Ruining the Rake Who Abducted Her

Chapter 1

Lady Allegra Musgrove gazed out over one of Hyde Park’s vistas and swallowed hard.

She was trying to be brave about the disastrous events of the past few weeks, but she wasn’t the kind of person to hide from the truth.

Her marital prospects were in ruins, society had turned its back on her, and the only thing left to do was retire to the countryside with what was left of the shattered remains of her dignity and reputation.

“But it’s not fair,” Allegra muttered to herself. “I have done nothing wrong!”

The trouble had started years ago when her aristocratic father had met and fallen in love with a famous Italian opera singer.

That, in itself, was unremarkable, but marrying such a woman was apparently beyond the pale.

Her parents were ostracized by society and their children barely tolerated.

And now Carenza, Allegra’s older sister, had caused another scandal by advertising for a lover in the newspapers and then blatantly admitting to it at a charity ball attended by the whole ton.

All of this meant that Allegra, who had never set a foot wrong in fear of being seen as undesirable, was now considered an object of pity, and an unmarriageable one at that.

Her latest suitor had recently been seen escorting another young lady around town, and he hadn’t bothered to speak to Allegra since the awful night of the charity ball.

To be fair, Allegra didn’t care about losing that particular suitor, because any so-called gentleman who wasn’t prepared to stand by her was not worth it.

But she’d had hopes, and now they were dashed.

She took one more look at the picturesque groups of trees where her dog Jester loved to roam and turned back to the walking path.

Dusk was falling, and she was out alone—something even her mother wouldn’t have approved of.

Most of the staff at the townhouse, including her dog and her maid, had left with the carrier for her parents’ house in Norfolk that morning.

Allegra was expecting the family carriage to bear her off to their country home—and a solitary future—at any moment.

Would she ever return to London? She sighed.

She’d miss the concerts, the theater, and the opportunity to do some good in the world.

She wouldn’t miss the people. If she was honest, she knew she’d only been tolerated for her potential to shock or amuse.

Nothing she and Carenza had ever done had been enough.

She approached the house in Tavistock Square and went down the basement steps to the back door, where she found the key under the mat.

After unlocking the door, she went through to the kitchen.

As most of the staff had already left, the space was deserted, the range left to go out, and quiet had replaced the usual cheerful hustle and bustle.

A caretaker would stay on to keep an eye on things while the family were away, but Allegra wasn’t certain the family would ever come back to this house.

Her father didn’t care to expose his wife to a society who treated her disrespectfully.

Allegra went up the back stairs to her bedroom to retrieve her largest reticule, which contained several interesting books, her latest needlework project, and some coin to see her through her journey in case the aged coachman needed to stop to rest the horses.

A strange sense of hopelessness filled her as she contemplated a vastly restricted life under her uptight brother’s eye.

With a shake of her head, she attempted to throw off her gloom.

She would have time to pursue her interests without worrying about what the ton thought of her.

She would not need a maid following her around when she took her morning walks with Jester.

She would have delightful conversations and musical evenings with her mother.

The sound of a carriage arriving outside the house had her hurrying down the stairs.

Her bags were stacked ready in the hall, and all she had to do was leave, possibly forever.

There was no sign of Tom the caretaker, but the front door was not locked up for the night, so she let herself out, her reticule in her hand.

It had started to rain, and the sky had darkened considerably as she came down the steps, her gaze directed downward to prevent herself from slipping.

A hand closed around her arm, and she looked up into the masked face of an unknown man.

He grinned at her. “Hello, darling girl.”

She tried to pull away, but he simply laughed, picked her up, and tossed her into the carriage before climbing in after her and closing the door. The horses moved off with great speed.

After righting herself with some difficulty, Allegra turned to face him. “How dare you! Let me out immediately!”

His smile didn’t change. “Settle down, sweetheart. You’ll come to no harm.”

She scrambled for the door handle, and his fingers closed around her wrist. She experienced a sudden stab of terror and her heart thumped in her chest.

“Don’t be silly. We’re moving quite fast. If you attempt to leave, you’ll only hurt yourself.”

