Page 76 of The Duke Who Claimed Her

He was quick to tell George of the situation and just as quick to concoct a plan. The dining room, while large enough to house the staff, was by no means impenetrable. As well as the main doorway, there was another entrance via the kitchen, and as there was only one man in that room whom they needed to worry about… I almost feel bad for the man.

They charged the room together.

Through the front door, Caspian swept with three of the men whom George had brought. At the same time, George came in the rear, all with their gun out, all quick to converge on the large man before he realized what was happening.

People screamed. Some shouted. A vase was smashed. But no shots were fired, and within seconds the threat was secured.

“Go to my study,” Caspian instructed three of the men. “There you will find two more men. Neither are armed, but they need to be secured.” He then turned to two others. “On the third floor, you will find another large individual. Also unarmed but dangerous.”

The men hurried away to secure the danger and bring the house back into safety.

“George, I ask that you stay here and keep a watch on my home. Timothy is hiding somewhere; if you can find him and convince him to come out, good. If not, leave the boy. He will be safe.”

“What about you?” George asked. “Where are you going?”

It was a straightforward question with an equally simple answer.

Once, it might not have been. Even just a few weeks ago, the idea that Caspian would feel such peril for another’s safety, that he would do whatever he must to save someone whom he loved, was unthinkable. He was not one to care for others, and he had made it his life’s mission to be alone.

That was then, and this was now.

His wife was in danger, and until she was brought to safety, Caspian would not rest. With how he felt, he might very well set the world ablaze if that was what it took. There was no sense in lying to himself anymore. No point in denying his feelings. The simple fact was that he loved Arabella, as he knew that she loved him in return.

“I am going to rescue my wife,” he said.

With those words, Caspian swept from the house, climbed atop his horse, and took off into the night.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Once, not so long ago, if Arabella had faced the situation she currently found herself in, she would have given up. That was not the person she wanted to be, but a lifetime of being told what to do and how to do it, with no agency of her own, had turned her into that person.

Moreover, her father was the one who had kidnapped her, the person she had to confront. The very thought that she might have fought back was truly laughable.

I am not that person anymore!

It took some time for her to realize this, of course. After her father left her alone in that room, she spent longer than she was proud to admit on the floor, her knees pulled to her chest, weeping with sadness and misery and loss. For how far she had believed that she had come, she was nothing, just a scared little girl owned completely by her father.

Slowly, however, she searched deep within herself for some semblance of bravery.

She cast her mind back to when she had first married the Duke, how unsure and scared she had been, and how she had determined to overcome that fear. She had risen to her role as a duchess, taking command of the household, not to mention her own life, and proven what she had always believed of herself: that she was more.

Her father did not own her. She was not the same little girl she had once been. And if she was to escape from this hellscape, she was going to need to do it on her own.

Caspian needs me… Timothy needs me. I will not fail them.

Resolve and steeled determination flooded through Arabella as she climbed to her feet. Belief swept her. She stood tall and proud, knowing she was not beaten.

Then, with her newfound self-confidence burning so intensely that she wondered if she might set the cabin on fire, she focused on escaping.

The single door was locked from the other side, and even if she somehow managed to get through, her father was there. She was not scared of him, and that was the truth, but she was not strong enough to overpower him either. More than that, he was dangerous, and she doubted he would resist the urge to hurt her if it came to that.

Her only other option was the boarded window.

Arabella hurried to it and tested the wooden planks that had been nailed into place. She tried to pry her fingers under them, clenched her jaw, arms trembling as she desperately pulled and bucked. But it was hopeless.

No! It is not hopeless. There must be something…

She swept her eyes across the small room. It was practically empty, save for a wooden wardrobe, an old desk, and a single bed. Arabella frowned as she considered, focusing on that bed, noting the iron framework and how rickety it was.