Page 40 of Enchanted By the Lyon
Putting his horse into a gallop, he rounded the corner to Cassandra’s street. He saw there was far too much activity in front of her house for the situation inside to be good. He pulled sharply on the reins and dismounted before his horse came to a full stop in front of her townhouse. A lad came to take his horse and Lucius bounded up the walkway to the open door. He almost skidded on his heels as he took in the scene in the foyer.
A small pool of blood was on the marble floor and a part of him choked on the thought of Cassandra being injured. A woman crying in the front parlor made him rush inside hoping to see his lady but instead he found a maid, Higgins—who was holding a bloody cloth to his head, several law officers, and Constable Jones who looked up from the notes he was taking.
“Where’s Cassandra?” Lucius asked Higgins who appeared worried and frightened not his normal, put-together decorum.
“I heard a noise earlier and went to investigate and woke up on the foyer floor with a wounded head. Mrs. Vaughn has been taken, Lord Blackthorn, or so we are assuming since she wasn’t anywhere inside the house this morning,” Higgins answered obediently.
“Taken? How the devil was she abducted when she has Risley guarding her?” he bellowed, running his hand across the nape of his neck.
Constable Jones stepped forward to peer directly at him. “Mrs. Vaughn’s bodyguard is currently in his room with a nasty head injury. He hasn’t come to, so I have been unable to question him.”
“Someone should send for a doctor,” Lucius said with clenched teeth.
“I took the initiative to send a note for Dr. Thornberry. He should arrive shortly,” Higgins proclaimed while the maid continued to sob uncontrollably. “Do calm yourself, Fanny. You certainly won’t do our mistress any good working yourself into a fit.”
Fanny continued crying while covering her face in her hands.
“I find it interesting that one of your lovers has now gone missing, including the others who were nearly abducted recently,” the constable said to Lucius in a flat tone. “Very interesting.”
“First of all, Mrs. Vaughn is not my mistress. And secondly, you can’t honestly believe I had anything to do with this?” Lucius snapped in anger. “Perhaps instead of looking to me who is clearly being framed for crimes I didn’t commit, you should be investigating Forbes, Viscount Hollingsworth, along with Barlow Vaughn.”
Higgins nodded. “The viscount did recently have an altercation with Mrs. Vaughn at her old townhouse on the other side of the city.”
Lucius began to pace. There was no reason, at this point, not to tell the constable of the investigation he began months ago. “You can contact my private investigator, Thomas Smythe. He can confirm that I hired him to look into Mr. Vaughn swindling Cassandra out of the inheritance after her husband’s death.”
Constable Jones nodded and put the name on the paper he was scribbling on. “I’ll look into it. In the meantime, you need to come down to the station with me so I can interrogate you further. You’re still my prime suspect.” He nodded to two of the officers in the room who stepped forward.
“You can’t be serious,” Lucius protested. “I need to help find Cassandra.”
“You can help her by either confessing or revealing all the information you have about her past. That might help mewith my investigation until I can interview her guard, who was probably the last person to see her,” Constable Jones proclaimed. “Take him away.”
Lucius began to put up a fight as the two officers took him by the arms and began leading him out of Cassandra’s house. They were pulling him down the walkway when Asher and Patience arrived. They dismounted and came running toward them.
“What the devil is going on here?” Asher bellowed, pulling Patience close to his side.
Lucius struggled to no avail but shouted orders at the couple. “Have Patience see if she can help revive Risley, and for the love of God, have my attorney meet me at the station.”
Lucius was thrown into a wagon with bars. A lock clicked into place, and he began to worry whether or not Cassandra was alive and uninjured.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Cassandra slowly openedher eyes. It felt as though they were being held closed by heavy weights. Her head spun and she swiftly shut her eyes again until her world began to right itself. It took her several deep breaths before she made a second attempt to open her eyes and when she did, she was in unfamiliar surroundings. It appeared as if she were inside a cottage made from logs, but it was completely unknown to her.
She tried to stand and discovered that her legs and arms were tied to a chair. What was going on?
Shaking her head to try and clear the cobwebs and force her brain to start working again, she finally remembered Barlow’s face in front of her own before he put something over her mouth and nose. But there was more wasn’t there? Her brow furrowed as she tried to make her mind wake up from her drugged state. Her eyes suddenly widened as the realization of what happened became clear. Risley! Risley had been hurt and had been lying on the floor!
A door on the far side of the room opened and she gasped as she witnessed who had been here with her.
“You!” she shouted as Viscount Hollingsworth came into her vision.
“Ahh… you’re finally awake. I told Barlow to not use so much of that liquid to knock you out. Thought you were a goner hours ago,” Forbes sneered while he came to stand in front of her. He crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ll untie you to go see to your needs in the other room but just so you know, you won’t be crawling out a window to make your escape, they’ve been nailed shut.”
“What is the meaning of this, Forbes? How dare you abduct me from my home!” she snarled in outrage.
“Tsk, tsk, my pet. Is that any way to talk to someone who holds the little bit of freedom I’m willing to grant you? I don’t give a damn if you relieve yourself or not, so you best sweeten your tone.”
“You bastard,” she snapped while squirming in her chair to attempt to loosen the rope tying her in place.
