Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
I am in love with him.
Patience lay back on the couch, one arm flung over her eyes as she let her thoughts wind around Lord Hastings and all that they had shared recently. These last ten days had brought her a flurry of emotion, every time that she had been in his company. When he had kissed her after the dinner last week, she had felt her heart fill with a fiery, new affection that had not let her go since that moment. Everything seemed to have become remarkably calm now, for the news that Lord Newforth had made his way to Bath had spread through London, and Lady Winters nor her daughter had not been seen in London for some days. Patience’s betrothal to Lord Hastings appeared to have made all of their threats fade away and now, all that was left was happiness.
A quiet knock at the door interrupted Patience’s thoughts and, sitting up, she permitted entry to the footman. He came in directly and handed her a letter that had only just been delivered, and Patience broke the seal and unfolded it.
‘ My dear Patience, ’ she read. ‘I am in such a fluster! Miss Spearton’s betrothal ball is this evening, and I have just torn my new gown! Will you come to the modiste’s with me to see if she has something else I might purchase that will not require much alteration?’
With a small sigh and shake of her head, Patience rose to her feet.
“Will you inform my sister that I have gone to see Lady Eleanor?” she said, as the footman nodded. “And have my maid ready herself at once, for I shall need to take a hackney.”
Her mother had already stepped out for the morning, going to take tea with an old acquaintance, leaving Patience and Christina still at home. Christina had not even risen to break her fast as yet, and Patience knew that her mother would not mind in the least if she went to visit Eleanor for a time. She would need to return in time for dinner and, thereafter, the preparations for Miss Spearton and Lord Milthorpe’s betrothal ball, but that was many hours away. Making her way to the front of the house, Patience quickly pulled on her bonnet, leaving the ribbons loose and, her maid at the ready, stepped outside. A hackney was quickly found and, after stepping inside, as her maid gave the jarvey the instructions on where they wished to go, Patience settled back as best she could, wondering whether or not she would be able to convince Eleanor that she had no need for a new gown, and that it could be repaired instead. Though, she considered, her lips twisting for a moment, that would entirely depend on just how bad the tear to the gown was, and where it was also.
“My Lady?”
Patience, having been lost in her contemplations, turned her head to see her maid frowning.
“Yes?”
“I don’t know where we are going, but I am quite sure that this isn’t the road we want to take.”
A surge of uncertainty tugged at Patience’s stomach.
“Mayhap the jarvey has been forced to take a different road,” she suggested, trying to ignore the worry that ran through her. “There might have been some reason for his choice of path.”
“Except that we are going in the opposite direction,” the maid replied, her eyes rounding. “Lady Patience, I don’t mean to question you, but it seems to me as though he isn’t taking you where you want to go.”
Patience turned her gaze to the window, the streets now unfamiliar. Her hand pressed to her stomach as she fought against the dread which filled her. Surely the driver was not deliberately taking her the wrong way? Mayhap he was mistaken or confused or…
Or mayhap Lord Newforth is not as gone from London as we were led to believe.
Fear made her stomach lurch, and Patience gripped the edge of her seat with both hands, trying to think of what to do. Could the hackney have been waiting for her to step in? But if he had been, how would he have known that she would be making her way from the house and that her mother had already taken the carriage?
Unless he has been watching me?
She closed her eyes and shuddered.
“My Lady?” The maid’s voice was high-pitched, and her eyes filled with concern. “Where are we going?”
“Listen to me.” Leaning forward, Patience caught the maid’s hand, looking into her eyes as a steadiness burst through her, despite the fear in her veins. “When the hackney comes to a stop, you must run.”
“Run?” The maid shook her head. “I can’t leave you, I must–”
“You will go out through this door,” Patience interrupted, gesturing to the one on her left. “I will remain by the window on the right. Once you set foot outside, you must run as fast as you can away from the hackney. Do all that you can to avoid being seen or noticed by the jarvey… or by whoever else is waiting for me.”
“Waiting for you?” The maid had now gone very pale indeed. “I don’t understand.”
“You must go to Lord Hastings’ townhouse at once and tell him where the hackney took me,” Patience continued, grasping the maid’s arm with her other hand, trying to keep her calm enough to listen. “Do you understand what I am asking you to do? You will not be punished or berated for leaving me behind, I assure you. If you want to keep me safe, then this is what you must do.” Slowly, the maid began to nod, just as the hackney began to slow. Patience released her, swallowing hard against the fear that once more rose within her. “You recall what you must do?”
