“Stop!” Dubois shouted behind her. “Stop right now!”
But she didn’t stop. She kept running, trying to find a place where she could drop her glove that someone might find it.
Then a shot rang out. It was so loud she felt it reverberate through her body. At the same time, mud sprayed her. She stopped running at once, almost falling forward. The bullet must have hit the ground near her, spraying her with mud. She didn’t dare move, in case Dubois was going to fire again.
“I said stop !” He roared, and moments later he had come up behind her. He pushed the gun back into her head, and she fell forward, dropping down onto her knees. “Don’t do that again,” he said, and Leah nodded.
“I w-won’t,” she stammered. At the same time, she dropped her glove onto the ground, pushing it into the mud so that its whiteness wouldn’t be obvious against the ground.
“Get up,” he spat, and she forced her to stand and stagger forward, back toward the direction of the carriage. As she walked, she pulled the other glove from her hand and balled it up into her fist, so that he wouldn’t notice her wearing only one.
“Just keep walking,” he snapped. “And no more funny business.”
They reached the carriage, where she saw a driver sitting in the front, a bored expression on his face.
“Help me!” She cried at once, staring at him, willing him to look at her. But the man didn’t so much as blink or turn in her direction.
“Don’t bother,” Dubois said. “He is a trusted servant, and I pay him well to keep his eyes and mouth shut. Your pleas will not move him.”
Leah was disgusted. None of her own servants would ever have let her, or Lucien, or anyone treat someone else like this, no matter how much they were paid.
“Get in,” Dubois said, gesturing at the carriage, and she had no choice but to open the door and climb up into it. Inside was a long, coiled length of rope. She froze when she saw it, but Dubois pushed the gun deeper into her neck.
“Sit down on the bench,” he commanded. She did as she was told, and then he followed her into the carriage. At last, he lowered the gun, snatching the rope with his free hand. With thegun still trained on her, he began to coil the rope one-handed around her arms.
Leah began to panic as the rope tightened. The prickly coils against her skin sent her into a frenzy of fear. All she could think of, as the scratchy hemp cut into her arms, was escape.
“Let me go!” She screamed, beginning to struggle against the rope. “Let me go at once!”
“The more you struggle the worse it will get for you!” Dubois snarled back, as he tied the cord tighter around her arms. Leah barely even felt the pain. It was the idea of being restrained that terrified her.
He moved the rope down to her wrists, and she tried to wrench her hands free of his grasp.
“Stop that at once!” he shouted. “You stupid bitch, you are going to ruin everything!”
“How dare you speak to me like that!” She cried. “I am a lady , and you ought to show me respect!”
“You are my bride, and therefore my property,” Dubois scoffed. “Which means I can treat you however I see fit!”
“I am not your bride!” Leah shouted, and she tried to kick him with her free leg. Her foot connected with his shin, and he let out a howl of pain.
“Don’t do that!” he shouted, and to her shock, he slapped her across the face. It stung--and worse than that, it made tears spring to her eyes.No,she thought furious,I will not cry in front of this man. I will not give him that satisfaction.
“Hopefully that will teach you to keep your mouth shut and your kicks to yourself,” he said, a little smugly, which only made her all the more angry.
“I will not keep my mouth shut,” she said. “And I cannot be your bride! I am already married! To the Duke of Nottington! There is no vicar in all of England that will marry me to you--not when I am already married to another.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Dubois muttered, and this, rather than all his other words, had the desired effect: Leah stopped struggling. Instead, she turned her head and stared up at him, horror etched across her face.
“What are you talking about?” she whispered.
“You are right,” he said, and a small smile had begun to crease his lips. “There is no vicar in England that will marry you to me, but we are not going to England, my dear. We are going to Scotland. By then, your annulment will have gone through, and then you will be free to marry me. Well, not free to;obligedto, by the contract that your father signed.”
Leah couldn’t believe the words she was hearing. They were worse than the slap across the face. Anannulment?!It wasn’t possible. Dorian would never, ever annul their marriage. He hadonly done married her in order to keep her safe, there would be no point in annulling it and letting her be free if it put her in danger.
Then again, she couldn’t be sure. After their last argument, there was a chance that he had decided she was better off without him. She had said as much, hadn’t she?
Perhaps he had been trying to listen to her, to do as she wished, to honor her, by annulling their marriage. And yet, Dorian had paved the way for her to be kidnapped by Lord Dubois.
