Ramsay had better fear my wrath if I ever chance to meet him again.Because of his foolishness, I have become a veritable prisoner in my own home.I’m not allowed to step even a toe across the threshold without at least two of my brothers tagging along.
And if it weren’t for the nights, I would have Harry to myself, either.
~From the Diary of Lady Fiona MacKintosh—Jun 1895
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The frigid jovialityof the greeting drenched Fiona in dread, and she reluctantly turned with some hope of her own that what she knew to be true might not be.Like Harry, it seemed she was doomed to disappointment.A knot formed in her throat, and Fiona almost choked while trying to swallow it back.“Lord Ramsay.”
Yes, it was he, though Ramsay was almost unrecognizable under the bruises on his jaw, swollen nose, and blackened eye.Her brothers had indeed done a job on him.A far more thorough one than Aylesbury had been treated to...or rather, Aylesbury had defended himself better.
But not enough of one, it seemed.How had he escaped the authorities?When?What was he doing here in Aylesbury?How long had he been following her?Had he never stopped?
“Haven’t you had enough?”Thankfully, her voice was calm and even disdainful.“You can’t think to have your plan succeed now.I won’t marry you.You have to know that.Even if you forced me, my brothers and Aylesbury would make me a widow before the ink was dry in the register.”
“But darling, who says I want to marry you any longer?”He sneered, his lip curling.“I have other plans for you now.I’m going to make you pay dearly for what you’ve put me through.I will show you every ounce of pain that was dealt me.”
He reached for her, but Fiona danced back.“I’ll cut off every finger that touches me.I’m warning you!”
Despite the warning, his hand clasping hard over her arm, his fingers digging in with bruising strength.Yanking her toward him until they were practically nose-to-nose, he added with a snarl of hatred, “I intend to leave this behind with every part of me intact.You might not be so lucky.When I am done with you, I will make your brothers pay as well.”
Two men leapt down from the driver’s perch of a carriage not far away, one sporting two black eyes and carrying a cudgel she recognized all too well.He didn’t look any happier to see her than she was to see him.“’Ello, poppet.”
She parted her lips to scream Harry’s name, but her cry emerged choked, almost silenced by the sudden fear that gripped her—fear that Ramsay alone hadn’t been able to inspire.From the look in Crumpky’s eye, Ramsay wasn’t the only one who wanted vengeance.
Ramsay threw back his head and laughed devilishly at her shock.The sound was so maniacal that Fiona feared he had truly gone insane and felt real panic churning in her gut.Then Ramsay pulled an all-too-familiar-looking piece of white cloth from his pocket, and Fiona vividly recalled the sick, sweet smell.The darkness and the loss of her ability to fight back were enough for her to find her voice.
“Harry!”
* * *
Aylesbury skidded toa halt when Fiona called his name, but oddly enough, the young woman he’d been chasing heard it as well, looking curiously over her shoulder.Her eyes locked with his, and even from the distance, Aylesbury could identify the vibrant blue, so much like his own.
“Piper,” he whispered and shook his head in disbelief.
All the times he had thought he’d seen her only to be disappointed, Aylesbury realized he’d never expected to find her.Was it his imagination now, or was it her after all this time?He took another step toward her.
“HARRY!”
The terror in Fiona’s scream was unlike anything he’d ever thought to hear from her.She was no coward.No, if anything, she was incessantly confident.That she would ever scream like that...
Aylesbury whipped around to see Fiona being half-dragged, half-carried away by Ramsay, struggling with all she was worth.There was only the briefest flash of indecisiveness.Casting a regretful glance at what may have been his sister now walking away from him, Aylesbury ran back the way he had come.
Back to Fiona.
She was striking Ramsay repeatedly with her free hand, landing some impressive blows while she rained a stream of even more impressive curses down on her kidnapper as Aylesbury sprinted to her aid.To his disgust, a few high-class bystanders were nearby gawking at the spectacle, but none seemed inclined to come to her aid.
“Let her go, Ramsay,” he yelled as he neared.“You won’t get away with this!”
Ramsay paused to look over his shoulder before waving a hand, signaling to the two other men Aylesbury had failed to notice.
Ramsay’s henchmen.
He recognized them both.The smaller fellow with the bandaged ear was the one who had tried to take Fiona from Wimbledon.The other, slapping a cudgel against the palm of his hand, Aylesbury had even a closer acquaintance of.
Old Crumpky.He’d be looking for his ounce of revenge.
Aylesbury cursed the fact that he wasn’t carrying a weapon with him.No, he had left his pistol in the carriage, sure that he had nothing to fear in his hometown.There was no other choice but to fight for her.
