“Will you be going to save her now?” she asked excitedly.
“Yes, indeed I will and there's no time to waste.”
“Well, alright then let us go.”
Percy had already started walking to the door, and he stopped short glancing back at her in disbelief, “Us? Oh no, Monique, this is very dangerous, you cannot come with me.”
Monique’s face fell. “But I am the one who knows where she is!”
Percy hesitated to know that she was right but not wanting to put his former mistress in danger.
“You will stay behind me at all times,” he compromised.
“Alright yes.” she followed excitedly behind him.
Walter was waiting in the corridor looking anxious, and his worry only seemed to grow as he saw Percy’s determined footsteps heading towards the door. “What is going on?” His eyes flitted between Percy and Monique.
“I know the whereabouts of Lady Alexandra. I hasten to rescue her right now.”
“What? All by yourself?” Walter asked putting a restraining hand on Percy's shoulder.
“There is no time to waste, Walter. Stay here, summon the constable, and follow us to St. Johns Wood.”
“St John's Wood you say?” Walter asked looking quite taken aback.
“Indeed. Monique saw her there this morning. Now I must hurry before they think to move her.”
Walter nodded his acquiescence, “We shall be right behind you brother.”
Chapter 12
St. John’s Wood Drama
Alexandra alternated between pacing and trying to find something she could use to either jimmy the door open or pry the window open–so far without success. She felt vulnerable in just her night rail and wished that she at least had a fichu or a dressing gown to cover herself.
She didn't know who was coming for her, who had taken her, or what they wanted. But she would have felt more comfortable confronting them with more clothes on. Not to mention the potential scandal should anyone find out what had befallen her.
Her heart pounded with fear to think about what her father would say if he could see her now. She knew Magdalene had to be worried out of her mind, but she didn't know how to remedy any of it. She pulled the sheet from the bed and draped herself in it, feeling slightly better for the additional coverage.
The door rattled, and she tensed, hands shaking and sweat beading her brow as she waited to see who would come in. Would it be somebody she knew or a total stranger?
Heavens, will it be Monique? Maybe she was gulling me earlier, making me think she would help when she is in league with my kidnappers!
It was a curious coincidence that she happened to live right next door to the place that Alexandra had been taken to.
The door opened, and the last person she ever expected walked in.
For a moment, she breathed a sigh of relief, for surely, he was here to rescue her.
He took two steps into the room and came to a stop. “Lady Alexandra,” he said with a proper bow.
“Your Grace,” Alexandra replied sketching a curtsy even as she held onto her sheet not knowing whether she should be happy or afraid.
“Forgive me for the accommodations. This all happened rather suddenly.”
“T-this?” Alexandra asked her voice shaking.
If he was saying what she thought it meant he was responsible for the abduction.
“Yes, this. I was not expecting to have to bring it to your senses, but it became obvious to me yesterday, that that man was turning your head. And I thought it best to bring you somewhere where we can discuss things in an adult manner and come to an agreement on how to proceed.”
“An agreement?” Alexandra parroted her mind still jumping from place to place in confusion.
“Yes, an agreement. You will agree to sign our marriage contract, and then you can go home.”
Alexandra’s lip quivered as she tried to think of something to say that would dissuade the Duke of Summerhill from this course of action. If she had been unsure before on what the way forward was, this abduction had cleared her mind considerably.
She would not shackle herself to a man who would resort to such methods to secure himself a wife. She looked into his eyes and did not like what she saw. He would not take refusal well, but she had no choice but to refuse him.
What am I to do?
“Your Grace,” she began feeling her way where she went along. “My father will be extremely worried about me, and he would be upset with you if he knew what you have done. I entreat you to let me go home; then, you can call upon my father and discuss this in further detail.”
The Duke threw his head back and laughed. “Indeed? You would like me to let you go when your father already knows you have been kidnapped? I doubt he would even want to sit with me, let alone to discuss the way forward.” He paused glaring at her, “You must think me quite the fool.”
Alexandra's shook her head frantically, “Oh no, Your Grace, of course, I do not think that. I just feel that this situation is still salvageable, but should we continue down this path they may be no way back.”
The Duke snorted pulling out some papers, “Sign the marriage contract and we will find a way back.”
Alexandra looked down at the papers and then back up at the Duke. She tried to smile taking a step towards him and then another. “Can we not discuss this a little?” She asked even as she took another step.
“What is there left to say?” The Duke asked sneering at her as he held out the papers, “You were promised to me to be my wife; you will keep that promise, or you will never leave this place.”
Alexandra leaped forward pushing at the Duke. He stumbled back in –more surprised than anything, and she darted past him, skidding out the doorway running down the hallway looking for an exit.
Her head darted right and left, searching frantically for a way to escape when suddenly her hair was grabbed, and she was pulled back. She screeched with pain and fear, and the Duke growled. “Where do you think you're going, girly?”
She reached up covering his fists with her hand as he pulled on her hair, “Please,” she begged trying to dislodge his hand from her locks.
