Chapter Six

R ose was too excited to sleep well that night, and as the sky began to light with the dawn of a new day, she gave up even trying. She moved to the window seat, which was a favorite place of hers. It looked out over the garden, and she could even see much of the mews lane, though not as much as in winter when the trees dropped their leaves.

She enjoyed watching birds in the garden going about their morning rituals and perhaps catching sight of a cat on the prowl, a cart making a delivery to the kitchen from the alley that ran up the side of the house, servants busily shaking carpets, sweeping paths, fetching water, grooming horses, or a myriad of other tasks.

It was too early for any of that now, but within the hour, the mews and the gardens would be bustling with activity. How lazy we are in comparison to those who serve us. And yet, the work that Peter does, and Arial, too, is essential to the well-being of the nation .

She would be part of that, soon. As wife to Ruadh, she would have a role in Society. She would care for his house, bear and raise his children, and be his helpmate as he navigated his own position in politics, society, and his family.

The shiver that ran through her was part fear but mostly excitement. A little apprehension was understandable, but she had no real doubts about her fitness for the role in which she had been trained.

As she sat there half-dreaming, her thoughts drifted to the house next door. Ruadh had engaged the private inquiry agents that Peter had recommended. Were they, even now, watching the house?

Perhaps that groom who had just gone inside after sweeping the paving outside of his mews was working for the Wakefields. More probably the peddler who had stopped to sell some item from his tray to a kitchen maid from the house next door on the other side from the Hardwickes. Surely not the boy who was lingering in the mews lane, idly kicking a ball.

The boy ran out of sight. Halfway down the Stancroft garden was a large oak tree in full leaf. It obscured her view of the mews end of the Hardwickes' garden, as well as the back wall and the mews beyond. After a moment, the boy came into view again on the other side of the tree.

Ruadh was planning to visit his grandfather today and bring with him a friend who was a doctor. They were also taking a lawyer, which Mr. Wakefield had suggested. How would that go? Rose could imagine several scenarios, some of them disastrous. What was Lady Hardwicke hoping to achieve? Was it as Viv said? Did she hope to become with child, and to pass the valet's child off as Lord Hardwicke's? In some ways, Viv was more worldly than Rose, who would not have imagined such a thing.

What would Ruadh's mother and father think of Rose? Ruadh had told her a little about them, but his memories were fifteen years old, and what he knew of them today, he knew only from letters.

Her thoughts stuttered to a stop when she saw the Hardwicke carriage pass along the mews lane from the carriage house. It went behind the tree and did not come out. A groom came into sight in the Hardwicke garden, hurrying up to the house and out of her view.

Moments later, half a dozen servants emerged, carrying trunks, bags, and blankets, on their way from the house to, presumably, the carriage. Rose had to see what was going on behind the tree. She hurried into the first gown her hands could find, slipped her feet into the nearest shoes, and left by way of the servants' stairs.

By the time she reached the door to the garden, the servants next door were carrying Lord Hardwicke outside. She could see him through the trellis and hoped that no one looked her way, for she would be just as visible.

Presumably, they were heading for the coach. She hurried down her own garden path and opened the gate at the end. Yes, they were just taking Lord Hardwicke from his chair, several of them raising his poor weak body to pass him to others inside the carriage.

She looked around for someone who could help, but the lane was currently deserted apart from her and the Hardwicke servants. Except now another carriage had pulled up behind the first, and servants were swarming over both, tying luggage so that it was secure against the jolts of travel.

She took several steps towards the first carriage and called out to the servants. "Stop. Lord Merrick wishes to see his grandfather today."

After a startled moment during which they paused to look at her, the servants turned their faces away and continued what they were doing. Rose hurried forward without any clear idea of how to prevent them from carrying Lord Hardwicke away. "You are assisting in an abduction," she warned the servants. "Lord Merrick will…"

A hand fell on her shoulder from behind her. "Really, little bastard. You should not have inserted yourself in our affairs." It was the voice of the valet, Wolfenden.

Before Rose had time to react or even to think, strong hands grasped her by the waist, picked her up, and threw her into the carriage after Lord Hardwicke. The door slammed behind them, and the carriage began to move forward.

*

Ruadh was heading home after prowling the streets for several hours. He'd left his domino and mask behind in his room, for Wakefield, the private inquiry agent, had given him a warning. At least, so Ruadh had taken it. "The law is a broad brush," the man had said. "We all have a choice about how we paint in the detail. Sometimes, there are people who work within the law to do appalling things. Lady Hardwicke, as Lord Hardwicke's wife, has certain rights. We will have to prove she has acted outside of those rights. Also, on occasion, people work outside the law to do what is just and necessary."