Again, the maid nodded, edging closer to the other side of the hackney.
“Run from here, go directly to Lord Hastings’ and tell him where the hackney took you.”
“Here.” Patience pushed her purse into the maid’s hands. “Use all that you require to get you to Lord Hastings. Do not delay. He must come to find me.”
The maid squeezed her eyes closed and dragged in a long, ragged breath just as the hackney came to a slow stop – and Patience flung one arm out towards the maid.
“Go! Now!”
With a startled squeak, the maid threw open the door and escaped from the hackney, only for the Patience’s door to open – and none other than Lord Newforth to smile up at her. The darkness in his eyes made her shudder.
“I think it would be best, Lady Patience, if you could step out of the hackney.”
Patience drew herself up as tall as she could whilst, at the same time, holding onto the edge of her seat with both hands.
“I do not think that I shall, Lord Newforth. I do not know what it is that you have done in arranging to get me here, but I have no intention of stepping out of the hackney for you.”
Lord Newforth smiled and the trembling in Patience’s frame returned.
“Then if you do not, Lady Patience, I shall be forced to remove you myself. It is not as though the jarvey is going to make his way from this place at your request now, is it? As you can see, I have been able to ask him to do what I wish, and it will only be at my command that he will drive the hackney away.”
Patience shook her head.
“I will not.” Whatever it was that Lord Newforth intended to do, Patience did not know, but she was certainly not about to go with him willingly. “Might you explain to me what it is that you are doing, Lord Newforth? Last I heard, you were in Bath.”
He chuckled, leaning forward into the space of the hackney door as Patience tried to stay exactly where she was, in an attempt to convey strength though, inwardly, fear was screaming through her.
“Ah, Lady Patience, I see that the rumors I circulated have spread and spread well! Society has its uses, does it not?” He tilted his head, watching her with hawk-like eyes, making her feel as though she was the unwilling prey, waiting for the moment he would sink his claws into her skin. “Now, you will come out of the hackney and–”
“What is it that you intend?”
Patience interrupted him, her voice shaking, only for the wicked smile to fade from Lord Newforth’s face. Instead of answering, he reached out one hand, grabbed her arm, and hauled her out of the hackney. The scream stuck in her throat, her hands flailing only for pain to strike through her as Lord Newforth slammed her back bodily against the carriage, his face now close to hers, his face pulled into an ugly expression.
“I warned you to stay away from Lord Hastings, did I not?” he hissed, his eyes like sharp knives. “Lady Winters spoke to you, and yet you persisted! You have no one to blame for this but yourself, Lady Patience. This supposed betrothal is nothing but a pretense, set in place to prevent me from doing what I had to, to punish Lord Hastings. Before that, you insisted that you had been in company with him, so that the Baron’s accusations fell to the dirt! You appear to be quite determined to persist with assisting Lord Hastings in this matter and thus, unfortunately, I have decided to make certain that you are the one who will cause Lord Hastings the greatest suffering… and the heaviest weight of shame.”
Patience could not breathe, her chest painful as her lungs screamed for air. Her eyes were filled with nothing but Lord Newforth, hardly daring to imagine what it was he might be intending for her.
“You have much too great a strength in you, Lady Patience,” Lord Newforth finished, finally stepping back and releasing her just a little, though not enough for her to step away. “But that does not mean that it cannot be broken.”
Closing her eyes, Patience finally dragged in a breath, trying to find some of the strength that Lord Newforth had just spoken of. Whatever it was that he intended, it was clear to her that her entire future, her entire life, might well be completely and utterly ruined. She was without a chaperone, without family or anyone who could assist her, and with Lord Newforth’s evil determination pulling her in whatever direction he wanted, she felt completely helpless.
“This way, Lady Patience.” Stepping away, Lord Newforth pulled her with him, the streets seeming to close in around her. This was, to her, an unfamiliar part of London, a place where no one would come to look for her, where no one would recognize her, but that did not bring her any relief. Lord Newforth could do any number of things, and her reputation would be gone in a moment – and Lord Hastings’ world be turned upside down. Lord Milthorpe and Miss Spearton’s happiness would be shattered. It was the same sort of situation that Lord Newforth had tried to push upon Miss Spearton, where he had attempted to use society and its inclination toward gossip to get what he wanted. Now, he would do the same to her, though this time there did not appear to be any way to escape. “This little room will do,” Lord Newforth muttered, pushing her through a front door and then into a room to her left. “I am afraid that this will be your home for the next few days, Lady Patience.”