“I said, sign the damn contract!” he shouted, “or I shall sign it for you.”
“Y-y -you need the Ramsbury seal,” she said through teeth braced with pain, “My father will never agree with this.”
“Oh, yes he will. He will have no choice once the union is consummated. Do you really think I would let you go before you are belly full with my child?” The Duke’s eyes were wide and mad-looking, and Alexandra squealed with fright.
“Please,” she begged; her whole body was shaking.
“It is too late for pleas, my dear. It is time to do what you're told.”
* * *
They drew up in front of Monique’s residence after braving the mid-morning traffic. Percy was close to frantic and working hard to hide it. He knew it wasn't Monique’s fault but her constant prattle and the slow pace of movement had him gritting his teeth. He alighted from the vehicle reaching up to help Monique down.
“Where to?” he asked.
Monique pointed at the house to the right of hers, from where Percy could hear the distinct sound of screaming. He took off without another thought, kicking at the door when he reached it in an attempt to force it open. Though it juddered with force from his boot, the door held steady.
He tried the door. It was firmly locked, and no amount of ramming against it would budge it. All that earned him was a bruise on his shoulders. Suddenly an ax appeared in his field of vision. He looked to the side to see Monique smiling at him. “Try with this.” He could have kissed her in gratitude at that moment. He grabbed the ax and swung.
* * *
When she would not sign the contract, the Duke slapped her, threw her to the floor slamming his foot down beside her head to intimidate her. She screamed in shock, never having experienced anything close to such violence in her life.
She fou
ght back scratching and biting at any part of the Duke that she could get to. He smiled his eyes as empty as a ghoul's as he threw her against the wall. She began to scream in earnest fearing for her very life.
“Sign the contract!” he said almost foaming at the mouth, tossing it at her as she cowered on the floor.
The madness in his eyes made her quail. She cowered in fear ready to relent when the door began to judder as someone tried to break it down. She hoped Monique had delivered her message, and this was the cavalry.
I pray that it is.
And then someone was using an ax on the door. The Duke stopped with his beatings to stare angrily at it. He wheeled around marching down the hall with purpose. Alexandra took the opportunity to shout even louder.
“Help me!” She tried getting closer to the door, but not too close because splinters were flying everywhere. “Percy? Is that you?”
“Move aside.” The Duke growled from behind her. She turned to see him pointing a gun at the door. She froze not knowing the best thing to do.
She did not know if the Duke would shoot her if she did not move, but if she did move, he would definitely shoot at Percy. She had to choose between her own safety and the safety of a man she was quite sure she was falling in love with.
It was a dilemma.
“I said move aside,” the Duke screeched sounding mad as a hatter.
Her breath came fast and short, and she felt herself getting faint with anxiety. She dithered not knowing whether to move or not, as the door splintered in two and Percy stepped into the house breathing like a horse at the finish line.
Percy grabbed her, shoving her behind him even as the Duke of Summerhill cocked his pistol. She clung to him in fear, eyes wide, as she stared at the Duke, wanting to beg him to put the gun down, terrified that he would shoot Percy.
At that moment, full of a terror she had never experienced before, she realized that she loved the man who stood between her and a fate worse than death. She loved the him with all her heart and with all her soul.
And she would have to stand and watch as someone tried to kill him.
“Francis?” she said, “Let him go and I will sign your contract.”
“Have you lost your mind?” Percy wheeled around to face her in a fury.
“No, Percy, I am thinking very clearly. This is what's best for everyone.”
Percy shook his head, “It’s not what best for me or you!”
Over his shoulder, Alexandra saw the Duke of Summerhill raise the pistol and take aim. She raised her hand beseechingly. “Please, Francis, you cannot kill a Duke without consequences. Please put down your pistol.”
“I will put down my pistol once he leaves,” the Duke said glaring.
Percy wheeled around again the ax still in his hand. He raised it threateningly. “I am not leaving,” he declared.
Alexandra began to hyperventilate, her breath coming short, then her vision coming in and out as her hands began to tremble. Beads of sweat dotted her forehead, the world became slightly woozy and her knees weakened. Before she knew it, she was down on the ground.
“Alexandra!” she heard Percy shout just before her world went black.
* * *
The ominous thud of Alexandra hitting the ground dispelled the tension in the room. Weapons were dropped in favor of rushing to her side, enmity was forgotten in favor of making sure she was alright.
“Alexandra?” Percy said gently cupping her head in his hands his voice–and his hands–shaking. He looked at Summerhill kneeling just as anxiously on her other side, “Did you bring smelling salts?” he asked.
“Here!” A tiny cloth bag was thrust at him, and he looked up to see Monique. He had forgotten that she was there.
“Thank you,” he said taking the bag and running it along Alexandra’s nose. She came to with a gasp, abruptly sitting up.
“What happened?” the girl asked looking around her in confusion.
“Are you alright, my dear?” Percy grasped her arm and pulled her to her feet.
“I am well, I think,” she replied with a tremulous smile.
