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“Then leave my chamber,” Evan said, the words like ice.
She stood. In a white haze, she gathered a linen around her, retrieved her garments, and did as he bid.
* * *
Sophie rose, took a light breakfast, and decided to take a morning walk about the grounds of the estate. Graves had informed her that Evan and Alexandra had gone to London, and the mansion was quiet. But Sophie didn’t mind. She was an introvert by nature, quite content in her own company. Though she missed Ally, she found it nice not to have to make constant chatter with her sister.
Sophie adored her alone time. She could go to the conservatory, play the pianoforte, and sing to her heart’s content, not worrying that anyone other than servants might hear. She could sit on the divan for hours at a time with her nose in Mr. Dickens’s latest book and worry not about being interrupted. Or, like this morning, she could enjoy the crisp morning air, the summer blooms, the light breeze as she walked about the grounds, admiring the greenery and the lushness of the scene.
No one followed her. No one was around to follow her. She smiled and opened her mouth to croon one of her favorite ballads.
She jumped when a hand clamped over her mouth.
“Do not scream, my lady. Do as I say, and you will not be harmed.”
Sophie tensed, terror coursing through her. What was going on? She was alone on the estate, and now, with the stranger’s hand over her mouth, she couldn’t scream. Would anyone have heard her anyway? She was far away from the mansion and the stables. Most of the servants were at either of those two places. She had no choice but to do as her captor bid. She was held so fast that she couldn’t turn to see who he was. Her heart beat quickly, wildly, and her knees threatened to give way. The captor forced her forward, and she took jagged steps for another mile or two before they came to a horse tied to a tree.
Before she could get a look at him, her captor blindfolded her, gagged her, and set her upon the horse. He mounted behind her.
Surely someone would see them. Someone would wonder why this man was riding along with a blindfolded and gagged woman. But after riding for a bit, the horse stopped, and Sophie was forced into a waiting carriage.
Now no one would see her or hear her.
Where were they taking her, and why? She shivered, and nausea threatened to overtake her. She couldn’t take a deep enough breath through the gag.
Within a few moments, blackness descended upon her.
* * *
Evan seized with anger. Had he truly thought Alexandra could return his feelings? After what they had shared, how could she be so intent on marrying someone else, especially a rake like Nathan Landon?
Love.
He was near twenty-seven years old, still a young man, but a few months ago he felt it was time to get married, so he had begun courting Lady Rose Jamison. They ended their relationship when they both decided to hold out for real love. Rose had said he would know when he was in love, and she’d been right. It had hit him like one hundred stones. Alexandra. She was a pain in his arse, yes. Headstrong and impulsive, socially inept, disrespectful of authority and convention. But strong, so strong. And intelligent and beautiful. No flower, that one. Evan had been surprised to find that he didn’t want a wilting flower. He wanted an equal, a woman who would always challenge him, a woman who wasn’t afraid to speak her mind. And a woman who wasn’t afraid to ask for what she wanted behind closed doors either.
He had fallen hard. Why had she lied to him? Why couldn’t she have just admitted that she did not love him?
Was it possible that she did?
But if she did indeed love him, how could she even think of marrying someone else?
Alexandra had not had an easy life, he knew, and what he did know probably only scraped the surface. His heart ached for what she had gone through as a child and teenager.
Now, she expected him to go to Nathan Landon and force him to marry her.
It would be easier to cut his heart out with a jagged blade.
But he loved her despite himself, and if Landon was what she wanted—truly wanted—he would get him for her. The rake would marry Alexandra. Evan would make sure of it. And in so doing, he would resign himself to a life of bachelorhood. A life of bachelorhood on the continent, for he couldn’t stay in England and watch his beloved bear another man’s children.
He threw himself on his bed, his heart aching, his body numb. The wild berry scent of her still permeated his bedding. He inhaled, closed his eyes…
A few hours of sleep would do him good. But he only tossed and turned.
* * *
Sophie awoke in a dark room. Her blindfold had been removed, but her gag was still in place. She was lying on a hard cot. Though she tried to scream for help, the gag muffled her words.
She jerked upward when the door of the small room opened. In walked a woman dressed modestly in grey. Her garments resembled mourning clothes. Her mousy brown hair was pulled back severely into a tight bun. She held a tray containing a sandwich and a cup.
