Taken by the Wicked Rake

‘Exactly as you knew I would,’ Stephano reminded him calmly. ‘We agreed on the method and location, before I took any action.’

Keddinton’s breathing was shallow, as though now that the deed was done, he was a scant inch from panic. ‘She was supposed to be in my care. And if the Carlows realize that it was I who recommended Lord Salterton to my wife …’

‘You will tell them you had no idea that the man was a problem, and that you are not even sure he was the one who took her. Her absence was not discovered until late in the evening, was it? And others had departed by that time, as well. I took care that no one saw me leaving. The corridor and the grounds were empty, as you’d promised they would be.’

‘But still …’ Keddinton seemed to be searching for a problem where none existed.

‘Thinking of your own skin, are you?’ Stephen wondered who the bigger villain might be, George Carlow, or Veryan for his easy betrayal of his old friend.

And worse, that it would happen at the expense of an innocent girl. It had been difficult for Stephano to reconcile himself to his own part in the crime. He had not stuck at kidnapping women before. But it had never ended well for him. He was almost guaranteed a headache so strong that he would be too sick to move for several days. His late mother might still want her vengeance, but it was as though she punished him for the dishonourable acts she pushed him to commit.

But though his head might feel better today, it turned his stomach at how easy it had been to persuade Verity Carlow’s godfather to help in her abduction.

Keddinton opened the package in front of him, and went even paler when he recognized the contents. It was a chemise, embroidered at the throat with the initials V C, and tied tightly about the waist with red silk rope. He looked up at Stephen with alarm. ‘My God, Hebden. You didn’t …’

‘Touch the girl?’ Stephano laughed in response. ‘Certainly not. She is worth more to me as a virgin hostage, than she is as some temporary plaything.’ But the image of the girl sprang to his mind, sprawled upon his bed with her skirts ripped near to the waist to give a tantalizing glimpse of her silk-covered legs. ‘Since you are so quick to search the package I intended for another, then you had best read the attached note.’ He quoted from memory. ‘Your daughter is safe, for now. If you wish her to return the same, then admit in public what you have done.’

‘But is this—’ he poked at the chemise and shuddered in distaste ‘—is this necessary? Surely you did not need to be quite so theatrical.’

‘Theatrical?’ He laughed again. ‘I have made both the Carlows and the Wardales shake in their beds for months, each one worrying that they would get a bit of rope in the mail. All because of a curse that would have no hold over them, if they did not secretly believe that they were deserving of punishment. And now, because I have sent you a lady’s undergarment, you think that I am developing a taste for the theatrical?’ He could still feel the softness of the garment, as he’d tied it up, and the softness of the girl that had worn it. He felt the pounding in his head begin again, as he thought of the girl, naked in the wagon, waiting for his return. If he truly wanted revenge, it would be so very easy. And so very pleasurable. He laughed louder. But the sound did nothing to stop the lurid thoughts in his head or the agony they brought with them.

Then, as if one pain would stop another, he grabbed the letter opener from Keddinton’s desk, and dragged the blade of it along his palm until a line of red appeared there. He held his hand out over the shift, watching the drops of crimson fall onto the muslin. He made a fist, and squeezed it shut, until his mind cared about nothing but its own pain and the sharp sting of the open cut.

Then he looked up at Robert Veryan, as the blood continued to drip from his hand. ‘This, you snivelling coward, is what a taste for the dramatic looks like. Tell your friend, the murderer Carlow, that for now it is my own blood that was spilled. But if he does not accede to my demands, then the next package will be soaked in his daughter’s blood. Can you manage that, without running away again?’ He leaned over the desk and watched the older man shrink away from him. It was as easy as it had ever been to intimidate him into obedience.

Keddinton gave a shaky nod. ‘If they agree to your demands, how shall I reach you?’

Stephano reached into his pocket for a handkerchief to bandage his still-bleeding hand. ‘You do not reach me, Veryan. I am unreachable. Invisible. Unfindable. As is the girl, until this is over.’

In fact, she was hidden on Veryan’s own property, less than six miles from his house. If the man had been the expert spy catcher everyone thought him, such a simple deception should have been impossible. But the profound ignorance he displayed over small things was more than a match for the intelligence he displayed in others. ‘I will return to you in a week’s time, and expect to hear George Carlow’s answer. Should you, through disobedience or incompetence, give me reason to come back here before then, it will go hard for you. Do not run, for I will have no trouble finding you, no matter where you might hide. And I will punish you. Is that understood?’

He gave Veryan a moment to remember their first meeting. He had recognized the man as a weak link in the chain that would lead him to his father’s killer. He had broken into Veryan’s private rooms, in the night. And then he had shaken the man once, as a terrier might shake a rat, and left him weeping on the floor. It had not taken a single blow to convince him to turn traitor to his friends and serve as Stephano’s right hand in vengeance.

