Page 28 of A Stormy Season

Jane stopped and asked, “Where are you going?”

“I will show Henry where we were being held. We might be able to capture Lenoir and his men if we hurry.”

Henry was already grabbing his hat from the coat rack by the door.

“I’m coming with you.” Jane started toward the same coat rack.

“Absolutely not,” Henry said, and with a bit of force.

“You mustn’t go,” Mrs. Gilchrist said, almost as forcefully.

Jane looked as though she would argue with her brother, but when her sister-in-law spoke, Jane’s determined expression softened. Finally Jane folded her arms over her chest. “Very well. But I want to know everything that happens.”

Luke and Henry ran to the back to fetch their horses.

They rode as fast as they could, with Luke in the lead. He remembered exactly which building they had escaped from—a house in Cheapside, not far from the docks. But Lenoir, unfortunately, was not there. Even the guard, whom Luke feared was dead from the head bashing he had inflicted on him, was gone. And though a cursory effort had been made to clean up the blood on the floor, dark red smears could still be seen.

“I shall have this house investigated,” Henry said, “searched from top to bottom, and we shall discover who is the owner. I will also post a guard to see if anyone returns to it looking for Lenoir. We shall get him.”

They rode back to the Gilchrist townhouse and fatigue set in with a vengeance. Luke’s headache returned in full force, his eyelids felt like sand when he blinked, and his whole body ached from lack of sleep.

“Farewell, Mr. Watley. I hope you can get some sleep.” Jane went inside the house where her sister-in-law was waiting for her in the doorway.

Still holding his horse’s reins, Luke said, “I’m glad we escaped in time, before you released those men.”

“I’m afraid the two men have already been released,” Henry said.

Luke clenched his fist. If only they’d escaped sooner.

“It is of little consequence, however,” Henry said. “Their only importance to us—or to Lenoir—was if they had talked, and since they hadn’t yet, it was unlikely that they would. But you did save me ten thousand pounds—Jane’s ransom.” He raised his brows as if to lift his spirits with that news. “But of course, the most important thing, by far, is that you and my sister are safe. Come and get a drink and some food.”

He led Luke into the dining room where he had the servants bring him a repast. Meanwhile, he scribbled a message and sent it with a servant, no doubt to inform the proper authorities and send men to look for Lenoir and his men.

Luke was just starting to eat and drink when Jane, wearing a clean dress, entered the room with her sister-in-law.

“Do not stop on my account,” Jane said, when he stood as she sat across from him at the table. “I do not intend to obey all the rules of polite society with this meal.”

The servants brought her a plate and more food, and she began to eat and drink with him, sighing with every bite and drinking as if she were famished. Meanwhile, Henry and Mrs. Gilchrist began telling them how they had experienced the kidnapping.

“My guards had been knocked in the head and dragged out of sight just before the two of you left the assembly rooms to get in the carriage,” Henry said. “Apparently the assembly room servants had been bribed to say they saw nothing out of the ordinary. But when your manservant began asking where you were and said you and Jane had not come out when he arrived with the carriage, we began searching for you. A man who was in the building across the street told us he saw a man and woman get attacked and thrown into a carriage by some other men.”

“We were so worried and afraid for you,” Penelope Gilchrist said.

“We received the ransom letter from Lenoir a few hours ago.”

Luke ate a little, but drank more than he ate—tea and a large tankard of ale.

“I know you are anxious to go home, but will you tell us what happened and what you saw before you go?” Henry asked.

“Mr. Watley was very brave and very calm, and we were a great team.” Jane smiled straight at him.

Luke’s heart lurched in his chest at the look on Jane’s face. He smiled in spite of himself, suddenly wondering how interesting life might be if he could spend all his time with Jane Gilchrist.

He cleared his throat to give himself a moment to clear his thoughts.

Then he told of waking up with his head in Jane’s lap. Jane filled in the gaps in his story, oftentimes speaking around a mouth full of food.

“Miss Gilchrist was very brave,” Luke said more than once in the course of his narrative. “She attacked Lenoir without any hesitation and even though he pulled her down with him, she bested him with only a key for a weapon and left him writhing on the floor.”