Page 64 of His Abandoned Duchess

Hot tears streamed down her cheeks, rage and wrath melting from her eyes, for her body could not contain them. Isaac had disconnected from reality. Amelia was not sure when, but as of now, he could not grip the weight of what he’d done or her justified revulsion.

“You have driven yourself to commit assault, Isaac. What on earth makes you think that I would stand for such a thing? That I would want to be associated with anyone who could harm enough like that?”

“Do not test me, Amelia. I have and will take any action necessary to guarantee my prize. Patience and virtue had not gotten me this far.”

Amelia shook her head, her chest cracking open for the grief contained within her. This was not the man she’d met at her coming out. What had happened to her friend?

“Isaac, please. This is not you. You must understand that this is wrong,” she pleaded.

“Come on, Amelia. Think as if a woman were capable of such a thing. No one remains set on a course that proves to be ineffective time and again. I waited for your debut. I had made my intentions known to your father, and I was pushed aside. Like trash! And even so, I had presented myself to you as a companion, years spent waiting for you to say something.”

Shaking her head, Amelia tried to recall their past around the cloudy fog of horror that clung to her.

“You never said anything. I would have been clear with you immediately. I have only ever seen you as a friend, and I have been honest about that.”

“Never said anything?! No, no, Amelia,” Isaac shook his head, his tone biting, “it is you who never noticed! You have been blind. Blind! To everything that goes on around you. The Viscount, your husband, the exasperating lot I’ve been forced to put up with for all these years. You see none of their truth. At least Selina was good for a round.”

She recoiled. “Selina? What on earth?—”

But Amelia stopped.The drinks…

“Oh, so she finally sees it now,” Isaac smirked, all venom and malevolence. “Your wheyface husband was at last out without you, gone for several hours’ time. And then Selina had come up with her ridiculous notion to mix cocktails. Still, it provided me with quite the opportunity. Had it not been for that insufferable Charlotte, we would have been on this little trip weeks ago.”

The world has spun off its axis. The contents of the globe were shaken and scattered to the winds, and she was swept away with them.

“You…you put something in my drink.”

“Only a bit of laudanum. An easy thing to come by when you are in good graces with several surgeons.”

Amelia was going to be sick, and she hung her head between her legs, trying to breathe through her nose. Heat and blood rushed to her face, her mouth pooling with saliva. Every bumpand jostle of the carriage sent her further down the spiral, and though there was nothing within her to heave up, her stomach threatened more and more with each second.

“There, there, Amelia.” Isaac smoothed a hand down her back, and she was quick to jerk away.

“Don’t touch me!” She glared at him, her face damp with tears as sweat clung to her brow. “You drugged me! I was supposed to be your friend!”

“Amelia,” Isaac started, but she slashed her hand through the air at him.

“No! There is no defense! You sought to render me unconscious to kidnap me,whichyou have now done! You must be out of your damned mind if you think I will go anywhere with you! You have tried to assault me, to…rape me! Let me out of this carriage at once, and Imayconsider withholding that bit from the authorities!”

It was Isaac’s turn to reel back, but the satisfaction in seeing him do so did not last. His shocked expression turned deadly, and the Earl shot his hand out across the slim space between them and gripped Amelia’s arm. His fingers dug into her flesh hard enough to bruise, and she winced.

“You will come with me as instructed, Your Grace.” Amelia fought to free her arm, but Isaac’s grip was iron. “OrI shall find no issue in locating the Duke and paying him a little…visit.”

Amelia’s thrashing slowed, her eyes locked on Isaac’s as he stared down at her—a madman intent on violence.

“What do you mean?” Her voice was small, and she cursed herself for how pathetic she sounded.

“Feigning ignorance doesn’t suit you well, Amelia. But,” he sighed, hauling her closer so that he could grab her face and whisper right at her, “if I must spell it out for you. The Viscount survived because I was interrupted. I shall not be so unprepared again. If you force my hand, I will ensure your husband is dead by bringing his tongue to you in a little box.”

Gagging, Amelia shrunk beneath Isaac’s towering presence. She may have doubted many of his words now, but these she did not. He spoke in earnest as he described killing Richard, and she could see the evil in his stare as he manhandled her so utterly.

This isn’t right! This must not be how things end. I will get out of here!

There was a moment of stillness from her, and Amelia waited to feel the grip on her relax, just enough for her to shake free. That was all that she required. It took Isaac several seconds of studying her while Amelia kept her stare pinned to the ground before the Earl’s fingers eased up on their painful control.

“That’s a good girl.”

He spoke to her like a dog, and at once, Amelia’s spirit was emboldened with rage. She lifted her foot only to slam it back down on top of Isaac’s. He reeled back with a screech, and Amelia pulled her arm free. There was no time to consider how fast they might be going, so despite the fact that this would be a rough landing, Amelia went straight for the carriage door.

---