If He's Noble (Wherlocke Book 7) (Paranormal Historical Romance) (13 page)

“That is what I think, Morris.” She frowned. “Is that all of your name? No sir before it or anything?”

“Actually, I am Lord Morris Wherlocke. A viscount. Will step up when, and pray it is not soon, my father dies.”

“Oh, I am sorry then, m’lord.”

“No need to be. The Wherlockes actually have more than their fair share of titles. When we are together we tend to toss them aside or we would be m’lording ourselves to death.”

“Is there a plan to get Bened back?”

The silence that greeted her question made Primrose uneasy. It would be six against three—if they counted her and she suspected she would need to force them to do so. Not good odds. Not unless they could come up with a way to winnow that down until it was at least even.

“We were going to plot it out as we ate,” said Bevan, and Morris nodded slowly.

“Then we had best get started,” she said, and ignored the look they exchanged. When neither of them did just that, she offered, “The only thing I could think of is that we need a plan to knock down the six men to at least three. Much more favorable odds.”

Bevan nodded. “You have a good grasp of strategy. I am just not sure how we can do it without bringing too much attention to ourselves or causing your aunt to act against my brother too quickly.”

“Then we have to do it as stealthily as possible.”

It was a challenge and they quickly took it up. In some ways it was all done to keep her from joining in the rescue of Bened. She knew they wished her to stay right where she was alone, in the dark, safe. That was not something she intended to do and so she intended to hear all of their plan. If she could participate in any way, she would, and, if not, she would find another way to do so. Bened had helped her and she intended to repay that in the best way she could. He did not deserve to suffer at the hands of her mad aunt.

She smiled when Boudicca rushed over to sit on her lap and both men frowned at the dog. Men did not much like tiny dogs and poor Boudicca was going to be tinier than most. The dog looked at Morris, curled her lip, and snarled in a deep tone. Morris looked startled and Bevan laughed heartily.

“Ferocious little thing,” Morris said.

“I suspect she will always do her best to protect me since I saved her from drowning.” She patted the dog’s head and gave it a piece of her roasted chicken. “We need to make some decisions quickly as he cannot sleep much longer. They will wake him if he does.”

“Then we best make our plans. I do not suppose we can convince you to just wait here.”

“No, so best come up with something I can do. I know how to use a pistol.”

“First, we get rid of as many of her men as we can. Then, we need to try to get into the room where Bened is from as many ways as we can. There is a window and one door so the choices are few. To the house there are two doors and a window in each room.”

“I can get in the window,” said Bevan.

Primrose listened to the plans and soon thought they had a chance. If they had a few more people, they would have an even better one but she would take a nice gift of luck if she had to. While they tried to make a plan that would give her something to do yet not be in too much danger, she tried to think of where she could keep her dog.

 

 

Simeon was pleased to see the woman moving with her previous grace when they slipped out of the house to get their horses. “I realized we have not introduced ourselves. I am Lord Simeon Wootten of Willow Hill. And you?”

“Lilybet Wherlocke of here.” She glanced back at the building they had just left. “My parents bought this and were doing well. Too well. It stirred jealousy. It cost them their lives. If I had not been so young, it might have cost me my life as well but a cousin of my father’s arrived and took over. Since then I have been no more than a maid. So, I found my mother’s birth name and took that for myself. I had no wish to be a Foddam.”

“Ah. Relatives can be a curse. It is my aunt and uncle who are causing me and my sister such grief. I think a lot of that stems from jealousy as well. That and greed.” Seeing how she continued to stare sadly at her home, he said quietly, “But you still need to leave. My aunt will not leave you alive. Those men could return at any time.”

“I intend to leave but I am uncertain of where to go.”

“Find your mother’s people?”

“It is a thought. Let us get you to your uncle first.”

He nodded and mounted his horse. They were a few miles away by the time the sun came up and he relaxed. Not only was he back on the road to his uncle’s but he had gotten his rescuer away as well. If he could just find his aunt and make her pay for the things she had done, he would be a happy man.

By midday he could see that she needed to rest and began to search out a place for them to stop. He took one look at the village below the hill they sat on and frowned. The village was too quiet and he was certain that was his aunt’s carriage in the inn yard near the stables. Simeon signaled to Lilybet and drew her back down the hill on the side away from the village.

“There is a bad feeling to that place,” Lilybet said.

“I think it has been taken over by crooks and smugglers. River pirates and all that. Not that well read on the criminal class but what there is out here in the country are the sort holding that town. I am certain of it. We will find a little clearing to take a rest in.”

Wondering why a man would think he could learn about criminals just by reading about them, Lilybet said, “Aye, we must and there is one just through those trees.” She abruptly grinned at him. “Come along.”

