Love at the Tower (15 page)

She was far too excited at the prospect of choosing new wood panelling for the library.

Inside the carpenter's workshop, Robina inhaled the smell of sawdust and timber. It was almost as intoxicating as a visit to the florists and she loved the scent of freshly milled timber.

Mr. Armstrong employed two men and they shared a huge bench covered in sawdust and wood shavings.

“If you'd come over here, miss, I have the samples his Lordship is interested in.”

Robina carefully studied the timber panels and then decided upon a light oak.

“Can this be waxed?” she asked.

“Of course. We will install it in its natural state as you see it here and then the French polisher can come in and finish it off.”

“And is this extra?”

The carpenter looked thoughtful for a moment and then said,

“I'll include it, seeing as it's for the Earl.”

Robina rewarded him with a beaming smile.

“Would you be good enough to let me take a panel away, so that I may show him what I have chosen? Here are the measurements for the library. I am certain that you will be able to work out how much is required from them.”

“Very good, miss. Please do send his Lordship my best wishes,” said Mr. Armstrong, as he escorted her to the rear of the workshop.

Morton was already in his box when she returned to the carpenter's yard and the carriage door was open.

‘He is in a real hurry,' she thought as she climbed inside. ‘I do hope he is not going to be too grumpy that I now want to visit Nanny.'

She opened up the communication flap.

“Do you know Myrtle Cottage in Southwell Lane?”

“Aye,” came the gruff reply.

“Take me there, please,” she said, thinking how odd Morton sounded.

‘Perhaps he has been smoking or has been affected by the wood shavings,' she thought as her nose was itching from inhaling the dust.

The carriage pulled out of the yard and Robina sank back into the comfortable seat.

‘Morton is taking a strange route,' she wondered, as the carriage hurtled out of the High Street and towards the woods. ‘Perhaps he knows a short cut.'

Nanny's cottage was on the outskirts of the village set back from the road, but she was sure that they were travelling in the opposite direction.

‘We should be there by now,' she thought, slightly worried that Morton had lost his way.

She opened the flap to speak to Morton, but, as she did so, she found that something had been jammed into it so that she could not talk through it.

‘What is going on?' she worried, as panic began to flood her body.

The carriage was picking up speed and, as she tried the handle to the carriage door, she found it was locked.

“Morton! Morton!” she shouted out, as they rattled down the lanes. “
Please stop
! You are frightening me!”

But Morton took no notice.

‘I am being kidnapped!' she said to herself finally, as the awful reality of her situation dawned upon her. ‘But why is Morton doing this?'

Fear clutched at her heart as the carriage plunged onwards.

‘I could open the window and try to jump out,' she murmured, as she held on to the sides of the carriage in order to steady herself, ‘but we are going so fast I would surely be killed!'

Tears began to pour down her face as she became more and more terrified.

‘Who would want to do such a thing to me?' she asked herself. ‘There is only one person I can think of who would dream up such a scheme. But who has she engaged to do her dirty work for her?'

After what seemed like ages, Robina saw that they had come to a halt outside a deserted-looking farm that lay at the end of a long track.

It was so isolated, that in all the years she had lived in the County, she had never come across it.

There was a small yard to one side and the remains of a vegetable patch on the other. There was a barn that was large enough to hold the carriage and a stable for the horses.

Presently the carriage door was wrenched open and a figure lunged inside and pulled her out.

His strong arms grabbed her around the waist and hoisted her down to the ground.

“Put me down, whoever you are!” she cried angrily.

The hollow laughter that answered her told her that it was not Morton who held her fast – no – it was someone altogether more familiar.

It was
Ellis.

“What do you want of me and where is Morton?” she howled.

Ellis did not answer, he simply dragged her towards the house.

Bolting the door behind him with his left hand, he threw Robina across the room with the other.

Pulling off the heavy coachman's coat, Ellis revealed himself for the first time.

“Morton should just about be waking up now. It's a pity he had to suffer – I have no quarrel with him.”

“And you have one with
me
?” screamed Robina.

Ellis laughed again – a cruel sneer playing around his features.

“Not really, but you are the means to an end. If my brother sees fit to throw me out and abandon me, then what am I to do for money?”

“So you have kidnapped me in the hope of gaining a ransom? You are very mistaken. My Papa is in London on business and he is not a man who is easily duped into parting with money.”

“You silly girl!” snarled Ellis. “You flatter yourself to think that you are worth that much to me!”

“The Earl will miss me and will send a search party for me – you will be discovered and then you will be in dreadful trouble,” Robina shouted at him, starting to cry.

“You should save the tears for someone who gives a tinker's cuss,” said Ellis coldly, “and as for my brother – what makes you think that he will know where to find you? This house may be on his land, but it could be on another planet for all he knows.”

“But Morton – ”

“If the silly old fool is awake by now, what will he have to tell? That someone hit him over the head and stole the carriage? He will not have seen me make off with you as I made certain he was out cold before you even left the carpenter's workshop.”

Robina lay on the floor, her dress had been torn in the struggle and where Ellis had gripped her so hard, she had bruises in the shape of finger marks.

“In any case if my brother is too mean to give me money, then there are several others who will for services rendered, so to speak. Your dear stepmother for instance!”

Robina looked up at him in horror.

“You – you know my stepmother?”

Ellis laughed out loudly and regarded her as if she was a small child.

“Of course I do. You could readily say that Laura and I are on very good terms. She is a most fascinating woman. Although my tastes usually run to much younger types, there is something about her cruelty and ambition that I can understand.”

“But you said she paid you money? Why would she do that?”

