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Blake banged wildly at Jarvis’s townhouse door.
They took her ladyship. The footman’s words still rang in his mind, so he kicked at the door, cursing for it to open.
Jarvis was the only person left on his damned list of suspects; he’d disappeared from the clubs the same night that the fight broke out in the hell, and the thugs escaped Hades’ punishment.
But if he was wrong and Jarvis was not responsible, Blake would have nowhere else to go. His only other option would be to turn all of England on its head. And he’d do it too, only to find his Annalise and spare her the cruel fate he’d suffered.
The door opened, and a weathered old butler sketched a bow. Blake stormed past him.
“I need to see your master,” he threw over his shoulder and stalked to Jarvis’s study.
“He is not to be disturbed!” the servant yelled, hurrying after Blake.
“To hell, he isn’t!”
Blake entered the spacious study. Jarvis had been sitting behind the desk, but noticing Blake, he stood with a wide grin on his face.
Blake reached Jarvis and made a swing at his face. Jarvis’s expression of delight turned into confusion for a split moment before he ducked. He got hold of Blake’s arm and moved behind him. With a loud bang, he smashed Blake’s face into the desk.
Blake had barely time to blink, so quickly did this happen.How the hell did he do that?But the shock was replaced by Blake’s anger.
“Where the devil is she, Jarvis?” he yelled.
“Where is who?”
“Do not play innocent here, Jarvis. Where is my wife?” Blake sneered against the surface of the desk.
“Why in the world would I know where she is?” Jarvis let him free and slowly stepped away from him, hands raised in the air.
Blake straightened and turned to him, panting. “I know it’s you. You are the one who plotted my capture. It makes sense, your strange behavior, your carriage from which I got taken—”
“You never reached my carriage!”
“Or so you say. But I don’t give a fig about that. Tell me where Annalise is, and I’ll let you live.” Blake took out a musket and aimed it at Jarvis.
“You are out of your mind,” Jarvis exclaimed. “I had nothing to do with your capture. And Annalise is gone? How—Why do you think that?” He paused. “Perhaps she just left you. In which case, I’d be looking at Kensington’s.”
With a growl, Blake ran toward Jarvis and swung at his face again. Jarvis ducked, but Blake’s knuckles still grazed his chin. He reared back and raised his arms in surrender.
“Stop it, Blake. I had nothing to do with it. I swear. But I can help.”
“How can you help?” Blake was breathing heavily, his heart thudding in his ears. “How can anyone help me? She… It’s all because of me.” He scrubbed his sweaty face with his palms, then thread his fingers through his hair. “She is suffering because of me. It’s all my fault. It’s always been my fault.”
Jarvis made a tentative step toward him and slowly patted him on the shoulder. “There will be plenty of time for self-pity later, my friend. Tell me everything you know. I shall help you find her.”
Blake bit on his lower lip and shook his head. “I know nothing. Why else would I be here punching air? Her carriage left the drive at half-past eleven. I told her not to travel right after the ball, but she”—he closed his eyes briefly in agony—“she didn’t want to spend another night in the same house as me. I sent four footmen with her and the driver, but it still wasn’t enough.
“Two and a half hours later, a bruised and bloodied footman ran up the steps to our townhouse and declared that someone accosted them just outside the city. Several thugs pulled guns on them, took Annalise, and rode away. They took the horses, so they wouldn’t be followed. But Annalise, she’s… I don’t even know where they took her. The footman said they headed back toward the city. I would only guess they moved toward the docks, where I was kept.”
Jarvis frowned in thought, but an insistent bang on the door interrupted his musings. There were muffled noises, and then the voices grew louder.
“Someone else is at the door.” Jarvis raised a brow. “Perhaps more people came to accuse me.”
Jarvis led Blake back to the main hall, where the butler spoke calmly to a man over the threshold. The moment the man saw Blake, he pushed past the butler and stalked toward him. Ford.
“The thief-taker,” Jarvis grumbled.
