Chapter 27 #2
“Without the treasure, I will not be able to retire from my criminal empire. Now that you know I am alive, and I have come to realize just how helpful you could be to my operations, I plan to take you with me. We are still married, after all.”
“No,” Emmeline protested, shaking her head in distress. “No!”
“You, my dear wife, do not have a choice. Your cleverness will be of great benefit to me. The information that you learned from your father about the buying and selling of antiquities will be invaluable.”
Turning to one of his men, he began to issue orders. “Ready the men to leave forthwith. We will need to reach the port at Dover as quickly as possible.”
“Dover?” Emmeline breathed. He is serious! He plans to take me with him to France!
Unable to bear the thought of living the rest of her days by the side of a deranged criminal who had threatened her sister’s life, Emmeline took off running.
“Emmeline,” Norman’s voice called out after her. “You will never be free of me now,” he promised, his voice echoing off the trees surrounding them.
Unable to think straight, Emmeline completely ignored his words and ran with all of her might, searching for anyone who might be able to help her.
She prayed that she would find someone strong enough to take Norman into custody. Unfortunately, she was not fast enough. Emmeline’s flight was brought to an abrupt halt when one of Norman’s men snatched her up by her hair.
“No!” she screamed out in pain and distress. “Unhand me!”
Norman’s laugh filtered through the air to fall on her ears as he came to stand beside her.
“I told you, wife, you will never be free of me again. I have many plans for you.”
“I will not help you! I will not go with you!” Emmeline glared at him with ferocity and determination. “You cannot make me help you!”
“Yes, you will. Yes, I can.” His eyes drilled into hers. “You will do exactly what I say. Even from France, I hold the power of life or death over your sister. If you wish for her to live, you will do as you are commanded.” Taking her in hand, Norman instructed his men to bind and gag her.
Emmeline fought against the constraints to no avail. Maneuvering her shoulder against the gag in her mouth, she was able to pull it enough to move her lips, and she shouted out as loud as she could manage, hoping that one of the estate servants would hear her.
“Help! Help!” she screamed at the top of her lungs.
A head poked around the side of a tree, and she recognized the elderly groundskeeper.
“Help me!” she shouted, even though she knew that the groundskeeper was too old to take on an entire group of men.
“He is taking me against my will to Dover and then to France,” she included as many details as she could so that even if no one was able to help her in that moment, they could pass the message along to the authorities.
She prayed that the groundskeeper had not lost his hearing with age.
“All is well,” Norman reassured the groundskeeper as the elderly man took a step forward. “I am her husband. She is overwhelmed with the news of my return.” He waved his men over to deal with the elderly man.
Seeing that he was in danger, he slipped back into the trees and disappeared. Emmeline prayed that he would be safe and deliver her message.
“See what you have done,” Norman growled. “You have forced me to reveal my presence. You will pay for that.”
“I have been paying since the moment that my eyes beheld you on our wedding day,” Emmeline spat out.
Growling, Norman restored her gag to its proper place, effectively silencing her. He hauled her back to the carriage, where his men were waiting with Ezra, who was also bound and gagged.
“Take the butler back to London and free Rebecca Frampton. The butler can return her to her mother.”
Ezra, upon seeing Emmeline bound and gagged, roared in anger behind his own gag and fought to free himself as best he could. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful, as Norman’s men knocked him unconscious once more, shoving him back into the second carriage as they did so.
Mr. Hardy! Emmeline silently cried out in empathy as her trusted friend and servant disappeared from view. While she feared for Ezra’s well-being, she was happy to hear Norman’s command to release Rebecca and allow the butler to take her home. Any sacrifice was worth that outcome for Emmeline.
Impatient to be off, Norman lifted Emmeline up into his arms and placed her in the carriage on the bench seat.
She noticed that the boxes of paintings that had been in the second carriage were not piled atop, and inside, Norman’s personal carriage.
One of his men stepped in and took a seat opposite her, his face a sneer as he looked over her form, top to bottom, his eyes lingering on her chest.
