Becca set down her pencil. ‘She put up a fight and was able to escape his first attempt, but the villain knocked her out cold and carried her off.’
Wick blinked, trying to make sense of their outrageous story. ‘In broad daylight?’
‘Yes!’ all four of his sisters yelled.
Stumbling to a chair, Wick sat down, still trying to process their words. ‘Why didn’t anyone help her?’
He blinked rapidly, trying to understand who would abduct Lady Louisa and why. And then he remembered his grandfather’s words... The current Lord and Lady Rockingham were in debt and Louisa would inherit a fortune. Of course they wouldn’t want to let her go. But would they go to such lengths to secure her money?
Helen stopped tapping the chair and put a gentle hand on his forearm. ‘We were nearly twenty feet away. Louisa had gone to chase Andrew’s hat. It had flown off in the wind. We ran to reach them, but the villain had already got away with Louisa.’
‘What are we going to do, Wick?’ Mantheria asked.
It was just him and his sisters. He wished his parents weren’t on another continent. He would have valued both their experience and their wisdom at this moment.
Wick wet his lips, feeling more vulnerable than he had before in his entire life. Louisa had stolen his heart and now she’d been stolen. It was the thing he’d feared most—losing another person he loved. If only he had accompanied his sisters to the park. He might have stopped the assailant. He was sure of it. Instead, he’d been nursing a hangover. Again, he’d let down someone who trusted him and he cared for.
‘You are all going to stay here,’ he said, getting to his feet. ‘I’ll go and speak to Lord and Lady Rockingham and see if they know anything about where Louisa has been taken.’
Mantheria released a long breath. ‘That is a prudent place to start.’
‘Take my sketch.’
Becca held out her drawing: it was of a man on a horse. The man’s face was obscured by a mask, but she had captured with her pencil-tip the horse’s bald face and the white mark that reached past its eyes. One of the horse’s legs had a white sock.
‘You can show my sketch to people and ask if they’ve seen this horse or this man.’
Mantheria pulled the cord for a servant. ‘Please have a carriage brought round immediately for myself and my brother.’
The butler bowed. ‘Very good, Your Grace.’
Wick raked his hands through his hair. ‘I don’t need you to come with me and hold my hand, Mantheria.’
‘Good, for I have no intention of holding your hand. I am coming as a chaperone for Louisa. She is my friend, and she will need me to preserve her reputation.’
Chagrined, Wick muttered, ‘Sorry.’ He hadn’t thought about the propriety of being alone with Louisa after she’d been rescued.
‘But why would they abduct Louisa?’ Helen asked.
Wick was about to answer, but Frederica beat him to it. ‘It’s obvious to anyone who reads gothic fiction. Clearly they want to force her to marry their horrendous son, so that they’ll be able to keep her fortune. A woman’s inheritance becomes her husband’s upon marriage.’
‘That’s true,’ said Wick, rubbing his chin. ‘But what I cannot understand is why an abduction? Unless Lord Barnabas and his parents plan to travel to Scotland a marriage in England takes several weeks to arrange. The banns must be called, or a special licence obtained. But they can hardly extract a special licence for an unwilling bride. The Archbishop of Canterbury would not countenance such a thing.’
‘Scotland is an awfully long way away...’ Mantheria said dubiously, wrapping the string of her reticule over her wrist. ‘The journey there would take a week, even with fast horses and dry roads. It would be hard to transport a prisoner that far without being seen or questioned by local innkeepers.’
Becca leaned forward, her eyes wide. ‘Maybe the villain isn’t trying to marry her, but to compromise her. So that shemustmarry him.’
Wick’s jaw dropped. If Lord Barnabas or any other villain tried to force himself upon Louisa, he would tear them into pieces as a lion ripped apart its prey.
‘You don’t even know what that means,’ Helen said haughtily.
His youngest sister sniffed. ‘I asked Frederica, and she explained to me that if a young woman of reputation is alone with a man it is believed that they have behaved like a married couple. And the only way to preserve her good name is for them to marry.’
Frederica rested her chin on her elbow. ‘Becca has a point. It would certainly be cheaper, and they would not have to travel as far. And if the man has a cottage or a house within a few hours’ ride, then it would be harder for us to track them. The great north road to Scotland is infamous, and a lady without baggage would be memorable. And Louisa’s red hair is very noticeable. Every innkeeper on the way would recall her.’
Wick ran his hands through his hair. His sisters were hardly comforting him, but they did make some very good points. And if...no,whenhe found Louisa, at leasthewould not be compromising her by being alone with her. As much as he wanted to.
The door opened and the butler intoned, ‘The carriage is ready, Your Grace.’