“Why should I trust you not to fight me and then try to get away?”
Why indeed? She bit her lip. “Because we’re in the middle of nowhere. And your men are right outside. I promise, I won’t do anything stupid.” She forced a sobbing sound. “It hurts.” Another sob. “Please.”
“Stop your blathering.” He leaned forward again, sighing heavily as though making the effort to untie her was a great annoyance. But feelings returned to her hands as the ropes loosened behind her.
Partially free now, she pushed herself up to sit. She fisted and then opened her tingling hands in front of her. It was a start, but she remained at the duke’s mercy. The carriage bumped and rolled along. How far could they have traveled already?
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“London first. I’ll need to speak with your brother again.”
“Ransom?”
“Oh, no, my dear. Because that would imply some sort of wrongdoing on my part. I intend to collect what remains of your dowry.”
“But I’m already married!”
“Did you think I couldn’t convince the anvil priest to strike it from his records?”
“We still have the original certificate.”
“You mean the one Mr. Spencer kept in his jacket pocket? The same jacket he left draped over a chair in a public taproom?” He patted his pocket and laughed. “It will come in handy when I have my forger draw up a new one for the two of us. Your brother will have no choice but to pay, especially after I’ve shown it to all the papers.”
Tabetha set her jaw and straightened her spine.
She was married to Stone, and she intended to stay married to Stone.
“Looks like you’ll be a duchess, after all.” The duke chuckled softly.
“Over my dead body.”
“Come now, Lady Tabetha, no need to be dramatic.”
“Mrs. Spencer,” she corrected him. “My name is Mrs. Spencer.”
There was no way she’d let him get away with this. She’d bolted from him once; she would do it again. Hadn’t he learned the first time?
She didn’t speak after that, choosing instead to keep her thoughts to herself—thoughts of escape.
After a while, the duke’s head tipped forward and his breaths gave way to high-pitched snoring. Tabetha surreptitiously eased her hands to her feet and worked at the knots around her ankles until they, too, had loosened.
She would wait for the perfect opportunity. They’d have to stop for water and to change out the horse.
And when they did, she’d make a run for it.
And hope like hell that Stone wasn’t far behind.
Chapter 28
Redirect
Stone stroked the side of Poppy’s head as the determined mare walked swiftly down the road. They’d ridden hard for most of the morning, stopping only once for water, but the afternoon sun only made matters worse. Even so, Poppy sensed his urgency.
Almost as though she, too, missed the lady she’d been pulling.
After he got Tabetha back, he would make sure the loyal mare was stabled in the best accommodations a horse could have. Or perhaps he’d let her out to pasture.
In all his life, he’d never driven a horse this hard, and he felt guilty for it.
