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“Give me a minute to lead the horse away, so he will have no chance of simple escape,” Latham said, sliding off his own horse and moving him behind some brush. “I will leave my horse so we won’t chance him stirring the other horse, since we do not know the gender.”
Slade asked Lord Rothmore to stay, but as soon as he opened his mouth, Rothmore shook his head.
“She is my daughter,” he said, sliding down from his horse. He left it without tying it. “He will not let another rider on him, and he will not leave me,” the earl said.
“Fine. However, let Latham and I go ahead of you,” Slade said.
The three men and the dog crept along slowly and approached a dirty window on the shed. Signaling the others to keep their heads down, Slade peered into the window. But what he saw angered him. Bella lay unconscious and bound on the ground. Her face looked bruised and bleeding, likely from having been punched. Worse, the man was standing over her, opening his britches.
“Nooo!” With a roar, Slade kicked open the door and rushed the surprised man, punching him in the face. Gracie leaped from behind him and attacked the man, growling and biting him on the face and arms. The man tried to fight the dog, but with little success. She was as if possessed.
“Help! Stop this dog,” he cried.
His cries woke Bella, who tried to sit up. She gave a muffled cry with tears streaming down her bruised face.
Her father removed the gag and used his handkerchief to wipe the blood from her face. “Daughter, I feared I had lost you,” he cried. “You cannot imagine the panic I felt.”
“Papa, I did not notice him. Mary and I were walking to get hats and ribbons.”
“You will take a footman with you from now on,” he scolded as he removed the remaining bonds.
Latham and Slade pulled Gracie from the man and the dog immediately walked toward Bella, panting and wagging her body, and wearing a contented look on her face.
“I am not sure who this sweet angel is,” Bella said, looking at Gracie. The small dog gave her a sniff before licking her face, as if to assure herself she had found her quarry.
“I will wait for you outside, Hertford,” Latham murmured, grabbing the man by his bound hands.
The earl glanced Slade’s way, an unsaid question on his face. “Perhaps you will bring my daughter to us. I will wait outside, as well. After all, if not for you, we might not have found her so quickly.”
“Would you stay?” Slade said. He wanted Bella for his wife, but this was not proper. He wanted to speak, first, to her father.
“I think not. And my answer is yes, if you can answer a few questions,” he said with a wink.
Slade nodded, understanding. “I will explain all when we are back, Lord Rothmore.”
He scooped up Bella and walked out the door, taking her away from the others before setting her down. Gracie followed, but stopped and stood next to Latham.
“Lady Bella Stewart, the thought I had lost you scared the wits out of me. I could barely breathe until I found you. Will you do me the great honor of becoming my marchioness?”
“Your marchioness? I would marry you if you were a blacksmith, but I am confused. I thought you were . . .”
“A duke?My brother is the duke. I would not misrepresent your position with my proposal,” he said, looking tenderly into her eyes.
“Graham is alive? How? Where?” she asked, confused.
“Graham lives and is the reason I am here in London. I will explain all when we are back at your house.” He dropped to his knee. “Lady Bella Stewart, will you make me the happiest of men by becoming my wife?”
“I will, Slade. I will!” she pulled him to his feet and kissed him.
“I can see my intuition about us has not been off.” He laughed, gazing down and cradling her face in his hands. “For years, I searched for the ultimate treasure, only to come home and discover that I have known that treasure for most of my life,” he murmured, covering her lips with his own. He pulled back and said, “It seems right we kiss in the middle of Scandal Lane to seal our most especial promise to each other,” he said, covering her lips once more in a soul-searing, deep kiss.
