An Artful Deception (23 page)

He grinned. “That is a splendid idea.”

Their mounts stood side by side as their riders lingered, content to rest a moment and take in the scene. After a time Philip placed his gloved hand atop Katharine’s own and asked earnestly, “You are happy here, are you not, Katharine?”

Her heart swelled with the conviction of her answer. “I am very happy, Philip.”

He gave her fingers a gentle squeeze. “Then I am happy, too.”

They turned their horses back toward the stable.

“
I must leave you for a while today. I am going straight away to pick up a horse we have bought from our neighbor. I was going to wait until our original return, but since we have come back, I should like to bring him.”

His eyes shone. “Wait until you see him. He is sixteen hands of magnificent horse flesh.”

Katharine laughed. “Then you must show him to me the moment you return.”

When they reached the manor, Katharine went up to change, and then had breakfast alone as Philip had already left and she assumed that Lady Charlesworth was taking her meal in her room. Upon finishing her rolls and jam, she was surprised to have Mrs. Parker inform her, “Lady Charlesworth wishes to walk with you in the garden. She is waiting near the greenhouse.”

Katharine raised a delicate brow. “Oh really? I thought we were to meet at one o’clock.”

Mrs. Parker frowned. A nervous twitch tugged at her cheek. “She said to meet her now, miss.”

“
Very well.”

Katharine smoothed her skirts and skimmed through the library and out into the dewy garden. The perfume of flowers filled her senses and put her in a dreamy state. The day promised to be perfect. Philip would arrive with a new horse for her to admire. Then, they could spend the evening together and perhaps ride again in the morning.

She paused at the greenhouse to look around. Lady Charlesworth was nowhere in sight. She stepped past the building to follow the circular path along the hedges when a hulking form sprang from beside the building. One arm grasped her so tightly about her arms that she could hardly take a breath while the other hand sealed her lips.

He whispered fiercely into her ear. “If you was to scream and cause a scene, you will never see your young Charlesworth alive. You sees, we grabbed him and took him off to your uncle. If I fail to show up with you, the young lord dies. Now you would not be wanting that, would you, miss?”

Katharine shook her head, her mouth brushing distastefully against the calloused palm. Her mouth had gone too dry to swallow as she tried to make sense of what was happening. All she had understood was that Philip was in danger if she did not comply.

She peered up at the man and recognized the hulking giant that had injured Philip in the previous kidnap attempt. The man held her arm in a painful grip as he pulled her through the garden toward the border of trees. She glanced up at the house, hoping, praying that someone would notice her plight.

Mrs. Parker was standing at an upstairs window that looked down upon the garden. She was staring straight at Katharine. She must be seeing this whole frightful event. Katharine’s knees went wobbly with the relief of it. As soon as Mrs. Charlesworth was informed, she would send out a rescue.

They reached the trees and a waiting horse. The big man tossed her onto the saddle as though she were a bag of barley and then climbed behind her. As they trotted through the woods, a hundred questions began to pepper Katharine’s thoughts. How would Lady Charlesworth know where to send rescue? What would happen to Philip? Surely, her uncle did not plan to simply release him. The thought made a cold shiver of fear snake its way along her spine. And what of Lady Charlesworth? Katharine was supposed to meet her at the greenhouse. Surely this poor excuse of a man had not injured the lady.

She drew a deep breath to steady her, and then turned to ask, “What have you done to Lady Charlesworth? I did not see her.”

He gripped her tighter about the waist, making Katharine squirm.

“
I did nothing to no lady.”

“
She was supposed to meet me at the greenhouse.”

“
Well, she weren’t there when I got there.”

He sounded so matter of fact that she decided he must be telling the truth. She could only be grateful that something had delayed the lady and kept her from becoming involved in this foul deed of her uncle.

They rode so long without respite that Katharine began to feel weak from hunger and thirst. At last, he allowed her a stop at a small brook, but only for a few brief moments before resuming the tiresome ride.

They rode into twilight. The birds began choosing their cozy rests in the boughs of the trees, singing their sweet night songs. Katharine wished that, like the birds, she was free to fly. She would rescue Philip instead of being forced to plod ahead, riding where she did not want to go.

But she did not have wings. Her head began to sag, lolling to the side as she fought her fatigue. She recognized the cypress grove that bordered her uncle’s estate, the estate that had once been her home. The fond memories she possessed of returning home after a visit to neighbors, resting snug in the crook of her father’s arm as their carriage crunched along their graveled drive seemed oddly out of place with her present situation.

Her heart pounded as her home came into view. The porch lantern was lit in a welcoming glow that mocked the dread she felt at entering the house. She had to know, yet feared to ask what had become of Philip.

They clattered to a stop near the front door. The big man swung her off his horse. The door opened and her uncle peered into the descending darkness. When she reached the door, he stepped aside to allow her to enter.

“
My dear Katharine, I am so relieved that you have agreed to return to us.”

She faced him hotly. Her green eyes flashed with outrage at his statement. “I have agreed to no such thing. You know very well that I was forced to agree.”

He stared at her in mock surprise as her glare pierced him. “What have you done with Philip?”

“
Philip? Why would I have anything to do with Philip?”

“
Your man told me that you had brought him here, that you would harm him if I refused to come.”

