Page 88
After pacing around the house in worry, Victoria decided to find some help. She exited the tower, filled with uncertainty. She didn’t even know where their stables were! She had always ordered a carriage to be ready by the front door either through William or by telling Matthew at the end of their outings. Now, what was she to do?
She stood in front of the tower, the wind whipping her hair into her face, her arms wrapped around her torso, feeling completely lost.
The sounds of footsteps alerted her to another’s presence, and Victoria whirled around to find John, one of her guards, emerging from behind the trees.
“It’s just me, Your Highness!” he said, his hands up in the air. “Did you wish to go for a walk? I can accompany you if that’s the case.”
She furrowed her brows. “Are you always here, waiting for me to exit the tower?”
He nodded. “Either me or Bryce. We take turns.”
Interesting. “I need Matthew to bring around the carriage. And…” And where will I go? She shook her head, changing her mind. “Where is he? I wish to speak to him.”
“He is at the stables, rubbing down the horses.”
“Take me to him,” she commanded confidently, and to her surprise, he complied. For some reason, a part of her still thought of herself as a prisoner in this place.
Perhaps, she hadn’t quite adapted as well as she thought.
It took them about ten minutes to get to the stables, and Matthew greeted them with surprise evident on his face.
He bowed low. “Your Highness, what a surprise!” Then he threw a disapproving glance at John.
“William hasn’t returned home,” she said. “And he promised he would. So, something obviously happened to him. I need you to tell me where he could be.”
Matthew shifted from foot to foot looking down. “He doesn’t tell me where he goes. But it’s only just past midnight. Surely, he will return.”
“No, he promised to return for supper. And it’s been hours!”
“Your Highness, even if I knew where he’d gone, I would never take you there.”
Victoria reared back as if he’d slapped her. Something in his tone stoked the fires of her ire. Something that hinted at the fact that she wasn’t allowed in places he frequented.
“What if he does not come back at all? What if he is imprisoned or dead?” she cried.
“I have clear instructions, Your Highness. If William does not return within twenty-four hours after his leave, I am to send a note to the Duke of Kensington to collect you.”
Victoria frowned. “Why the Duke of Kensington?”
Matthew hesitated. “Because if William is gone, and there’s a chance that your life is in peril, only the duke will be able to protect you.”
Chapter 21
The burlap sack was ripped from William’s head, and he blinked against the sudden change in lighting. It wasn’t particularly bright, but a few candles on the windowsills paired with the pallid light streaming through the windows were enough for him to make out the interior of the room.
Except, there wasn’t much to see. A trunk sat a few feet away, and… was it a bed in the corner? It wasn’t as tall as a regular four-poster bed, but it certainly looked like a heap of sheets on top of a mattress.
While he admired the decor, the same burly man who had caught him off guard earlier, stood pointing a pistol at William’s head from a foot or two away, and another man placed chains around his wrists and ankles, binding him to the wall.
Great. Just what he needed.
“I have a supper I am late to. If you’d care to unbind me, that would be lovely,” William said saucily.
“I wouldn’t hold your breath,” the man with the gun said, his foul breath hitting William’s face.
“And yet, I can’t resist,” William said as he indeed held his breath so he wouldn’t cast up his accounts.
Once the chains were secured, the men backed away and walked out of the room.
