Page 20 of Miss Thornfield’s Daring Bargain (The Troublemakers Trilogy #1)

A da stared at herself in the full-length mirror, admiring the gown she had come to try out. It was one of several dresses commissioned by her brother as part of her trousseau, all in a special brocade designed for the occasion. With all the uncertainty and fear surrounding her, receiving these gifts had been a sweet reprieve.

This one in particular, fashioned into an evening gown with triple flounces at the skirt, was a deep hunter green brocade. He’d gifted her five brocades, but her favorites were the red with blue and pink peonies and a golden phoenix, the cerulean blue satin with lotuses and mandarin ducks, and the mustard yellow with white lilies and cranes. Those she would save and use for dresses in the future.

Each one represented his wishes for her: peace, wealth, fertility and marital bliss. Her family was mocked and looked down upon for being of the merchant class, but there wouldn’t be another woman in the world with a dress like this, or with that pattern. If she was going to be unique, an aberration, then she would be envied as well.

“What do you think, Ellie?” she asked, glancing at her friend who had been silent with a secret smile ever since they left the pawn broker. Elodia blinked at her, then took in the gown for what was likely the first time.

“I like it. That pattern is unusual, isn’t it?” She stood and walked over, running her fingertips over the floral motif of lilies and orchids in robin blue and pale sunshine yellow. She admired the flecks of red from hidden pairs of magpies in flight along the hem.

“Yes.”

“It’s the only one like it in the world,” the modiste boasted.

“Oh?” Elodia glanced at Ada questioningly.

“Richard made the brocade. He commissioned the brocades last year for my wedding gifts.”

“Does it mean anything in particular?”

“The lilies symbolize happy long-lasting unions, the orchids love and fertility.”

“And the birds?”

“The magpies, when they are in a pair like here, they mean ‘two happinesses’. He’s congratulating me on my wedding.”

“In a dress?”

“In a dress. They all have different meanings, but they are all happy wishes.”

“How do you like the fit, madame?” the modiste asked.

Ada smiled and struck out her foot from where it was hidden under the draping material. “I think the hem at the bottom needs to be taken up an inch and the neckline could be a touch lower. What do you think, Ellie?”

“I think your husband is going to be delighted,” Elodia replied.

A slow smile spread across the woman’s face, “Alors, Madame, you think like a Parisienne.”

“The other evening gowns will need the same.”

“As you wish, Madame.”

She would be needing more gowns for her honeymoon, which was happening within two weeks. She was resolved. Her life would not be derailed any longer by Trent and his schemes. She stepped down from the stand and began removing the dress carefully before changing back into her calling dress.

“Was that the last one Ada?” Elodia called.

“Yes, we can leave now, unless you had another mysterious purchase to make,” Ada prodded, glancing again at the small package Elodia had on the seat with her reticule. Elodia ignored her and sipped her tea. “Are you going to tell me what you bought in that shop?” Ada asked as she finished fastening the front of her dress.

Elodia slipped the small package into the reticule hanging off her wrist and drew it shut before looking at her friend again. “Since you got married, you’ve become rather nosey.”

“It is a state secret or something? I can’t imagine what you would need at a pawn broker’s shop.”

“That’s because you have a relatively limited imagination,” Elodia replied cheekily.

Ada rolled her eyes in amusement, “Fine, then keep your secrets.”

“Is your gown finished?” Elodia asked.

“Yes, as a matter of fact it is. They will deliver it within the week.”

“It’s very good of your brother to throw you a wedding reception.”

“It was a compromise, believe me. He nearly insisted upon another wedding.”

Elodia smiled softly, a strange light in her eyes. “He loves you. He’s a good man.”

Ada watched her friend carefully, noting the softness of her expression and the tightening of her hands on her reticule. There was something going on there… “He’s a wonderful man.” She considered ignoring the obvious tenderness in her friend’s voice but then thought better of it. “Ellie—”

“We should get back. It’s getting late in the day and my father has been a stickler for punctuality ever since our jaunt to Gretna Green.”

Ada nodded and exited the modiste, heading towards the waiting carriage a few feet down the pavement. “You must thank your father again for me. I was going mad inside that house. If he hadn’t agreed to lend us three footmen, I would never have gotten out.”

“Mr. Thompson is right to be cautious, Ada.”

“I never said he wasn’t. I said that the walls had begun to close in.”

The footman gave her a nod and opened the carriage door for them, but as they sat down, the sounds of a scuffle were heard outside. Then the carriage took off with a lurch and the door slammed shut. Through the window, Ada caught sight of Thomas chasing after them and the driver, John, lying on the ground. Elodia let out a startled sound before knocking on the ceiling.

“Have a care, John!” she snapped, incredulously.

“Ellie, that’s not John,” Ada replied.

It took a second for Elodia to understand what that meant. “Oh, damn.”

*

It took more time than Ada was willing to admit for her and Elodia to understand that they had been kidnapped. They kept imagining that perhaps someone had jumped onto the wrong carriage, that perhaps the horses had been startled, anything. But none of that explained the fight they’d heard or the alarm on Thomas’s face as he ran after them.

The second issue was who on earth had taken them. Their best hope was that Trent was trying to attempt another kidnapping, but it could also be the men Basil had mentioned. The ones who were hunting Trent down. What if they had decided to cut out the middleman as Basil had feared? Trent could be reasoned with, she hoped, but those men…

She and Elodia had limited options. It was either stay in the carriage and see what happened or make a jump for it and risk injury. Neither was particularly appealing.

“We have to jump, Ellie.”

“No.”

“Ellie—”

“I am not jumping out of a moving carriage to break my neck on the filthy streets of London.”

“He could be taking us anywhere. How would we even be found?”

