Page 47 of Only Pleasure Will Do

Chapter 20

The race to Mayfair was one of the most truly frightening experiences Reginald had ever had. The breakneck speed Dalbury set would’ve been nothing in an open field or country lane. In the cobbled streets of London, however, teeming with people, animals, and all manner of conveyances, it could’ve been considered suicidal. They sped down Cranbourne Street, narrowly missing a wagon loaded with vegetables. Leister Square passed by in a blur, and they seemed to be all but flying until they had to slow considerably to turn onto Berkeley Street. Still, this was the last stretch, and Dalbury urged his horse to speeds unheard of in the city. Reginald couldn’t fault Dalbury’s brutal pace, though, unless they fetched up in a heap at some crossroads.

At last the trees in Berkeley Square loomed large and green on their left and Dalbury rode right up to No. 21, leaped from his horse, and ran up the steep marble steps. Reginald followed right behind him, stopping only long enough to secure the horses by looping the reins through the bars of the wrought-iron fence. By the time he’d reached the door, Dalbury’s pounding had brought the butler.

“Lord Dalbury!” Obviously taken aback, the servant stared at the marquess, his eyes wide.

“Yes, Sykes, it is I. Not back from the grave, but here in the flesh. Where’s Lord Edgemont?”

“Gone, my lord. Left early this morning.”

“Damnation.” Dalbury turned to Reginald, his mouth tight. “They must’ve gone straight from the House of Pleasure.” He glanced back at the butler. “Where, Sykes? Where have they gone?”

“Mr. Redmond is sailing on the afternoon tide. Lord Edgemont is on his way to the house in Morden, my lord. Some urgent business, I gathered, having to do with a recalcitrant servant.” Sykes looked at Dalbury expectantly. “So you were not caught up in the explosion as the newssheets say, my lord?”

“As you see me standing before you, Sykes, I believe the answer is apparent.” Dalbury narrowed his eyes. “Where is Mr. Redmond sailing to?”

“The colonies, my lord. Virginia, I believe.”

Growling, Dalbury turned away, hurrying back down the stairs. “If Lord Edgemont returns before this evening, tell him you saw me alive, Sykes,” he called over his shoulder.

“Where is Morden, Dalbury? How long to get there?” Reginald climbed back into the saddle and gathered the reins.

“Depending on the traffic getting out of the city, I’d say an hour or two.” The marquess tapped the stallion and they started down the street. “Our only hope is that the carriage has been mired in traffic as well. With any luck, we may overtake them on the road. Wait, we need to head into the park.” He reversed course and guided the horses onto the bridle path that encircled Berkeley Park. “Tris is here, waiting for Redmond to meet Madam Vestry. That’s not going to happen, but he doesn’t know that. We can send him down to the docks to find Redmond and keep him from sailing away scot-free.”

They trotted up and down the grassy expanse, Dalbury calling out to his friends. They pulled their horses up and stared around the deserted park.

“Where is he?” Frustrated, Reginald twisted his head to and fro, but no one appeared.

Peering up at the sky, Dalbury shrugged. “It’s after noon. We believed Redmond would meet Amorina here at midday. When neither of them showed, he must have left. I suspect he’s returned to Jack’s house to report that Redmond failed to appear.”

“Damnit, we cannot let the blackguard get away.” If Reginald saw the man this moment, he’d be hard pressed not to strangle him with his bare hands.

“If we hope to save Amorina, we must leave now. There’s no time to spare. Come, let us walk the horses to the edge of the park. They’ll have precious little rest until we reach the estate.”

“But Redmond—”

“Do you wish to save the lady or punish the villain?” Dalbury’s cheek twitched, something it did only when he was under severe strain. They moved off at a fast walk, and he spoke again. “According to Redmond, when we were boys, his father used that property, which is quite secluded, to discipline servants who’d grievously displeased him.” The marquess pursed his lips. “I’ve seen the graves of those he disciplined at the end of a rope.”

“He killed his servants and the authorities were not informed?” The shock that such a thing could happen on English soil rocked Reginald to his core.

Dalbury shrugged. “Twenty years ago, England was not the civilized place it is today. And Edgemont is an earl who carried a lot of weight in the government. I wouldn’t be surprised if the authorities had been alerted and simply turned a blind eye to it all. They were servants and had likely broken the law in some way.”

“You don’t condone such barbarity, do you?” Reginald was appalled at the marquess’s nonchalant manner.

“Of course not. I’m merely saying that it’s not totally surprising that no one knows about it. And if they did, it might be in their best interests to look the other way.”

Anger at the aristocracy who assumed they were above the law mingled with abject fear for Maddy. She was in the hands of a man who thought nothing of meting out justice according to his own personal code. And if he believed Maddy was guilty of killing his godson, what horrible death might he have devised for her? He tapped Marlow on the flanks and shot ahead of Dalbury. “Come on.”

They emerged from the park, hurried their horses into the stream of traffic heading south, and soon were able to break into a gallop. As the miles sped by, Reginald kept his eyes peeled for a carriage that would be carrying Maddy, praying they would reach her before Lord Edgemont’s justice could be served.

* * * *

Never in her life had Amorina been more frightened than now, sitting beside Lord Edgemont, hands tied in front of her, a gag in her mouth, bumping quickly along a deserted road far out of London. Each turn of the wheels taking her farther from hope of rescue.

Tommy Redmond had seen to that. By abducting her early in the morning, from the back yard of the House of Pleasure, he’d summarily thwarted her well-thought-out plan to capture him at their agreed-upon rendezvous. Lord Trevor would wait in vain for her or Redmond to arrive. Neither would Duncan or Lord Manning be able to find her so far from the city. She could only pray that they’d found Pearl and Reginald alive. He’d promised to look after her daughter, and she would have to be content with that. No happy ending for her, but then she’d never believed in them. Not really.

The carriage slowed to a halt in front of a small manor house of faded red brick, the walls covered in ivy and vines. Not a place anyone had lived in for quite some time. The quiet, in which the loudest sound was the chirping of birds, said no one was within earshot. That evaluation was borne out almost immediately when Lord Edgemont jerked the gag out of her mouth. She bent over, coughing, trying not to retch.