The Reluctant Duchess (26 page)

“Details?” Annabelle asked.

“Yes. I don’t want Richard to return to the city just yet, the country air is so much cleaner and will do him good, which means that you and I must go to him. How long will you need to pack and organise cover for the coffee house?”

“Leave the
coffee house?” The conversation had once again taken an unexpected turn and she couldn’t help feeling that if she left the shop now, she might never return to it. “But-“

“Honestly, my dear, do you really care if the shop burns down
, as long as you reconcile with Richard?”

“Of course I do! I put almost six years
of my life into this place and when I leave, I want it to go to someone who will love it as I did!”

“When?” Lavinia asked with a smile. “Not if?”

Annabelle blushed as she realised that for the first time, she had spoken aloud her previous plans for the coffee house, plans that she apparently still harboured.

“So, is tomorrow too soon or will you need more time?” Lavinia asked, smiling indulgently at Annabelle.

“No, tomorrow should be fine.” Annabelle found herself unable to repress the smile that formed on her lips at the thought of seeing Richard again.

“Good, I’ll send word to Richard when I get home.” Lavinia stood up to go.

“Oh, no!” Annabelle stood up. “Please, don’t mention me.”

Lavinia could tell that she was still worried about being rejected but she didn’t see the harm in not mentioning her in the letter. Besides, a nice surprise might be go
od for him.

“As
you wish. I will collect you from your house at nine tomorrow morning. I should also mention that I intend to send my kitchen maid to help out here and my cook is more than willing to prepare meals for your staff at home, which my footman will deliver. Should your staff need any additional assistance whilst we are away, the rest of my London staff are under orders to help as much as they can.”

“You’re too kind.”

Lavinia smiled. “Until tomorrow, my dear. And if you should reconsider between now and tomorrow and try to back out, I shall be most upset.”

Of course, as soon as Lavinia left, Annabelle’s doubts began to kick in. What if Lavinia was wrong about Richard? What if her husband had
lied to her about Richard being ‘careful’ to ease her fears?

She reminded herself that she trusted Lavinia and her judgement.

So what if Richard wouldn’t forgive her?

Worse still what if he was really ill? What if he forgave her and everything was fine
, only for the fire to rob him of his air and suffocate him? Lavinia had said he was recovering but she hadn’t seen Richard in person for a while, what if she didn’t know how bad he was?

She couldn’t stand
to reconcile with Richard, only to lose him again.

Instead of trying to talk herself out of these doubts, she threw herself into her work instead; she knew from experience that it was much better to distract herself, than try to reason with her overactive mind.

Her staff handled her leaving better than she expected, and both Minnie and Frank assured her that they would manage and that she was not to worry. Annabelle wondered how many times she could leave them, before they got tired of their errant boss and trying to cover her workload.

She assured them that she would arrange a
bonus for them before Christmas; she had enough spare from selling her sapphire necklace to afford a decent sum.

She went upstairs to see Jones next, knoc
ked and waited in the hallway for the other woman.

“I’m going to Hampshire for a while to see Richard,” Annabelle explained.

Jones nodded. “How long will you be gone?”

“I don’t know, exactly.” She hadn’t even thought to ask.
“If you’ll come to the study once Mother is asleep, I’ll show you how to open the safe, in case there are any emergencies or other costs in my absence.”

Jones nodded. “I will, and I hope that you find what you are looking for in Hampshire,” she said with a smile.

None of the staff knew what had happened with Richard and they knew better than to ask, but Jones had been with her mother since before Annabelle was born, so she was a little more perceptive about their mistress than the others.

“Me too,” Annabelle smiled.

“Would you like to see your mother before you leave?”

Annabelle looked to the door, behind which her mother languished. It had been three weeks since she had seen her, unable to b
ear the pain of another rejection, especially when the anguish she felt over losing Richard was still so strong.

“The doctor bled her this morning and
she has had three doses of laudanum today. I doubt she will even wake up.”

“Three
?” Annabelle was surprised.

Jones nodded sadly. “She has begun to forget even me now. She became violent, despite the bleeding… I had no choice.”

“I believe you,” Annabelle assured her. “Maybe just a quick visit.”

She went into the bedroom to see her mother lying, sound asleep
atop the bed clothes. She gently sat down on the edge of the bed and looked into her mother’s face. She looked so gaunt, with dark hollows under each eye and sunken cheek bones, her pale skin stretched across her bones. Her hair was so thin in places now, that she almost seemed to be going bald.

“She still won’t eat?”
Annabelle asked.

“She managed a little
today but it made her nauseous.”

Annabelle
reached out a hand to brush a stray strand of hair off her mother’s cheek, but stopped herself in case she woke her.

“
I have to go away for a while, Mama, but I will be back soon,” she whispered, afraid of waking her. “I’ll miss you.”

“I don’t think it will be very much longer now,” Jones said gently.

“No,” Annabelle agreed, but it came out more as a choked sob.

Jones took hold of her shoulders and guided Annabelle from the room.

“It’s a blessing really,” Jones tried to comfort Annabelle. “She has been suffering for so long now, she deserves a rest.”

Annabelle nodded, agreeing with the sentiment. “I know, but I selfishly don’t want to lose her yet.”

Jones placed a hand on Annabelle’s arm. “You lost her a long time ago, you just don’t want to let go,” she said kindly.

