Time After Time (130 page)

Lucas told himself it was not jealousy that made him hurry down the stairs and cut through the endless sea of people. It was natural for any man to be annoyed at the thought of having to cut through another man to claim his wife for a waltz.

• • •

It amazed Penelope that Ethan Banks had the nerve to approach her now after he had told her a couple years ago that her lack of dowry made marrying her an impossibility, and then started courting Mari barely a week after dropping his suit.

She’d never had any deep feelings for Ethan, but for those few months she had believed at least there was someone who seemed to appreciate her and not how useful she could be. How wrong Penelope had been about this man. Her lips curved with amusement as he twirled her about the dance floor in a waltz — how inferior this experience was to the waltz she had shared with Lucas at their wedding.

What did Ethan think he was going to get out of this?

She didn’t have to wait long for an answer.

“Please accept my felicitations on your marriage, Penelope.”

“Thank you.”

Ethan looked uncomfortable. “I noticed you were friendly with the Duke of Granderly’s daughter.”

“Lady Beatrice appreciated my advice about her cat’s flea problem. She said she would try my recipe for peppermint soap as soon as she gets home.”

Her dance partner’s brows furrowed. “Indeed? Well, I was wondering if you could introduce me to Lady Beatrice. You and I are old friends after all, are we not?”

Her smile froze. “Of course. I will introduce you to Lady Beatrice if time permits.”
Right after I warn the young woman about you, you money-grabbing weasel.

He looked relieved. “I appreciate your help, Penelope. Have I complemented you on your gown, by the way? You look radiant tonight.”

Lucas’s bored drawl made both Penelope and Ethan stop in mid-step. “She does look beautiful, does she not?”

She whirled around to see her husband’s forbidding features, his eyes glittering with an unsubtle threat as they rested on her dancing partner.

“Banks,” Lucas clipped out, “you don’t mind if I cut in, do you? I have been looking forward to dancing with my wife all evening.”

Ethan paled as Lucas advanced on him. “Not at all, my lord.” He bowed to Penelope before stepping back as if he couldn’t wait to get out of reach.

Lucas’s arm snaked around her waist, and he expertly maneuvered her into the waltz. “You seem to be enjoying yourself, my dear.”

He sounded like he’d just swallowed ash. She tried to hide her smile. “I am.”

“How do you know Banks?”

Her smile widened. “He offered to marry me once, a long time ago.”

“While you were engaged to me?”

“Yes.”

“I shall have his head on a platter.”

Laughter spilled from her lips, which garnered curious stares from the other couples on the floor, who visibly strained to hear the conversation between Raving Ravenstone and his new countess.

“You are not putting anyone’s head anywhere,” she whispered. “I did not accept his suit, Lucas. So there is no need to be jealous.”

“I am not jealous.”

“I’m glad.”

A grunt was all the reply she got.

She rolled her eyes. “What took you so long to get here?”

“I was delayed by your cousin.”

She gaped at him. “David is here?” She looked around her. “Where is he?”

“He will be here soon.” Lucas whirled her to a halt near the French doors that led to the gardens. “Come, I have a need to discuss things with you.” He was about to tug her out the door when David appeared at their side.

“Penelope! How wonderful to see you here, cousin!” he said in a voice loud enough to be heard by the people milling around them in the crowded ballroom. “I hope you’re not missing the Lakes too much. London can be quite confining.”

She hugged her cousin with enthusiasm. “David! My goodness, you look impressive tonight.” She looked over his shoulder, as if trying to locate someone. “I wish Mari was here, but you should dance with Olivia, if you can find her. She’s been dancing all night.”

She noticed the coolness in David’s eyes at the mention of Mari’s name. She had no opportunity to comment, however, because David suddenly launched into a discussion of politics with Lucas. Lucas’s friend, Lord Westville, soon found them and joined as well. They were talking about the merits of reform when she felt her stocking slide down her leg.

“Excuse me, I have need of the retiring room,” she mumbled before striding carefully to the far end of the ballroom, smiling at people who wanted to greet the new Countess of Ravenstone along the way.

Several people seemed disappointed that she was not stopping to chat. She already knew what they wanted to know. They would ask first if she was well, and then they would express their concern about her fate. The less tactful ones would warn her about Raving Ravenstone and assure her they would be there to assist her if needed.

Assist her with what
, she wondered.

It was only her first ball, yet she was already tired of people’s assumptions. And it was not even her character being scrutinized. She wondered how Lucas could have borne it all these years.

She strode through the empty, darkened corridor. She had no idea which door led to the ladies’ retiring room. She tried the first door on her left and promptly tripped over a small furry creature, which yelped in astonishment.

“I am so sorry, little dog,” Penelope whispered, as she reached out to light one of the small wall sconces. The faint light from the sconce revealed a library.

“Wrong room,” she muttered.

Still, Penelope realized she was quite alone in here. Acting quickly, she adjusted her garters and was about to leave the room when she heard a muffled noise.

Slowly, she turned back, noticing as the little dog scurried out of the room that it had a rope around its neck. Who would take it out for a walk at this time of night?

She cautiously stepped deeper into the large, dark library, following the strange, scuffling sounds. Soon, she heard voices. A man and a woman were talking in hushed tones. Penelope knew she blushed as she thought of what she might have interrupted, but the voices sounded angry, not amorous.

“I told you to leave the dog,” she heard the man hiss.

“The boy wouldn’t leave without it.”

“Well, we have tied the boy up, so there is no need for the dog.”

“But it knows what we are doing now!” The woman’s voice was frantic.

“Shut up! Everyone is busy with the ball. No one will pay heed to a yappy dog. Now get the boy; we have wasted too much time as it is.”

