The Duke's Bride (28 page)

Jane felt ill. “And then she went off to France to
find my husband.”

“I’m afraid so,” Agatha said, staring out the window. “Somehow,
she discovered Roderick’s whereabouts, even though it was supposed to be a secret.”

Jane rested her head against the back of the seat and
frowned. “She wants Roderick. And because she could not have him, she took his
child.”

“Something insane like that, I suppose. You know,
Jane, sometimes, I truly do not understand people. But greed and hate are funny
creatures. Lady Trayton is not a stable person, that we do know.”

Jane felt her heart in her throat. “Do you think we
will find him? Do you think she took him? Oh, how I wished I had named him, but
I was waiting for Roderick to come home. And now…” Her voice broke.

Agatha closed her eyes and tightened her grip on her
parasol. “One way or another, my dear, we will find your son. Do not fret.”

Jane’s bottom lip began to tremble. “Oh, Agatha, I
pray to God we arrive in time.”

A
n hour later the carriage came to a stop about
a quarter mile from the Red Fox and King Inn. Jane peered outside. The sun was
higher in the sky. Shadows fell over the woods, giving the air a slight chill.
She shivered.

Captain Argyle poked his head inside the door.
“Ladies, I want you to stay here while I make inquiries. I fear your presence
will set off a string of conversation. The carriage will be moved into the
trees for obvious reasons.”

“What do you expect me to do while you look for my
baby?” Jane asked, gathering her things.

Hard green eyes clashed with hers. “I expect you to sit
here and keep quiet. The king’s guards are with you. And Duchess, make no doubt
about it, I have given them strict orders to keep you here.”

Jane glowered at the man. “I wish to go with you.”

“I am going to look for your son. But if anything
happened to you, Roderick would skin me alive.” His words were edge with steel,
making Jane squirm.

“I mean it,” he said, glaring at both women. “Stay
here. I will take a few of the men with me. They are clad in their riding
clothes, so they will look like travelers. Mind me now. Do not move from this
spot.”

Agatha looked on, saying nothing.

The harsh tone in the captain’s words had taken Jane
by surprise. She wondered if she had ever known this man. She stared at him in
cool silence, feeling her temper rising. She was not about to listen to a word
he said. Fear for her child took over any commands issued her way.

Questions churned in her head. Where was Roderick? Did
he have their son? Were they safe? What would happen if Lady Trayton had their
child?  

“There is something about that man that reminds me of your
husband,” Agatha said when the door clicked closed. “Stubborn and arrogant comes
to mind.”

Jane grabbed her reticule. “It matters not. I cannot
wait here until he returns.”

“Me neither.”

Jane stared at Agatha and smiled. “You are with me
then?”

Agatha grabbed her parasol. “I have my weapon of
choice. Let us start moving.”

Jane opened the carriage door, peeking outside. The
guards were brushing their horses down.

Jane glanced at Agatha and whispered. “I think we
should enter through the back of the inn and talk to one of the maids. What say
you to that?”

“I agree about entering by the back entrance,” Agatha
said in a low voice. “But, my dear girl, I doubt it will be a maid we will
encounter.”

Jane blushed. “I do not care what kind of female I run
into, as long as she can give me information. First things first, though. We
must tell the guards we have to attend to our needs.”

“Why, Jane, I never knew you to be so cunning.” Agatha
smiled, tapping her parasol on the ground, alerting the guards.

Jane shrugged. “I always wanted to work with you, but
you never asked. And I admit, I was quite young.”

“Well,” Agatha said, nodding to two guards coming
their way. “Lead on, Duchess. I await your command.”

Jane spoke to the guards, expressing their request for
privacy due to their female needs. The youngest guard turned red in the face.

“Very well, Your Grace. Take your time. I uh, mean, we
will be waiting here for you to finish. I, uh—”

Agatha bopped the young guard’s boot, making him jump.
“We know what you meant. Now, wait here and let us see to our needs.”

The two ladies walked past the trees. After they were
out of sight, they picked up their skirts and starting running toward the inn.

“Can you keep up with me?” Jane asked, concerned for
the older lady. The wind had picked up, blowing against them as they darted
across the forest.

