her weakened legs carried her as fast as she could go, the adrenaline moving her bare feet along the grass.
“Get back here! Mark! Mark, she is getting away!”
Elizabeth did not stop nor did she look over her shoulder. Ahead was a tree-line leading into a thick woods and it was her only destination.
“Stop!” Cooper screamed again and a bullet whizzed by her head. Elizabeth gasped and stumbled but she did not rest, the realization she was being shot at caused her legs to work with supernatural speed. She continued to run but after a few moments, another bullet followed. It was far off its mark, piercing a tree to her far left. It would be the last for Elizabeth made it into the forest and abruptly turned to the right. In her frenzied mind, she had the foresight to change her direction while her pursuer could not see her.
Her feet bled as she jumped over jagged rocks and tripped through logs. Her dress was ripped through thorns and branches but that did not slow her. Elizabeth knew now that Cooper would certainly end her life if he ever caught her. He had already tried with his gun. She would not permit him another opportunity.
Her rasping breaths filled her ears and she tried to listen for his proximity but between the rush of blood through her veins and the bursting of her lungs, hearing clearly was impossible.
Deeper into the woods she ran but there finally came a time when she was certain her legs would fail her. She knew if she did not stop, at least for a moment, there was a good chance Cooper would find her on the forest floor.
Heavily, she fell onto a fallen tree, lines of sweat falling down her face to burn her eyes. She brushed them away impatiently, her head upright as she watched for movement in the thicket. Slowly, her heart regained its normal beat but Elizabeth gathered that she had lost Cooper for the time.
It was only then that she looked about, taking note of her surroundings. There was something disturbingly familiar about the woods, as though she had been there before. But, of course, one forest looked like another. Nothing her mind told her in that moment could be held as fact. Elizabeth did not trust her own mind. She was dehydrated and scared, bleeding, and hungry.
I must find a place to—
“Do not move.”
Terror drenched her and she whirled around, the gun keeping her full attention.
Elizabeth knew it was over—both the race and her life.
Chapter 24
“This is absurd,” Percival whispered. “If we are caught—”
“We shall not be,” David growled. “If you would prefer to wait at the coach, Father, I am certain that His Grace would not mind.”
“I would not,” Leonard agreed. The Viscount had already voiced his discontent at sneaking about Lord Cooke’s estate but Leonard did not much care. He had taken Catherine’s warning to heart, the worry that if Lord Cooke did have some hand in Elizabeth’s disappearance that alerting him might drive him to do something drastic and irrevocable. It had been David’s suggestion that they approach the estate quietly and search for themselves.
“I cannot fathom that an Earl would hide a woman at his home while his dowager mother sleeps beneath the same roof,” Percival had objected but Leonard would not rest until he had explored all his options. He was not entirely convinced that they would find Elizabeth there himself but he hoped to find some clue that Lord Cooke had taken her, a sign. It certainly made sense that Alexander Cooke would have felt slighted not only by Elizabeth but by him and thereby needed to teach them both a lesson. The ransom did not quite fit with such a scenario but it was all Leonard had in that moment.
“You will remain here,” he told Catherine before they left. “Tend to Mother and Frances. If another note materializes, send a messenger to us at once.”
Catherine had not been happy but she begrudgingly agreed and the men had set on their way. The sat in the bushes surrounding the Cooke manor, discussing their next move.
“I know the servants’ entrance is around the side,” Leonard told them. “We will slip in through there and look about. We will reconvene in
one half of an hour.”
“I do not like this,” Percival grumbled again but it was his son who silenced him.
“Father, Liza would be ashamed of you.”
They were harsh words but true nonetheless and the Viscount had the decency to seem humiliated.
“Indeed,” he muttered. “She would.”
It was motivation enough to keep him silent and for that, Leonard was grateful. He knew that Percival wanted nothing more than to get his daughter back safely but his idea of simply paying the ransom was not good enough for Leonard. Why should he part with a fortune when he might have the opportunity to rescue her and bring her captors to justice?
Leonard was surprised at David’s fearlessness, his love for his sister overwhelming his common sense. It did not appear to faze the boy in the least that they were committing an act of burglary.
“Enough talk,” Leonard said firmly. “Let us go.”
They followed the Duke through the shadows and toward the side door, carefully looking about as they did. The hour was late, a fact which Leonard had accounted for. He did not wish to encounter any unnecessary staff in his quest to find Elizabeth.
“I will take the main floor,” he hissed and the Follett men nodded in agreement. Leonard pulled his pocket watch from his waistcoat and eyed the time quickly.
“One half of an hour,” he reminded them and the men did the same, checking the time on their own watches. With a curt nod, they moved in opposite directions.
Leonard’s search took him through the main floor, and into the kitchen. He had yet to see any member of the household and he intended to keep it as such. He silently prayed that his companions were having the same luck.
Armed with only a single candle, one which could easily be extinguished lest he hear footsteps, he searched every room he could find. The Cooke mansion was not nearly as large as Brookside but there were a fair amount of rooms, nonetheless and it did take some time to look. His mouth twisting into a frown of worry, his disappointment mounted when every opened door brought him no closer to Elizabeth. He knew it did not mean anything if he did not find her there—it was entirely possible that the highwaymen had her in a remote town or in the woods, away from prying eyes. He could only hope that if that was true, Lord Cooke had given them orders to treat her well.
