Now, gradually regaining her lucidity, she realized the danger of her predicament. Not wishing to attract the earl’s attention, she carefully peeked from under her eyelashes. Hawthorne was slumped in his seat, watching out the window. The carriage jostled and bounced uncomfortably. They were travelling at such a high rate of speed, Lilly feared they might tip over at the slightest turn. She worried for the horses. They wouldn’t last long at this pace. Even as she contemplated the animals, the coach lurched with the crack of the driver’s whip.
A man as wicked as Hawthorne ought not to be allowed to own animals.
Lilly was ever so grateful she had not taken Miss Fussy with her when she’d left the house. Thinking about Miss Fussy, she nearly began crying.
She hadn’t shed a single tear all day, but the thought of dying and leaving her pet alone horrified her.
Hawthorne looked up and caught her watching him. “My apologies for the footman’s disrespectful handling of you, my lady.” He seemed oddly regretful but still held one of the guns loosely between his hands. Another weapon lay on the floor by his feet. “No lady ought to suffer the touch of the working class.”
Lilly wasn’t sure how to respond to his statement. The man was not of sound mind. The look in his eyes was dispassionate, void.
She tried to speak but could not. She’d forgotten about the gag tied around her mouth. Once aware of it, though, it was all she could focus on. Suddenly, she could not get enough air into her lungs. She took deep breaths through her nose attempting not to panic.
The earl reached forward and tugged the handkerchief out of her mouth and below her chin. Lilly gasped gratefully.
“Please, don’t scream,” he said tiredly. His shoulders were slumped. He looked tired.
“I won’t.” She wanted only to keep him calm.
“It’s not that I wish to harm you, but I’ve run out of options.”
“Options?” she pressed.
“If Cortland changes the Corn Laws, England will cease to exist as we know it. The duke is misguided in his attempt to ease up on the masses. The peasants, the crofters, the lower classes must be kept in their place. They have begun revolting against their betters, and we cannot allow this.”
“But what have I to do with any of this?”
“The duke is in love with you. He thinks he has beaten me, but he will learn…Yes, he ought to have listened to me all along. A man in love will do nearly anything.”
“How do you know?”
“I was in love once. Hard to believe, isn’t it? Loved my wife.” He dropped his eyes to stare at the gun. “She’s dead now, though. Died during childbirth. Killed by my heir.” Lilly briefly remembered what her aunt had said about Hawthorne’s son, Lord Castleton. No wonder the man was something of a hellion. He had a lunatic for a father who blamed him for his mother’s death.
Lilly didn’t ask any more questions, allowing Hawthorne to remain lost in his thoughts. Better for him to focus on anything but her. She’d been silently attempting to loosen the length ofrope around her wrists. Since they were tied behind her back, the earl was unaware of her movements.
Coming out of his reverie, he eyed her once again. “The duke will come after you. And when he does, I will have to kill him.” He shook his head. “I didn’t think it would come to this…But you see, I cannot let him win. If he wins, all of England loses. Generations of noble families over hundreds of years have been procreating to establish a civilized human race. It is inconceivable that it could all be for naught.”
Lilly weighed her words carefully before responding to this. “The duke will not come for me. You are wrong. Even if he loves me, as you say, he will not come. What you do not understand is I am not a priority in the duke’s life.” She spoke the words fervently. Were they true? A duke’s honor was not to be compromised for anything—even love. “His Grace would not dishonor himself by breaking his word to Lady Natalie. The duke will stay in London until the vote is taken, and afterwards he will wed his fiancée.”
The earl’s face contorted in rage. “Shut up!” He lifted the gun and pointed it directly at her again. His hands shook. Lilly closed her eyes and prayed. Was this to be her last moment on earth? She waited to hear the shot of the gun. When nothing happened, she opened her eyes again.
The earl seemed to be having difficulty breathing. Dropping the gun to the floor, he clutched at his left shoulder and winced in pain. “Don’t speak of such things. You don’t know what you are talking about. The amendment will fail.” He closed his eyes, and his skin began turning white.
Lilly thought to assist him by untying his cravat, but her hands were still bound. She had been unable to make much progress, if any, at loosening the ropes.
RESCUE
Michael stood in the doorway and scanned the faces in Lady Sheffield’s drawing room. “It’s Hawthorne. I’m certain of it. I visited his home this morning and demanded he leave London, leave the country for that matter. But I’m afraid I pushed him too far. And now…And now he’s taken Lilly…”
Michael dropped heavily into an empty chair and put his head in his hands. “All I managed to do was enrage the man. When he saw Lilly leaving the park, he saw a way to get back at me.”
Sitting now, fatigue pulled at Michael’s body. His earlier adrenaline was giving way to hopeless exhaustion.
Where had they gone? Where would Hawthorne take her? He pictured her as she’d been that afternoon at London Hills Manor. Her hair spread around her on the ground as he’d gazed into her golden eyes. Her lips tilted up, smiling seductively at him.
He recalled the moment at the inn when he’d first heard her voice. He’d been unable to believe it was her. His mind hadconvinced him their love was dead, but his heart had known all along.
In fact, she’d possessed it since the moment he’d seen her standing in the foyer of the Willoughby ballroom. And she’d kept it all these years.