Lord Graynor clicked his tongue. “Yes. It was a persuasive story, was it not? Rather brilliant, I believe. And yet, I must confess that it was merely a ruse, a small white lie, designed to ensure your cooperation.” His raised eyebrow challenged her to deny this final victory.

Katharine slumped against the wall, feeling both relief and a profound sense of being left all alone to face the evil in this house. Neither Philip nor Lady Charlesworth knew that she had been abducted. How long would it take for them to discover where she had been taken?

Her uncle’s eyes trailed up the stairs to where a young man was descending. He was dressed as a dandy with a fancy jacket and polished boots. “Ah, Cedric. Come and greet your soon-to-be bride.”

Cedric descended the stairs rapidly, a smirking grin stretching his thin lips in an unappealing line. He paused before Katharine and bowed an exaggerated bow. “My lady, I cannot tell you how I have longed for your return, pined for you, in fact.”

His triumphant expression galled her. It took all of her self-control to keep from slapping the confident leer from his pallid face. Yet, under the circumstances, she knew that she must curb her impulses and think before she acted.

She raised her chin. “I shall not be here long. Mrs. Parker witnessed my abduction. It will not be long before you are discovered.”

Cedric aped his father’s haughty snigger. Lord Graynor looked at her with what might have been pity had he been a kind man. “Your hopes are in vain, my dear. You see, Mrs. Parker will do whatever I tell her. She is to tell Lord Philip that your captor took you in quite the opposite direction, toward London. Then she is to plant the idea that you were kidnapped for ransom by some odious friend of the woman with whom you stayed. Lord Philip will go galloping off to your rescue. By the time he returns, it will be too late.”

Too late. The words made her shiver. “Why would she do that?”

Cedric nudged his father. “Some women are not so opposed to the idea of marriage, aye.”

Lord Graynor scowled. “You should be more concerned about your own marriage. Escort your lovely cousin to her chamber and bind her carefully.”

He turned to Katharine. “I have hired a clergyman to come tomorrow to perform the ceremony.”

Katharine’s heart felt as though it might pound through her ribs. “I shall not cooperate.”

Lord Graynor raised a dismissive hand. “No need. I have this man soundly in my pockets. He will attest that you agreed willingly to the marriage. And since no one knows you are here, there will be no one to care.”

Cedric took up a candle and then turned gripping Katharine’s elbow in a grasp that was designed to bruise her tender flesh. She pulled away, but he only tightened his grip. He glared down at her with cold eyes that froze her heart. “You are too headstrong and defiant for your own good. I detest that in a woman. Your little maid, Ginny, knew how to get what she wanted from me. You should have taken a lesson from her. But no matter, if you resist, I shall take pleasure in taming you.”

Katharine’s blood ran cold as she took in his warning. She quelled her instinct to fight, to scream and run. He was too much like his father to risk defiance. And against the two of them, she stood little chance of accomplishing anything except injury to her person. She forced her unwilling body to accompany him. Perhaps a show of meekness would lure Cedric into a false sense of security and he would leave her in peace until tomorrow.

Cedric smiled down at her quiet compliance as he led her to her chamber. “We shall get on well if you are always this sensible. If you are good and obedient, you shall see that I can be a benevolent mate.”

He gave her a shove into the familiar chamber where she had spent her girlhood, reading poetry and dreaming up romantic fantasies about the man who would steal her heart. She blinked back tears as she wondered what Philip would do when he heard Mrs. Parker’s account of the abduction. Would he go running to London, leaving her to endure a forced marriage?

She roused herself from her thoughts as Cedric took up a strip of linen binding that lay across her dressing table.

“
Come here,” he ordered.

She stood stubbornly in place, instinct making it impossible to move towards him.

His eyes glinted with an angry warning. “Will you defy me?”

Katharine forced herself to obey. He sat her upon her bed and bound her wrists. He wound the cloth around her fingers so they would not be free to untie the linen that he wrapped around her ankles.

He smiled in satisfaction at his workmanship. “I shall leave you until tomorrow, fair cousin to dream happy dreams of our wedding night.”

He blew out the candle and left her in the inky darkness that a quarter moon could not improve. She listened as he locked the door and took away the key. Then his footsteps faded down the hall.

Katharine huddled miserably upon her bed. No one came that night to give her supper. She had not seen any of the old servants. No doubt her uncle had let them all go in order to bring in others who would be loyal to his orders.

When she finally fell into an exhausted sleep, she dreamed of her rides with Philip. The flowers bloomed in the meadows, scenting the air with sweet perfume as he smiled at her from upon his mount. They walked their horses side by side. Philip leaned to kiss her, his lips firm and moist.

She awoke to find her own lips parched and her body stiff from the long ride and the restriction of the bindings. She hobbled to her washbowl and leaned down to sip the water as a cat might sip her milk. As distasteful as she found the action, she was overcome by the need to quench her thirst. The cool liquid soothed her throat and brought her fully to her senses.

In the daylight, she could search for a way to unbind herself and find a means of escape. Before she could begin her search, she heard the key rattle in the lock. She bit down hard on her lip. Her heart pounded. Were they coming for her already?

She was surprised to see a woman slip boldly into her room. At first, she did not recognize her with her dark hair elaborately coiled rather than contained in a proper bun. Instead of her simple gray housedresses, she wore a pale blue dress with lace bodice that gave shape to her aging figure.