Page 105 of In Search of a Husband
She spun around, shielding the girls as the marquess threw a punch at one of the men barreling at him from the forest’s edge.
And then a hand reached around her wrist and tightened in a crushing grip, hauling her forward. She stumbled, tripping over a stone in the field. Kate looked over her shoulder, her heart drumming in her ears as she willed her body to move faster.
He wouldn’t touch those girls.
No more harm would come to Elsie.
She sent her elbow back into the face of one of Duncan’s men, hearing the satisfying crunch of bone until a boot plowed into her hip, and she collided hard onto the ground. She clawed at the earth as she was dragged backward.
“Nae one tells me nae, lass. He’ll stop if I kill ye.”
CHAPTER 28
Oscar pacedthe water’s edge, trotting over the stones and yipping as Gabriel burst through the freezing water to wash himself and put his mind back in order.
But it was later in the afternoon, and his heart was sore, and his mood was well past sour. He was convinced with each passing moment that he had made a grave mistake by giving up Kate so easily.
No, nothing about it had been easy.
Sitting there at his desk as he had, speaking so callously, acting as if it meant nothing to dismiss her and watch as her world crumbled at his hands.
He had done that.
His fear.
He was the coward, not Kate.
“I’m an arse, Oscar.”
The giant dog circled the rocky shore, plopped onto its rear, then tilted his head as if puzzling Gabriel out.
Nothing made sense to him either.
He flexed his arms, attempting to shake off the stiffness that had settled in after the fights last evening. His knuckles were split out and his hands swollen. His head throbbed, though that was likely onaccount of the whisky and not from the few uppercuts that had snuck past him.
Gabriel slapped the surface of the water, cursing himself for being the biggest eejit in Scotland. There was nothing honorable about dismissing Kate so she could return to London with her parents and that damn blackguard who ruined her.
She didn’t wish to go, yet he told her she must. He was just as bad as her parents.
If she married that man, he was certain he would lose his mind.
“Come,” he barked at the dog who followed close at his heels. Gabriel strode back to the house as the afternoon sun sank lower into the sky, summoning the night. A lonely night. A night without her laugh, or her smile, or hearing her sing and dance in the music room with the girls, or giggling with Elsie.
In a few quick months, she had swept in and left her mark on his life, and he feared there wouldn’t be much that didn’t serve as a reminder of what he had done. But loving her, keeping her, meant only loving her for a few years, perhaps. He didn’t wish to be a burden on her or to break her heart. Though, inadvertently, he had done just that.
“I should write her,” he said to himself. Oscar looked up at him with big dark eyes as if agreeing. “Damn it,” he muttered.
As he approached the castle, he found it odd that it was quiet. The castle was never quiet. Something tugged at his chest, some dark-seated worry. Oscar plopped down on his hind legs beside Gabriel and waited. He hadn’t slept in two days now, and perhaps he just needed some rest.
Suddenly, Oscar’s ears turned toward the drive. He could hear something as well, a horse galloping full speed. The dog stood at attention, then raced toward the noise. The damn dog would be trampled by a horse going that speed. Gabriel yelled for Oscar to stop, then he himself froze as he saw the marquess on horseback, racing up to meet him.
“Where’s Kate?”
“I need your help,” he said. “A group of men took your sister, your nieces, and Kate is gone as well.”
Gabriel strode over to the horse, grabbed the man by his shirt, and neatly pulled him off, setting him to stand up as if he were a marionette. “What do you mean? Took them?” he growled.
The marquess looked up at Gabriel, his eyes wide, uncertain. “We were leaving the village when Kate noticed something by the forest edge. Then the carriage stopped, and the driver went quiet. Kate rushed out, and I followed. When she went through the tall grass, she found Elsie with a nasty gash on her head and a rag tied around her mouth. She wouldn’t wake up, and the girls were lying in the grass, their mouths gagged as well. I attempted to help Elsie when a man walked out of the forest, threatened Kate, then dragged her away as more men came out and attacked me.”
