Daniel felt a stirring next to him and remembered with horror that Helena was with him. Though he couldn’t turn his head to look at her, he could see out of the corner of his eye that her naked body still lay covered by the blanket. Thank God.
“Take me if you want, Wallace, but leave my wife be. She’s got naught to do with this.”
“Danny?” Helena shot up next to him, clutching the blanket to her chest. “Mr. Wallace! Take that sword away! Don’t you dare hurt him!”
“That’s enough, Wallace,” came a vaguely familiar voice from beyond the stall. “You’ve had your fun. Now take your money and be off with you—you and your scurvy lot.”
Wallace hesitated before apparently deciding that money was far more useful than a petty revenge. But before he took his foot off Daniel’s chest, he dragged the blade along Daniel’s neck just hard enough to score it. Daniel ignored the bite of steel, the blood trickling down his throat, and as soon as Wallace backed out of the stall, he lunged for his pistol.
His hand froze on it as the unmistakable sound of another pistol being cocked echoed in the barn.
“I wouldn’t do that, Danny, if I were you,” came that familiar voice again, much nearer this time. “Move your hand away from the pistol. I shouldn’t like to shoot you.”
With a heavy sigh, Daniel turned his head to stare up into the face of Jack Seward. Crouch’s oldest friend and cohort.
Though Jack kept his pistol cocked and ready, he grinned down at Daniel without an ounce of hostility. “It’s been a long time, Danny Boy. You’re looking well.”
“I’d be looking a lot better if you weren’t aiming that thing at me.”
“Pass yours over, and I won’t have to shoot you, will I?”
Anger mingled with a softer emotion in Daniel’s breast. Jack might be an aging rogue still in service to a scoundrel, but he’d also been a good friend once. Indeed, he’d been the person who’d most looked after Daniel all those years ago.
“Listen, Jack,” Daniel said. “I don’t know what you’re about or why you’re in league with a whoreson like Wallace, but I know you’d never kill me.”
“’Tis true, old friend.” Jack waved the pistol toward Daniel’s hand and smiled, though it was a sad sort of mirth. “And you wouldn’t use that on me, neither, would you?” When Daniel didn’t answer, he added, “Shove it over here, Danny Boy. I mightn’t have the heart to kill you, but I wouldn’t hesitate to shoot your hand off.”
That much Daniel suspected was true. Nor did he need Helena’s anxious voice saying, “Daniel, please do as he says,” to convince him to comply.
As soon as Jack had picked up the pistol, he uncocked his own and slid it into his overcoat pocket. “Sorry to frighten you, ma’am,” he told Helena. “The name’s Jack Seward. Me and Danny go back a long ways.”
“My association with him is more recent,” she said evenly, “but I do appreciate your not shooting my husband.”
Daniel noted with approval that she’d neglected to give her name. He might be able to negotiate her freedom if Crouch and his men didn’t know who she was. He wasn’t sure how much they knew about Griff’s new family. He
wasn’t even sure if they realized why he and Helena were in Sussex in the first place.
Sitting up, he slid his arm about her waist and played dumb. “What’s all this about, Jack? My wife and I come down here to do a bit of trading, minding our own business. Suddenly you chaps show up with pistols and swords. What d’you want with us? We’ve done naught to warrant it.”
“Naught, eh? Then why was this in your pocket?” Jack pulled two objects from inside his coat and waved them at Daniel: the miniature of Juliet and the sketch of Pryce.
Daniel groaned.
“I may be getting gray, m’boy, but I ain’t stupid. It’s plain why you’re here. I’m just not sure how you learned of it. It was s’posed to be taken for an elopement by the girl’s family. And Crouch told Pryce to take great care you didn’t hear of it. Pryce was s’posed to send that ransom note direct to Knighton.”
With a squeeze, Daniel cautioned Helena to silence. “All the same, I found out.”
“So you planned to play the hero and get her back without paying, eh?” When Daniel said nothing, he chuckled. “Well, it’s too late for that. Get up, Danny Boy—you’re coming with us, both of you.”
Daniel’s arm tightened about Helena’s waist. “There’s no need to drag my wife into this. You can leave her here.”
“You know damned well I’m not leaving nobody to go running to Knighton telling him that Crouch is behind this. And if you hadn’t wanted her to be part of it, you shouldn’t have brought her.”
Daniel groaned. Unfortunately, Jack was right. He should never have brought her, no matter how much she’d complained. But he’d thought it was an elopement, damn it!
