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“Who is the man?” Matthew’s voice was more controlled than he thought.
“I do not know his name but he asked me to give the Miss a message, then saddle a horse for her. I gave the letter to the footman Page. She arrived at the stables and…” Martin began to sob louder.
Albert placed a hand on his shoulder. “Be calm. We need you to tell us who took her, and where, if you know.”
“I-I followed them, and I saw him put her in a carriage. There was a woman inside the carriage and another man. I heard them say something about Gretna.”
“Would you be able to recognize their faces?” Matthew asked, and the boy nodded. “Get up!” He turned to Albert. “Glover and I will ride ahead. Follow us with a carriage and bring him with you.” Albert nodded, then turned to wrap an arm around the shoulders of a tearful Emma.
Matthew was not entirely sure what was going on but he would follow this trail. He went to his study to find a second pistol, and Edgington walked in behind him. “I wish to follow you, Your Grace.”
Matthew paused and regarded him impassively for some seconds, then said, “Do you have a weapon?” Edgington opened his coat to show him a flintlock tucked into his waist. “Let us go,” Matthew said after retrieving a pistol from his desk drawer.
Chapter 36
“How much did you say her inheritance is?” a female voice asked as Diana’s consciousness was slowly returning. She could not open her eyes because of how heavy they were, and she felt as though she did not have enough air in her lungs.
“I was told that thirty thousand was settled upon her by the old fool,” a man replied. “I will know the exact amount when I marry her.”
Was she dreaming? The voices were familiar but for the life of her, she was unable to match them to any faces. Hooves clopping and swaying suggested she was in a carriage, but she could not be certain. Diana felt her consciousness slipping again but fought internally to stay awake.
“What if it is only a rumor?” the woman asked dubiously.
“It cannot be. Lady Dervin showed me the letter from the solicitor informing Diana of her uncle’s demise and inheritance.”
“Well, know that if this is a lie—"
“Oh, bloody hell, Annabelle, are you going to help me or not?”
Annabelle? Annabelle!Diana’s eyes flew open, her shock enabling her to fight her drowsiness.
“Oh, she is awake,” Annabelle drawled.
Utterly confused, Diana squinted through her blurred vision to see the woman who had once been her friend and then shunned her after the scandal. Beside her was a man, and although she could not see his face well, his familiarity struck her like a whip.
“W-what’s this?” she asked, her speech all wrong.
“A celebration of our engagement, my darling Diana,” Crawford replied.
“How?”
“Well, your sweet aunt was generous enough to get me out of prison before I was taken to London, and she gave me some very interesting news.” His sinister chuckle filled the confines of the carriage, and Diana was not surprised to hear that her aunt was involved in this. “Some letters were found in your chamber and one of them was from your dead uncle’s solicitor. We are on our way to Scotland where I will marry you.”
Diana blinked, somewhat relieved to find her vision improving. What the hell had she been given to muddle her senses thusly? This was almost too much for her to believe it was truly happening. She wanted to scream and wail, but when she tried to move her hands, she discovered that her hands were bound, and so were her ankles.
“Matthew will find you,” she ground through clenched teeth.
“Oh, I doubt he knows you are missing yet,” Crawford laughed. “You see, I put a man to watch the castle for weaknesses when I wanted to gain control of your duke’s businesses, and that got His Grace quite occupied. He searches Ashford every day for threats. Last night, the man I employed made sure he was seen by enough people so your duke would spend the entire day out.” The manner in which he saidyour dukewas both condescending and mocking. Diana could see his face now, and she had never felt more hatred for any person.
“He will find me. I know it.”
“We are moving very quickly, my dear. It would be difficult for him to catch us. If he does, it will be too late, because you will be my wife by then. Your duke will be powerless against me.”
“You sound very certain.”
“Oh, I am.”
It could take them a week to reach Scotland, and she could plan her escape in that time, but she had to be clever about it, and she must know as much as she could about Crawford and Annabelle’s plan. Diana turned to her.
