Page 81 of The Duke and the Scarred Bride

Percival shook his head. There was no way he could leave saving Louisa in their hands. She would be frightened, and if she didn’t see a familiar face, she might not truly recover from the ordeal. He didn’t want her to be haunted by the nightmares she was sure to have after something as traumatic as this.

“I have to go with you,” he insisted. “I need to make sure that my wife is all right. I won’t interfere, but do not forget that I am a retired soldier.”

The Captain muttered under his breath, then gave silent orders to his men, who followed him at a safe distance.

Percival turned to Diana and put a hand on her arm, stopping her. “I think you should wait here, Miss Diana,” he advised. “We do not know what we’ll be walking into, and I do not want you to get hurt. I will get Louisa back.”

Diana shook her head stubbornly, reminding him so much of her sister. She even had the same stubborn look in her eyes.

“Do not try to stop me, Your Grace,” she argued. “I want to help my sister just as much as you do.”

“It will be dangerous.”

“I do know that, but Louisa braved danger to save our sister,” she said with a smile. “I think it’s time someone braves danger for her.”

Percival nodded. “Stay close to me, but at the first sign of danger, I want you to run. Louisa won’t forgive me if I let you get hurt.”

They approached the warehouse slowly, their steps quiet against the wet grass surrounding the building. The closer they got, the harder Percival’s heart beat in his chest.

I’m coming to you, my darling.

He sent a silent message to her even though he knew she wouldn’t hear it.

Please, help me save her.

He prayed for the first time in a while.

He peered through the window in front of him and spotted Louisa sitting in a chair, her hands and feet tied, facing in his direction. A man was standing in front of her, his silhouette vaguely familiar. Percival squinted, trying to see if there were other people in the warehouse.

They seemed to be talking, and Louisa looked otherwise unharmed. Relief flooded him as he saw the stubborn set of her shoulders.

He moved silently towards the side of the building and peered through another window, but there were no other people visible from this angle. He was about to step away from the window when a beam of light fell on the man’s face. His eyes widened in shock as he took in the face of the man he had once considered a friend.

Eli was standing before Louisa, glaring down at her, but Percival couldn’t hear what was being said. He stumbled back from the window in shock.

Why would Eli kidnap Louisa?

“Your Grace, we found a way to get into the building without endangering the Duchess,” the Captain told him. “I’ve told my men to?—”

“No, this is personal. I will save my wife.”

“Your Grace, it is our job to?—”

“And she is my wife,” Percival spat, but then he remembered to keep his voice down. “I have to do this myself.”

He didn’t wait for permission and moved towards the gap in the wall they had found, slipping through it quietly. He could hear their voices better now, but he waited for the perfect time to move. He sincerely hoped Eli didn’t have a weapon. That would complicate things more.

He racked his brain, trying to come up with an explanation for his half-brother’s madness.

“You think they would have welcomed me with open arms? The spotless sons of the Colborne dynasty were more comfortable meeting me in the obscure corners of this city, treating me like a dirty secret to be hidden. They are the ones who were supposed to be secrets. I am the eldest. I would have inherited the dukedom if my whore of a mother had played her cards right. My father had the audacity not to claim me, to leave meto the mercy of the wretched, vindictive man who raised me as his son. I will never forget.”

Percival made sure to keep his steps soft and silent as he approached them. The task was extremely difficult, as some of the wooden floorboards were old and prone to creak, but he was grateful that Eli was so caught up in his rant that he didn’t seem to hear anything beyond the words spewing out of his lips.

“I don’t know who started the rumours that Percival was dead, but I was grateful for it.” Percival heard him laugh. “Michael went crazy trying to get information from the army, and in that desperation, I saw he was no longer fit for the title. He was so mad with grief that he often drank himself into oblivion, and I stood by, comforting him but biding my time. Somehow, the Duke had only birthed weak sons. But it didn’t matter. My title was just within my grasp, and it was almost too easy.”

Percival frowned as he tried to process the shock of Eli’s betrayal. The more he listened, the angrier he became. But with the knife pointed towards Louisa, he didn’t want to push the man to hurt her with any rash movements on his part.

So, Eli had had a hand in Michael’s death, after all.

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