“You know we won’t hurt her,” Jack added. “We don’t hurt women.”
“No, you only kidnap them,” Daniel snapped.
Jack shrugged. “When there’s a great deal of money in it, yes. But I swear on my honor none of us will hurt you or your wife, m’boy. Not if you behave yourselves.” Jack gestured behind him. “Now come on, I ain’t got all day.”
Helena clutched the blanket closer to her chest. “Please, would you be so good as to give us some privacy so we can dress?”
Jack hesitated, glancing from her to Daniel, then scouring the stall as if looking for weapons. “I s’pose I can manage that,” he surprised Daniel by conceding. “But five minutes and no more, d’you hear?”
“Thank you,” Helena said. “And if you’d kindly give us our clothes—”
“Polite little thing, ain’t she?” Jack grumbled to Daniel. “All right, ma’am.” He motioned to someone behind him and the clothes were brought to him. He threw them inside. “Five minutes, remember.” Then he swung the stall door shut.
The second it was closed, Daniel searched his trouser pockets for his penknife. Unsurprisingly, it had been removed. Scowling, he stood and jerked on his drawers and trousers.
Helena stood up as well. “Danny?” When he glanced at her, she spotted the scratch on his neck. “Why, you’re bleeding!” She stepped up to him and used one corner of the sheet to dab at his neck. “That wretched Wallace. I wish I’d shot him while I had the chance.”
Her vehemence amused him. “Or hit him hard enough to kill him. I’ll have to buy you a bigger cane.”
“That’s not funny.” Her hand stilled on his neck, and she lowered her voice. “What do you think they’ll do with us?”
“I don’t know,” he said truthfully. “Crouch won’t like it that I’m involved, though if he learns who
you
are…That’ll only make things worse, give him two Knighton relations to ransom. Let’s keep your identity secret, all right?”
“But Pryce will recognize me,” she pointed out.
He sighed. “I forgot about that. Still, there’s no point in tipping our hand any sooner than necessary, so let’s hide it as long as we can.”
She nodded, but she couldn’t quite hide her fright, and something caught in his chest at the sight of it. Cupping her face in his hands, he planted a swift kiss on her lips. “Don’t worry yourself, love. It’ll be all right, I swear. Somehow we’ll get out of this. We may just have to sit tight until Griff sends the ransom, though it plagues me to think of Crouch profiting from this treachery. Still, I don’t believe he or his men will hurt us as long as Griff pays what they ask.” Not if he had anything to say about it.
“I believe you, Danny. I do trust you, you know.”
The faith shining in her eyes made his chest hurt. He only wished he could be sure he warranted it.
“Hurry up in there,” Jack called out.
“Stubble it, Jack,” Daniel replied. “You damned near scared my wife to death, and I’m reassuring her that you won’t hurt her none.”
“I already told you I wouldn’t,” Jack grumbled, though he made no move to come back in the stall.
They dressed quickly. Picking up her sketch pad and pencil, Helena glanced at Daniel. “I don’t suppose they’ll let me take this.”
“I imagine not.”
With grim determination, she opened the pad and tore out the sketch of him, then folded it up and stuffed it into her pelisse pocket along with her pencil. When he chuck
led, she stalked past him. “Don’t you be getting a swelled head. I merely hate to see some of my finest work lost.”
“And here I was thinking you were starting to feel a certain affection for me, lass,” he teased.
She paused at the stall door to cast him an earnest glance. “Oh, Danny, I am. Promise me you won’t do anything to get yourself killed.”
Her concern warmed him, taking the edge off the chill of their capture. “You needn’t worry about me,” he said as he caught her to him. “I’ve got no inclination to be feeding the worms just yet.”
He kissed her, not sure if he’d get the chance again anytime soon and needing to reassure her, to reassure himself, that all would be well. For a moment he forgot where they were, lost in Helena’s sweet mouth clinging to his with desperate urgency.
“Time’s up,” Jack’s voice rang out over the stall door, and they broke apart.
“Ready, love?” Daniel whispered and offered her his arm.
She took it, smiling faintly. “I’m ready for anything as long as you’re with me.”
Christ, he hoped her faith in him was not misplaced. If he failed her and Juliet, he’d never forgive himself.
When they moved into the barn, Jack’s men were milling about. A couple he recognized, but the other five were strangers. They eyed him with blatant curiosity, making him wonder what Crouch had been telling them all these years about his former lieutenant who’d run off to London to make his fortune with Griff Knighton.