“To kidnap you, dear simple little Robina! Lord Drury is a very old friend of hers and she wishes to oblige him. I have to say, he must want you very much as the money I was given to abduct you was considerable. Had I known you would command such a very high price, then I would have cut out the middle man and done it myself.”

“You mean, I am being bought and sold like a prize heifer?”

“Oh, don't be so harsh on yourself. I like to think of you as being more of a very rare and beautiful fawn!”

The full awful truth was dawning upon her.

So her very real suspicions that her stepmother was not quite what she seemed were proving correct!

‘Poor Papa! He is heading for more heartbreak!' she thought, as Ellis moved round the room, testing that all the locks on the doors and windows were fast.

“So, will you send my Papa a ransom note – is that your plan?” she enquired, rubbing her bruises which were beginning to throb.

“Nothing of the sort. Although I must say you have given me an idea.”

He paused as if in deep thought and reconsidered,

“But no, I will stick to the original plan as it will have a far greater effect than me holding out for more.”

“What do you intend – to do with me – Ellis?”

Robina's voice was quivering as she had seen only too clearly in the past how cruel Ellis could be.

“Oh, I don't intend to do anything other than keep you here until morning. And then an amenable Vicar will arrive, along with Lord Drury and Laura and you will have no choice in the matter of your marriage – as the Vicar will make certain that you and Lord Drury are joined together right here!

“I had planned to snatch you on your way back to Trentham House, but your outing in my brother's carriage provided the perfect opportunity. It also saved me having to steal the buggy that the estate workers use and provided me with the perfect disguise.”

“You cannot do this! You cannot!” cried Robina, as the full horror of what was about to happen to her sank in.

“And, of course, the most delicious bonus to all this is the ridiculous infatuation that my brother seems to have conceived for you. Not only will I be earning for myself a substantial sum of money, but I will be able to pay back that stupid brother of mine in a manner that I could not have dreamed of! I hear the fool has proposed to you – ”

‘How could he know all about it?' thought Robina, ‘Stepmama must have said something to him. And I did not think that she believed me when I told her!'

He stared at her, his black eyes full of contempt.

Robina doubted that Ellis could ever love anyone as much as he loved himself. She hung her head in misery – unable to meet his gaze.

“So, it's true? Hahahaha!”

He threw his head back and laughed loudly.

It was a horrible cold sound that chilled Robina to the core. She wondered what could have happened to him to make him so bitter and twisted.

‘Could two brothers ever be so unalike?'

Ellis left her for a moment and Robina could hear him rummaging around next door.

He reappeared shortly holding a length of cord in his hand.

“
No
! Not that, please,” pleaded Robina, who feared that in spite of what he had just told her, perhaps he was about to strangle her.

“Don't make a fuss, Robina, my dear,” he snarled, coming close to her.

He pulled her to her feet and then threw her into a wooden chair near the fireplace.

Deftly he bound her hands behind her and looped the cord around the back of the chair so that she could not move.

He then took another length of cord from his pocket and wound it round both her ankles several times, before winding it tightly in between so that she could not move her feet.

“There!” he announced triumphantly. “That should prevent you from running away in the middle of the night like you did the last time.

“Oh, yes – your stepmother has told me everything! I must say, you are far braver than I would have believed – slipping out when everyone was fast asleep and then taking sanctuary at the Castle. My word, my brother is a weakling when it comes to a pretty face. He cannot call himself a man!”

Robina was shaking with fear, but it did not prevent her from shouting at Ellis,

“Your brother is a true gentleman. He would never dream of hurting a woman in the way you enjoy – and for money too. Ellis, are you not concerned at the shame your actions will bring upon your good family name?”

“What has my family ever done for me?” he sneered. “I am to be ostracised and made to pay for one or two little indiscretions. I am certain that my darling brother did not think twice when he raised his sword in India.”

By this time Robina was silently crying. She could not bear to hear the Earl spoken of in this manner.

“Your brother is a kind, decent and brave man,” she cried from deep in her heart. “He is noble and upstanding and would die rather than see his family name besmirched by scandal!”

Ellis looked at her and narrowed his eyes.

“It sounds to me as if he is not the only one who is in love!”

Robina was taken aback – could what Ellis had just said be true?

Was she in love with the Earl and had not realised it?

“No matter, it is of no consequence to me if you are. I am only concerned with receiving the balance of my payment and hurting Robert. I do hope you are going to be very happy with Lord Drury – I hear he is a lusty man for his age – ”

Ellis laughed again and got up to leave.

“Now I am feeling hungry and I am meeting Laura at
The Three Oaks Inn
. She is taking full advantage of her husband's absence – believe me!”

Robina watched him pull on his cloak and undo the bolts on the cottage door.

“I would say not to wander far, but seeing you tied up so tightly, I don't think you will be going anywhere!” said Ellis with an ugly smirk on his face.

He quickly left and Robina heard a key turning in the lock.

Miserably she stared into empty space and wept.

‘So I am to be married to Lord Drury by force,' she sobbed, ‘and Stepmama was in league with not only him, but Ellis Hampton as well. Truly, I have been but a pawn in this whole sorry affair!'

*

Meanwhile back at Hampton Castle, the Earl was becoming increasingly concerned.

It was now past three o'clock and there was still no sign of Robina.

‘Surely she cannot have been detained for so long with the carpenter?' he pondered, as he sent away his food untouched. ‘She said she may be some time and not wait for luncheon, but this is ridiculous.'

He rose from his desk and paced the room.

‘Perhaps she has gone to visit a friend?' he said to himself, ‘or she has met with some trouble along the way?'

He rang for Marriott who appeared in a flash.

“Yes, my Lord.”

“Marriott, the carriage Miss Melville took out this morning, do you know if it had been checked before they left?”