Page 16 of Outrageous

His lips curved into a grin that made Eva wish she’d shot him when she’d had the chance. “Oh, and what would that be, my lady?”

“Drinking, gaming, cocking, and whoring, just like any other degenerate fop.”

He laughed. “How well you know me. It is almost as if we are man and wife already.” He turned to James and his smile drained away. “You must know how this will all end, boy—even if you refuse to admit it to your mistress.”

Eva was so angry her eyeballs were hot. “Stop. Talking.”

“If you jump out of the carriage and make it back to Exley, his lordship will only have to bring her back to me. She will have to marry me and all three of us know that.” He paused and then added, “And what do you think the marquess will say when he learns you helped his daughter kidnap a peer and then leap out of a moving carriage?”

“Don’t listen to him, James. He is demented. He doesn’t know anything about me or us or my family or my father and what he will do.” She caught one of James’s huge hands, which was clenched into a fist on his knee. “Please,” she said when he turned to her, his brown eyes agonized. “Please.”

James pursed his mouth in a deeply disappointed frown but nodded: he would do it. Eva acted swiftly, before he had a chance to change his mind.

She leaned toward him and whispered in his ear, “You grab and hold him and I’ll stuff this in his mouth. All right?”

James hesitated for a million years before nodding.

They both turned to look at Visel. His expression was unreadable, his body tense and coiled. “Why do you need to gag me? I won’t shout.”

“I wouldn’t trust you any farther than I could throw you.”

Visel sighed. “Well?” he said, speaking to James. “Go ahead, I won’t struggle. Trust me, I’ll just sit back and enjoy the ride while your mistress breaks her legs, or worse, jumping out of this carriage. I’ll be glad to be rid of the two of you; I only ask that the gag not be uncomfortably tight.”

Eva looked at James. “He’s wily, James, and this is probably a trick. But you grab his hands and hold him, and I shall tie on the gag.”

Lord Visel chuckled, but he was as good as his word. He did not struggle even when Eva crouched in front of him, hunched over and her feet spread wide to keep some balance in the cramped confines of the moving carriage.

He watched her with a glint in his eyes she could not like as she tied the neckcloth around his head. But his looks hardly mattered anymore because she wouldn’t have to look at his face in a matter of moments.

Once the gag was secure she scooted back to her bench, breathing heavily, as if she’d done something strenuous. Eva was surprised and maybe even a little disappointed that Visel had given in without a struggle. Not that she wished to be around him any longer than need be, of course, but she would have enjoyed giving him a good cuffing.

“I’ll go first, my lady, and I’ll take the satchel with me,” James said, pulling her attention away from Visel. “I’m going to make sure these knots on his wrists will hold. Perhaps you might sort through the bag and remove anything that won’t make the jump.”

“Good thinking, James.” Eva bent down and opened the heavy leather satchel. It took her a few minutes to sort through the accumulated debris: a half-full jug of coffee, an empty jug of beer, cutlery, a heavily thumbed copy of Gulliver’s Travels—her favorite book—extra rope, a small bag of ammunition for the gun she’d borrowed, and more. She removed everything except the cleverly folded map of the North of England, two clean if slightly rumpled neckcloths, a small folding penknife, her book, and a packet of hard candies that James adored.

“All right,” she said, sitting up and bringing the bag with her, handing it to James, who was looking even more worried than usual. She smiled. “It will be fine,” she reassured him.

James smiled sickly and nodded.

Visel was watching her, his eyes hooded, but his lips curved into a smile around his gag.

“I don’t know what you’re so happy about,” she said, giving him a dirty look. But that only made him smile more. He was a horrid man.

James’s face was an alarming red as he slung the satchel over his body crosswise.

“James?” she asked, squinting up at him. “Is aught amiss?”

His jaw tightened, he hesitated, but then he shook his head before peering out the window. “It’s drizzling. This will be a mess, my lady. Are you sure you—”

“Yes, let’s get on with it.”

“Neither side looks any better than the other.” He frowned, snatched off his cloth cap and stuffed it in the satchel, took a deep breath, and cracked open the door on her right. He glanced ahead and then pulled his head back inside. “Just make sure you jump as far away from the wheels as you can. Push off from the—”

“Good Lord, James. I think I will know how to fling myself from a carriage.” But she was scared and her body had begun to sweat as she stared out the window at the rapidly passing countryside; the carriage was moving fast. She swallowed down the lump of fear. “Go on. Get on with it.”

He cracked open the door, wedged his huge body in the gap, and then sprang out. It all happened in the blink of an eye. The door flapped free and she quickly grabbed it before it could spook the horses. She gave Visel one last look and a jaunty smirk that she did not feel.

“I hope you have a pleasant journey, my lord.” She turned from him and crouched on her haunches, preparing to jump. She heard a muffled sound behind her just before a pair of legs wrapped around her middle.