Young Seth was also there, sitting on a bale of hay, looking sullen and wary and guilty as the devil. As soon as he saw them enter, he jumped to his feet and came toward them carrying a walking stick.
“Oh, Mrs. Brennan, they haven’t hurt you, have they? If I’d known the horse didn’t belong to you, I would never have borrowed it and taken it to town. I didn’t mean to bring them here. I swear I didn’t!”
Daniel scowled. So that’s how Wallace had found them. If he ever got out of this, he’d take that damned fool lad over his knee.
“It’s all right, Seth,” Helena answered. “You didn’t know.”
Seth held the walking stick out to Helena. “I…um…thought you could use this. It was my grandfather’s. I dug it out of an old chest.”
“Are you sure your parents would approve?” Helena responded gently.
“Please take it,” Seth said. “It’s the least I can do after I’ve…caused you so much trouble.”
Helena hesitated, then accepted the cane. “Thank you.”
“Are we carrying the boy with us, too?” one of Jack’s men asked, jerking his thumb toward Seth.
Seth’s eyes widened in clear fright.
“Don’t be absurd,” Helena snapped before Jack could answer. “He has nothing to do with any of it. He merely let us sleep in his barn. Besides, his parents are returning today, and they’ll call in the constable if they find him gone. He doesn’t know what this is all about, so what can he possibly do?”
Jack considered that a moment, then turned to Seth with a grim expression. “Now you listen to me, boy. You’ve heard of Jolly Roger Crouch, haven’t you?” Seth bobbed his head.
“Then you know he eats boys like you for breakfast. So you’d best keep your tongue in your head if you don’t want it sliced off.”
Daniel snorted. Jack had never sliced off anybody’s tongue in his life.
“And if you’re not worried for yourself, then you’d best be worried for your parents,” Jack added. “We know where you live, remember.”
“Oh, you can’t be hurting my parents!” Seth cried. “They’re good people, and they’ve naught to do with this.”
“You just make sure it stays that way, d’you hear?” Jack took one look at the boy’s now sickly pallor and rolled his eyes. Removing his purse from his coat, he counted out some silver. “Now then, you helped us find Danny Boy, and we do remember our friends. So take this. For your help and your silence.”
“Th-thank you,” Seth whispered and took the silver, though he shot Helena an apologetic glance as he did so.
Daniel felt Helena’s hand on his arm relax, and he gritted his teeth. It would’ve served the lad right if Jack
had
taken him. Then again, Daniel didn’t need to be worrying about the boy as well. Bad enough that Helena was mixed up in it.
When Jack herded them out of the barn, Daniel was surprised to see a coach-and-six awaiting them. “Traveling in style these days, are you?” he told Jack.
“Better than putting you on a mount alone,” Jack answered. “Though I don’t suppose you’d run off and leave your wife behind.”
“No.” And that was the worst part. Even if he could escape Jack’s guard of seven men, he couldn’t manage it with Helena at his side. Which meant there wasn’t much he could do to get them out of this just now.
“I couldn’t believe it when Wallace said you’d married,” Jack went on as he accompanied Daniel and Helena to the coach. He eyed Helena askance. “Given your habits with women, I figured he was wrong. Before I heard her
talk, I thought for sure she was just one of your…well, you know—”
“Strumpets?” Helena said in outrage. “You thought I was a strumpet?”
Jack blinked at her forthright manner. “I didn’t mean nothing by it, ma’am. But you have to admit that you weren’t even wearing nightclothes…and Danny here…” He shot Daniel a helpless glance.
“Don’t look at me,” Daniel said. “You were the one stupid enough to insult her.”
“I only meant that I didn’t expect any woman in
Danny’s
bed to be respectable. That is—”
“It’s perfectly clear what you meant,” Helena snapped. “You, sir, are no gentleman.”
Daniel couldn’t help laughing. “I doubt that’ll work any better on him, lass, than it does on me.”
“Perhaps not, but it had to be said.” Chin held high, she hurried ahead to the coach.
“I ain’t no gentleman, that’s true,” Jack called after her, “and I’m proud of it!” Then he lowered his voice. “Fractious woman, your wife. Is she always so plainspoke?”
“Yes, especially when she’s rousted out of bed by a lot of scoundrels brandishing swords and pistols.”
Jack frowned. “I told you before, you’ve got naught to fear from us as long as you cooperate. And nobody will lay a hand on your wife, neither.”