Page 16 of Marry in Scandal

“You can stay here and behave yourself,” Cal snapped. “That goes for you too, Rose,” he added, seeing Rose behind George on the stairs. “I’m not having any more of you going missing! Stay here and look after Emm.” His horse was waiting in the street. He took the reins from the groom, swung lithely into the saddle and headed down the street. The sound of hooves echoed in the night.

Emm and the two girls watched until he’d disappeared. “I don’t care, I’m going after them,” George began.

“No, you need to stay here,” Emm told her. “You heard Cal—how do you think he’d feel if any more of his beloved girls went missing? It flays him badly enough to have lost Lily.”

George put up a stubborn chin. “Yes, but I’m not one of his ‘beloved girls.’ I’m just a duty to him. I’m not even a sister.”

Emm slid an arm around the girl’s slender waist and said gently, “You’re not his sister, but you’re not just a duty, either. Cal cares deeply about you—and not just because he feels ashamed at the family’s neglect of you in the past. If you didn’t enjoy clashing with him so much, you’d see what he really thinks of you.”

George sighed. “That I’m a pest, a wild girl and trouble.”

Emm laughed. “You can be at times, but even though he growls and snaps sometimes, never,everdoubt that Cal loves you. It’sbecausehe loves you that he growls.”

George looked skeptical, and Emm said, “He also admires you, George—he’s quite proud of his wild young niece, you know. He cares for you, and he loves you.” She slid her other arm around Rose and added, “Both of you.Allof you.”

“Yes, but Lily is his favorite,” Rose said.

“I don’t care about that,” George said. “I just need todosomething.”

“I know.” Emm squeezed her affectionately. “But there’s no point in us running around like chickens with their heads cut off searching for Lily when we have no idea where she’s been taken. There is something we can do to help, though. It may not be dramatic or exciting, but we will have to be clever.”

Rose narrowed her eyes. “How do you mean, clever?”

Chapter Three

Long is the way and hard, that out of hell leads to up to light.

—JOHN MILTON,PARADISE LOST

“Stop the coach!”

In the darkness of her cramped prison, Lily stirred, willing the drugged haze to pass. She focused her dazed attention on the voices outside.

“What the—who the devil are you and what business do you have stopping my coach?”

“No need for alarm, sir. We’re on official business.”

“Indeed? What’s the problem?”

“A young lady has been abducted. They’re believed to be making for the border.”

Rescue! They were looking for her. Lily tried to call out but all she could manage was a muffled moan. Nixon covered it with a coughing fit. He said in a loud voice, “A lady abducted, you say! How shocking! Whatever is the world coming to!”

Lily tried to bang on the walls of her prison, but the thick blanket they’d rolled her in impeded her movements and muffled any sound. The space under the seat was a tight fit. She couldn’t even raise her arms enough to reach the gag.

She tried to call for help again, but with her throat so dry, her mouth so tightly gagged and her drugged, thick tongue barely able to move, all that came out was a whimper.

And from the sound of the conversation outside, the men didn’t hear a thing.

“So you haven’t come across a young lady in distress in your travels, sir?”

“No, and as you can see, gentlemen, there’s only myself in this carriage,” Nixon said. “No young women at all, sadly. I could do with one to while away this dreary journey to Carlisle.”

One of the men laughed.

Lily tried again, calling out and banging her head against the roof of her prison but again, there was no reaction from the men outside.

“So you’re not destined for Scotland, sir?”