“My home?” Patience wrenched her arm away from him, turning to face him as he blocked the door. “What do you mean?”
Lord Newforth shrugged.
“It is just as I have said. You will not go anywhere, Lady Patience, until the rumors about your absence have washed through all of society. They will say a great many things about you, I am sure, for you are very well known now, given your drawings in The London Chronicle, as well as your betrothal to Lord Hastings.”
Patience said nothing, though her heart was pounding furiously in her chest, and her mind fighting to find some way out of her current predicament, though she could think of none. It was not as though she could merely demand that he release her, and expect him to comply, for he would do nothing of the sort!
“I should like to say that I am sorry for what will happen to your reputation but, truth be told, I have no regret in this whatsoever.” He shrugged. “I did warn you, Lady Patience, did I not?”
“You expect that I will stay here, simply because you have asked it of me?” Aware that her voice was still shaking, Patience lifted her chin and tried to look at him with a steadiness in her gaze that she did not truly feel. “I will do nothing of the sort.”
Lord Newforth let out a mirthless laugh.
“You do not have a choice, Lady Patience! You are to be kept in this room for as long as I deem it necessary. You can see how simple it was for me to have that note sent to you, how the hackney driver waited for you. It will not be difficult in the least to keep you in this room, while I return to London… or mayhap I shall make my way to Bath now, given that everyone now believes that it is where I am.”
Closing her eyes, Patience shuddered violently, only to hear Lord Newforth laugh again, this time, the sound coming as a response to her fear. Tears began to burn behind her eyes, but she did not let them fall, knowing that they would do no good. She still had hope, she reminded herself. Her maid had escaped, had run from the hackney, and gone, she trusted, directly to Lord Hastings’ townhouse.
“There is no reason for you to behave in this way,” she said, her voice rasping. “The only reason you are doing so is because of some misplaced anger over Lord Hastings’ refusal to permit you to wed his sister.”
“How dare you?” Patience’s eyes flew open just as Lord Newforth strode across the room towards her, his eyes narrowed, his face growing hot. “You speak of something you know nothing about,” he continued, one hand reaching out for her, grabbing her arm and squeezing it painfully as he shook her, hard. “There was no reason for him to refuse me. No reason at all! I am a gentleman of honor, with enough of a fortune to keep her contented.”
“No, you are not.” Despite his actions, and despite the fear which ran through her as she spoke, Patience did not hold herself back. “A gentleman of honor would not do such a thing as this. I know of your reputation, and I can well understand why Lord Hastings would refuse you.” As Lord Newforth went very still, Patience took another breath and then shook her head, forcing herself to speak without hesitation. “And I think it was right for him to do so. I am glad that your plans for Isabella were foiled. Is it not so that everything you have done thus far has failed completely and utterly?” She tried to smile, despite the pain his tight grip was causing her. “What gives you any confidence that this dark intention of yours will not fail also? I have every confidence that your plan will bring you nothing but mortification and shame; the very opposite of what it is that you desire.”
Lord Newforth reeled back, his eyes wide as though she had stabbed him with a sharp, pointed implement, only to reach one hand back and then strike it hard across her face. Patience let out a cry of pain and fright and pressed one hand to her cheek as Lord Newforth began to roar at her, his words so loud and furious, she could not make them out. Her ears were ringing, her heart thumping frantically as the furious figure of Lord Newforth filled her vision.
Run.
Her eyes strayed to the door behind Lord Newforth. He had pushed her into the room and followed in after her, blocking her escape, but now, in his upset and anger, he had moved closer to her and was further away from the door. Patience stepped back from him all the more, her eyes darting from one place to the next in the room, wondering what she might use to prevent Lord Newforth from following her. If she ran, then he would very quickly catch her, would very easily grab hold of her again, and throw her back into this room. Then, would he not seek to make her even more secure within this place, knowing that she had already once tried to escape?
There.
Her heart skipped in her chest as her gaze fell upon the poker by the fireplace. Dare she do such a thing? Dare she be bold enough to reach for it, to use it to defend herself before making her escape?
It might be the only way.
Her maid could have gone to Lord Hastings’ townhouse and found him absent if, that was, she had even managed to reach the townhouse yet. She might now be searching for him, knowing that every minute that passed left Patience in more danger. Even if he was now on his way towards her, Lord Hastings would not be easily able to find where she was, for the street was filled with the entrances to alleyways, with doors that opened to different places – and she might be in any one of them! Patience backed away a little more, making for the fireplace as best she could while Lord Newforth followed her, continuing to scream words of fury at her, his face now purple with anger.
