Page 88 of Never a Bride
Alex secured a private room for their meal, then whispered in her ear that he was dangerously low on funds. Luckily, she had enough coins in the purse at her waist.
It seemed to take forever, but soon there was hot porridge and apple cider and warm bread spread out before them. Emmeline had only taken one spoonful of porridge, when the door was suddenly thrown open and two plainly dressed men blocked the entrance.
Even as their faces struck a chord in her memory, Alex surged to his feet and stepped before her. She couldn’t help leaning sideways to see.
In the sudden silence, she said, “You’re the men who attacked Alex at the Rooster.”
They pushed the door shut behind them, and the affronted anger in their faces was proof of the truth.
Alex said, “You obviously know who I am, but I am at a loss as to why you’ve been pursuing me.”
It seemed almost comic when the taller kidnapper pulled the hat from his head as he said, “I’m Kenneth Langston, and this is my brother Harold. Do you recognize our name, Thornton? Because you’ve dishonored it.”
“Then I don’t owe you money?”
The younger brother spat on the floor at Alex’s feet, while Kenneth said, “Money will not solve your problem. Our family’s honor is at risk, and we won’t allow that.”
“Enough with the riddles and the stalking,” Alex said. “Just tell me what I’ve supposedly done.”
“You have dishonored our innocent sister, and now you’re going to marry her.”
Nausea swept through Emmeline, and she gripped the edge of the table until slivers pricked her fingers. She desperately wanted him to deny it.
Instead, he asked, “What is your sister’s name?”
“Elizabeth.”
“Common enough,” he said with a shake of his head. “Gentlemen, since her face does not come to mind, I won’t know the truth until I see her.”
Emmeline closed her eyes as disappointment suffused her. She’d thought his mistresses were willing and experienced. Surely, he did not regularly seek to ruin maidens.
Or had she imagined she was the only one, somehow special to him?
She didn’t know what to believe anymore, only that she’d thought she could be the one to change him. Instead there was another girl out there who must have thought the same thing.
The two brothers stepped forward menacingly. “You’re coming to Lincolnshire with us, to face our family and the law—and then our pastor.”
“I think not,” Alex said lightly. “I’ll meet the girl in London.”
“You’ve already met,” said Harold as his hand settled on the hilt of his sword.
“I’m not convinced of that.”
Alex widened his stance, blocking her from them. Then she heard the door slam open. She peered beneath Alex’s bent arm and saw Edmund Blackwell filling almost every bit of the doorframe.
“Alex, you couldn’t share a meal with the common folk, now could—” He broke off when he saw their visitors.
“Your sword!” Alex shouted.
Emmeline was suddenly pushed into the corner. She turned to see Alex pull the knife from his boot as the Langston brothers drew their swords with a sharp scrape of metal on metal. The four men came together, then fell through the door and into the main taproom of the inn.
With a cheer, four other patrons joined the fight that degenerated into a brawl. Emmeline stood in the doorway and clutched the frame, trying to keep Alex in her sight. When he finally came up for air, she heaved a sigh.
Puzzled, he looked about him. “Edmund, where did the Langston brothers go?”
Edmund shook two men off him and stood up. “I don’t know.”
Somehow, in the confusion of the crowd, the Langstons had fled.