“Maybe the carriage will stop.”

“Stop where?”

“Buckingham Palace, how the devil should I know?”

“There’s no use sniping at each other. We need a plan.”

Elodia peered out the carriage window and went still. “Ada, he’s taking us to the river.”

“The river?”

“I’m not jumping out there. Who knows what filth would be there?”

“There are fewer carriages at least.”

“That is true.”

They positioned themselves at the doors on either side of the carriage and waited. “When you hit the ground, remember to roll, Ellie.”

Then the carriage came to a stop. Had he heard them, or had they run out of time? She looked at Elodia and saw her gripping her reticule in her hands. “What do we do now? Should we make a run for it?”

Ada opened her mouth to respond but then the door was flung open and a grimy faced man with a mean glint in his eyes stared back at her. She stared, frozen in terror, then quick as a snake he reached out and grabbed her hand, yanking her out by her arm. She landed awkwardly on the uneven ground, wincing as a sharp pain twinged up her leg from her ankle. Her arm was twisted behind her as she struggled to find her footing and take note of her surroundings.

They were indeed near the Thames as Elodia had said, but the wooden structures beside it caught her attention before the ships did. The holding yards.

Was this where they’d kept Richard?

“Who are you? What do you want?” Elodia asked as she was wrestled out of the carriage by a second brute.

Was it not Trent then?

She turned her head to look at the man holding her arm pinned. “Where are you taking us?”

He grinned but only tightened his grip to a painful extent in response. Ada took in his rotten teeth and soft belly. Perhaps they could outrun them if they got enough of a head start. The men started walking them towards one of the holding cabins, and Ada counted three steps before feigning a stumble. She caught Elodia’s eye and nodded, the silent agreement clear.

Fight and run.

Drawing on all her strength, she slammed her head backward into his face. She heard a crunch and a satisfying howl. The moment his grip loosened she picked up her skirts and ran back towards the carriage. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Elodia following her. Should she take the carriage and ride away or continue on foot? Did she even have the time to climb up onto the driver’s seat? Could she count on her own stamina to out run them?

She glanced behind her to see if they were still on the ground, and she saw Elodia’s eyes widen.

“Ada!” she called out and Ada turned to collide with Trent. Filthier, angrier but unmistakably him. Her heart sank as she saw her last chance of escape evaporate.

He grabbed her by the arms. “You aren’t outsmarting me again you little bitch,” he snarled.

Pain exploded across her temple, then everything went dark.

*

She was late. Basil was trying his best to remain calm, but every instinct in him was screaming that something was wrong. Ada had gone into town with Miss Hawthorne to fit her new dresses. It had been a risk he wasn’t fully comfortable with, but after nearly a week inside, he’d agreed under the condition that they took no less than three footmen. It wasn’t his finest moment, he’d half expected Miss Hawthorne’s father to balk at giving over three footmen for a mere errand. Unexpectedly, the man had agreed without any questions as if he knew the reason for the request.

Now, Basil was wondering if he should have insisted upon five footmen, or if he should have forced Leo to strong-arm two constables instead. They had moved to Thornfield House for the time being until Trent was located. More servants meant more barriers of entry and Richard had hired additional guards to watch the house in the event Trent made an appearance. It had seemed foolproof, but now he’d been expecting her for nearly an hour and with every minute that ticked by, he grew increasingly uneasy.

He heard the front door open, and he ran out of the sitting room. Finally, she was home. When he saw Richard removing his gloves instead of Ada, his stomach dropped to his feet as his heart began hammering away.

Richard gave him a quizzical glance before rolling his eyes. “Why is no one ever happy to see me?” he grumbled.

Basil walked towards him on unsteady legs, “Have you seen Ada?”

“She’s not back yet?”

Basil shook his head as his heart tightened in his chest. “She’s been due for over an hour. I don’t mean to be histrionic but—”

“No, she wouldn’t be late, not with Trent about.” Richard snatched his gloves back from the footman and looked Basil up and down. “You aren’t dressed for dinner as yet, so I assume you are coming with me.”

“Go,” Basil said shoving his shoulder, past the point of jokes. As they left, they saw Leo climbing out of a carriage. He caught sight of them and sighed, shaking his head. “We were just coming to find you.”

“I know where they are,” Leo said before stepping aside for them to climb into the vehicle.

“Are we going straight there?”

“Yes, but I’m bringing more help this time. With Trent escaping prison and all, I couldn’t keep the police out of it. They want a chance to salvage their reputations.”

“Kind of them.”

“But there’s another angle to this Richard, just as you suspected.”

“Oh?”

“Trent keeps meeting with someone. At first I thought it was the loan sharks he owed money to but it’s not. This person is connected. It’s how he got out of prison to begin with.”

“Are you going to tell me it’s my uncle?” Richard asked calmly. Basil’s head swiveled between the two of them as his brain struggled to comprehend what he was hearing.

“I don’t have that confirmed, but he does stand to gain from it.” Leo’s head tilted. “How did you know?”

“It’s as I said earlier. Trent is a greedy fucker but he doesn’t’ have the means to pull this off on his own. Kidnapping me was one thing, but breaking out of Newgate,” Richard shook his head. “His backer would need money and influence. The only person I can think of who fits that bill and hates me enough for this is my dear Uncle Simon.”

“How did you know all this, Leo?” Basil asked, “We only just realized they were gone.”

Leo fixed those light brown eyes on his and smiled wryly. “I’ve had men trailing all three of you every time you left the house.”

Basil’s heart was still pounding, but the laugh that escaped him was pure relief.

“What?” Richard looked at him in shock.

“I called in some favors with other colleagues in my business. I left it to Scotland Yard once and they fucked it up. I wasn’t about to leave it to them alone again.”