Page 32 of The Lady Was Lying (Greydon #3)

She definitely wasn’t surly any longer.

Instead, she was…reluctantly happy to see him.

When she didn’t respond to his question, he tried apologizing again. “Sorry.”

“Apology not accepted.” No matter how intrigued she was, she refused to forgive him until he explained. “What have you done?”

“Kidnapped you,” he replied, as if it were obvious.

Ignoring the thrill his blunt words inspired, she poked him in the arm and warned, “As soon as they realize I’m gone, my brothers will be looking for me.”

“I imagine your whole family will be searching, not just your brothers.” He didn’t seem worried. “Luckily for us, Jane witnessed your departure. She will inform your brothers that you left with me and that you are safe.”

“Left?” She gasped at the blatant exaggeration. Had he lost his mind? “Left is a rather generous description of what has happened. Sebastian will be most displeased when he discovers that I’m gone.”

“Will he?” James continued to seem wholly unconcerned about her brother’s reaction.

“He abhors scandal.”

“Who doesn’t?”

“He’s very protective of his family,” she warned ominously, trying not to smile. She’d never been kidnapped before, and while she didn’t necessarily approve of such high-handedness, she was more invigorated than she could ever remember being.

“I have noticed how much he cares.” James paused and tapped his chin. “Luckily, he likes me. He welcomed me into the family with open arms and barely blinked when he found us kissing. I can’t imagine why he would feel the need to protect you from me.”

Her nose wrinkled. “Perhaps he has been protecting you from me.”

“Nonsense.” He laughed as if she were joking. “I’m a duke. I do not require protection from an earl.”

She huffed. Had he lost his mind? Kidnapping was a prime example of just how crazy she had made him. “I hope you have a sound plan in mind. If not, you’ve made a tactical error.”

“I made a tactical move ,” he countered.

“You snatched me from the park, and Jane saw you. Sebastian will expect you to marry me now.” She sighed dramatically, and he only raised his brow.

“You said you would refuse if I asked.”

“Of course I’d refuse,” she declared, ignoring the sudden pang in her chest. It seemed so long ago that she had first told him she’d never marry him. Before they danced together. Before they kissed. Before she ignored him for days.

She hadn’t necessarily changed her mind but…

“I’m not asking you to marry me,” he responded far too calmly.

She was not disappointed that he hadn’t kidnapped her to force a marriage.

She wasn’t that foolish.

“Whether you ask or not, you’ve unleashed a scandal, and something will have to be done. Sebastian will expect you to make it right. I can’t imagine another way to do so.”

Everyone knew that marriage was the only way to salvage a kidnapping.

Even if Sebastian didn’t want to force her, it was basically guaranteed that her eldest brother would suggest it.

He wouldn’t have any other choice. In fact, he might be secretly relieved that James had outwitted her.

Since marrying Emmeline, Sebastian had become quite fond of matrimony.

“Your brother would never force you to marry me, and if he tried, you would not allow him to succeed.”

He knew her far too well. Which raised the question—what did he expect to happen next?

A duel?

Her reputation wasn’t worth dying over. It wasn’t even worth maiming over. “I hope you’re handy with a pistol,” she threatened anyway.

He smiled. “As it happens, I am an excellent shot.”

Of course he was.

“You shoot my brother, I’ll shoot you.” It wasn’t a threat so much as a promise.

He chuckled. “No, you won’t.”

“Don’t be so sure.”

“Duels are dangerous,” he replied. “But even if they weren’t, your brother is not going to challenge me, and we are not going to shoot each other. Neither of us are that foolish.”

“Sebastian will defend my honor,” she declared.

“I’m sure he will defend your honor, but it won’t be with guns at dawn.”

How did he remain so unruffled? What did he hope to gain from kidnapping her if not marriage? “If someone other than Jane saw you snatch me and stuff me into your carriage, guns at dawn might be the only option,” she stubbornly avowed for no other reason than that she could.

His grin widened and he shook his head. “Stop trying to pretend you’d let your brother shoot me.”

“If I had a gun right now, I’d shoot you myself.” She wasn’t much of a shot, but she couldn’t miss from this distance.

“Would you?”

Her resolve wavered. “Maybe.”

He laughed, still not seeming the slightest bit worried. It was more than a little infuriating. “Once we get where we’re going, it won’t matter who saw me put you in my carriage.”

“Why is that?” she couldn’t help asking. Every tease he offered about his plan only made her more intrigued.

“You’ll see,” he responded.

She refused to give him the satisfaction of begging, so she returned to threatening him.

“I know you haven’t been in London long, and you’re feeling a bit cocky that no one has realized your father wasn’t the Duke of Avondale, but I can assure you, my already shaky reputation cannot overcome an abduction.

I am ruined. Utterly and completely. You’ll have to answer for your actions whether you want to or not. ”

“You won’t be ruined for long,” he stated. “I can promise you that.”