“Hurt myself? Stop this carriage!”

“I do apologize, but I can’t do that.” He held her gaze. “I need the money.”

“I’ll give you money! Just let me out!”

He winced. “Please settle down, you’re giving me a terrible headache.”

“You stink of alcohol.”

“That’s hardly surprising when I’ve been at my club.”

“Then go back there, drink yourself senseless, and leave me alone.” Allegra tried to iron the trembling from her voice. Her father had always told her that standing up to bullies required courage. “You have no right to abduct me.”

“Calm down. I’m not doing anything of the sort. It’s just a small wager. I’ll have you back home before you even know it.”

“You will take me back home now!”

“I’ll take you home when I’ve won my wager. Now, be a good girl and be quiet.”

Allegra grabbed hold of her reticule and placed it on the seat beside her. Holding the infuriating man’s gaze, she extracted the very large book of improving sermons she’d brought to read and held it up in her hand.

“Stop this carriage,” she demanded. “Or I’ll—”

He laughed. “Go ahead. You probably couldn’t hit a pig in a poke.”

Even as the words left his mouth, the book was in the air. It hit him hard on the head, and he slumped down onto the seat like he’d been shot.

Allegra allowed herself a small smile of triumph and then studied him more closely. “Sir?”

She swallowed hard. Her aim had been true, but it appeared her victory came at a cost. Her abductor was unconscious, and his ability to turn the carriage around was now nonexistent. She had a sense that even if she attempted to gain the driver’s attention, her pleas would fail to move him.

“Fool,” she whispered to herself. “Now what are you going to do?”

As time went by, apart from regularly checking her abductor’s breathing to make sure she hadn’t killed him, and admiring the large goose egg–sized bruise on his temple, Allegra had little to do except worry about exactly how her journey would end.

If it was supposed to be a jaunt around town, then it surely had encompassed every street in the capital by now?

It was too dark to see much out of the windows, but she was disturbed by the lack of lights.

She gasped as the carriage shifted suddenly to the left, the springs compacting to keep it upright, and held on tight to the leather strap.

The faint sound of whooping filtered down into the carriage, and her mouth went dry.

She’d seen how some of the young rakes liked to drive and was convinced there wasn’t a professional attending to the horses.

She struggled to let down the window and angled her head to look up, only to scream and recoil as they passed a farm cart on the wrong side of the road, a finger’s breadth from her nose.

She steadied her breathing and looked out again.

“Please stop!” she yelled in a most unladylike manner. “This is madness!”

She was met with a hunting cry and an increase in pace that made her fear for her life. Hanging onto the strap to stop herself from falling, she watched as her senseless companion slid onto the floor in a most awkward fashion and stayed there, breathing noisily.

With a muttered curse, she went down onto her knees and attempted to sort his splayed limbs into some kind of order.

“Sir!” She shook him none too gently. “You must wake up. We are in danger.”

There was no response. She was just about to try again when the carriage floor buckled like a horse trying to unseat its rider and both she and the man were flung to one side.

There was an ominous groan as the door flew open, and the carriage hit the hedged road and fell partially into what Allegra could only assume was a ditch.

Entangled together by his long limbs and her skirts, they rolled out through the door onto the verge just before the carriage tipped over completely and was dragged forward by the plunging horses in mad panicked leaps.

It was dark, and Allegra struggled to find her bearings as the man beneath her groaned, muttered something unintelligible, and went straight back to sleep.

It took Allegra a few moments to steady her breathing.

Using all her strength, she pushed free of him and stood up, rocking on her heels to survey the carnage.

There was no sign of the driver, and the horses had stopped trying to pull the wrecked carriage but were obviously panicked, rearing and snorting within the tangled reins and traces.

With little thought for her own safety, Allegra moved on instinct and ran toward them.

She slowed as she approached, one hand outstretched, and fought for a calm tone as she reached for the bridle of one of the bucking horses.

“It’s all right, I’ve got you.” Her arm was nearly wrenched out of its socket as the horse reared up, his forelegs close to her face. “It’s all right.”