Mercy realised she was being inexorably pulled to one side. Instinctively, her eyes sought Nate, and seconds later she found him. Although her abductor was blocked from his sight, he immediately picked up on the desperation in her face. With a barked comment to Max, he began to force his way towards her.
For a moment, Mercy thought she was safe, then she felt a prod in her side and with a sick feeling, realised whoever it was had a pistol. Any opportunity she’d had to scream for help was gone.
‘There is another pistol trained on the Earl. If you value your father’s life, you’ll come with me without any fuss.’
Mercy tried to look behind her, wanting to see her abductor’s face again, but the weapon dug painfully into her side as she did so. Not knowing what else to do, she allowed the man to pull her through the crush. He’d clearly chosen his moment well. There were so many people crammed into the room, that no one would notice as she was dragged outside. Tears formed in the corner of her eyes as she watched Nate trying to reach her. He wasn’t going to get to her in time. She knew it and he knew it.
To her surprise, as her captor got closer to the outside doors, he suddenly changed his path. Linking his arm in hers, he marched her towards a previously unnoticed alcove.
Looking back, her frantic gaze locked on Nate’s. Just before he disappeared from sight, she mouthed, ‘I love you.’ Whatever happened now, she couldn’t bear it if he never knew how she felt.
***
As Nate frantically pushed his way through the throng, he had a clear view of Mercy being forcibly taken into an alcove close to the theatre entrance. He wanted to shout but had realised almost immediately that she had a gun pressed into her side. He dared not risk the bastard pressing the trigger. He guessed that the Earl wasn’t yet aware his daughter had been abducted, but that was the least of his concerns.
Nate needed to get to her before she was bundled into a carriage and taken God knew where. By now, there was an undercurrentof disapproval following him. The unforgiveable rudeness of Viscount Carlingford would doubtless be discussed in every drawing room on the morrow.
Rudeness he could live with – anything, as long as they weren’t gossiping about Mercy’s abduction…
Ruthlessly he forged a path through bewildered bystanders, watching helplessly as she disappeared into the alcove. Clearly there was a door inside not generally used by the public. His heart slammed against his ribs at the thought that even now she might be lost to him.
A moment later, he finally broke free of the throng and hastened into the shadowy aperture. Predictably, the door was shut. With a quick look behind him to ensure Max and Christian had noted his direction, he pulled the door open and rushed inside.
The corridor was dark, winding to the right, but moments later, he was pushing open a second door to a narrow alley – just in time to see Mercy being forced into a waiting carriage. Adrenaline spiking, Nate raced towards the carriage, managing to jump onto the footplate just as the door was slammed and the coach driver snapped the reins to get the horses moving.
Hanging on for dear life, as the carriage careered round the corner, the Viscount grabbed hold of the handle, trying to force open the door. For a brief moment, he thought he might be successful, until the window was suddenly forced down and a pistol pointed directly at him.
Seconds later, there was a bang, followed by a sharp pain, and then nothing…
***
Augustus Shackleford couldn’t remember the last time he was so distraught. Well, that wasn’t quite true, it was when Freddy breathed his last. He hadn’t been ready then, and he certainly wasn’t deuced well ready now.
The three of them had spent the last hour and a half scouring the jetty, but the little dog appeared to have simply vanished. There was no sign of her in the water, though on more than one occasion they’d had to forcibly stop Finn from throwing himself in after a piece of flotsam he’d mistaken for Flossy.
If the Reverend was distressed, the boy was almost hysterical. Even as the sun began to lower, Finn refused to leave the jetty, and in the end, the only way they managed to persuade him to go was to promise they’d resume looking at first light.
There were only three ships moored alongside the jetty, and the one nearest to where Flossy had disappeared was ironically flying an American flag. For a while Reverend Shackleford had even considered that she might be hiding on board, having somehow led them to Reinhardt. But when the sailor on watch had insisted no bloody animal had come aboard, the clergyman realised he was clutching at straws - attributing a human intelligence to an animal. Flossy was a clever madam, but she was still a deuced dog. And she’d only met the American once.
As much as it made him sick to the stomach to admit it, the most likely scenario was that she’d somehow fallen into the water and drowned.
As the three of them began the long trudge back towards the wharf. Percy had his arm around a weeping Finn. The boy was almost incoherent as they walked. Sobbing that it had been all been his fault, and he’d never eat another pickled egg as long as he lived. The curate had never felt so helpless in his life andfound himself praying under his breath that they’d somehow find Flossy alive and well in the morning. He didn’t think the boy would get any sleep this night.
Eventually they reached the place where Flossy had first run off, and the Reverend wondered for the first time whether the carriage driver would still be waiting for them by the time they got back to the Dock entrance. He knew that Christian and Chastity had been intending to take Mercy to the opera, so unless the coach driver had returned to the house and reported them missing, his daughter and son-in-law would be entirely unaware of any problem. They were both well accustomed to his foibles, and the fact that he and Percy hadn’t joined them for dinner would be of no concern. He glanced down at his pocket watch. Most likely they’d have left the house by now.
Sighing, Reverend Shackleford looked back the way they’d come, then forward in the direction they’d been headed. The building they’d been about to investigate was indeed a lodging house and the clergyman was wondering if they should even consider getting a room, just as a carriage came racing down the wharf.
‘Tare an’ hounds,’ the Reverend breathed, hurriedly jumping out the way. ‘What the devil is the world coming to when even a deuced coach driver’s foxed.’ He stepped in front of a shed - housing some kind of spice he guessed from the pungent smell - intending to walk round the back of it and cut behind the carriage, when all of a sudden, the carriage door crashed open revealing a young woman in evening dress. All three of them watched in surprise as the woman jumped down and took off in the direction they just come from. A second later, two men jumped down and chased after her. Predictably they caught up with her after a few minutes, and each grabbing an arm, marched her back towards the carriage.
The Reverend frowned. There were still plenty of people around, and none of the owners of the makeshift stalls had taken the slightest notice of the woman’s plight, even though she was clearly being restrained against her will - even screaming to them for help. The clergyman stepped away from the shed, intending to ask what the devil they thought they were doing, when he saw a third man step down from the carriage.
It was Reinhardt.
Heart thumping, Augustus Shackleford instinctively stepped back out of sight, holding up his hand to Percy who looked as though he too was about to intervene.
As the woman came back into the clergyman’s line of vision, he stifled a horrified gasp. Unbelievably, it was Mercy.
For once in his life, the Reverend had no idea what to do next. He could tell that the thug dragging her was carrying a pistol. If he and Percy tried to intervene, they could very well end up going for an impromptu swim, and that wouldn’t help anyone, least of all his granddaughter. He glanced over at his curate’s shocked face. Clearly Percy had recognised her too.