Since she looked so pleased, he did not complain but followed her into the trees. He had followed her for only a few minutes before he heard a voice he knew as well as his own. A glance at Lilybet told him she had known Primrose was close. Simeon’s pleasure suddenly faded as he feared Lilybet would now go off on her own and she was not safe, any more than he was, while Augusta was still alive.

“Nay, I will not leave yet. Being with you is what will lead me to my mother’s family.”

“Well, always happy to be a useful fellow.”

Lilybet laughed. “I suspect many find you very useful for a lot of things. Let us go meet your sister. She has been searching for you.”

 

 

“I need to find someplace to put my dog so she is safe while we do this,” said Primrose.

“Safest place would be with you, sister dear,” said a deep voice from the edge of the clearing.

Primrose’s heart leapt so hard and fast she had to put her hand over it as she spun around and looked at the two riders at the edge of the clearing. Simeon looked far less elegant than he usually did and rather tired. The pretty black-haired woman next to him looked as if she badly needed to rest. Primrose set the basket down and ran to her brother’s side even as he dismounted. She immediately noticed his wince when she hugged him, however, and stood back a little to look him over.

“You are hurt,” she said. “Did they get hold of you?”

“For a short while but I escaped and this kind woman hid me from them,” said Simeon as he held out his hand and assisted Lilybet in dismounting. “This is Lilybet Wherlocke. She paid dearly for her kindness to a desperate man for they came after her as well. Aunt has her cane rods with her.”

“A Wherlocke?” asked Morris, studying Lilybet closely. “Yes, I can see it now.”

“My mother said we shared a certain look about us,” said Lilybet. “We can discuss that later, if you would be so kind, but you must get that man out of there. That woman seeks information on her niece and she will use any means she can to get him to give it to her.”

“Bened would never . . .” began Primrose, and ignored the sharp look her brother gave her over her familiar use of the man’s name.

“Nay, he would not and that is why you must get him out of there quickly. She will see that she needs more than her cursed rod and get her man who is so good with a knife.”

“You need to rest,” Simeon said. “I think you could use some salve on your wounds as well.”

“I have some and mayhap you can help me put some on when you return.” Lilybet slowly seated herself beneath a tree.

“Of course I will.” Primrose set the basket with her dog next to the woman, worried about how pale she looked. “Could you watch my dog for me?”

“I would be happy to. Now, go and get him away from that woman who is nothing but a curse for your family.”

A sharp pain stabbed repeatedly in the back of Bened’s head as the darkness faded from his mind. Then he cursed. The dryness in his mouth and throat told him he had been unconscious for a long time. Someone had gotten behind him and he had not realized it until too late. He knew why he had missed the warning as well. He had been so concerned about the enemy getting to Primrose that they had managed to get to him. It was a bad time to find out that his gift had a weak spot.

As he surveyed the room he was trapped in, his next clear thought was that Primrose was alone in the wood in the dark and he would not be there to ease her fear. From what he could see out the window he was not in the small inn, he was in one of the cottages. He could see the backs of the village buildings through the window. He hoped the people who had allowed Augusta to use their home were still alive and, if so, were getting as far away as they could.

The next thing he noticed was that he was naked, wrist and ankles tied to a chair. Being naked did not trouble him much. Having been a soldier for a few years, he had lost all modesty a long time ago. Being naked and tied so firmly to a chair was something worth worrying about. He did not think a man could be much more vulnerable. There were a few reasons someone would keep a captive in such a condition and none of them were good ones.

Bened gritted his teeth and tested the strength of his bonds. He hissed at the sting when the rope cut into his flesh but now he could move a few fingers just enough to pluck at the knots. If he could just get one hand loose, he could untie himself quickly, perhaps even quickly enough to flee before his captors returned.

That small hope was crushed when the door opened and Augusta Wootten walked in. Behind her was a taller, thin man with a narrow face and a head full of silver hair. The man’s eyes widened as he stared in shock when he saw Bened.

“M’lady, this man is naked!”

“I am quite aware of that, Jenson,” said Augusta. “Please move that chair over here and set it in front of him.”

“But . . .”

“Jenson! Do as I say. Sweet mercy, you old fool, I have been married for many years. And there are sound reasons for forcing a prisoner to remain naked. Humiliating him is but one of those.”

“Ah, well,” Bened said as Jenson set out a far more comfortable chair for Augusta than he was tied to at the moment and she took her seat as if she was ready to be served tea. “I was a soldier for a few years. Lose all sense of modesty in that work. ’Tis a luxury a soldier cannot afford.”

“Listen, Vaughn . . .”

“Sir,” Bened said. “’Tis Sir Vaughn, ma’am. I earned that knighthood and the baronetcy and I would appreciate it if you used the right address.”

