Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 94964 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94964 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
* * *
She turned her head this way and that, trying to see what was behind her but the rope around her chest stopped her. Her mouth was bound and gagged and so she could not call out or scream. She wriggled, struggling to loosen herself but that just seemed to tighten the bonds further.
* * *
She froze, closing her eyes and breathing deeply, trying to control the panic. She tried to think how she’d possibly found herself in this predicament but her memory was hazy. She did not remember much after she’d arrived at Avebury manor. She knew she’d gone to the Dower house, to wait for Arthur, excited and nervous to meet his mother, and then…nothing.
* * *
Please. Somebody find me.
* * *
A lone tear escaped from her eye as fright took her over.
“What do you mean you don’t know what happened to her? Do you owe so many people then?” Frederick demanded, looming over him as he sat in the parlor.
* * *
Arthur drew a breath and prepared to explain once again, that Janice’s kidnappers could be any number of people. In his quest to get rid of his father’s properties, he’d gambled recklessly, and sometimes, he’d ‘forgotten’ to pay up in an effort to sully his reputation. In other cases, he’d simply been unable to honor the debt since his funds were severely limited but his recklessness was not.
* * *
He regretted it all now and was willing to go from debtor to debtor, paying them all back, if there was the slightest chance he would get Janice back.
* * *
“We cannot just sit around wringing our hands!” Emily said, wringing her hands. “We must do something!”
* * *
“Emily is right. We can’t just sit here. Let us conduct a search of the village. Someone must have seen them,” Anne added.
* * *
Arthur nodded. “I agree with all those ideas. I would do anything if there was half a chance we might find her.”
* * *
“Well then, we must make a plan,” Lord Benjamin said, “I doubt very much any of us is going to get some sleep tonight so we will start by visiting the village and speaking with the boy who delivered the message.”
* * *
Arthur sprang to his feet. “Yes, let’s start there.”
Janice could hear footsteps and her heart began to thud with anxiety. She began to struggle again, tight as her bonds were.
* * *
“You’ll only make them worse. You might as well relax.”
* * *
She froze. She knew well that voice. It haunted her dreams sometimes. She redoubled her efforts, trying to speak but she couldn’t.
* * *
“Oh, did they gag you? How rude,” he said and began to loosen her bonds. He took the gag off her mouth and grinned. “There. That’s better is it not?”
* * *
“Hemsworth, what are you doing?”
* * *
“Me? Not a thing. Just fulfilling a favor for a friend. You know how friendship works do you not?”
* * *
“What do you mean by this? Unhand me at once. Let me go.”
* * *
“I’m afraid I cannot.”
* * *
“Why not? What is this?”
* * *
“Your beau has something we want. Until he gives it to us, you stay here.”
* * *
“What does he have?”
* * *
“I’m afraid I cannot say just at the moment. You’ll have to wait and see.”
* * *
“You will not get away with this. And the duke has no money anyway. You are mistaken.”
* * *
He laughed, patting her on the head. “Just rest here. Are you hungry? You have not eaten all day. Shall I fetch you some ale and bread?”
* * *
She just glared at him. He got to his feet and left her. She listened to his footsteps, wanting to know if he would leave or stay in the room. He shuffled around behind her, moving from place to place inside the cottage, and then he was back, dropping a plate of buttered bread and a tankard of ale at her side. He stared at her expectantly.
* * *
She continued to glare at him without a word. “Oh!” he grinned, “Your hands are still tied. Silly me.” He reached back and untied the ropes that bound her wrists.
* * *
“There you go. Eat up. You’ll need your strength.” This time when he straightened up, he walked straight out of the room.
* * *
She sighed, leaning back against the pole and blinking up at the ceiling.
* * *
I have to escape.
* * *
Whatever they wanted from Arthur, she would not help them get it. She worried about her family.
* * *
They must be frantic by now.
* * *
She felt bad that she was worrying them and tried once again to loosen her bonds. Unfortunately, the rope around her chest was tied at the back of the post. She tried to wriggle downward so as to push it up and free her arms but it was unmoving.