Wick did so, and Louisa leaned against the stranger.
Miss Perkins pointed to Mantheria. ‘Do you have any water or wine?’
‘In the basket on the seat behind you,’ his sister said, climbing into the carriage to hold Louisa while the other woman uncorked the wine and placed it to Louisa’s pale lips.
Wick was glad that she didn’t force too much down Louisa’s throat, only small sips.
‘Shall we take her back to the Crown?’ Mantheria asked him.
Wick said, ‘Yes.’
Just as Miss Perkins said, ‘No.’
‘Excuse me, my lord,’ she said, ‘but I believe that there will be less talk if she spends the night at the vicarage rather than a coaching inn. Your sister as well. I promise that my mother and I will take care of them both.’
A surge of gratitude filled his heart. ‘Thank you, Miss Perkins. You truly are an exemplar of Christian kindness. I’ll give direction to the driver.’
He closed the door to the carriage and climbed up on the perch next to the coachman. ‘The Cookham vicarage, if you please. And you can take it a little slower this time.’
The man touched his hat. ‘Aye, my lord.’
The trip back to the vicarage passed by in a blur. Wick hoped—prayed—that Louisa had not been violated. That her injuries were only from her escape and the smoke and not from the body of her cousin. But even if she had been violated it would not change how he thought of her. Her virtue and her worth were not like chicken drumsticks, to be chewed up and discarded only once. Besides, his concern was not for her reputation, but for her heart. Her feelings. For the emotional scars that people could not see. Scars like the ones he possessed...
He climbed off the perch and opened the carriage door for Mantheria and Miss Perkins.
‘Wick, stay with Louisa whilst we get her room ready,’ his sister told him, and then followed Miss Perkins into the house.
Stepping into the carriage, he saw that Louisa was sitting up, but leaning against the squabs. ‘I am quite fine, Wick. Only very dirty and very tired. The next time I escape I will make sure to drink some of the water from the kettle before I douse any fire.’
Wick sat beside her, his knee touching hers. ‘I hope that there will never be a next time.’
Louisa bit her lower lip. ‘I can’t help but agree with you. Being abducted gives one a terrible headache.’
His hand gently touched her hair, caressing it lightly. ‘I dare say you have a large bruise. My little sisters said that you were hit quite hard in the park.’
She inclined her head forward slightly and winced. ‘Yes. Barnabas knocked me out. I didn’t wake up until I was in the cellar.’
‘Then he didn’t—?’
‘Oh, no. Belinda told Barnabas that she would not allow a woman to be taken against her will in her cottage. I find that I like her a great deal more than my cousin.’
Wick knew that Louisa was attempting to lighten the situation with humour, but it was too soon for him. His feelings were raw and his heart felt as if it had been scraped over a washboard.
‘How did you escape from the knave?’ he asked.
‘With my sewing needle,’ Louisa explained. ‘Barnabas had planned to keep me in the cellar until morning and then claim to have compromised me. But I was able to use the needle from the hem of my dress to pick the lock. Except I made too much noise, and my cousin blocked the front door. I said some things to make his mistress jealous, and she threw her boots at him, causing him to drop a candle and set fire to a rug. But he still blocked the door, so I helped put out the fire. In gratitude for my efforts, Belinda knocked out my cousin and helped me escape.’
‘She knew that he had locked you in the cellar?’
Louisa swallowed, her throat dry. ‘Well, yes...’
‘Then she is an accessory to the kidnapping,’ Wick said. ‘And should be reported to a justice of the peace.’
Louisa brought her hands together, wringing them. ‘Oh, please don’t. Belinda helped me, and Barnabas will get his comeuppance soon enough from his creditors.’
Wick only wished Barnabas’s comeuppance could be at his own hands. Or rather fists.
‘Louisa, I—I don’t know how to express how sorry I am that this has happened. That I was not there for you. That I didn’t protect you from your pernicious cousin.’