Page 19 of His Wicked Charm

“You can have a go at him now, if you’d like,” Con told her cheerfully.

“That hardly seems sporting.”

Con hugged each of his sisters as they gathered in the kitchen, putting away their makeshift weapons. The Morelands, Lilah had noticed over the course of the past few weeks, were very prone to embracing one another. It had startled her at first, but Lilah was becoming accustomed to it now, and she was unsurprised when the women went on to hug her, too.

Thisbe patted Con on the cheek. “I knew you would find us, even though our trail must have been cold.”

“We followed your bread crumbs.”

“That was Olivia’s idea,” Thisbe said.

“A very good one.” He embraced Olivia last, pulling the small woman up off her feet.

“I was afraid they would get blown away or trampled, but it was the best I could think of.”

“You seem to have managed well on your own.” Con cast a glance at the man who had fallen down the stairs. “I feel quite unnecessary.”

“Oh, you’ll be very useful,” Olivia tossed back. “We need to tie up these men.”

“Yes, starting with this one.” Con pointed to the man he had fought, who had let out a groan and was now shifting restlessly. Con unfastened his cravat and squatted down to turn the man over and tie his hands behind his back. “What about him?” Con pointed to the ruffian who had come tumbling down the stairs. “Did you kill him?”

“Oh, no, he’s breathing,” Thisbe offered. “Mother just cracked him in the head with the washbasin pitcher.”

“This is all of them?”

Thisbe explained, “No, there was another one who was here when we arrived, but he escaped out the window and down the drainpipe.”

“How is Meg?” the duchess asked. “We weren’t sure what happened to her.”

“She’s probably going to have a black eye, and she was unconscious for a while—she hit her head on the ground when the thug hit her. But she was able to tell us what happened.”

They spent the next few minutes finding things with which to tie the men, who were beginning to awaken by the time they finished.

“What shall we do with them?” Kyria asked, using a glass-fronted cabinet as a mirror to repin the disarranged strands of her hair.

“I suspect your husbands would like to have a chat with them,” Con said. “So we’d best load them into their van and take them back with us.” He frowned. “Thing is, we have two vehicles. We could leave these chaps here while I drive you ladies home. Then Rafe and Stephen and I can come back to collect them later.”

“Leave them here tied up all that time?” The duchess frowned. “That doesn’t seem safe. What if something happened to them?”

“Mother, these chaps just abducted you and held you prisoner.”

“Obviously, they are criminals, but the goal should be to reform, not just—”

“More important,” Olivia put in before the duchess could gain steam, “they might manage to escape if we leave them alone here together.”

“But if I take them back, you ladies will have to remain here,” Con pointed out.

“Con, really, do you think I cannot drive a wagon?” Emmeline asked. “You know I was a country squire’s daughter. I learned to drive all the wagons and carts on the farm.”

Lilah doubted that driving wagons was part of the education of most country squires’ daughters, but it was little surprise that the duchess had done so.

“You take the girls home in the carriage, and I’ll follow you in the wagon,” the duchess decreed.

“Very well, if you will agree to take someone with you, just in case,” Con countered, clearly accustomed to bargaining with his mother. “You have just been through an ordeal.”

Con’s mother gave him an indulgent smile. “Miss Holcutt can ride with me. She can take the reins if I grow too feeble, since she was not abducted.”

“Though riding around with Con doubtless qualifies as an ordeal,” Kyria stuck in with a grin at her younger brother.