The Countess (Madison Sisters #1)(33)
Author: Lynsay Sands

"Actual y, my lord, I was just coming to seek you out about that. It appears Lady Christiana was unable to find me and went in search of your valet herself and has now found herself in something of a fix."

"What kind of a fix?" Richard asked grimly.

"Wel , I happened to be passing Freddy’s room and overheard him saying that he intended to take her and force you to pay to get her back safely," he admitted grimly. "I believe he is planning to take her around to the office to try to find something first, however, so if we were to hide ourselves away in there and wait for him to approach we may be able to take him by surprise and relieve him of Lady Christiana without her coming to harm."

"That’s actual y a good plan," Daniel said with some surprise and eyed the butler with a new respect. He then glanced to Richard and said, "We should move quickly though, I don’t recal a lot of places in the office to hide."

Richard had already turned to head to his office when Robert announced, "I am coming too."

"And me," Lord Madison said firmly.

"Me too," Suzette announced.

Richard paused abruptly and glanced back to see that everyone was fol owing, including Lisa and Haversham. Scowling, he shook his head. "There aren’t enough hiding spaces for everyone. Robert and Daniel only wil come. The rest of you need to get into the parlor and out of the hal so you don’t scare Freddy off." His gaze slid to Lord Madison, who opened his mouth to protest, and forestal ed him by adding, "I trust you are the only person here who could keep Suzette and Lisa in that parlor."

Lord Madison let his mouth close with a sigh and nodded.

Richard started to turn away then, but paused and swung back to ask, "Might I borrow your pistol, my lord?"

"Of course." Madison held out the pistol and said grimly, "Keep her safe."

"I intend to," Richard assured him as he took the weapon. He then stepped back and waited as Christiana’s father turned to take Suzette and Lisa each by an arm to lead them to the parlor. Both girls began to protest at once, but he merely said, "I am your father and you wil go in the parlor and like it."

When Richard’s gaze next slid to Haversham, the butler hesitated, but then nodded stiffly and turned to fol ow the others. Richard immediately turned and led Robert and Daniel to the office to seek out hiding spots and await the arrival of his wife and her captor. Christiana groaned, or tried to, as consciousness returned to her. However, her groan was stifled by the gag in her mouth. She blinked her eyes open, and immediately wished she hadn’t and closed them again. The sight of the ground moving by below was only her first hint that she was not in a position she wanted to be in. The pain of the shoulder lodged in her stomach was her second hint.

Freddy had obviously knocked her out, bound and gagged her and was now carting her about over his shoulder like a sack of wheat. Her head was dangling down his back and aching. Though she wasn’t sure whether the aching was from the blow she’d taken to the head, her position, which had the blood pooling in that same abused head, or a combination of both. Al Christiana real y knew was that her head hurt, her stomach hurt from the jarring it was taking with each step, and the corners of her mouth hurt where the gag rubbed tightly against it. The inside of her mouth wasn’t al that happy either; it was as dry as a bone thanks to the gag apparently soaking up every drop of liquid in there.

Basical y, she was very uncomfortable, and growing very annoyed with Freddy for it. Christiana could hardly wait to fire the man, for those were going to be the first words out of her mouth once the gag was removed. She was sure it wouldn’t upset him much, considering he’d planned to leave their employ and move to the continent.

However, she would stil enjoy saying the words.

Grimacing at her own thoughts, which truly were just an effort to distract herself from her discomfort, Christiana forced her eyes open again. The ground was stil moving by below her, but now it was grass. They were outside. Lifting her head, she peered around to see that Freddy was carrying her along the house toward the French doors leading to the office. Christiana supposed he’d decided this was the safer approach and lowered her head, hoping that Suzette wasn’t stil in there. The only thing she could think of that would be worse than her being held for ransom was Suzette being caught and held with her.

Freddy slowed and she glanced around to see that they had nearly reached the French doors. He was creeping close to the house now, presumably approaching cautiously in case someone was inside.