Monique darted into the house and picked up the pistol from where the Duke had dropped it in his rush to Alexandra’s side. She tossed it to Percy before Summerhill could react.
Summerhill gaped, extremely put out. Suddenly, he whistled much to the startled expression on everyone in the room.
Two men appeared in the doorway clutching cricket bats. One of them delivered a blow to the back of Percy’s head, before grabbing Alexandra and dragging her towards Summerhill’s carriage. The Duke of Summerhill turned to a heaving Monique now clutching her pearls in shock.
“Did you really think I would leave her unguarded?” He sneered at her. “My man reported your conversation, and I knew that Greenwick would attempt some pathetic rescue. Do not underestimate me, wench.” He walked out of the house leaving Monique trembling.
* * *
She had thought that he might kill her and was relieved to find herself still alive. She dove to her knees, to check on Percy, and see if he was still alive. She placed the glass to his mouth and was so thankful when it fogged with his breath.
She could hear a carriage leaving. “Percy, get up” she called shaking his shoulders frantically.
* * *
They held her down, but Alexandra struggled against them. She tried to scream, but one of the scoundrels had his hand over her mouth. The horses were going at top speed, and her body was thrown about on the floor of the carriage where they had put her, one of the men with a knee on her back to hold her down.
They drove for quite a while, but Alexandra was not surprised that, when they stopped, she saw they were at Summerhill Ηall.
She opened her mouth to ask the Duke of Summerhill if this was the wisest place he could hide her, considering that Percy would most certainly be in hot pursuit. But she swallowed the thought. If the Duke had not thought of it then, she would not alert him.
His scoundrels led her into the hall. She could see servants peeking from behind doorways stupefied.
Nobody tried to intervene. The Duke led his posse to his study, where one tied Alexandra to an armchair with a length of rope. They both left hastily. The Duke sat opposite her tapping his fingers on the desk and studying her coolly.
“You are a bit more of a feisty chit than I had imagined.”
Alexandra gave him a stony stare. The Duke merely smiled in return, inexplicably pleased.
“That’s good,” he said, “it will make for much better offspring.”
Alexandra increased the hostility in her stare.
“I know what you must be thinking right now.” He pored over her stare. “You are thinking there is no way I can get away with this. What you don't know is that this house is a fortress and nobody gets in unless I want them to. Your little friend can hang about my gates, but he is not getting in. And even if he does get in, your reputation will be soiled beyond repair. The only recourse you have, my dear, is to accept my proposal, sign the contract and be my wife.”
Alexandra's frantically tried to make sense the Duke’s claims. Sitting here in her night trail, having been alone with a duke all this time, she knew his words were true.
Truth be told, her fame was sullied if word of her being a victim of these circumstances was made public. Her only viable option was to sign the contract and hope for the best. What a high cost for her dalliance with Percy which had been nothing more than a silly dream.
Time to grow up, Alexandra,
Longing to feel cherished in marriage had now become her nightmare. It was a pipe dream at best.
Frustrated, she prepared to acquiesce to the Duke's demands.
“Untie me,” she said her voice trembling.
“And why would I do that, my dear?” he asked full of contrived solicitude.
“Because I want to sign your bloody contract,” Alexandra growled.
Chapter 13
Rescue
Percy rode like a
man possessed, leaving the rest of his party behind. Walter had the presence of mind to bring an extra horse so that when he and the constable arrived, Percy was not encumbered by the speed of the carriage, cleanly outpacing it in his fear for what Alexandra might be enduring.
It was not hard to follow Summerhill’s trail for he had ridden off in a quite distinct carriage bearing his duchy’s crest. It took only a few inquiries and a couple of guineas to learn where the Duke had taken Alexandra. Percy rode like the very devil was on his tail, urging his horse on and on to the very limit of its endurance.
He arrived at Summerhill Hall to find the gate locked against him and the moat gate drawn shut. He alighted from the horse searching fruitlessly for a way through.
“Summerhill, you bastard!” he yelled impotently, “Come out here and fight for her like a man.”
There was no response. Percy was just growling with anger when the rest of his party drew up with the constable and his deputies, as well as Walter.
Filled with rage, Percy yelled, “Ηe’s barricaded himself in. Ηow will we get through?”
“Α battering ram perhaps?” Walter quipped.
Percy sighed. “Can we get one of those?”
“I hardly think so.” When Walter witnessed his brother’s agitated state of mind, he ceased his witticism. “We shall get her back, brother. She's just on the other side of this gate.”
One of the deputies rode up as close as he could get, studying the layout. He turned to the rest of the party. “We can lay planks from this side to that side and get across,” he declared, “I think we have enough room.”
The constable nodded, “Right and where shall we get the planks from?”
Suddenly, before they knew it, the moat gate was coming back down. Someone had unlocked it from the inside. Percy’s jaw dropped when he saw Rawlings pulling down the gate.
“How did–” he stopped and shook his head. “Never mind, let us go.” And they all thundered through the gate and up the driveway to Summerhill Hall.
Daring Fantasies of a Noble Lady Page 10
