“Well, here, put the fellow down before you break your back, boy. This is the man who kidnapped you, Miss Radcliffe? You appear to be unharmed. Does he need a physician? Victoria, tell Elmer to have Dr. Crutchfield fetched.”
“No, thank you, sir,” Julian said. “I think we should take the fellow on to Ravenscar. Did Richard say when
he and Lady Merrick would return?”
“No, he did not,” the baron said. “I am hopeful, however, that they do not spend the night in Saint Austell, since they are not yet wed.”
Victoria said, “Papa, Richard is a man. He can do what he wants, and Lady Merrick is a widow. You’ve seen the way she looks at him, like she wants to lick him like an ice.”
The baron huffed out a breath but kept further thoughts to himself.
52
Victoria went down on her knees next to Manners, her pale yellow muslin skirts fanning out around her. She lifted one eyelid and examined Manners’s pupil. She muttered something to herself, let his eyelid drop, and looked up at them. “Leah said they were planning a wedding in June. I doubt they’ll come back, mayhap not until the day of the wedding. If this man kidnapped you, Roxanne, he didn’t prove very competent, did he?”
The baron said, “Richard did not ask his valet to accompany him, so I know he will be back. He and his valet cannot long be parted; both suffer. Leave that creature alone, Vicky, you might catch a putrid disease from touching him.”
“If Richard returns, tell him I will see him,” Julian said. “Once and for all. My apologies for disturbing you.”
This time he hefted Manners over his shoulder and walked out the front door.
He said to Devlin as they tied Manners onto the mare’s saddle again, “I don’t wish to risk this fellow’s health by leaving him in this house alone to fend for himself, nor do I have any desire to remain here with him.”
Sophie asked, “You think the baron might throttle him to save his son?”
“That’s right,” Julian said.
Back at Ravenscar, Pouffer ignored the unconscious man hanging over the prince’s shoulder and stared at Roxanne, whose red hair was wild and tangled, ancient straws sticking up here and there around her head, her gown filthy and ripped beneath the arm, her feet bare, his lordship’s black coat around her shoulders. “Oh, my dear young Miss Roxanne, thanks to all the beneficent gods who reside somewhere above our heads, you are returned to us. I see a great deal of dirt but no blood, a great relief. I am grateful the prince saved you, or perhaps it was his lordship here.”
“She saved herself, Pouffer,” Sophie said. “She didn’t need the gentlemen to do the job.”
“That is not a notion that reassures, Miss Sophie. A gentleman must be useful, else what good is he? Now, her grace has been wringing her hands, something she rarely has cause to do.” He looked back to Roxanne. “You are certain you are fit enough, Miss Roxanne?”
“I am fine, Pouffer,” Roxanne said, lightly patting his arm. “I will remove myself upstairs. Please tell her grace all is well again. As you see, we even have the miscreant who kidnapped me. Unfortunately, I hit him on the head—only two times—and he had the gall to fall unconscious.” She paused on the stairs, looked down to see Devlin staring up at her. “Thank you all again for coming after me so quickly.”
“Even though you didn’t need us.”
“Didn’t need you, Devlin? I fancy needing you will become something of a daily occurrence.” She searched his face. “But we will see, won’t we?”
Not thirty minutes later, Sophie and Roxanne walked into the drawing room. “Is our villain awake, Julian?”
“No, he hasn’t moved, not even moaned. Pouffer sent one of the footmen to fetch Dr. Crutchfield. He’s old, and his hands shake a bit—the doctor, not the footman. He doesn’t see too well, but he normally doesn’t kill his patients. He brought me into the world, and I survived the experience.”
Corinne said, “I remember when you were three years old, dearest, you had a dreadful putrid throat. I am convinced his special tonic saved you.”
Sophie said, “I don’t believe a tonic is going to help this time, ma’am. I really don’t want this villain to die until after he tells us who hired him.” Sophie rubbed her hands together, smiled at Julian, and made her way to the lovely Georgian teapot. Roxanne stared after her. She looked at Julian. He was looking down at his boots. Now, this was very interesting.
Corinne rose and walked to Roxanne, cupped her face between her white hands, then, with a sigh, she clasped her to her bosom. “You are quite recovered, my dear?”
“Yes, ma’am. Well, maybe still a bit shaky, but the man didn’t have a chance to hurt me. I am glad to be back. Ah, Devlin, you have rubbed cream into your face. Do you feel less crispy?”
He was once again wearing his coat, quickly brushed by Pouffer himself. His face didn’t have his usual vampire pallor, it was white with cream. He touched a finger to his cheek. “Should you care to rub the cream in for me while I try to find any straws you missed and pick them out?”
Sophie laughed. “It took me five minutes, but I think I got them all.”
“I have been wondering,” the duchess said slowly, “how this man managed to get into Ravenscar. Pouffer makes his rounds every evening at ten o’clock sharp. So how did this scoundrel manage to slither in? But the bigger question is this: How did he know which was Roxanne’s bedchamber?”
Devlin said, “An excellent point, ma’am, which rather proves it had to be Richard who hired him, since he did know exactly which bedchamber Roxanne was in.”