Page 28 of The Lady’s Sweet Revenge

Chapter Ten

“Mr. Albert, may I make known to you Lady Harlow Haverston,” Reese conducted the introductions while Harlow took her seat in the chair across from the stranger. She twisted her fingers, hoping it would stop her hands from shaking but guessed the twisting told the man she was nervous anyway.

“Lord Breckenridge wrote to us of a kidnapping and said you’d managed to escape Captain Merrick’s ship. I assure you we are doing everything in our power to see the man is brought to justice.”

“Justice?” she said aloud without meaning to. It had been a word she’d not given much thought to before her kidnapping. Now it occupied her thoughts a great deal.

“A long drop with a short rope, my lady.”

Harlow heard the breath suck through her lips and Reese scolded the man.

“My apologies. I’m not one to spend time with proper ladies. My speech is too bold.”

Of course, she knew criminals were hung as punishment for their crimes. It had been the main ingredient in most of her brothers’ gruesome ghost stories when they’d been children. Always ending with a man who was hung but walked among the living with the noose still tied around his neck, searching for his next victim.

“It is all right, Mr. Albert. It’s often one thing to know something, and quite another to speak of it. I assure you, I’m not too delicate for such topics.”

Reese pressed his lips together likely in an attempt to hide his smile. He must have known how she didn’t like for anyone to think her weak. Ignoring him, she focused on the man across from her who looked much too young to be an agent of the Crown.

His hair was a rather mousy shade of brown and his cheeks were bare of any hint of a beard, and full and round like a boy. In contrast, this time in the afternoon, Reese had a glistening of blond hair along his jaw. She wondered if it would be rough against her palm, and shook her head to dispel such improper thoughts. Now was no time to think of such things.

Mr. Albert’s blue eyes held a bit of mischief, adding to his boyish looks, and they were focused intently on her now.

“Yes, my lady. Of course.” He seemed as worried as she was, though she supposed his worry was over making another misstep that would have Reese kicking him from his home. “Would you tell me what happened when you were taken?”

Harlow gave a quick nod and then looked at Reese as she collected her thoughts. He gave her an encouraging smile and then a wink. Strange how such a gesture could fortify her. While also making her knees tremble. It was good she was sitting.

“It was early morning. My uncle and I were riding together in Hyde Park. I don’t often stay to the regular paths. I prefer to be alone, or as alone as one can be in London. There’s a path I usually take that’s in a more secluded section of the park and that’s where I was heading. But before I got to the trail, a number of men stepped out of the brush. So many.”

“Do you know how many?”

As Harlow recalled, it had felt like a dozen or more but she focused on the details of each one and was sure it was not as many as it first seemed.

“Nine.” She considered again and then nodded. She was sure that was correct. “Two of the men grabbed onto Brook’s harness to stop him. The man that pulled me down from my horse was tall, taller than Lord Breckenridge. His head was shaved except for a single lock that came out of the top of his head. He had markings on his face. A series of dots across his nose and cheeks. And some lines on his forehead.” That man was the one whom she most remembered. Mostly because he haunted her dreams some nights. “Another wiry man stuffed a cloth in my mouth which cut off my screams.”

“Where was your uncle?” Albert asked.

“I’m not sure. I was hit in the head with something hard and lost consciousness.” That was a lie.

Harlow remembered hearing Uncle Edgar begging. “Please, please don’t hurt—” Later she realized it was likely an act. He was already aware of her fate and wouldn’t fear the men he worked with.

“Hmm…” Albert said with a worried look. “It’s almost as if they knew where you would be that morning and were waiting for you. It wasn’t a random kidnapping. I’d thought they were looking for someone of wealth, but it seems they wanted you specifically.”

“Her father is among the richest of the ton,” Reese said.

She knew it was common knowledge that the Ardmere dukedom was one of wealth. But she hadn’t realized how familiar Reese was with this information. She thought of all the men at the balls who’d sought her out for no other reason but the size of her dowry. They didn’t care for her, they didn’t care about her at all.

“Yes,” Mr. Albert continued. “They may have been watching you for some time, waiting for the moment to strike.”

“Was a request for ransom received?” she asked.

The man shrugged. “I left London straightaway. Other agents will handle the matter of the ransom letter when it arrives. Since we know you’re safe, there’ll be no reason to pay it.”

Harlow nodded, knowing they had told her father to withhold payment in the letter she’d sent to her brother.

“When did you wake up?” the man asked.

“Shortly before dawn the next morning.” From there she told Mr. Albert every detail of what had happened in her escape. Well except for the part where she lost her accounts all over Reese’s boots. She didn’t think that was a relevant detail anyway.