It was just one more proof of the falseness of the honour that supposed English gentlemen held so high.

‘As long as there is nothing to lead them back to me in this,’ Veryan muttered.

‘Is that all that concerns you?’ Stephano sneered. ‘This will be over soon, Veryan, and you will be safe. Now that I have the girl, it will not take long for Carlow to reveal his part in the murder.’ Because he could not imagine the man would be so casual with the safety of his youngest daughter. ‘But it does my heart good to see your very belated care for Verity Carlow’s safety.’

‘When you asked me to help you, you promised you would not hurt her,’ Veryan said the words with a whine, as though they were a defence of his betrayal.

So Stephano leered at him and said, ‘Perhaps I regret my promise. She is a most lovely girl, and as a Gypsy, I have no honour, and am used to taking whatever I desire.’ The headache grew. And for a moment, his sight dimmed as though the pain behind his eyes was an impenetrable fog.

When his vision cleared, Veryan was gaping like a fish, eyes goggling with shock as though he were sharing an office with a fiend from hell.

Stephano sighed and took a moment to compose his features, hiding his weakness from the spymaster. Then he said, ‘If they do not tell the world of her disappearance, then no one shall know of it. Once they give me what I want, I will bring her back as quickly and secretly as I took her. She will be back in her home before anyone knows that she is missing, reputation intact and none the worse for the experience.’ And with that vaguely honourable promise, the agony diminished.

Veryan grinned at him, the sweat beading on his forehead. ‘That is good. And they will never know it was me.’

Again, back to the man’s only true fear. ‘I will certainly not tell them, Veryan. And once Carlow’s involvement in my father’s death is uncovered, no one will care how it came about.’

‘And we will be heroes,’ Keddinton said.

‘Because justice will have been done.’ Stephano repeated it as he had, several times before, to buck up the spirits of the oily little man. It was the carrot to match the stick. Keddinton had gotten it into his head that catching a traitor and murderer, after all this time, would be the thing to propel him to greater heights in government and another title. Perhaps it would. Stephano had little interest in the details. But if they helped to keep the man in line, he could think what he liked.

Now that the headache was receding, he could feel the pain in his hand again. As he flexed his fingers, he was annoyed to see blood seeping through the makeshift bandage. He glared at Keddinton. ‘Deliver the package and my message. Tell Stanegate I accosted you in the street and was gone before you could follow. He will take this to his father. I will return in a week.’ And he turned and left the proud Viscount Keddinton shaking behind his desk.

When she could no longer hear the Gypsy taunting her from outside the vardo wagon, Verity shouted a brief tirade of curses and pleas into the silence on the other side of the door. Then she fell silent herself, as she suspected that further shouting served no purpose. No one had come to help her when Stephen Hebden had brought her into the camp. If anyone wished to help her now, there could be no doubt of her location, nor the fact that she was held against her will. And since she had seen none of the other Gypsies, she did not even know if she wanted their help. Perhaps the tribe was full of men even more brutal than her captor. If that was the case, she would gain nothing by calling attention to herself. She had no proof that the person that might come to her aid was any better than the one who had taken her.

She glanced around the little room that would be her prison for the day. There was a basin with fresh water, and a small mirror on the wall. She went to it, and looked at her reflection. It was as he had said. Her face was streaked with dirt, and mud was caked under her nails. Even her feet were dirty, for the muddy water of the roadway had soaked through her stockings. Carefully, she began to wash herself. Then she took down her hair, combing the leaves out of it with her fingers, then reaching hesitantly for the set of silver brushes that sat on the small shelf below the mirror. They were beautiful things, as was the silver handle of his razor, ornamented with a pattern of leaves and vines. The metal was smooth from use, but well cared for.

And the blade of the razor was sharp. He’d left her alone with access to a weapon. What did it say about the man, that he would do such a thing? He had not seemed foolish. But if he made such a blunder, then he was underestimating her. She glanced wildly around the room, looking for a place to conceal it. If she hid the thing, it should be where she could get to it, should she need to use it. He had seen to it that there was no way for her to secrete it on her person. Her only option might be to lie in wait for him, and strike quickly when he opened the door. But for now, she returned the razor to where she’d found it.

She looked in the mirror again. At least now, she felt clean, although still just as vulnerable as she had. But it was good that she was alone, she reminded herself. The last thing she needed, in her current state, was company. She glanced around the room. In another life, she’d have found it cheerful. The wood of the bed frame and the little table and chair were carved and painted with bright designs of flowers and birds. She wondered if her captor had done the work himself, or it had been decorated by another. The chest in the corner had the name ‘Magda’ carved carefully into the top. Was the woman a wife or a lover? It was impossible to tell.

