23. Chapter 23
T he bumping and jostling were too much to bear as we raced down the road. I lost the contents of my stomach twice on the carriage floor and winced as every part of my body was jarred and bruised. I grasped the leather hand strap with all my strength, but it was no match for the driver’s pace.
Panic overwhelmed me as I imagined several possible scenarios, and none of them ended well for me or the baby. Who had overtaken the carriage, and did they know I was within? What did they hope to gain by stealing it? And was it just one man I was up against, or several?
It was hard to tell the passage of time as the carriage finally started to slow.
Had it been five minutes or fifty? The sky was still dark, though it had started to lighten in the east, and the rain continued to fall.
Even if I was familiar with the terrain, I wouldn’t know where I was or if we were closer to Pickering Castle or farther away.
“Whoa,” came the muffled voice of the new driver as the carriage continued to slow.
I tried to look outside, to see if there was a way I could escape. To my shock and horror, we were veering off the road toward the cliff. I held my breath for impact—and then realized the carriage was descending toward the sea on a narrow path that didn’t look wide enough for the vehicle.
I wanted to scream out for the driver to stop. We would surely crash to our deaths if he continued. I pressed against the far side of the carriage, not wanting my extra weight to tip the vehicle. All I could imagine was careening to the abyss below.
Thoughts of Ames filled my mind with regret and longing. What would he do when he learned I’d run away—and then died such a gruesome death? Would he believe the Welby family curse had killed me, like it had all the others before me?
My breath stilled as I realized who might have abducted me—the smugglers. But how would they have known I was out tonight? Or that I was in the carriage?
With every tilt or shift in the road, I was convinced the end had come, but, miraculously, the vehicle would right itself and we’d keep going. Down, down, down, closer to the sea.
Finally, the carriage came to a blessed stop, but my breathing would not still. Cold fear wrapped around my heart, wondering what would come next.
The carriage shifted as the driver climbed off the top and a second later, the door opened and he stuck his head inside.
It was one of the men who had been in the dungeon the night of the shipwreck. I’d only had a moment to look at them, but I recognized this one because he wore a patch over one eye.
His face scrunched up with disgust as he saw the mess I’d made from my morning sickness. Thankfully, the contents were on the floor and not on me, but it was not a pleasant sight or smell.
After the initial revulsion disappeared from his face, a gleeful shine replaced it. “Jackie’ll never believe what I smuggled tonight.” When he smiled, he revealed a gold tooth. “The duchess herself.”
“I don’t know what you want with me,” I said to him, “but whatever it is, I’ll see that you’re compensated for letting me go. Please, I need to get back to Pickering Castle.”
“Begging, are you?” He laughed. “Jackie’s been looking for a way to get compensated for the loss o’ his caves. I think I found him something priceless.”
“Please—”
“Get out of the carriage, or I’ll drag you out through that spew, and it won’t be pretty.”
I believed him and knew it wouldn’t pay to fight.
Grabbing my skirts so they didn’t get into the mess, I exited the carriage with as much decorum as I could muster.
We were on a rocky ledge about twice the width of the carriage, but it was as far as the vehicle could go. The horses snorted and tossed their heads as the man grabbed my arm and pulled me toward a rocky footpath.
I tried to resist his hold on me, but he only tightened his grasp. Holding my skirt up so it wouldn’t snag on the branches of a nearby bush, I followed him.
The rain soon soaked my cloak, and I began to tremble uncontrollably.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked.
“To Jackie. He’ll know what to do with you.”
“How did you know I was in the carriage?”
“A right bit o’ luck.” He turned and grinned at me.
“I saw the duke’s carriage outside the vicar’s place in Scarborough.
That caught my eye right off. When I saw you come out with the duke’s brother and them other two, I followed on horseback.
And when I saw you alone in the carriage I had an opportunity to get our revenge.
” He laughed, but it was not a joyful sound.
“If it’s ransom money you want—”
He laughed again. “Jackie’ll want something more valuable than money. He’s been looking for a way to repay the duke’s unkindness.”
My trembling intensified and my stomach rolled again. I needed to toss up the contents, but he continued to pull me, causing me to fall to my knees and retch.
He stopped and let go of my arm, then stepped back, revulsion on his whiskered face. “Are you sick?”
“Yes.” I wiped my mouth and swiped at the tears on my cheeks. What could I say to stop this madness? “And it’s terribly contagious.”
