“Then I’ll run away.”
“There is nowhere you can hide that I won’t find you.” He chuckled. “After all, it only took me a few days to find you after I discovered you were missing. I was most fortunate that your antics made it into the Society page.”
Ellie fingered the fringe on the top of her reticule. “What if I just gave you the twenty thousand pounds?” she asked hopefully.
“That wouldn’t be sufficient,” he said. “I want your mother’s jointure, as well.”
“But it isn’t yours to have.”
“If you come and reside with me, I have no doubt that your mother will follow suit.”
“Where is my mother?” Ellie demanded.
“Last time I checked, she was at your cottage, blissfully unaware that her life is in peril,” Lord Worthington replied.
“You are a horrible man.”
With an unconcerned shrug, Lord Worthington said, “Your opinion means little to me.”
“Why is that?”
“You are just a lowly young woman who has managed to waste my time, over and over again,” he replied. “I tried to be patient with you—”
Ellie spoke over him. “Youtried to be patient withme?”
“Yes. I knew you were grieving your father, so I tried to be patient by letting you come to the decision on your own that we were meant for one another.”
“We aren’t meant for one another,” she argued. “You are only marrying me for my dowry.”
Lord Worthington reached forward and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him. “You are precisely right,” he stated, “which is why you should not be antagonizing me right now.”
He dropped his hand and continued. “You will learn your place, or I will dispose of you at my earliest convenience.”
“You intend to kill me?” she asked fearfully.
“Only once your usefulness ends,” he responded.
Ellie remained silent as she tried to formulate a plan. How was she to get out of this mess? She knew that Lord Bideford would come for her, but would he arrive in time? She did have a muff pistol, thanks to Emma’s foresight, but she only had one shot. One thing was certain, she needed to make sure that shot counted.
“You are quiet, I see,” Lord Worthington said. “That is an admirable quality for a wife to have.”
Ellie narrowed her eyes at his ridiculous remark. “I’m not going to just sit back and marry you.”
“We shall see,” Lord Worthington remarked as he leaned his head back against the bench. “You may as well rest your eyes. We have a long journey before we arrive at Gretna Green.”
Glancing down at the door handle, Ellie thought about opening the door and jumping out.
Lord Worthington’s amused voice reached her ears. “If you tried to jump out of a moving coach, you would most likely die in the street, being trampled by a team of horses or the wheels of a coach,” he said. “But I won’t stop you, especially since your dowry would resort back to my pockets.”
Ellie crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the man. She was tempted to retrieve Emma’s muff pistol, but even if she managed to incapacitate Lord Worthington, she’d still have his men to deal with. She hoped she had a chance to shoot him, but she needed to bide her time and wait for the right opportunity.
19
Roswell reinedin his horse and handed it off to a groom waiting outside of his townhouse. He waited until Lady Worthington exited the coach before he came to stand next to her.
“I have no doubt that you are eager to see your daughter,” he said.
She smiled over at him. “I am.”