Agatha leaned against an old elm. “Go on. I just need
to catch my breath.”

Jane did not like to leave Agatha behind, but she
needed to find her baby. She clutched her reticule and grimaced, knowing she
would use the pistol if need be. She nodded to Agatha and sprinted across the
field toward the inn where puffs of smoke rose above the chimney.

Her heart pounded with fear. She had no idea if this
was a wild goose chase. But something in her gut told her she needed to hurry.
There had been something in the captain’s eyes that told her he was almost
convinced Lady Trayton had headed this way. And if that were true, the woman
had her son.

Minutes later, Jane heard voices and snuck beneath the
inn’s kitchen window.

Lady Trayton’s wild laugh made her blood freeze. “You
are a bungling oaf, Captain. Or should I call you James? Goodness me, I have
the child and you are tied up in knots.”

It took all Jane’s self control not to rush inside.

Her baby?
The lady had her baby!

Holding her breath, Jane peeked over the ledge.

Her heart felt as if it would burst when she saw Lady Trayton
standing over Captain Argyle who was tied to a chair. There was no sight of her
son, but three men hovered over her friend. Suddenly, one of the men clubbed the
captain in the head.

Jane clenched her teeth when the captain tumbled and
hit the floor. The chair went with him. He was out cold.

“Stupid man,” Lady Trayton said, shaking her head. “Quite
handsome, but very stupid indeed.”

The lady lifted her gaze to the three large males
still standing over the captain. “What did you do with the other men who came
with him?”

“Took them outside, my lady. Harry was going to shoot
them.”

Lady Trayton let out a sinister smile. “My, my you are
bloodthirsty, are you not?”

At that exact moment, Jane heard a baby whimper. Her
chest tightened. She knew that cry! That was her baby! Her son!

She watched in terror as a maid walked into the
kitchen, holding a small basket with a baby inside. Her son had been wrapped in
a blanket and was crying. Jane’s heart clenched. They had her baby!

Lady Trayton stretched out her hands. “Give me the
child.”

Jane curled her hands against the sill. She wanted to
snatch her baby from the lady’s arms. But she had no one to help her. She glanced
over her shoulder.

What had become of Agatha? Should she return with
the king’s men? But what if the lady did something to her child? No, she could
not risk it.

She gritted her teeth, knowing she would have to do
this alone. She bent down to pull the pistol from her reticule.

The gun felt cold in her hand.

She took a deep breath, ready to sneak into the
kitchen when a strong hand slapped over her mouth, yanking her back against a hard,
muscled chest. Horror filled her as she kicked and raised her pistol to fire at
the culprit. The shot exploded in her ears. And that’s when all hell broke
loose.

Roderick stared at his wife, his eyes wide with shock.
“You almost shot my ear off!” He pushed Jane into the arms of one his men. “Get
her out of here, now! Our cover is gone!”

“Roderick,” she cried as his man threw her over his
shoulder and ran through the fields, back to safety.

“I will get him back,” he said to himself, jerking a
pistol from his jacket pocket. Without a second to lose, he burst into the
kitchen.

“Over there!” someone shouted.

A shot fired and Roderick dove beneath a table. The
roar of gunfire had the baby squealing in fear.

Another one of Lady Trayton’s men raised his gun and
pulled the trigger.

Roderick rolled across the floor. He peered up just as
Lady Trayton’s men rushed from the room. Cowards. He saw the captain lying on
the floor, bleeding from a head wound while still tied to a chair. Was the man
even alive? With his heart in his throat, Roderick shifted a wary gaze back to
his crying son. Nothing in his wildest dreams could have prepared him for this
scenario.

Lady Trayton clutched the screaming baby to her chest
and seemed beside herself as she watched the last of her men depart from the
room. “Come back here, you fools!”

“They don’t want a hand in your kidnapping now,”
Roderick said harshly. He stood and held the pistol by his side, but his keen
gaze was on his son buried in the woman’s arms. “You have nowhere to go. Nowhere
to run. Put the babe down and take a seat.”

 The lady squeezed the baby harder against her
chest and glared at him. “Stop right there! Drop the pistol! Or I drop him!
Your choice!”

