Wishing for Rainbows

“Hit me again and I swear that the next time I won’t stop,” Ursula ground out through clenched teeth.

Hyacinth snorted and curled her lip, but thankfully settled back against the seat and turned her face toward the door.

Ursula turned her attention to Alfred and glared hatefully at him. “I don’t care what sick and twisted scheme you have concocted between you. You can force me into the church, but I shall never say the words you want me to say. I will never do anything to commit my life to yours. You shall rot in Hell for this.”

“You will do what you are told,” Alfred declared quietly.

“No, I will not.” Ursula snapped. “I am going to make sure you face justice for kidnap, abduction, false imprisonment. It will put you in jail for a very long time.”

“You have to prove we have done anything first,” Alfred challenged, clearly unperturbed by her threat. “You won’t get the opportunity.”

Ursula didn’t know if he was exceptionally arrogant, totally ignorant, or mentally unstable. Either way, she was seated in a carriage with people who were, with each passing mile, posing an incredible risk to her life. She had to find some way out of there. If only she knew how, she would be fine.

“Why me?” she asked quietly after several moments of worrying.

It appeared that Hyacinth had gone to sleep because her eyes were closed and she appeared completely oblivious to what was going on.

“Out of all the women in the ton; why me?”

“You don’t know, do you?” Alfred murmured after several moments of quiet contemplation. “You seriously don’t know.” He seemed to find this entirely amusing because he threw his head back and laughed almost hysterically. “Oh, this is classic. They haven’t told you. Well, well, well.”

“Told me what? What are you talking about?” Although the need to fidget was rife, she forced herself to remain perfectly still, and not allow him to see how much of an advantage he had over her.

Alfred stared at her thoughtfully. “You really don’t know, do you?”

Ursula refused to acknowledge or deny it.

“How did you like the flowers?” he mused rather than answer her.

She pierced him with a steady stare. “They were beautiful but creepy.”

“They weren’t my idea, of course. I told mother not to bother. The expense was too much for someone like you, but she insisted.”

“Ah, I should have known you would never do something like that. The writing was effeminate enough to be yours though,” she countered, ignoring the flash of warning in his eyes. He looked at her with such hatred that for a moment that she wondered if he would strike her too.

“You know nothing,” he murmured quietly.

“So, you did write them?” She asked in a voice that was laden with disbelief. “You sent those effeminate notes?”

“I wrote them at mother’s behest. She told me what to write. All of that nonsense was her idea,” Alfred sighed. “I knew they would be lost on you.”

“So, first the flowers, then you took to following me,” she mused thoughtfully. She wondered how long he had been following her every footstep without her knowing. Taking a wild guess, she pierced him with a stare. “It was you who broke into my bedroom, wasn’t it? You were also the one who sent me the message to meet you in the conservatory. What, were you hoping to abduct me then?”

“It would have been better for everyone if you had turned up alone. Unfortunately, you had to have that bounder, Calderhill, with you. If we had taken you then, all of this would be over with and I would have been able to get on with my life in peace.”

“You broke into my bedroom later that night when you weren’t able to accost me in the conservatory.” It wasn’t a question. When one attempt at kidnap had failed, they had tried another.

“It was all planned. We had everything ready to take you from the conservatory. When Calderhill turned up, and you left before he did, we had to think of something else. So yes, I broke into your bedroom. I nearly got you out too.”

“Only I woke up when I realised I wasn’t alone,” she finished for him. “How did you hope to get me out of the bedroom? I mean, you could hardly climb out of the window with me over your shoulder.”

“I was going to walk you straight

out of the front door,” Alfred snorted. “Or carry you if you put up too much of a fight.” He said it with such glee in his eyes that she knew he would have rendered her unconscious if he needed to.

“So, when your schemes failed, you decided to follow me around and wait for another opportunity.”

“Mother won’t be thwarted, you should know that, my dear,” Alfred assured her.