Page 57 of A Stormy Season

His blood went cold in his veins. Instantly there came a piercing scream. It sounded like Sally, coming from Jeffrey’s nursery.

Blood surging through his limbs, Luke turned and bolted toward the stairs.

~ ~ ~

Jane wasn’t sure she was equal to the task of bidding farewell to their guests, not after the last tiff with Luke. She already regretted what she’d said—except when she wished she’d said even more. Her emotions swung one way one moment and the opposite way the next.

As the guests began to leave, she quietly slipped away and started up the stairs, which were empty, as the servants were still busy downstairs and the guests were making their way to the front door.

The stairs were dimly lit and Jane was breathing deeply, enjoying a bit of solitude after so many conversations with so many people. Suddenly she heard a hoarse whisper above her.

Glancing up, she saw a man hurrying along the landing toward the nursery, while a second man entered her bedroom.

Jane ran up the last few stairs, yelling at the man as he reached the nursery door. “What are you doing there?”

The man glared at her, then opened the door.

Jane lunged at him. Inside the nursery, Sally screamed. Jeffrey started crying.

Jane caught hold of the man’s collar and yanked, which jerked his head back. He made a gagging sound and clutched at his collar. He quickly pivoted and broke her grip with a sweep of his arm.

With his meaty hand, he grabbed her by the throat, cutting off her air with a bruising hold on her neck.

Jane was dimly aware of feet pounding up the steps behind her. She wanted to shout but it was impossible, with no breath able to pass through her throat. Black spots were already entering her vision, and her face and limbs were tingling and going numb.

But just as the blackness was closing in, he loosened his grip enough that she was able to breathe again. Somehow she was able to keep her feet under her as the man let go and turned her around, now wrapping his arm around her neck.

Chapter Eighteen

“Unhand her!” Luke’s heart pounded at seeing the large and menacing man holding Jane by the throat. He ran toward them.

The man spun Jane around and wrapped his arm around her neck, so that she was facing Luke.

“Stop or I’ll break her neck!” he said.

Luke froze, as did the handful of other gentlemen just behind him.

“Let her go and leave.” Luke clenched his jaw, his gaze moving back and forth between Jane’s face and her captor’s.

“So if I let her go, I can leave?” The man’s tone matched his sneer.

Luke was trying to decide what to do to keep both Jane and Jeffrey safe. If the fiend let Jane go, no doubt he would go into the nursery and use Jeffrey to get away. He had to act wisely. After all, this man would not hesitate to murder Jane and even Jeffrey if it served his purposes.

Suddenly, Jane shifted her body to one side and used her fist to punch the man in the groin.He grunted and loosened his hold around her neck, enabling her to spin around and use her knee to really hurt him.

The man let go of her as he hunched over, making gasping noises.

Jane stepped away as Luke rushed forward and knocked the man to the floor on his face. The other men surrounded him as a middle-aged gentleman sat on his back, another gentleman pinning his hands behind him.

A footman arrived at the top of the stairs. “Fetch some rope,” Luke said. He almost sent another servant to fetch the constable. But perhaps he could get more information without the constable or Justice of the Peace.

The other gentlemen and one footman were searching the intruder’s pockets and person for weapons, which produced two knives in quick succession. They seemed to have matters under control.

Jane was standing against the wall, hugging herself and staring at the man who had just attacked her. Luke leaned toward her, his eyes roving over her face and resting on her neck, where purple bruises were already appearing.

“Are you all right? I’m so sorry.”

His chest clenched painfully. How could he have let this happen? Once again, Jane had come in harm’s way because of him.