“Would you, now? Well,
Sir
, where is my niece?”

He shrugged and then kept his face as free of expression as he could when Augusta held her hand out and Jenson paced a thick cane rod in it. There was reluctance in every move the man made. Bened just wished the man’s reluctance had caused him to refuse to help the woman.

She slowly stood up, lightly caressing the length of the rod, and, before he could fully prepare himself, lashed out. The force of the blow across his shoulders made him grunt softly but he knew the true pain of it would come later. Bened suddenly wondered if the woman had caned Primrose that way. When she struck again he held back even the grunt of pain as she caned him three times right across the chest. The woman had surprising strength behind her blows.

“As I thought, you are made of hardier stock than most,” Augusta said.

“Hardier than whom?”

“Than that foolish girl in the last village for one. But, I suspected you would be in need of a heavier hand than I, a mere woman, could ever apply. I believe that Carl and his knives are needed.”

Watching her leave, Bened shook his head and, as soon as the door shut behind her, said to Jenson, “That is a woman who should have been chained in Bedlam years ago.”

“I think I would have preferred her to be shot,” said Jenson. “She could have escaped Bedlam.”

Seeing how pale Jenson was made Bened want to ask just what Carl could do with his knives, but he bit back the question. “True. She trusts you to not let me go, does she?”

“She does. I could not go against her before because it would put at risk everyone I care about but a young girl recently told me that I must, so I am to find my spine and just do it. I must save you.” The man hurried behind Bened, crouched down, and began to untie the ropes around his ankles.

“Stay calm,” said Bened when he could feel the trembling of the man’s fingers.

Jenson moved to untie his wrist from the arm of the chair. “She threatened my brother and his whole family. Then she threatened my precious little girl. I sinned, you see, and she was born but her mother died. My brother and his wife care for her while I work. I never thought that wretched evil woman would even notice such things.”

“She is working on a long plan, Jenson. An old one and has the patience and tenacity to keep at it.” Once his arm was free, Bened untied his other wrist by himself and happily accepted his clothes from a pale Jenson. “She has been working on it since the day the baron married another woman and not her. She took the second son but has always planned to be the baroness, to have the manor and all that comes with it.”

“Her ladyship and the babe she carried . . .”

Bened nodded, wincing as he donned his shirt. “And she may have killed the baron as well. Hello, Bevan,” he said as his brother climbed in through the window.

“Almost shot that bitch, but she stopped before I could bring myself to kill a woman,” said Bevan.

The sound of shots being fired made Bened start for the door but Bevan grabbed him by the arm. “Best to give them some time.”

“And who are
them?”

“Your lady, Morris . . .”

“Primrose is shooting people?!”

Bevan hurried after Bened as he stormed out the door. “I do not believe she is out there killing anyone. We just planned to keep the men busy while I got you out of here and I do not think charging out the front where the shooting is is the best way to go.”

“There must be a back door.”

Even as they started to the back of the house they heard someone rush in through the front door. They ducked back inside the room Bened had just been released from and waited. It annoyed Bened to hide but he was wise enough to know an unarmed man did not stride out into the middle of a lot of people shooting at one another. He had to wait until things quieted down and pray that Primrose came out of it all unharmed.

 

 

Primrose did not need any more urging, nodded in complete agreement with Lilybet’s words, patted Boudicca on the head for luck, and followed her brother and the other men. Bevan had slipped away earlier to go around to the window of the room Augusta had put Bened in while she, Morris, and Simeon now sneaked up on the men who were proving to be very lax in their guard on the house, laughing and drinking ale as they lounged in the shade. Perhaps they thought there was no threat to worry about now that Augusta had Bened but she was pleased to be a part of proving them wrong. Just as they had discussed on the way, they spread themselves out in the trees in the hope of making the men think there were more attackers than there actually were.

Primrose took a deep breath and fired the first shot, hitting one man in the shoulder. She loaded her pistol as Morris shot another. As Morris reloaded, Simeon fired. Her aunt’s men fired wildly back and Primrose could feel her heart pounding with fear so hard and fast she was surprised she could catch her breath as she fired again and got a man in the leg. With four men wounded, the others decided leaving was the best plan but then Augusta suddenly walked out of the house. Primrose could see her brother take aim at the woman but Augusta was no fool. She heard the gunfire, saw her wounded men running away, and raced back inside the house just as Simeon fired. His shot hit the side of the door just as her skirts cleared it.

Seeing that her aunt’s men were completely intent on getting themselves away, Primrose raced for the house. Shots echoed behind her and she hoped none of her people had been hurt as she struggled to find her aunt inside the warren of a house. The slam of a door drew her gaze to the far back of the house, and she ran that way as fast as she could only to look out the door and see the figure of her aunt disappearing down the lane toward the inn.

