Chapter 1
Gravesend, England
June 1837
Stand and deliver.
It was the statement that had struck fear into the hearts of many for over a century. Since the days of the notorious, Dick Turpin, travelers by public or private coach guarded their possessions with a determined protectiveness. Drivers carried pistols and the dreaded blunderbuss, which should have deterred most incidents. However, with the traffic increasing exponentially each day along the New Road from Dover to London, and the new uncertainty shrouding the country with the recent death of King William IV which had given rise to Queen Victoria, tensions were high once more. It had been a hundred years since a woman had sat on the throne, since the reign of Queen Anne, and with the rise of political unease was the influx of immigrants and the dawn of the industrial age. England was starting to revert to uncertain times, but that didn’t stop the nobility from enjoying the best that life had to offer.
Miss Leah Lindquist sat in a cramped coach with a book in her lap and her valise at her feet. She had just gotten off the ship at Dover and was traveling north of Birmingham to join her elder brother after the death of her aunt three months previous. She knew she should be feeling more remorse than she was, but she was regretting having to try to call somewhere else home. She wanted to staysomewhere, whether it be England, the land of her birth, or France, where she had lived with her aunt.
She set down her book and glanced out the window at the dreary day as the coach rocked back and forth. The atmosphere quite suited her mood as she thought back to the day she had been told she was forced to rely on her relations once again.
Her aunt had been in failing health for some time, but when she caught a chill that winter, she had been unable to recover. When the doctor had approached Leah in the parlor with a grim expression on his face, she knew that something was terribly amiss. “I’m afraid I have some distressing news, Miss Lindquist.”
She had held her breath in anticipation.
“I regret to say that your aunt has passed on. She was suffering from typhoid fever, and should I have made my way to her before now, we might have had a chance to remove the contaminated blood and…”
Leah blinked. The rest of his statement faded away as she put a hand to her stomach. She swallowed over the lump that had abruptly formed and was able to rasp, “Thank you.”
Once she was left alone, Leah closed her eyes and collapsed onto a nearby chair, feeling strangely… numb. However, a pain so strong abruptly shot through her chest and she massaged the area to help ease the ache. She knew that it wouldn’t last long. It never did, because she had learned how to grieve over time. All she had left now was her elder brother and that was not a welcome thought.
Mr. Henry Lindquist was the son from her father’s first marriage. He was twelve years her senior and a vicar with an established following. He was proud of his rectory, and Leah could just imagine all the prayers she would have to recite before bed each night. She was not looking forward to spending the rest of her days under his roof, but she was quite sure her brother would ensure she was married off sooner rather than later. At her age of two and twenty years, he likely thought she was a hoyden who should have wed long before now. Thankfully, her aunt hadn’t pressed the issue, content to have Leah as a companion, for which Leah was immensely grateful. Contemplating spending the rest of her days with a man she didn’t admire or respect, completely devoid of love or affection, was not something she was enthusiastic about.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t as though she had much choice in the matter any longer. The day of reckoning had arrived and she was at the mercy of her next guardian.
There were times that she wished she could disappear into a Radcliffe novel and find her happiness in the arms of a Gothic hero—or perhaps a villain. The appeal did not lessen when she imagined some dastardly avenger absconding with her. In truth, the prospect of dashing highwaymen had always thrilled her. Having never been kissed, the idea of being ravished didn’t sound as shocking as her maid might have thought when she’d confided as much to her.
Leah sighed. She would miss Mary and their late-night talks. As a servant, the maid was one of the few friends that she’d had. For someone who had been moved about from place to place, it had been difficult for Leah to keep in touch with anyone for long. Her mother had died when Leah was just two years old, and her father had been restless, choosing to travel abroad rather than face his grief. It had been strenuous for Leah who had wanted to lay down some roots and just call someplace home.
Pushing those regretful memories aside, Leah decided that she would try to rest for the remainder of her journey. She closed her eyes and dozed off for a time.
When the carriage suddenly jolted, her head banged against the window hard enough for her to see dark spots. She gritted her teeth and rubbed the tender area as the vehicle shuddered and came to an abrupt halt. She could hear shouting coming from outside as the occupants inside began to mumble to themselves in alarm. Leah decided that they had probably cracked a wheel and left it at that. Her head was pounding and that was all she cared to concentrate on.
Suddenly, the door was wrenched open and a pistol came into view. “Everyone out,” came the deep, masculine order.
Leah glanced toward the speaker, but her vision was a bit blurry. She waited for the other passengers to file out and then she got to her feet. A wave of dizziness passed over her and she shut her eyes tightly.
“I said,out.”
Her arm was grabbed roughly and she was dragged out of the coach. Standing on the ground didn’t help her equilibrium, and as she started to waver, she was caught back in that firm grip. “What’s wrong with you?” he demanded, annoyance in his tone.
She hissed out of pain and said, “I hit my head on the window.” She dared to slit open an eye and then rather wished she hadn’t. A tall man stood before her, his face halfway concealed by a black mask.
She blinked, and then blinked again, telling herself that surely, she wasn’t seeing what she thought she was. Perhaps she’d struck her head harder than she’d imagined because her fantasy had come to life.
Her hand was moved away from her forehead and the dark eyes behind the mask narrowed slightly as the smooth, strong jawline clenched. He called to someone over his shoulder. “Take this one.”
Leah had no idea what that meant, but as she was passed on to another captor with the same black mask, she couldn’t resist glancing back at the first man. He was dressed casually with a white shirt and black trousers, tall boots, with a dark cape thrown across broad shoulders. His windblown brown hair fell across his forehead, He held a cutlass in his grasp, but it was the stark way his eyes pierced her as she was taken away that caused a strange sensation to coil within her.
Realizing the men intended to abscond with her, she demanded to her current captor, “Where are you taking me?”
She didn’t get a reply, but neither did she actually believe that she would. Instead, she was tossed into another coach, but this one was decidedly more comfortable than the public transport she had just exited. The seats were upholstered with black velvet, and silver-threaded damask curtains hung from the windows. A lantern set on a hook on either side of the door and offered a light glow to the darkened interior. Now that the sun was starting to sink along the horizon and the moon was beginning to make its appearance, the dim light inside offered a slightly mysterious air.
Leah might have admired the allure of it all a bit more if her head wasn’t throbbing with a dull ache. She leaned back against the seat and decided that she would panic about her current situation later. Right now, she just wanted to ease her suffering.
She wasn’t sure how much time had passed while she waited for something to happen. She jerked when the door opened and the man who had pulled her from the public coach climbed inside. As soon as he sat down, the carriage started to move.
