He was nursing a glass of brandy, poured from the decanter sitting on the side table, as he paced in front of the fire.No doubt, as he appeared to be shaking, he was trying to warm himself to stop his hands from trembling.
He ceased his pacing the moment the earl and countess, the marquis and marchioness, along with Amanda and Julia, entered the library.“Oh, thank God,” he spoke agitatedly.“Please, you must send men immediately to release and rescue the Earl of Wolfingham!”
“First, we must know if you are injured from the accident, Mr.Masterson,” the marchioness said.
He shook his head.“I managed to jump from the carriage before it started to roll down the hillside.”
Which accounted for the muddied state of his clothes.
“Rescue the earl from where or what?”Julia was still totally frustrated with the little sense any of them had been able to make of what Hutchings had told them of this situation so far.
“And why on earth would he need to be released first?”Amanda then pressed.
“Darlings, could you please both be silent while your fathers question Mr.Masterson?”The Countess bestowed a warm and encouraging smile upon the agitated lawyer.“I do not believe our guest is in any condition at the moment to tolerate being questioned by numerous different people.”
Amanda looked down at her feet.“Sorry, Aunt.”
“Sorry, Mama.”Julia knew that what really mattered right now was to ascertain Wolfingham’s whereabouts so that he might be “released and rescued.”
Although she still had absolutely no idea what could be meant by that.
Or why she cared so much.
Did she care?
Strangely, yes, she did.
Perhaps, despite her heated words to him before, because Nicholas Harding was Freddie’s brother and Freddie had worshipped him?
No.
Julia had never believed in lying to oneself.It seemed to her to be the height of self-delusion.
Which was why she could now acknowledge that perhaps Freddie’s feelings for his brother were a part of the reason for her concern for Wolfingham, but that the other part felt far more personal.
* * *
If Nicholas hadn’t managed to partly kick out a wooden panel at one end of the dark and airless box he was locked in, then he believed he might have suffocated long before the carriage reached its final destination.
As it was, he had managed to slightly loosen some nails in the panel closest to his booted feet.That allowed him to ease the wood slightly to one side by that same booted foot.
He was immediately able to breathe in huge gulps of fresh air.
He could not dislodge the piece of wood completely, despite further exertions, but the movement had also loosened the binding about his ankles, allowing him to pull at them until he could push it away completely.
It would have been far better to release the bindings about his hands so that he could also remove the gag, but he would work with what he had.
The release of the binding about his ankles allowed him to wriggle in the confined space until he was able to bend his leg up so that his foot reached to where his hands were tied.
On the third attempt, he finally managed to remove the knife from its hiding place in a sheath attached to the side of his ankle before turning that blade and trying to cut at the rope about his wrists.
He lost the sawing movement necessary several times, allowing the knife to slip and slice into the flesh of his arm.The flow of blood from the cut added to the slickness of the knife handle, making it even more difficult to find purchase.
At the very moment he felt some give in the tautness of the bindings, allowing him to pull his wrists apart, he heard a shout from above him, no doubt from the groom standing on the box.Then another shout, possibly from the driver at the front with the horses, before the carriage began to lurch to one side.
Nicholas pulled his hands free as the carriage gave a deeper lurch before tipping completely to one side, followed by the vehicle sliding and then rolling down what Nicholas could only think must be an embankment of some kind.
Over and over it rolled, throwing Nicholas about in the confines of his small prison despite now having the use of his hands.He hit his head time after time as the vehicle rolled.Indeed, every part of him felt battered and bruised by the time the vehicle finally came to a shuddering halt.