He had then looked straight at Ruadh with his light hazel eyes and added, "Anyone can walk in the rookeries, and if they see a crime or even an act of violence within the law, there's a good chance they will not be arrested for stopping it. But those who go in disguise, cloaked and masked, are likely to be taken for one of the beasts they intend to stop. It would be a pity to see that happen."

On this night, those beasts had decided to take their violence and crime somewhere else. Which was as well, for tonight Ruadh's own violence slept as his heart rejoiced. He didn't want to hit anybody. Not tonight. Perhaps not ever again.

"Mister!" It was a ragged street boy. "Mr. Wolf!" It was the street boy he had saved a couple of weeks ago before he'd met Rose. He had clearly recognized Ruadh even without his domino.

"Call me Red," Ruadh invited.

"Mattie Dinker," the boy told him. "It's the lady. You got to come help the lady." He grabbed Ruadh's hand and pulled. Ruadh went along, a dread pooling in his belly as everything in him clenched at the sudden conviction that ‘the lady' was Rose.

The mists from the river had risen with the sun. They cast a glamour over the squalid streets, hiding the sordid detritus of the night, but also providing a masking curtain for those whose desperation might lead them to attack an alert and well-armed man.

For once, Ruadh had reason not to welcome a scuffle that might release some of his energy. He scanned the surroundings as he trotted beside the boy called Mattie, determined not to be taken by surprise.

"Which lady and where are we going?" he asked.

"The lady wot you rescued," Mattie said, impatiently. "The pretty one wot you kissed by the pond," he said.

Ruadh frowned. "Have you been watching me, Mattie?" he asked.

"The lady and you," the boy confirmed. "Wanted to see if'n you could be trusted, didn' I? I figured you'd come back to her house today, so I slept behind her house last night, didn' I. The lady came out of her house to stop some bully boys. They was tryin' to shove an old man into a carriage. Poor old geezer in a big chair wiv wheels. The lady shouted at 'em and they grabbed her an' threw her into the carriage, too. Then the lady and gent from the old man's house come out and both carriages left. I follered them as far as I could, then come for you."

Terror and anger swept through Ruadh, almost felling him, but he forced his suddenly weak legs to continue pumping. They were almost at the clinic. He said, "We'll call in here," and grasped the boy's shoulder to stop him.

"No time, Guv," Mattie insisted, struggling to get free.

"We can't catch up with them on foot," Ruadh explained. "If my friend is here, I can borrow a horse or a vehicle."

It took nearly ten precious minutes, but at the end of that time, Ruadh was on his way with Mattie clinging on behind, and Nate was heading to the Stancrofts to alert them to the problem.

"Which way now?" Ruadh demanded, and Mattie shouted directions as he set the horse into a walk, then allowed it to move faster and faster as the streets grew wider and less crowded.

Too long, too long , the hooves beat out as they cantered along the Strand and then past Carlton House and up St. James Street to Piccadilly and then Knightsbridge, and still farther. Mattie had somehow managed to follow the carriages until the buildings of the city were left behind and the network of roading choices had reduced to just a few.

"Sorry, mate," Mattie said. "After this, I lost 'em."

But Ruadh knew their direction now. "Mattie," he said, "Would you, by any chance, recognize Lady Rose's brother, the Earl of Stancroft?"

"I reckon so, Red," said the boy. "Big fellow, but not as big as you. Yeller hair. Right pretty. Wife wears a mask."

"Just up ahead I'm going to stop to get a fresh horse. I want you to stay and tell Stancroft where I've gone, and where I think Lady Rose has been taken. Weatherstone Hall in Berkshire, the Hardwicke family seat. I'm going on ahead. Tell the earl I will get Lady Rose out, but I want help to rescue my grandfather."

Mattie looked apprehensive but agreed. It was only after Ruadh was on his way again, having sent a groom with a message to Stancroft and leaving Mattie with enough funds to get himself back to London if needed, that he stopped to think about how the boy must feel, an hour's hard ride from everything he knew.

There was nothing to do about it now. Ruadh's one overriding desire was to get to Rose. He could only hope he had guessed right about where they were taking her.

*

The carriage rattled and bounced behind its team for what seemed like hours, though Rose was unable to check the time. Nor could she see the direction they were going, for the doors were locked from the outside, the windows were painted over, and the hatch between the interior and the driver was shut and jammed in some way. It was dark and stuffy, though some light leaked in where the paint was thinner.

Her attempts to attract attention from the driver or another attendant brought no result, and distressed Lord Hardwicke, so she gave up banging on the walls, ceiling, and door and sat with him, holding his hand. She told him that she was to marry Ruadh and that Ruadh would come after them, and he did his best to smile as he nodded his delight at the news.