It was the lack of knowing which troubled Leonard so greatly. Without understanding why she had truly been taken, he could have no confidence that she was unharmed, her honor intact. All he knew was that she must be found and preferably before he put the duchy into poverty. The sum the kidnappers had requested was beyond reasonable, and one which would inevitably require answers from the crown when it came to light he had used it but Leonard did not care. For Elizabeth’s life, it was a pittance. Money could always be earned. A life taken could never be reclaimed.
And a life like Elizabeth’s deserves to be lived to the fullest—with me.
There was so much they had yet to do together, so many picnics to have, and walks to take. He longed to hear her voice, protesting his jests, and to touch the porcelain smoothness of her flawless complexion. Perhaps he had not realized precisely how much she meant to him until she had been taken but he knew for certain that he would never let her go once she was returned to him.
If she is returned.
The scowl deepened on his face and he chided himself for such a terrible thought. Percival’s dark moods were beginning to take their toll on him. Leonard was certain he would find her. He could feel it in his gut.
The time to meet was near and he slipped back through the halls toward the side entrance, cautiously peering about. David already stood waiting but his back was to Leonard as he approached. He was staring down at the ground as the Duke neared.
“What have you?”
David turned and pointed at the ground, his eyes wide with shock.
“Look!” he whispered and Leonard shifted his eyes toward where David gestured. His eyes narrowed in the darkness, only the moon illuminating the object on the ground.
“What is it?”
David did not reply but it was not necessary for Leonard’s eyes finally focused on what lay on the ground nearby.
“I did not find a thing,” Percival announced in a hushed whisper, joining them but Leonard did not turn. Instead, he crouched and stared blankly at the shoe on the dirt.
“What have you?” the Viscount asked, drawing closer. A strangled gasp escaped his throat.
“Is that Liza’s shoe?” he choked. Leonard could not bring himself to nod and he scooped the object into his hands tenderly as though it was Elizabeth’s own body.
“What is it doing here?” the Viscount growled.
“I daresay there is only one reason for it to be here,” David spat, whirling toward the house.
“NO!” Leonard’s voice was like thunder. “Do not approach him.”
“How can you say such a thing?” David demanded. “That was our purpose for coming! We wished to catch him and we have!”
“But we do not know where he is keeping Elizabeth. We cannot simply storm in there. We must watch him, follow him until he leads us to her.”
David considered his words carefully.
“Yes,” he conceded. “That is what we must do. I will take first watch.”
Leonard was inclined to argue with the boy but he knew he was best to be back at Brookside, waiting on word from the kidnappers and ensuring that Herbert had managed to get the money together.
Not that we will require it. We will catch Cooke with Elizabeth and this nightmare will be put to rest.
“Shall I stay with you?” Percival volunteered but David shook his head.
“You should remain with His Grace, lest the kidnappers call again. If I do not catch Lord Cooke, the ransom will still need to be paid.”
Leonard felt an unexpected spark of pride in the boy. There was a maturity in David which Leonard had never noticed before. The kidnapping of his sister had aged him, undoubtedly.
“Come along,” the Duke said quietly. “We must all make ourselves scarce now. We have already tempted fate long enough, huddled out here.”
Again, the men split apart, David stealing forth toward the manor house again while the Duke and Viscount moved back toward their horses which were tethered in the ravine.
“David,” Leonard hissed and the boy turned.
“Your Grace?”
“You must keep your wits about you, no matter what you may find. Am I clear?”
“I will do my best not to kill him,” David replied grimly and Leonard saw that was the most he could ask for, given the circumstances.
“I will return at dawn and relieve you,” Leonard promised.
“You will stay and learn of word on my sister,” David insisted. “Her return is paramount. You need not worry about me.”
There was a warmth in his voice which Leonard had never heard before and the Duke realized that the boy was developing a begrudging respect for him.
I suppose that is one benefit to this awful situation, Leonard mused.
“Your sister will return safely, David. I swear it to you.”
Their eyes met and David offered him a brief smile before spinning back to disappear into the darkness.
“I daresay, he is coming around,” Percival commented. “My word, Duke, you certainly do have a way with my family.”
Leonard cast him a sidelong look when they stopped at their horses.
“As I told you before, Lord Gordon, I am not like other men. I do not forsake what I long for.”
“I see that,” Percival chuckled. “How lucky my Liza is to have you—how lucky we all are.”
Leonard mounted his equine.
“I believe we make our own luck,” the Duke replied but he was not sure how much he still adhered to that theory. It was decidedly unlucky that Elizabeth had been kidnapped, something which was beyond his control. He despised that he was powerless to act, despite wanting to race back to the Cooke mansion and rip the
earl from his bed and shake the life from him.
“She will be proud to know how much you have done to save her,” Percival told him after a long moment of silence. “I daresay, she is won over now.”
“If she never wishes to lay eyes upon me again, I would freely let her go if it means she is safe,” Leonard replied truthfully. “I am doing this because of my great love for Elizabeth, not to ensure she loves me in return.”
The Viscount made a strange sound and Leonard turned to him.
“What is it?” he asked from over the shoulder of his dark cloak.
“You really think you love her?”
The Curious Life of the Unfortunate Duchess: A Historical Regency Romance Novel Page 21
