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Over the next couple of days, Lady Josephine thought long and hard about how she could get away from Worthington Hall. The solid oaken door could not be breached; the iron grate over the window was firmly attached to the stone surrounding the pane. And she had nothing in the cellar room that she could use as a tool to pry either one loose.
But she had to escape. Despite her desperation, Lady Josephine felt her old courage returning to her. Shewouldescape! The resolve, the backbone she had relied on all her young life—which somehow had melted away over the last few months under the influence of the Earl—would see her through this.
It was funny, while the Earl had been part of her life, she had daily grown weaker and less self-confident. It was as if she were in a trance. She doubted every one of her positive attributes. But now, as she suddenly saw the Earl for the madman he truly was, the evil spell was broken. There was nothing wrong withher.
And while she believed that the Earl might well have had Ace kidnapped and sent across the ocean, she did not doubt for one moment that Ace, too, would escape and find a way back to her. When that happened, she would be waiting for him.
But she had no time to lose. The Earl was likely to arrange for a marriage any day now. Would she remain strong enough to refuse him, to make an outcry before witnesses? Even if she did, Lady Josephine knew that there were ministers and priests out there who would willingly sign a marriage certificate, if the price was right.
Martha, the old woman who brought her food and water and cleaned her chamber pot, visited Lady Josephine’s cell twice daily. The next morning, Lady Josephine watched her movements carefully. Martha always turned to the left when entering, toward the chamber pot. She never looked to the right.
Early that evening, when Martha returned, Lady Josephine was ready for her. She was poised against the wall, on the right, behind where the door would swing open.
As Martha entered, the light was growing dimmer outside and the cell was in shadow. The old woman stood there in the doorway, befuddled for a moment as to where her prisoner had gone. Lady Josephine, having the advantage of surprise, jumped her from behind and beat her head with the heavy iron chamber pot till the old woman fell from the blows.
Lady Josephine felt bad to have hurt her, but she could see Martha was still breathing. She could not waste time on her. She slipped out of the cell, locking the door behind her. Perhaps that would give her a few extra minutes, when they came to find Martha.
She made her way down the dark cellar corridor, her hands tangling in spiders’ webs as she clutched the wall. There seemed to be no one about. She reasoned that there must be a cellar door somewhere that opened to the outside of the building. That was her only chance.
Upstairs, the Earl was having tea with the minister. He had asked the footman to bring sherry, also, and to keep filling the old man’s glass without being prompted.
It was good sherry, and the minister was not used to such quality or quantity. He was on his fourth or fifth glass already, the Earl calculated.
“Reverend, there is a favor I need to ask of you,” the Earl said. “I am to marry Lady Josephine Wallace, the Duke of Clover’s daughter. The girl is of age, and her lord father has consented eagerly to the match.”
“Is the consent in writing?” asked the minister. His speech was slurred, but clearly he had some of his wits still available to him.
“No,” the Earl said, “you will have to take my word on that. As a gentleman.”
The minister could hardly imply that the Earl was no gentleman by doubting his word. So he let the matter of consent pass. If the girl was of age, her father’s consent was not really needed, in any case.
“Lady Josephine has been here over the past two weeks. She visited with a party that included her lord father, the Duke, as well as the Prince Regent.”
The minister looked duly impressed.
“Unfortunately, my fiancée became quite seriously ill while she was here. Delirium, a high fever…very distressing. The rest of the party had to return to London, but my betrothed remains too weak to travel.
“She has stayed here with me. Her recovery is slow—the physicians advise that she should not leave. But you see my position, Reverend—a young, innocent girl, living in her betrothed’s home—”
“Yes, most improper,” agreed the minister, trying to sit upright. Apparently, the room was starting to sway a little.
“It’s been agreed that instead of marrying in London, as we had planned, Lady Josephine will wed me here. Then she will be under my protection, and no one can speak ill of her reputation.”
“Make-ssh shense-ssh,” said the minister. “But banns-ssh would have to be read by the church three week-ssh in a row—” The clergyman interrupted himself with a hiccup he tried hard to suppress.
“Oh, that’s already been done,” the Earl assured him. “By the vicar of St. George’s, Hanover Square, where we had planned to wed. You can write to him after the wedding, if you like, to confirm this.” That the banns of marriage had been read at St. George’s was in fact true.
“Witness-sshes? You’ll have to have witness-sshes.”
“My sisters, Lady Prudence and Lady Prunella, will be happy to serve as witnesses for their future sister-in-law and me. Now, if you have no more questions, I will go and fetch the bride and my sisters—I warn you, though, Lady Josephine is in a very weak, sorry state.”
Sending word to his sisters to meet him in the drawing room, the Earl sought Martha for the cellar key. But no one had seen Martha. And there was no second key to the storeroom door.
“You imbeciles!” the Earl yelled to the handful of henchmen standing around him. “Get axes to break through that door! Now! Not a moment’s delay!” The Earl’s scheme was so close to fruition.I cannot fail now,he told himself.
Behind the door they found Martha, unconscious on the dirt floor. Muttering a foul oath, the Earl told his men, “I want the house searched. Now!”
Within a few minutes, a frightened servant reported that the back door to the cellar was swinging open. “—which meant that whoever left that way had no key to relock the door—”
“Fool! I know that,” the Earl said, hitting the side of the servant’s head with his fist and sending him reeling. “Why am I surrounded by such cretins?”
Lady Prudence had come to join her brother in the cellar. She quickly assessed the situation. “She can’t have gone far,” said Lady Prudence.
“Pru, go up to the guest room Lady Josephine stayed in. Find something she wore that night. It’s a long shot that any scent will remain after two weeks. But it’s all we can do. Men! Loose the dogs!”