Apparently, the room was empty. At least that was her guess when Freddy began to move faster again, opening the door to slip into the room with her stil over his shoulder. He paused halfway through the door, tensing like a rabbit smel ing a predator on the wind, and Christiana tried to glance around to see what had made him suddenly tense, but couldn’t see past him to the room. She sagged against his back again, her gaze moving over the yard instead and it was then she glimpsed the man creeping up behind them along the back of the house. Haversham. The butler was moving with the silence and stealth of a thief as he approached. He also carried a rather wicked butcher knife in his hand. Movement behind Haversham then drew her attention to the fact that there was another man fol owing the butler. Christiana’s eyes widened as she recognized her father. She had no idea what he was doing there, but there he was, face grim and eyes determined as he crept along in much the same manner as Haversham, a smal er knife in his own hand.

Christiana had barely taken note of that when she next spotted Suzette and Lisa tiptoeing along behind the two men. Her sisters were each armed as wel

, Suzette with a rol ing pin and Lisa with a big, long two-tined cooking fork. It appeared the whole household intended to save her and had raided the kitchen to do it, she thought wryly, and then wondered where Richard and the men were. She supposed it was possible that they were not yet back from their own task of arranging for the blackmail money, but Lisa and Robert had been together so she knew he at least must be there somewhere, though she didn’t see him yet. And then Freddy apparently got over whatever had spooked him and continued into the office and Christiana could no longer see her would-be rescuers.

Chapter Eighteen

Richard felt his hands clench into fists when one of the French doors opened and he recognized George’s valet entering with Christiana bound and gagged and unmoving over his shoulder. It was the unmoving part that worried and enraged him and the degree to which he was affected was almost startling to him. He wanted to rip Christiana from the man’s back, assure himself she was alive and wel , and then tear Freddy limb from limb for even daring to touch her let alone manhandling her so.

That rage was swiftly fol owed by terror when Freddy paused in the door and readjusted his hold on Christiana, revealing the short, wicked blade in one of his hands. Richard was not used to such depths of emotion. Even what George had done to him had not left him with this level of fear or rage, and he found it unsettling to feel that way now, but his mind was crowding with images of his time since returning home from America, and al of them were of Christiana, laughing, smiling, looking thoughtful and then vexed.

When Richard had left her in the dressing room that morning, he’d never imagined the next time he’d see her would be in a situation like this, with her life at risk and he uncertain he could save her, but desperate to do so. And he was desperate. Short though their time together had been, he already could not imagine life without her in it and didn’t want to. Somehow she had managed to wiggle her way under his skin and into his heart and he wanted to keep her there.

Freddy had finished adjusting his hold, but stood a moment longer as if sensing danger before closing the French door partway. He left it a crack open, probably for a swift escape, Richard supposed, watching from his hiding place behind a suit of armor in the office corner furthest from the doors. Robert had suggested hiding behind the curtains, but Richard had pointed out that if Freddy came from the outside he would surely see them there and their advantage of surprise would be lost, so they’d al had to find alternate spots. Richard had chosen the suit of armor, Daniel had ducked behind a settee in another corner and Robert had taken the only place left – the knee cubby under the desk. He’d squeezed himself in there and then pul ed the desk chair in behind him to help disguise his presence.

Richard imagined Robert was probably in the most uncomfortable spot, but wished he’d taken it himself. It would have put him closer. His hand tightened around Lord Madison’s pistol as he waited for the man to put Christiana down to conduct his search. He would rather she was out of the way before he confronted the man.

However, it soon became obvious the valet wasn’t going to put her down. He was poking through the top side drawer of the desk, just inches from Robert, but with Christiana stil firmly over his back.

Richard ground his teeth together. He didn’t even want to aim the pistol at the man with Christiana acting as his shield and wished he’d thought to have one of them hide somewhere in the yard just in case something like this occurred. They could have crept up behind him then. He’d barely had the thought when Richard noticed the French door easing slowly open behind Freddy. He held his breath briefly, and then recognized Haversham slipping into the room, a large butcher knife in hand.

Alarm coursing through him, Richard tightened his hand on the pistol he held and moved out from behind the suit of armor. It immediately drew Freddy’s attention from the drawer he was rifling through and he froze. Leveling his weapon at the man, Richard started forward, saying, "I real y think it would be in your best interests to put my wife down."

