Seconds later she was dragged through a door and up a narrow set of stairs into a room that actually resembled the bedchamber she’d been given in Carlingford Hall. She swallowed a suddenhysterical laugh, half expecting a priest to suddenly crawl out from under the bed.
‘Tie her to the chair.’ The order was given almost indifferently, in complete contrast to the slap he’d dealt her minutes earlier.
Mercy battled her panic as they forced her down into a chair, trussing her up like a chicken. Despite her fear that they’d do something terrible while she was tied up and helpless, she was completely ignored, and as the minutes ticked by, she realised they were waiting for the priest to arrive.
‘A man of God is unlikely to marry us while I’m bound to a chair,’ she said at length. Mercy knew her comment was unwise, but she was desperate to find out if there was any chance of appealing the priest’s conscience.
All three laughed and her last hope withered and died. ‘You reckon ‘e’s goin’ ter refuse to do the deed since yer bride don’t look none too ‘appy about it?’ The man named Davy slapped his thigh in delight.
‘I object,’ Smith parodied in a high voice.
Mercy blinked furiously. Whatever happened she would not cry in front of these… animals.
Seconds later, footsteps sounded up the stairs.
‘that’ll be ‘is revrenship now – shall we ask ‘im?
‘Enough!’ Reinhardt’s command was imperious but without emotion, until abruptly he gave the most malevolent grin Mercy had ever seen. Her heart constricted in terror as he added, ‘Show some respect, gentlemen. Today is my wedding day…’
***
Within an hour of Mercy’s abduction, Christian, Max, Adam and Gabriel were on their way to London Docks. Although all four were thinking it, none of them voiced the concern that they could be chasing a red herring.
If Mercy wasn’t being held in the Docks, they had no idea where she could possibly be. And if that proved to be the case, all four men were painfully aware she was lost.
The mood in the carriage was tense. All of them were carrying pistols they wouldn’t hesitate to use should the need arise. Their plan was vague at best. If Reinhardt was holding Mercy in the Dockyard, it would likely be somewhere he’d already picked out, as Max suggested. If that proved to be the case, the American must have spent at least some time going backwards and forwards to the lodgings.
Surely someone would have seen him.
Of course, Reinhardt might have been staying in the Docks for the whole of his time in London, but all four men agreed it was unlikely. His lodging in the Dockyards would be near to the ship he’d bought passage on, and he wouldn’t have risked staying so close until he knew his plan was about to come to fruition.
As they approached the entrance to the Eastern Docks, Christian was surprised to see one of his carriages waiting at the side of the road. Frowning at the others, he climbed down and hurried over to the coach driver to ask what the devil he thought he was doing.
Minutes later, he came back, his face grim. ‘We have another problem. It seems that Augustus, Percy and Finn are inside the Dockyard somewhere. They were dropped off just before three when the Reverend requested they be collected around five.
Unfortunately, the coach driver hasn’t seen them since.’
***
Nate gritted his teeth as his arm was soaked in liqueur for the second time in as many minutes. It seemed that Prudence and Patience could not agree on the amount of alcohol necessary to disinfect the wound. Prudence favoured the ‘the more alcoholic the better,’ method, whilst Patience simply poured on whatever she could lay her hands on. Either way, the Viscount suspected that if any self-respecting infection was even considering settling in his arm, the half bottle of blue ruin currently soaking into his veins would very likely have put paid to the idea.
Unfortunately, both sisters agreed that the wound needed stitching, but at that point Chastity had stepped in. Apparently, she’d always been theseamstressof the family. And looking at his arm nearly an hour after the bullet had gone through it, Nate was simply glad it hadn’t had to be amputated.
While the sisters were administering to his wound, Nate had updated Jamie on the events of the evening and the magistrate was already in the process of gathering together a number of Runners to search the Docks – focusing on those wharfs specialising in spices.
‘Father actually spoke with me earlier today asking about ships to the Americas,’ Prudence commented thoughtfully, handing a roll of cloth to Chastity. ‘I told him I’d speak with our cook who has a nephew working in the Docks. Mrs. Shearing hasn’t reported back to me yet, but I’ll go and speak with her now to find out if she’s heard anything.’
‘It might have been helpful if you’d remembered that earlier,’ snapped Patience, ‘since all our husbands could well be on a wild goose chase.’
Prudence reddened. ‘It slipped my mind with Mr. Harding’s injury and all the talk of lodging houses and spices,’ she retorted defensively. ‘I’ll go and speak with her now.’
As she hurried from the room, Chastity frowned at Patience. ‘Was it necessary to be quite so scathing?’ she scolded, stabbing her unfortunate patient with the needle to emphasise her point.
Nate winced and hurriedly intervened before a full-blown argument could erupt. His wound already hurt like the blazes, and he’d be no use to Mercy at all after being her stepmother’s pin cushion. ‘Naturally Christian’s hoping to stop Reinhardt before he forces Mercy to wed him,’ he commented through gritted teeth.
‘What will happen if he fails to find her before then and the marriage has taken place?’ Chastity asked fearfully, giving him another stab.
‘From a legal standpoint, providing all the paperwork is in order, there’s very little any of us can do,’ Patience answered with a sigh.