Annabelle knew that she was r
ight and forced a bright smile to her face as she wiped her tears.

“I’ll take good care of her.”

Annabelle nodded. “I know you will. Thank you, Jones.”

Lavinia arrived on time, but Annabelle was surprised to see Sampson helping the driver load her trunks onto the top of the carriage. She knew that her guards still watched over her but she hadn’t considered that she would be in any danger down in Hampshire.

“Better safe than sorry,” Sampson answered her questioning look. “The others are staying here to look after your staff and home.”

Annabelle nodded her understanding.

The journey would take about four hours and Lavinia and Sampson chatted amiably,
although Annabelle’s nerves kept her from being particularly verbose.

As they journeyed out of London and into the countryside, her anxiety increased, as if the closer she got to Richard, the worse she felt. They had been travelling for about an hour and were
travelling across Hounslow Heath, when suddenly there was a loud bang and the horses brayed, rearing up and rocking the carriage.

Sampson looked out through the windo
ws to see what was happening and saw two men, with kerchiefs covering their lower faces and holding bayonets. He thought that there were probably others that he couldn’t see from this vantage point.

“Highwaymen,” he told them. “There’s at least two on this side. What do you want me to do?” He unbuttoned his coat and briefly pulled it aside, so that they could see
a flintlock revolver tucked into his belt.

“No,” Lavinia insisted. “They only want our valuables, which is not worth risking our lives over.”

One of them began to lead the horses and carriage from the road and into some woodland, where they wouldn’t be disturbed, then they dragged the driver from his perch and took his pistol from him, before punching him to the ground.

Sampson
moved the revolver to his pocket, where he could access it more easily, then re-buttoned his coat.

“Everyone, out of the carriage!”
A face appeared at the window, his bayonet pointed at them.

“Just stay calm and we will be fine,” Lavinia assured them. She made to ge
t out of the carriage first but Sampson stopped her with his left hand on her forearm.

“Let me go first,” he said
, surreptitiously handing his gun to Annabelle. Lavinia’s full skirt hid the action from the robber. He slowly raised his hands in surrender, got to his feet carefully stepped from the carriage, hoping to give Annabelle ample time to hide the gun before Lavinia followed him out.

Lavinia
and Annabelle also got out, with their hands raised too. One of the robbers patted Sampson down looking for a weapon and when they found none, took the reticules from the women.

“Over there!” one of the hijackers ordered, reinforcing his words with gestures from his
pistol.

Lavinia, Annabelle and Sampson lined up next to the fallen
driver as four of the other highwaymen (there were six in total) began going through their trunks, leaving two to watch them. They rifled through each trunk looking for anything of value and Annabelle blushed as they tossed her undergarments around, laughing.

“Hey!” one of the men who was guarding her yelled at his laughing companions.
“Remember the job!”

The others looked chastened and Lavinia and Sampson shared a look.
They had identified the ringleader.

Five minutes later they were done searching and one of the
bandits headed behind the captives.

“We’re just going to tie you up so that you can’t get free and blow the whistle on us too soon, got it?”

Annabelle had never been robbed before but both Lavinia and Sampson looked calm, so she looked to them for guidance. Lavinia nodded, so Annabelle allowed her hands to be bound behind her (using one of the stockings from her luggage, no less) as did Sampson, the driver and Lavinia.

Then two of the men grabbed Sampson and another two, the driver. The ringleader walked up to Sampson, raised the butt of his gun and slammed it
down and despite Sampson’s struggles, he couldn’t avoid the blow and fell to the ground, unconscious.

Annabelle and Lavinia had started to run but the men who had
previously been holding Sampson, quickly caught them thanks to their voluminous skirts, which made running, especially through woodland, difficult. The ringleader paused long enough to make sure that the women were captured, then he swung the butt of his gun at the driver, felling him also.

“Get them to the other carriage,” the leader barked
.

A
s the men began to drag them away, Annabelle began to struggle, kicking her legs until she connected with something hard. The man holding her yelped and dropped her, then she struggled to her feet to try running again, but as soon as she turned towards Lavinia, a fist connected with her jaw, sending her crashing back to the ground. She looked up to see the ringleader bending over her.

“He told me you were a fighter.”

Although she couldn’t see his lips through the kerchief, she thought that he was smiling.

“Tie her legs, boys
, and watch where your hands wander!” He bent closer and spoke softly to her. “And don’t you try and kick them. Your man will want you back unharmed and I’ll do my best to make sure that happens, I don’t want an irate relative of the King on my back now, do I? But you’ve got to help me. You upset these fellas and I may not be able to protect you. Got it?”

Annabelle nodded and
, worried that they would find her gun if she continued fighting, allowed her ankles to be bound, then she was carried a short way through the woods to another, much older and rickety carriage. They were pushed inside and whilst Lavinia was able to manoeuvre into a seat, with her feet tied, it was all Annabelle could do sit upright on the floor, her back against the door. The blinds were drawn on the windows so they couldn’t see outside.

“They’re nailing the door
closed,” Annabelle said, as banging could be heard.

“They probably don’t want us trying to jump out.”

“Hello? Can you hear me?” Annabelle called.

“I can hear you,” the ringleader called back. The banging ceased for a moment.

“Let Lavinia go. Frederick wouldn’t have wanted you to take her, he would have told you to take me. I’ll do anything you want, anything, just let her go. Please!”