And then, in one swift movement, Patience bent, picked up the poker, and swung it as hard as she could. It struck Lord Newforth across the side of the head, making him bellow with pain and drop to his knees, his hand going to his head – but Patience did not hesitate. Her breathing coming in quick gasps and the poker still in her hand, she rushed for the door, narrowly avoiding Lord Newforth’s grasping hand, which reached out to grab at her ankles. Flinging open the door which, mercifully, had not been locked, Patience turned the way she had been brought in, hurrying towards the door and to the outside world. Another cry of rage met her ears, chasing her out of the door as she dragged in air. Her heart clamoring in her chest, she twisted to the right, her feet slipping a little on the cobbled streets.
“Patience!” A cry of fright escaped her as her name was called, sure now that Lord Newforth had recovered himself and was hurrying after her. There did not seem to be anyone else near her, no other person walking through the streets and, even if there had been, Patience was not certain that anyone would have helped her. “Patience, stop!” Her vision blurred as her breathing grew shallow, her fright biting down hard at her strength and pulling it away from her. Her legs wobbled, but still she pressed on, not sure where she was going, but desperate to put as much distance between herself and Lord Newforth. “Patience, wait, please!” It was the please that gave her pause. Her strength gone, she staggered to a stop, turning her head as she pulled in air, one hand going to the wall as she fought to keep her balance, her other hand still grasping the poker. “It is I.” The familiar face of Lord Hastings came into view as Patience blinked rapidly to clear her vision. “I have found you.”
With a cry of relief, Patience dropped the poker and practically fell into his arms, tears now beginning to fall as she felt his arms tight around her, holding her close, promising her that all would be well. Sobs tore through her frame as the fear that had clung to her for so long finally faded away to nothing, leaving her trembling and weak.
“The maid told me where you were,” he said, his voice close to her ear. “I came at once. I must hope that Lord Milthorpe has been able to stop Lord Newforth from chasing you.”
Patience looked up at him, her breathing growing a little calmer now that she was safe in his arms.
“He is here too?”
“He was with me when the maid came in search of me,” he said, releasing her gently, as though he was afraid that, should he do it too quickly, she might collapse. “Are you all right, Patience?” He looked down at her, his eyes searching hers. “Did he hurt you?”
Patience, recalling the slap, closed her eyes for a moment.
“He struck me when I told him that he would not succeed in his endeavor, that he would do nothing but fail, as he had done every other time. My words made him utterly furious. But I struck him with the poker to escape, so I think that he may have had the more difficult and painful injury.”
Lord Hastings’ eyes rounded.
“You did?”
“I had to escape.” Patience pulled herself close to him again. “His threats were very great, and I found myself deeply afraid. I was not afraid of what would happen to me, but more of what would happen to you. I feared for Isabella’s happiness, for her future, and for the reputation of all of you.”
Lifting his hands, Lord Hastings cupped her face gently, gazing tenderly into her eyes.
“You become more precious to me every day, Patience,” he told her, his words burning into her heart and chasing away the last lingering tendrils of fear. “You think of others over yourself, even when a heavy threat is against you. I would have stood by you no matter what was said, however. I hope that you know that.”
Patience nodded.
“I do.”
“Then let me take you home,” he murmured, putting one arm around her shoulders. “And then, I shall return to deal with Lord Newforth.”
With a small shake of her head, Patience looked up into his eyes.
“Let me stay.”
Lord Hastings’ eyebrows lifted.
“You would be willing to be in his company again? Even after everything that he has just done to you?”
“I will not pretend that the thought of looking into his face again is a pleasurable one, but it must be done.” Patience squeezed her eyes shut tight for a long moment, then with a long breath, steadied herself and gave him a nod. “I want to be there. I want him to see that he has failed, just as I said he would, for you did come for me, you did keep me from him.”
“Only because you escaped first,” Lord Hastings told her, before pressing a kiss to her temple. “Very well, my dear. If you are sure that you wish it, then I will take you with me.” He gave her another searching look and Patience nodded again to confirm to him that she was ready. “Your strength is yet another reason for me to admire you, my dear lady.” Lord Hastings smiled and then let his hand drop to her waist. “Come, then. Let us go.”