Panic crossed briefly over Freddy’s face, but then was replaced by a calculating look. Straightening slowly from the desk he said, "You wouldn’t shoot me. You might hit her."

"I won’t let you leave here either unless it’s in chains," Richard said grimly, continuing slowly forward as Lord Madison now slid into the room behind Haversham. Suzette and Lisa were behind him, hesitating in the door as they took in the situation. Freddy took an unknowing step back toward Haversham and then glanced sharply toward Daniel as the other man rose from behind the settee and started forward as wel . Beginning to look a little less sure of himself, Freddy shifted the knife he held, pressing it to Christiana’s backside. "Stay back or I’l cut her."

"Ouch! That is my bottom," Christiana squawked.

Richard felt a moment’s relief at his first sign that she was alive and wel , but growled, "Put her down."

"Go to hel !" Freddy yel ed back in frustration and whirled to charge out of the room, only to come up short as he crashed into Haversham. No one moved for half a second and then Freddy began to fal back, taking Christiana with him. Richard saw Haversham and Lord Madison trying to grab for Christiana, even as he leapt the last few feet and caught at her himself as Freddy dropped. No one apparently thought to grab Freddy and save her from her fal that way, so it ended with al of them holding her up. Richard had her by the hips, Haversham had managed to grab one leg through her gown and Lord Madison had only managed to snatch a handful of skirt. Unfortunately, it left Christiana stil hanging head down, her behind in the air and her skirt raised. The men al exchanged a horrified glance and then Lord Madison quickly released his hold on her skirts, Haversham stepped back releasing his hold as wel , and Richard set Christiana down and stepped back to al ow her to straighten.

However, she stayed bent over and murmured, "Oh dear."

Richard glanced down, noting then that she was peering at Freddy, or real y at the large knife sticking out of his chest.

"He ran right into it, my lord," Haversham said calmly.

Richard nodded, but his thoughts were taken up with the fact that had Haversham been a little more to one side, the knife would now be sticking out of Christiana.

Christiana final y straightened and patted the butler on the arm. "Do not feel bad, Haversham. He wasn’t a very good man."

"Yes, my lady," the butler murmured, and then cleared his throat and glanced to Richard. "Shal I send for the authorities, my lord?"

"Ah . . ." Richard scowled at Freddy, not pleased at the prospect of having to admit to the authorities that the man had been blackmailing them. They would have to explain what he was blackmailing them about and al their attempts to keep George’s activities a secret would be for not.

"He was trying to take Lady Christiana and hold her to ransom," Haversham pointed out quietly. "The authorities should real y be informed of this and his death."

Richard relaxed and nodded. They would just stick to that and not mention the blackmail or anything else.

"Very good, my lord." The butler slid silently from the room and Richard turned to Christiana, only to find she had moved to speak to her father and sisters by the door. He started her way, eager to touch and hold her and reassure himself that she was wel . In truth, he wanted to strip her nak*d, examine every inch of her to be sure she bore no wounds and then make love to her, but knew he would just have to be content to wait for that.

"Hel o? Can someone get this chair out of the way? Hel o?"

Richard glanced down at Robert’s cal to see that Freddy had fal en behind the chair, blocking it so that Langley couldn’t push it out and unfold himself from the cubbyhole where he’d hidden.

"Problems, Langley?" Daniel asked with a laugh, coming around the desk to Richard’s side.

"Move the damned chair, Woodrow," Robert barked. " ‘Tis hot as hades down here and I think my leg is cramping."

Richard chuckled and together he and Daniel shifted Freddy’s body around to the side of the desk. By the time they straightened, Robert was crawling out from under the desk.

"That was a damned stupid place to hide," Langley muttered with self-disgust as he straightened. "Freddy was leaning against the chair while searching the desk and there wasn’t a damned thing I could have done to help anyone while stuck under there."

"It wasn’t like there were many hiding spots to choose from," Richard pointed out wryly as the man brushed himself down.