Page 56 of The Lady Who Said No to the Duke
It wavered back towards them and Hal saw Thea fumbling under her skirts.
‘You fool, you haven’t even cocked it,’ she said in a voice of scorn, standing straight again with something in her hand.
The weapon dipped as Linton looked down at it and she struck with some kind of dagger, plunging it into his right forearm.
Linton screamed, dropped the pistol.By some miracle, it did not go off.
Hal left the others to secure Linton and the gun.Thea just stood staring at him, the weapon in her hand dripping blood.
‘Come, Lady Macbeth, give me that dagger,’ he said, hoping the teasing tone would cut through her shock.
She shook her head, dropped it on the table, and he saw it was just a long splinter of wood.‘You came for me.’
‘I will always—’
‘Where is she?Where is my daughter?’
‘Papa?’
The Earl came barging into the room, sending Dudley, who had been standing by the door, staggering.‘Thea!’He stared around the room at the four men: Hal by Thea, Dudley steadying himself on the bedpost, Porchester kneeling beside Linton, who was sprawled on the floor moaning.
‘Who is the swine who took you?’
‘Randolph Linton,’ Thea said, gesturing towards the floor.‘He lured me into the garden wing of the Dowager’s conservatory, overpowered me, bundled me into a carriage and drove me here.I was tied up and gagged but I havenotbeen harmed in any other way,’ she added with some emphasis.
‘Sit down, Thea.’Hal took her arm and steered her away from the man on the floor and towards a chair.He nodded towards Dudley.‘Sir, this is Mr Dudley, from Yorkshire, who has a matter of honour to satisfy with Linton.He joined us when we realised that Lady Thea was missing and together we followed him here.’
‘Here, take this chair, my lord.’Dudley pushed one towards Lord Wiveton.‘This has been a most anxious time for you.You are most timely in your arrival.’
‘Followed you,’ the older man snapped.‘My coachman may recover one day.Says he’s never driven so hard for so long in all his life.’
He took a deep breath and glowered at them all equally.‘Well, which of you is it to be?One of you has to marry her now.’
‘Papa!’
‘I am betrothed,’ Dudley stated hastily.‘Not that I would not be… Not that my station in life…’ He fell silent.
Linton half lifted himself from the floor, muttered something about doing the right thing and Porchester trod on his hand.With a gasp, he subsided again.
‘I would be honoured,’ Porchester declared.‘Lady Thea has my deepest respect and admiration.’
‘To the devil with that,’ Hal said.
Over Thea’s protest of, ‘ButI am not ruined!I do notneedto marry anyone.’
‘I have been betrothed to Lady Thea for almost her entire life.We have, perhaps, not seen eye to eye on the subject of marriage recently, but under the circumstances I am certain she sees the necessity of accepting my hand.’
Lord Wiveton looked considerably happier.
‘Now, look here, Leamington,’ Porchester said.‘If the lady does not wish to marry you, then that closes the matter.’
‘I do not want to marry any of you.’Thea surged to her feet.‘I do not need to marry anyone.How often do I have to repeat thatnothing happened?’
‘For which we must be truly grateful,’ Wiveton said.‘You gentlemen have done us a great service.However, it appears that the Dowager thought all her guests had left, but this was not the case.When I arrived, she and my wife informed me of what had occurred while we were in the main conservatory.I expressed myself loudly in my agitation and two people emerged from one of the garden wings.Theysaidthey had been lost in admiration of the statuary and had not noticed the time.’
‘Who was it?’Hal asked.
‘Lady Severns and a Mr Cosgrove.I understand that he is her…er…’
