Johanna Lindsay - The Heir

She was surprised and hopeful, hearing that. "He knows where to look then?"

"No' really," he said, disappointing her. "He didna like sitting aboot doing nothing while Neville's people searched, sae he's gone hisself. No' that he's likely tae find her, and he knows it. There's just no' enough time afore the wedding."

"I suppose not." She managed to keep from sighing.

"I wanted tae simply postpone it m'self, but Neville seems tae think that any prevaricating on our part will start the scandal brewing."

"Then you must hope he gets lucky."

"A slim hope. But if he does manage tae get oout o' this predicament and is back tae looking for a bride, I've a feeling he will be asking ye tae wed."

Sabrina blinked. "Me?"

"Aye, but it would be for the wrong reasons, ye ken? He wants ye near tae hand is all. He showed how far he's willing tae go tae hae ye near, by bringing ye tae the gathering, e'en though it brought Ophelia as well. He'd move ye intae Summers Glade if it werena inappropriate. I'm thinking he'd marry ye just tae get ye there permanently. He values yer friendship that much. But it is only that. Dinna let him fool ye intae thinking there's more tae his feelings. Ye'd both sorely regret it if ye do."

Sabrina prayed she could hold back her emotions for just another few moments, until she could escape from this unwanted conversation. She'd heard the first time what Archibald had said, that Duncan had assured him that she was just a friend. She had put it from her mind when he said it, because to think about it was to rip her heart apart yet again. Yet he'd just thrust it into the open once more, where she couldn't possibly ignore it now. A friend. She was only a friend. She'd never be more than a friend.

"You are creating worries over something that has little chance of ever occurring, when the wedding is only two days away."

"True." He sighed. "And m'apologies, lass, for feeling a need tae warn ye—just in case. Ye will come tae the wedding, aye?"

Sit there and watch Duncan and Ophelia be joined forever more? No way in hell, which had her lying yet again, though evasively this time.

"I'm sure everyone who receives an invitation will be in attendance. Now I really must get home. My aunts didn't expect me to be gone this long and will begin to worry ..."

She didn't hear his second sigh as she hurried off. Archibald was already regretting what he'd said to

her. He didn't doubt any of it, he just realized, belatedly, that he had put the cart before the horse. There'd been no reason to warn her of anything, when Duncan was likely to marry the other girl. If he was saved from that, then that would have been the time to do any warning, not beforehand.

The letter arrived the next afternoon. It completely confounded Sabrina. She really did think it was a joke. It was just too farcical. If someone of consequence was going to be ransomed, why for only forty pounds? Forty thousand pounds, she might have taken seriously, even just several thousand, but a mere forty pounds, and such an odd number at that? It had to be a joke.

Unfortunately, she couldn't just ignore it. She wasn't even sure that the person who signed the letter was actually that person. If it was a joke, then it wouldn't be the real person who'd sent it. But she had no other correspondence from that individual to compare it with. So on the farfetched chance that the letter was legitimate, she had to act on it.

She showed the letter to her aunts, of course.

The sender might have requested that she tell no one, but she couldn't just leave home without letting them know why.

They both agreed it had to be a joke, and one in very poor taste. But they were certainly eager for a little adventure, even if it was only a waste of time, and thus their coachman was summoned from Oxbow where he lived and the three of them set off late that afternoon.

They knew they couldn't actually go all the way with her, because of the instructions that only Sabrina was to show up with the money. But they pointed out that she couldn't travel alone, and they did want to be nearby to find out soonest who had perpetuated the joke.

Sabrina didn't see it as an adventure, but she did see it as a good excuse for why she wouldn't be at the wedding tomorrow morning, since it was highly doubtful that they would return in time for it. Even if they turned right about after confirming that the letter was just a farce, they wouldn't get back home until very late at night, or rather the wee hours of the morning, thus she'd be sleeping through the latter hours—and right through the wedding.

They arrived after dark, which was why they had trouble finding the address given in the letter. There weren't many people out and about at that time of the evening whom they could ask, and they were twice given wrong directions from the few who were. It was near midnight when they did finally locate the residence.

Alice and Hilary were going to wait in the coach, close to hand. The letter stressed that Sabrina must come alone so no one would get hurt, but they absolutely refused to just leave her there. And she was to scream very loudly if she needed help. Mickie, their coachman, had been apprised of their task and had brought along a pistol as well as a very nasty-looking club. For that matter, Sabrina's aunts each had a weapon as well. She had managed to keep from laughing when she'd seen them tuck the very small pair of matching pistols, one each, into their reticules before they left home.

All the precautions were silly in her opinion, though. She fully expected to find the house vacant, or another letter waiting for her on the porch laughing at her foolishness in coming there. The utter darkness inside the dwelling supported that contention. Not a single light, not even a dull one, showed at any of the windows. And it was a nice looking house, two stories in height, not overly large, but no small cottage either. Hardly the setting one would imagine for nefarious deeds like holding people captive for ransom.

There was no letter on the porch. She tried the front door, but it was locked. As it should be for an empty house, she told herself. She thought about going around to the back to see if there was another door that might be open, but figured she'd probably trip on something in the dark, and besides, she wasn't exactly trying to keep the fact that she was there a secret. So she knocked on the door, quite briskly. The sooner it was confirmed that no one was in the house, the sooner she and her aunts could return home.

The door opened. That was Sabrina's first surprise. The second was being yanked inside and hearing the door close behind her. It was still utterly dark, but she could hear a lot of breathing and feet shuffling. And then there was light when a cover was removed from a lantern. The lantern had yet another cover on it, thinner, though, so it wasn't very bright, just bright enough to see by.

She was surrounded, literally, by four men. She had to turn about to have a look at them all. She wasn't impressed, though she had to admit that the letter she had received might not be a joke after all.

They were a ragtag bunch, clothes in ill repair, three of them so skinny she had to wonder if they might not be used to eating on a regular basis. They were unkempt, dirty even, which suggested baths might be as irregular as meals. Their ages could have ranged anywhere from younger than her to her aunts' age—it was hard to tell under all the filth.

The fourth man was a bit different, at least he had made an effort to look presentable. He was clean, in his mid-twenties, his hair slicked back and long enough to be clubbed at the neck. His clothes were in better repair, too, though they weren't good quality to begin with. And he didn't look like he was starving, cut a fine figure, actually. He was also the only one out of the four who wasn’t pointing a pistol at her. Those other three weapons, quickly noted, was why she remained silent for the moment.