Deciding she would never catch up, Primrose went looking for Bened and found Morris and Simeon instead. “She escaped out the back, Simeon, and I last saw her going for her carriage.”

“Then her men were right to run or she would leave them behind,” said Simeon.

“And we are very lucky that they did not find what she was offering worth fighting hard for, not when half their number got wounded so quickly. Fine shooting, Primrose,” said Morris.

“Thank you but I think I would rather not recall it right now. Have never shot a man. Never even shot an animal.” She looked around the surprisingly large house. “I need to find Bened now.”

“Then you are in luck for there he is.”

Primrose saw Bened striding toward her with Bevan right behind him and a man she recognized as Jenson hurrying to keep up. She ran toward him and he caught her up in his arms. Despite her joy over his apparent good health she felt him wince a little and stepped back, holding his arms as she looked him over.

“They hurt you,” she said, “but I cannot see where.”

“A few slaps with a cane and an aching head from the blow that took me down. I will be fine.”

“Well, I will be sure to look over both things if only to put some salve on those cane wounds.”

She hugged him again, careful to do so gently. Bened held her close and looked over her head at the others. A man with guinea gold hair and strikingly blue eyes glared at him and Bened sighed. It appeared Simeon had been found. Although Bened was pleased for her and very pleased he had been rescued himself, he was sorely disappointed at the fact that there would be no more long, sweet nights of lovemaking.

 

 

Primrose finished tending the cane marks on Lilybet’s back and sat on her heels to clean off her hands. “She did a nasty job on you. You must have made her very angry.”

“I did. Had no intention of telling her what she wanted to know. Did find that I can lie beautifully when inspired, though.” Lilybet exchanged a grin with Primrose. “She is a very angry, selfish woman, you know. She will not stop until someone stops her permanently.”

“I know.” Primrose sighed. “How did you find Simeon? I swear I have been over half this country looking for him.”

“He was in the alley at the side of my house. I see things, you know.”

Primrose nodded. “Like the woman Chloe the Wherlockes told me about.”

“Well, I do not know of this Chloe but suspect she is much like me. I saw your brother and that he needed help, even where to find him. I also saw that I had to go along with him on the rest of the journey and that would help me find my mother’s family.” She glanced at Morris. “I have.”

“He is but one of many. And I mean many.” She was not surprised to see Lilybet’s eyes brighten with hope and pleasure. The woman had been alone for a long time and, she did not know it yet, but that would never be the way of it again.

“It will be good to know people who can understand what I am.”

“Do you have any plans other than that?”

“None. I will solve the problem of what to do to live when I know where that will be.” Lilybet smiled. “I am not worried.”

“Because you would know if there was trouble ahead.”

“Not always when it concerns myself. I only see things that change what steps I take when I am involved in another’s problems. Such as happened this time. I have been wanting to meet others of my mother’s family for years but the sight I had concerning your brother was the first time I was shown a way to do that.”

“Well, that seems mightily unfair.” She smiled when Lilybet laughed. “Just let me know when you wish a little more salve. Those cane marks may not be open wounds but they are painful and badly hurt the skin.”

“I will be sure to let you know. Although it pains me to admit it, your salve is much better than mine as it heals faster and eases that pain better. You might ask your brother if he wants some. He took a battering before and as he escaped that woman.”

“If you wish it, I can write the receipt for the salve so you can make your own.”

“I would like that. Thank you. And, if you could ask Lord Morris to come and tell me something of the Wherlockes, that would be wonderful.”

Primrose sent Morris over to Lilybet and noticed her brother frowned when he saw the two of them talking so easily, Morris sitting next to Lilybet. Then she took Boudicca for a walk. She was just turning around to return to their camp when Bened appeared. She smiled in greeting but discovered she suddenly felt cautious. He had been paying her very little attention since they had rescued him and she was not sure why.

“You have finally found your brother, so what are your plans now?” he asked as he slowly backed her up against a tree.

“We go to my uncle’s. Now it will be more for advice than for protection, though.”

“Your aunt is still out there. Her plans are still in her head and heart. Do you not think she is a danger now?”

“She will always be a danger. Even if she decides she cannot win the game she will turn her mind to making us pay for that. In her eyes it will be all our fault. Yes, she is still a danger and I think even Simeon understands that. She is forcing us to see her dead.”

“I would not fret over that too much. It truly is a matter of her or you and Simeon, and she already has a lot of blood on her hands.”

“That is true. I also know I do not share in her shame. I did not make her do this. It is her own greed that pushes her. Yet, she is family and by being such, she shames us all.”