“It is winter. I will freeze.” Not to mention the embarrassment of being found quite naked in the middle of the road, or if he needed to approach an inn or home for help.
He glanced over to his horse, still held by one of the men as another went through his portmanteau that had been stashed on the floor.
“We’ll leave ya a blanket and rug.” Which the man tossed into the road. These Leopold had kept in case the weather turned uncomfortably cool.
“Off with ye clothes.”
Leopold stared at the pistol and weighed his decisions. He could risk his life by fighting or face eventual embarrassment of being stranded and naked. When a second man produced a pistol, Leopold decided retaining his dignity was not worth getting shot. Slowly he undressed, but paused when he came to his trousers because once they were gone, he would be the most vulnerable. With both pistols trained on him, Leopold grimaced and began to undo the placket but before he could finish, pain sliced through his skull.
Bethany had wanted to travel to Kent and spend Christmas with her family but had declined. Her cousin, Angelo, had invited his wife’s family, which included the Duke of Claybrook. Therefore, she had claimed that she was needed in London to oversee the gentlewomen’s club she owned with her dearest friend Tessa, now the Duchess of Ellings.
However, as Society left London for country estates, the clientele diminished, and few visited to enjoy lively discussions involving art, sciences, and politics. Worse, fewer were gambling at the tables, and it cost more to pay the staff than the club was bringing in. Therefore, she had decided to close and send everyone away to enjoy the holiday.
What she hadn’t anticipated, however, was that the silence within the club, and in her set of rooms above, would become deafening and Bethany suffered a loneliness like never before. She also experienced a pang of guilt and was filled with regret for not joining her family.
Why should she let a very unpleasant and boorish duke keep her from celebrating Christmas with her family? Besides, her uncle was ill, and it would likely be his last holiday.
It irritated Bethany to no end that she had first allowed Claybrook to wield such power over her decisions but then decided that she’d simply pretend that he was not there and ignore him the best she could as she had done since she had pushed him into the Serpentine. Unfortunately, this left her traveling to Kent on her own, and staying in inns, but she had two footmen riding beside the carriage and therefore, she should be quite safe.
On their second day of travel, Bethany had insisted that they leave as early as possible so that they could make Faversham that night, no matter how late they arrived. Therefore, as the sun was rising, she entered her carriage, and they were on their way. But before long the carriage slowed and she glanced out the window to see where they were, but nothing was around, only trees on either side.
Trepidation slid down her spine. Any manner of thieves could be hiding within the wood. Not that she’d heard of highwaymen being in the area. In fact, they were a thing of myth and legends. Still, one could not be too cautious. A quick glance to the footman riding beside the carriage brought some relief as he did not appear to be concerned so Bethany set her worries aside. When the carriage came to a full halt, she rose from her seat and opened the door before hopping to the road. “What is amiss?”
“There is something in the middle of the road, Lady Bethany.”
She frowned and walked forward “A rug?” she asked when she spied what appeared to be a rolled-up carpet.
“We will have it moved out of the way quickly,” her driver promised as the footman approached, bent and was ready to lift.
“It is not a rug, but a man wrapped in a blanket and then a rug.”
“A man?” she questioned as she hurried forward. He was wrapped from head to toe without anything exposed except a bit of hair. Further he was tightly bound with a rope about his ankles and another about his chest. “Is he alive?”
“He is breathing, but not conscious,” the footman answered.
“Do you think he was being kidnapped and fell off the back of a wagon?” she asked.
“Or he is a criminal, and this was the only way to keep him from running off.”
“Regardless, we must help him,” she insisted.
The footman bent and rolled him onto his back before pushing the dark hair back.
Bethany gasped. Even though blood covered one side of his face, and his hair was matted and a mess, she still recognized him. “Get him into the carriage.”
“He might be a criminal,” the footman reminded her.
“That is the Duke of Claybrook.”
Oh, she may find him boorish and difficult, and she had fully intended to ignore him during the holiday, but that didn’t mean that she had wanted Claybrook to come to any harm and she certainly would not leave him in the middle of the road trussed up like a Christmas goose.
“Should we unwrap him first?” a footman asked. “He is a duke.”
“It is easier to carry him this way,” the other answered.
If Claybrook woke up, he may demand that he be untied, but as he was unconscious, and given his size, it was probably best to move him while he was all bound up.
“Once he is in the carriage, you will need to drive to the nearest town as quickly as possible,” she explained.
