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Marcus was welcomed in and directed to the drawing room. After pacing for about three minutes—which seemed like ten—Nick and Pamela both hurried into the room. The flush on Pamela’s face and the half-done topknot on her head told him they were probably enjoying a little ‘private’ time before Nick left for The Lion’s Den.
“What happened?” Nick said the minute he stepped into the room.
Marcus stopped his pacing. “They took Lizbeth again.” Just saying the words out loud brought the panic back full force.
Nick waved to a chair in front of the fireplace. “Tell me what you know.”
Marcus ignored the chair and continued to pace, running his fingers through his hair. “I hired a man a couple of weeks ago to follow Lizbeth when she was gone from the house. I didn’t tell her because I wasn’t sure she would approve of my high-handedness, but I needed to make sure if I couldn’t be with her that someone was there looking out for her.”
Nick nodded, then walked to the sideboard. He poured two snifters of brandy and handed one to Marcus. “Go on.”
Pamela sat on the arm of a chair and took Nick’s hand in hers.
Marcus downed the brandy he handed him. “I would prefer to tell you the rest on our way to Bristol.”
“Bristol?”
“Yes. We must leave immediately.”
Pamela nodded. “I will g-go with y-ou.”
Nick’s face softened as he gazed at his wife. “You will do no such thing, my love. You will stay right here, safe and sound and take care of yourself and my child.” He patted her slightly rounded belly.
“B-but she might n-need some comforting,” Pamela said as she followed Marcus and Nick to the front door.
“Mallory will provide all the comfort she needs.” He looked at Marcus with raised brows. “Am I correct?”
For the first time since Marcus entered the bookstore earlier, he smiled. “Yes. She has accepted my offer of marriage.”
Nick offered a curt nod. “Then let’s go get your betrothed.”
Just before the door opened, Nick pulled his wife in close to his chest, bent her over his arm and kissed her. Long and hard. “Wait for me,” he murmured while Marcus and the man at the door smirked.
Pamela blinked a few times and patted the sides of her hair, appearing dazed as they left the house.
They mounted their horses, and Marcus told Nick as much of the story as he could with them galloping side-by-side to Bristol.
With the carriage door swinging open in the breeze from where the man guarding her left in such a hurry Lizbeth saw two carriages pull up to the ship she assumed would be her trip to Australia. The word Police with bold gold letters was emblazoned on the sides. Behind them came a large wagon-type vehicle, with open sides.
A gang of bobbies climbed from the first two vehicles and swarmed the docks. They grabbed a few men talking, obviously taken by surprise. Three more policemen hurried up the gangplank and entered the ship.
Yet another two peelers chased down four other men who raced from the docks. Whistles blew, shouting continued, and a shot was fired from somewhere.
Lizbeth pulled the cloth from around her mouth and slid on her bottom until her tied feet hung over the edge of the carriage. She screamed for help until her throat was sore, but with the noise no one turned.
Just as she was about to jump out, Joey Barton appeared from nowhere and pushed her feet back in. “You ain’t going nowhere. You caused me enough trouble. I’m gonna get some money out of you.”
Like a man possessed he slammed the carriage door and jumped to the driver’s seat, unaware, or uncaring that her hands were no longer tied. She tried desperately to no avail to untie the knots in the rope around her feet as he climbed up on the driver’s seat. As soon as he was settled on the top of the carriage and it began to roll, she opened the door and jumped out.
She rolled and attempted to break her fall with her hands.
“Lizbeth!” She looked up to see Marcus bearing down on her from atop his horse. His companion, who appeared to be Nick Smith, continued past them and chased after Barton’s carriage.
Marcus barely came to a stop when he jumped from his horse. He scooped her into his arms and pulled her close. “Oh, God. Are you all right?”
The familiar feel of his warm strong body, and the scent that was his alone filled her with such joy that tears once again flooded her eyes.
She slumped against him, feeling safe for the first time in years. “I am now.”