Roderick froze. A cold knot formed in his stomach as he
laid his gun on the floor. “I am not moving,” he said, putting his hands in the
air. “Just place the baby in the basket nice and easy.”

The lady laughed. “Nice and easy? I do not think you
are the one to give orders now, are you? The powerful duke listens to me now.
How does it feel to have a lady dictate your every move, Your Grace?”

Roderick simply stared at her. From the corner of his
eye, he saw Captain Argyle working at the ropes. Devil take it. The man had
been beaten to a bloody pulp, but he was still moving.

“Why, Susan?” Roderick asked, his velvety tone making
her frown. “Why did you do this?”

Her arms were shaking, and Roderick felt his patience
dwindling. Confound it! She could hardly hold her hands up any more. Her grip
on the babe was weakening. But one wrong move, and Roderick would see his son
die before he had ever held him.

He eyed the small babe and felt his stomach clench. An
overwhelming love swelled inside him. He sent up a quick prayer, never letting
his keen gaze leave the babe.
Oh, God, please help me! The babe is so small!

 “Why should I not have your son?” the lady snapped,
her expression turning ugly. “Years ago, you threw me aside as if I were
nothing. Then Lord Stonebridge did the same. Ha, but I married the earl, no
thanks to you. I had power and money. I wanted revenge, but then I had my son Peter.
He was everything to me.”

Roderick’s heart thumped in his ears. Hell’s teeth!
The lady was not in her right mind. “I’m sorry, Susan. I heard you lost your
boy. That would make any mother crazy. A son’s death—”

“I am not crazy!” Her arms jerked. Then as if answer
to his prayers, she placed the baby in the basket. Before he could move, she
pulled out a pistol from her pocket and raised the basket in her other hand.

Roderick’s heart twisted in fear. He caught a glimpse
of the captain squirming on the floor behind her. The man was almost free.

“Forgive me,” Roderick said softly, ignoring the gun.
“But losing a child is a dreadful thing.”

She frowned, shook the pistol, and glanced at the basket.
“In London, I saw how happy you were with your wife, and I hated you. This baby
should be mine. Mine! Do you hear me?”

Roderick tried to keep her talking. “That’s why you
killed Lord Garette? Because you hated me?”

The lady shot him a menacing smile. “My how perceptive
you are. I was hoping that little wife of yours would be accused of the crime.
But forces were against me, I suppose. However, this…” She shook the basket,
and the baby started to wail.

Roderick swallowed past the panic bursting inside him.
“He’s an innocent child! Shoot me if you want. But please, put the baby down.
Please, Susan.”

Her laugh was hysterical now. “Please? Oh, how I
waited for you to beg me. You made me believe you would marry me. But you left
me for that insignificant female. How awfully droll. Now, she will be beside
herself with no child of her own. What do you think of that, Your Grace?”

Alarm raced through every nerve in his body. The lady
wasn’t making any sense. She would not be able to take his son from the inn. There
were too many men surrounding her now. The only alternative would be to kill the
babe. The very thought made Roderick’s throat tighten in dread.

Furious, he kept a keen gaze on the swinging basket in
her left hand. “I’m begging you, Susan. Please, let the baby live.”

She chuckled. “You had your chance with me. Now, I
have you cornered. Do you know how fulfilling that is? I do so enjoy watching
you beg.”

Roderick saw the lady’s arm shaking. The basket was
getting too heavy.

“Perhaps, I did not treat you as I should have,” he
said, trying to soothe her.
It was a lie, but what could he say?

He had taken her for a ride or two in Hyde Park. A few
dances at Almack’s. And she thought she owned him? The lady was crazy!

He gritted his teeth. He did not care what he had to
do to get his child.

“You could go with me,” she said, her voice softening.
“We could sail to the Caribbean.”

Roderick looked up. “Why do you not hand me the child,
and we can talk about it?”

Her eyes flashed. “Talk about it?” she screeched. “You
think I am stupid?” 

Roderick could see where this was going. He tried to
smile. “That is not what I meant.”

“Shut up! I don’t want you anymore. I have your baby.
That’s all I need.”