What did he know that she didn’t? “I already am.”

“No, you aren’t. I have a plan, and it will protect your reputation. I won’t allow harm to come to you.”

Pretending she wasn’t affected by his claim that he would protect her, she replied, “Once I return home, my brother will banish you from visiting, and I will not allow myself to be kidnapped again, so your plan better be a good one.”

If it wasn’t, she’d never see him again.

There was another pang in her chest, but she ignored it. She refused to miss him when he was gone.

The carriage turned, picking up speed, but she didn’t allow herself to look out the window to try to figure out where they were or where they were headed. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

“I’m not returning you to your brother,” he settled back against the cushions on his side, confidence intact, the picture of ease.

“You cannot keep me forever.”

“We are heading to my estate, Bramblewood. It’s a long journey. Maybe by the time we get there, you’ll agree to my plan and want to stay.”

“Stay?” She couldn’t stay unless they married. Even she was not bold enough to live with a man who wasn’t her husband.

“Forever,” he added.

How did he expect that to work? “My brothers will find us. It won’t take much for them to discover where you live.” Sebastian and Edward would never allow her to be held hostage.

“Do you know where I live?” he asked.

Waving her fingers in the air, she made a guess. “North.” When he nodded, she added, “I bet my brothers are already on our trail.” They’d probably catch up by nightfall, if not sooner.

“Maybe, but this carriage is well sprung. The horses are rested. We’ll make good time, and we have a head start.”

“We’ll have to stop eventually.”

“I have horses waiting for us along the road. Our stops will be quick. Efficient. No more than a handful of minutes and we will be on our way once again.”

“They will come for me.”

“I’m sure they will. But they don’t know where we’re going, and it’ll take them time to figure out that we’ve left London.”

“Jane will tell them what happened, and they will guess where we are headed. Your estate is the most obvious place you could take me. You won’t be able to keep our whereabouts secret for long.”

“Hmm.” His lips turned up and he fell silent like he had nothing else to add.

Crossing her arms against her chest, she tapped her foot on the carriage floor. He was far too calm. Too relaxed. What was his plan? What did he hope to achieve by kidnapping her and taking her to his estate?

She was missing something.

But what?

She gasped aloud as their conversation filtered through her mind.

You said you’d refuse if I asked.

North.

“How far north?” she asked, her heart pounding in her chest.

“Nearly to the border.”

“Of Scotland?”

He wouldn’t. Or would he ?

“No,” she shouted, standing up and placing her hands on either side of his head so she was looming over him.

It was difficult to keep her footing with the sway of the carriage, but she dug in her heels and glared.

Of all the dirty rotten tricks he could have played on her, absconding to Scotland with her in tow was the dirtiest. “We are not eloping to Scotland.”

“Of course not. We’re going to Bramblewood.”

“But—”

He tipped his head back so they were nose to nose.

“I’ll show you around the estate. I think you’ll like it.

It’s big. Lots of land, friendly tenants.

Maybe one day we’ll accidentally cross the border.

One pile of rocks looks like every other, and my property extends quite far.

It’s easy to become disoriented. Maybe we’ll end up in one of the villages along the border.

Decide to take a respite. Chat with a friendly blacksmith.

Agree to give him a bit of money in exchange for a couple of words.

He’ll ask if you will take me as your husband. ”

Her muscles gave out, and she collapsed back onto the opposite bench. “You won’t ask me to marry you because you know I’ll refuse, but you will take me to Scotland and let a random blacksmith ask me?”

“Not random. I’m acquainted with a few blacksmiths along the border.

We can approach one of them.” He crossed his knee over his leg.

“It’s a sound plan. I won’t need to ask.

You won’t have to admit you want to marry me.

There won’t be any pressure or expectations.

The blacksmith will say the words, and all you’ll have to do is agree. ”

“You believe I will agree in that situation,” she whispered, her heart hammering away. He was either insane or a genius. It was too soon to say which.

“Only one way to find out,” he responded gently.

Probably a genius .

How else could he have maneuvered her so perfectly? How else could he have concocted such a brilliant plan? How else could he have removed all obstacles?

She would have fought with herself for weeks. Months. Possibly years. She was too stubborn to admit that she had been hasty when she’d said she would never marry him.

Swallowing was difficult.

Thinking even harder.

James had outsmarted her. Outmaneuvered her. He had beaten her at her own game, and now he sat across from her seemingly confident that she would pick him.

By taking away the pressure from her family and society, he had stripped away the barrier of expectations. She couldn’t fully comprehend how being kidnapped had given her the freedom to grasp what she wanted.

But it had.

He believed in her. Trusted her enough to make her feel safe. Cared for, even.

She settled back into the cushions, tension suddenly gone, and turned to the window, pulling aside the curtain.

They’d already left London behind.

Nothing but open space stretched beyond the carriage.

Could she allow his crazy plan to unfold?

Was a happy ending possible for her?