She hesitated only a moment, before opening it. It was not locked. But if he’d wanted privacy, then he’d have been better to leave her where she was, and not to lock her up here. The trunk was full of neatly folded men’s clothes, just as she had expected. Here was the suit that she had admired on him in the civilized setting of the Keddinton ballroom. Her hand was resting on the fine linen of his shirt, and she imagined slipping it over herself.

Would it be more decent or less, she wondered, for a woman to cover her nakedness with men’s clothing? To go without stays and feel the cloth of the shirt rubbing against one’s breasts, the unfamiliar sensations of trousers, covering while they revealed. And to have the whole of the ensemble bearing the faint smell of the man she had danced with. Wood smoke and brandy with an underlay of exotic spice. It would be as intimate as a touch.

The thought made her dizzy. She hoped it was the strangeness of her surroundings and her helplessness in them that was making her feel so odd. But in some part, it was because of the way she’d felt about the false Lord Salterton, right up to the moment when he had ruined it all by taking her. Although she should be terrified of him, she was more angry than frightened. For to suddenly have the fluttery feelings towards a man that she had been waiting and hoping to have, only to have them for someone so villainous, so cruel, and so clearly unworthy. She was disappointed in herself, and in him, for not being the man she wished him to be.

She pressed her hands to her temples. She must be losing her mind. She thrust the clothing back into the chest. She did not want to get any closer to her kidnapper than was necessary. There had to be a better way to solve her predicament than to put on his shirt, even if it was the most sensible course of action.

The door behind her opened.

She slammed the chest shut and jumped away from it, grabbing a blanket from the bed to hide her body and the razor from the shelf, ready to strike at the first hand that touched her.

When she turned to confront the person who had entered, she was surprised to see an old woman holding a cloth bundle in her arms. Her visitor was eyeing her with disdain, although she gave a faint nod of approval at the sight of the bare blade in her hand.

The whole tribe was as mad as Stephano, if threatening a stranger with a makeshift weapon was seen as an acceptable greeting. God only knew what he had said to the people in his camp. Despite all her screaming, Verity could guess how it must look to the old woman, if she was hiding in the man’s wagon, without a stitch on. She put on her most innocent expression, set the razor aside, and held out a hand in supplication. ‘I am held against my will,’ she whispered. ‘Can you help me?’ The blanket slipped alarmingly, and she pulled her hand back to catch it.

The bundle that the old Gypsy had brought turned out to be an armload of women’s clothing, which she tossed down on the bed at Verity’s side. Then she spoke to her in a torrent of alien language, to which Verity could only shake her head in confusion. Whatever the crone had said, it sounded more disgusted than sympathetic. She finished with a nod that seemed to indicate this was all the help Verity was likely to receive, and perhaps more than she deserved. Then, she held out a hand.

Did the woman expect payment for the clothing? Because she must know it was quite impossible. Verity shook her head again, and said slowly, ‘I have nothing to give you. He took it all.’

The woman gave her another frustrated look that said she must be an idiot, and then responded in equally slow English. ‘Give me your palm.’

Timidly, Verity held out a hand.

The old Gypsy turned it palm up, then shifted it back and forth in the light, muttering and responding with a curse before pushing Verity’s hand away. Then, she left the wagon as suddenly as she had come, slamming the door behind her.

Verity stared at the pile of clothing on the bed, then picked up a dress and examined it. It was clearly used, but in good condition, and a bright green that would complement her eyes. Perhaps she was as foolish as the woman thought, if she was concerned with her appearance at a time like this. The accompanying petticoats were heavy, and the stays were light to allow easy movement. The stockings were thick, but well cared for, and the shoes sensible.

It was a suitable garment for life in a Gypsy camp, allowing for comfort, freedom and protection from the elements. Attractive, yet sensible. If she ever meant to escape and return to her old life, she would need such garments to travel in, and it would do her no good to baulk at wearing someone else’s hand-me-downs. She dressed hurriedly. And then she tried the door.

She had imagined she would find it locked, but it opened easily under her hand. Had her kidnapper left it unlocked, sure that her nakedness would hold her inside? Or had the old woman left it so when she had departed? And had she done it on purpose, or by accident? What might happen to her, should Verity decide to exit?

She took a deep breath, and turned the handle. It was like looking out into another world. The camp had been dark and quiet when she entered, and she had taken little note of it, other than to know that she did not wish to be there. But in daylight, it was very different indeed. All around were beech trees, and light filtered through the green and yellow leaves, making the sunlight seem soft and golden, and the sound of birds and the rustle of the wind in the trees made a constant background to the activity around her.