But she could see the fear and anxiety in his eyes and knew that she was fooling him no more than she was fooling herself.

She consoled herself they could have killed Lord Hardwicke in London if they intended to do him harm. She had no such consolation for herself, though her heart could not believe this was the end. Not now. Not when Ruadh had declared himself and she was about to be married.

Twice, the carriage stopped, presumably to change horses. Rose shouted as loudly as she could and thumped on the door and ceiling, but no one responded. They were off again a few minutes later.

Partway through the trip, Lord Hardwicke became very upset. It took her a minute or two to detect the pungent smell and realize that his bladder had released. In the gloomy light that filtered through the paint on the glass, she found water, soap, and wash clothes in the bag that had been shoved in through the door behind the poor man, and changes of clothes, too. Presumably, the plan had been to give him an attendant, until Rose inserted herself into the situation.

He has one still , Rose decided. She set about making him comfortable, assuring him that she was practically a family member, and that looking after his comfort was a great privilege. The backward-facing seat lifted to show a cavity, and into it, she put the soiled garments, rolled into a ball with the worst of the mess tucked away inside.

The bag also held flasks of liquid, which she opened and tasted. Fruit juice of some kind. She and Lord Hardwicke both had a glass. Rose commented that being kidnapped was thirsty work and thought her patient's eyes showed appreciation at the comment.

At last, the carriage pulled to a stop for the third time, and she heard the sound of a key in the lock. They were opening the door.

"Phew," said one of the footmen Rose had encountered before. "The old duffer has pissed himself. Dirty old geezer."

"One day," Rose told him coldly, "you may be helpless and unable to move. When that day comes, I hope you meet with more kindness than you have shown, for you can hardly meet with less. Lord Hardwicke is clean and freshly changed. You may assist him from the carriage and take him to his room. I shall attend him. Also, arrange for the laundry to be dispatched to the washroom."

The footman gaped at her, standing back out of the way so that Rose was able to insert herself into the doorway. "Have a care," she warned. "He is frail and bruises easily." She held out a hand as if expecting the other footman's help to the ground, and he hastened forward to offer his support.

It was a large manor house, relatively new in construction, set in a neatly kept park. The carriageway ended in a courtyard large enough for a coach and four to execute a complete turn, and they were stopped at the foot of the steps that led up to the front door. A stretcher on legs awaited Lord Hardwicke.

Of the other carriage, there was no sign. Nor were Lady Hardwicke and her lover present. Rose did not know whether they had gone elsewhere, were yet to arrive, or were in the manor but not interested in witnessing the arrival of their two prisoners. She was not going to ask. Time would tell.

"This way, my lady," another footman said, waving towards the steps.

"I will attend Lord Hardwicke," Rose informed him and hurried to catch the poor man's hand just before it banged on the carriage door. He appeared even more frail than before, but the eyes that met hers reminded her of Ruadh—they were the same golden-brown. He looked from her to the servants and glared, stern, proud, and defiant.

She followed as he was carried to the stretcher and helped to make him comfortable. "We will be fine, my lord," she assured him. He smiled as best he could with his twisted lips and squeezed her hand.

She held his hand up the steps, through a large entrance hall, and then up several flights of stairs to a bedchamber. There, she prepared herself for yet another tussle of wills with a man who waited to attend the earl. "I am Lady Rosalind Ransome. You may carry out his personal care," she told him, doing her best to sound as imperious as her friend Lady Snowden at her most lofty. "I shall be with him as a representative of my betrothed, his grandson."

"Yes, my lady," said the attendant, without making a fuss. "If you will excuse me, my lady, I shall make his lordship comfortable."

Rose moved to the window while the attendant did what he needed to do. The room was pleasant enough, but she did not think it was Lord Hardwicke's usual chambers. It was quite small, on the third floor, and had no personal items such as papers, portraits, and books.

From the window, Rose could see the kitchen garden of the manor, which was extensive, and a wide paved path between the house and the garden. A sheer drop separated her from the path and even so, the window had bars on it. The room had probably once been a nursery.

No matter, she could not leave Lord Hardwicke, in any case. At least not until she knew what the man's wife and his valet had in mind for them.

At least she could look after Lord Hardwicke for as long as she was permitted to stay with him. And perhaps she could help whoever came after them, for she had to believe that someone in one of the surrounding buildings had seen her forced into the carriage and that her brother and Ruadh would search for her.

It might take them some time to find her, but they would not quit until she was rescued. Now all she had to do was come up with a plan to alert them they were in the right place when they arrived.