Norman checked to make sure that everything was secure before entering the carriage, then took a seat opposite Emmeline beside his henchman.
“Make for the port at Dover with all haste,” Norman commanded the driver.
The carriage jerked forward immediately, causing Emmeline to fall over on her side, unable to keep her balance. Norman and his man laughed at her discomfort as she squirmed like a worm in the dirt to sit back up. Reaching across the carriage, Norman pushed her into an upright position.
“I do believe that I prefer you this way, wife.” He chuckled as he sat back in his own seat.
Emmeline glared at both men for laughing at her state of indignity. You will regret this, she silently promised him. You will regret the day that you ever laid eyes on me, Norman Livingston.
The carriage rattled on for a long time without stopping.
Emmeline lost all track of time as she bounced along with every bump in the road.
Even after the sun went down, the carriage continued on until the driver informed Norman that the horses needed a rest, or they would not make it to Dover at all.
“There is an inn up ahead,” the driver called down to Norman.
“We will sleep there for the night,” Norman answered, giving the driver permission to stop.
When the carriage finally, at long last, stopped moving, Emmeline breathed a sigh of relief. The longer it took for them to reach Dover, the better. Every moment that passed was another moment that she could be rescued.
Norman’s man exited the carriage, entering the inn to see if there were any rooms available. When he returned, he had a glint of something in his eyes that Emmeline did not quite understand.
“There is only one room available, Mr. G,” he informed his employer.
Norman nodded. “It is enough. The driver can remain with the horses and paintings, while you stand guard outside the room,” he instructed. “The marchioness and I will share the room.”
The man’s eyes held a brief moment of disappointment as if he had been looking forward to sharing a room.
Emmeline’s heart beat faster as she began to understand the insinuation that had been in the man’s eyes.
She looked at Norman as his words sank into her mind. He planned to share a room with her.
He had better not intend to share a bed with me!
“Yes, my dear,” Norman answered as if he had read her mind. “We will be sharing a bed once more.”
The henchman laughed as Emmeline shook her head vehemently.
No! No! No!
“The room is around the back of the building near the rear entrance. You will be able to enter without anyone else seeing you,” the henchman informed Norman, then stood back so that Norman could descend from the carriage.
Once Norman had found his balance on the ground, he turned and pulled Emmeline from the conveyance. Tossing her over his shoulder, he carried her around to the rear of the building, through the back door, and into the nearest room.
He set Emmeline down on the floor, then turned and shut the door behind them. He dropped the bar down into its wooden brackets across the door to keep any unwanted guests from entering.
Emmeline shivered at the sound of the bar dropping into place as if it were a prison door clicking shut.
Closing her eyes, tears streamed down her cheeks.
Norman picked her back up and carried her over to the bed.
Setting her down upon it. He first removed her cloak, then knelt down and removed her shoes, before he laid her down on the mattress, covering her with the available blanket.
Turning, he placed her shoes on the floor by the fire and laid her cloak over a chair. Had it been anyone else who had performed the task, it would have almost seemed tender in nature, but Emmeline knew all too well that it was about control, not care.
He came to stand beside the bed, looking down at her.
“You will remain here until my return. You will not move from this bed. If I find anything amiss upon my return, I will strip you naked, and you will remain in that state until the morning. If you obey me and remain where you are, I will bring you supper. Do you understand? Nod if you do.”
Emmeline wished that she could refuse his commands and launch herself out of the nearest window, but she knew that he meant what he said, and she had no desire to spend any time at all with him sans clothing. Mustering all of her inner strength, she nodded.
“Good.” Norman nodded in approval, then turned to leave the room, lifting the bar from the door.
“My man will be standing guard over you in my absence. No one will be allowed to enter or leave this room. If you do manage to escape by some divine miracle, I will hunt you down and have your sister killed,” he warned her, then shut the door behind himself.
Emmeline’s blood ran cold. Will I never be free of his threats on my sister’s life? Knowing that she had no other choice, she lay there upon the bed and cried herself to sleep.