He took another step back. “What is it?”
I needed to think of something that would scare him—and give me a chance to get away. “Scarlet fever.”
He frowned and looked skeptical. “Then what were you doing at the vicarage? And why were you with Lord Brant? If you had the fever, you’d be sick in bed. No.” He shook his head and grabbed me by the arm, pulling me to a standing position. “I think you’re scared—as you should be.”
Several minutes later, we were on a rocky beach. A large boat was pulled to shore, and three men were hauling crates from a nearby cave to the boat. When they caught sight of us, they stopped.
“Looksee what I have here, Jackie!” my abductor said, still holding my arm in a death grip. “’Tis the Duchess of Severton herself.”
All the men looked familiar, but it was the leader—Jackie—who was the most familiar. He’d been the one being treated by Dr. Aiken on the night of the shipwreck and he had his arm in a sling. His face was weathered and aged, and he had a thick, black beard that covered most of it.
An evil gleam lit his small eyes as he approached us. “Well, I’ll be bound. What favor of chance brought this gift upon us, Thomas?”
“She and Lord Brant were with two others at the vicarage in Scarborough. I knew I’d be late meeting you here, but I followed her.”
“Where is Lord Brant now?” Jackie asked.
“Getting on a train with another woman in Scarborough.”
“A high-born lady?” he asked.
“I wouldn’t think so, by the looks of her. A maid, perhaps.”
Jackie lifted a brow. “An elopement? What will the duke think o’ that? And his wife helping the couple escape in the wee hours of the morn. A scandal to be sure.” He grasped his beard with his free hand and studied me. “But what about this one? What will we do with this opportunity?”
“You wanted revenge on the duke,” Thomas said. “Well, here she is.”
“What are you thinking?”
“You warned him he might meet the same fate o’ his ancestors.” Thomas shrugged. “You’d send a stronger message if his wife took the fall.”
Jackie’s grin was evil.
I swallowed the fear creeping back up my throat. The light was getting brighter in the morning sky.
“I have the duke’s carriage waiting back on the ledge,” Thomas told him. “We could make it look like the horses spooked and the carriage went over the cliff, her inside.”
“What o’ the driver? Where is he?”
Thomas swore. “I left him on the side of the road.”
“He would have a different tale to tell, and last thing we need is the law on us.”
“Please,” I said, my voice trembling. “I will pay you anything you want—just let me go. Ames has said that smuggling is not worth what it once was, so the Welby caves have lost their value. Surely you must see—”
“Quiet!” Jackie said as he lifted a hand to threaten me. “Let me think!”
I didn’t want to risk more injury to me or the baby, so I kept my mouth closed.
A shot rang out and a bullet hit the rocky beach not far from Jackie’s feet.
He jumped as all four smugglers pulled pistols from holsters and turned with wild eyes toward the sound.
“Let Her Grace go!” came a loud, commanding voice.
Ames.
Relief made my knees weak, and I wanted to crumble to the ground—but where was he? I could only see the smugglers.
Jackie started to reach for me, but another shot rang out, and this time, the bullet grazed Jackie’s upper right arm. Shock stole over his face as he grasped his arm and pointed his gun toward the path I’d just descended with Thomas.
“The next person to touch Her Grace will meet their fate,” Ames called out, though I still couldn’t locate him. “Lily, get behind that boulder.”
I turned and saw a large rock jutting out of the beach. I didn’t need a second command but stumbled to the boulder and climbed behind it.
“Where are you?” I heard Jackie demand.
“Drop your weapons,” came the sound of Collins’s voice, “and we’ll reveal ourselves.”
There was a pause, and then another shot rang out, making me flinch.
A second later, I heard several pistols hitting the rocks.
“Now move away from your weapons,” Ames instructed.
There was shuffling of feet, and then several moments of silence.
I wanted to see what was happening, but I didn’t dare move from the safety of the large boulder.
“Who is responsible for abducting Her Grace,” Ames asked, much closer this time, “and accosting my groom?”
My heart beat hard at the sound of his authoritative voice. There were times when his commanding presence infuriated me—but other times when I was enormously thankful for his confidence and power.
“Speak!” Ames demanded.
“It was me,” Thomas said. “I overtook the carriage.”
“Constable,” Ames said, “I want all these men arrested for the abduction of Her Grace, and the illegal smuggling of goods.”