She jumped into action as soon as she heard them struggling to get the window open. She searched for “the boy” and found him in a narrow aisle slumped against one of the bookshelves with his mouth gagged and his hands bound behind him. This was an abomination! He could not have been older than nine. His eyes widened when he saw her and she put a finger to her lips, warning him to be silent.

This was clearly a kidnapping. She didn’t know who the child was, but at that moment, all that mattered was he needed her help. She wished she’d worn something less cumbersome, for her gown made it very difficult to move quickly. She knelt in front of him and started fumbling with the ropes at his back when she heard the man’s incredulous voice behind her.

“Who the hell are you?”

She whirled and faced the barrel of a pistol pointed straight at her. She grabbed the boy and backed deeper into the aisle. She could see only the man’s silhouette as he confronted her.

She swallowed a lump of what tasted like panic. Though she knew she would excel at panicking if she indulged in the emotion, at that moment she thought it best to try to remain calm.

“What are you doing to this boy?” she asked, backing deeper into the row of shelves.

The man blocked the only exit, but she knew pistols became less accurate the farther away the target was, so she tried to place as much distance as possible between her and the weapon.

“Stay right where you are, lady. We are taking him away, and if you stay out of our business, we will let you live.”

The kidnapper’s female accomplice appeared behind him. “Ned? What is going on here?”

“Some Society chit wandered into the wrong room. But she is going to stay put and let us leave, ain’t that right, m’lady?”

“Ned, I don’t feel good about this — ”

Penelope wasted no more time. The boy stumbled and she grabbed a fistful of books, hurling it straight at the kidnappers. A deafening shot rang out just as she ducked to tug the boy up on his feet while a searing pain numbed her right shoulder.

“You’re not going anywhere, lady!” the man hissed.

At that moment, she knew she was going to die. It seemed an apt end to her life as well, she thought deprecatingly. Even to her last breath, she would prove to be useful, for there was no way she was going to let these villains take the little boy.

“You’re not going anywhere either,” she vowed with only a slight tremor in her voice.

Penelope lifted a heavy book threateningly.

Lucas’s voice filled the room. “Penelope? Are you in here?”

She clutched the boy in her arms. “Lucas! Help!”

The kidnapper swore and whirled to face Lucas, who greeted him with a large, bunched fist. The accomplice wailed as Lucas hauled the man up by his collar and shook him.

“Teddy!” Lady Uffington shrieked from the doorway. The accomplice used the commotion to make her escape through the open window. “Stop!” Penelope screamed, but she was too late. The woman had already escaped.

Several people poured into the library, probably drawn by the pistol going off, only to see Lucas holding a barely conscious man in the air by his collar while she clutched a small, bound and gagged boy.

A few men ran to help Lucas apprehend the kidnapper, binding his hands and feet while the constable was summoned. She never let go of the child.

Lady Uffington seemed to finally shake out of her stupor. “Teddy!” she screamed again.

Penelope let go of the boy, who ran straight into Lady Uffington’s arms. “Oh, Teddy, thank God you are safe,” she cried as she freed her son’s hands and held him close.

Penelope watched it all happening as if in a dream — her right shoulder ached, and her feet remained rooted to the floor until Lucas stepped into the aisle and pried the heavy book she’d forgotten she was holding from her hand.

“You have a lot of explaining to do, madam.”

Penelope registered the worry in his gaze and she forced herself to speak. “I — ” she cleared her throat and tried again. “I hit him with the book — ”

“I know.”

“He was going to take the boy — ”

“I know.”

She glared at him. “Then why are you asking me for explanations?”

“Are you all right, Penelope? He didn’t hurt you?”

“No,” she said, and then she remembered something. “Lucas, the pistol — ”

“Has been taken out of his hands,” he reassured her. “He was the boy’s nurse’s lover. They were going to take the Uffington child away and demand a ransom for him.”

She suddenly felt light-headed. “Then it’s fortunate I went into the wrong room.”

She cried out when Lucas grabbed her shoulder.

“Good God, you’ve been shot!”

“What?” She saw the blood on Lucas’s hand at the same time she felt warm liquid trickle down her arm. “Oh. You’re right.”

After that she had a vague awareness of Lucas sweeping her up into his arms as the world spun, coinciding with the severe pain in her shoulder. Everything seemed to slow down, and she realized she was going to faint mere seconds before darkness claimed her.

Chapter Fifteen

The news of Penelope’s attempt to save the Uffington heir had spread all over Town, and people who would not normally step into Lucas’s townhouse poured in to visit and express their concern. Penelope’s brave rescue of the little boy had made her an instant heroine among the females of the
ton
.

It was a damned nuisance.

But as the days of Penelope’s recuperation went by, Lucas realized she was not the only one who was being treated differently. People who had made it a point to avoid him, such as the Duke of Granderly, came to visit with his daughter, Lady Beatrice, in tow, not only to check up on Penelope but also to commend Lucas for the way he had saved his wife from the kidnapper.

He rarely left Penelope’s bedside. She hadn’t sustained a fatal injury, but the sight of her bleeding was something he would never forget. What had struck him most as he sat there by her bed was how small and vulnerable she appeared, engulfed in bed sheets with her shoulder swathed in bandages. He alternated between berating himself for failing to protect her at the Uffingtons’ and restraining the urge to shake her still form for once again plunging headfirst into a situation without thinking about the repercussions.

Trust Penelope to think of defending herself with a handful of books. The villain had probably been too far away to hit with her reticule. Once she was well enough, he would have a long talk with her about her impetuous nature. He did not want to go through the scare she’d given him ever again.

She could have died
. Did she not consider what losing her would do to him? He couldn’t understand why the thought troubled him so, but there was one thing he could no longer deny: he cared about Penelope. In a way that surpassed duty.

He had never met anyone like her. She always put everyone else’s concerns above her own. Only Penelope would have dared to try to rescue a strange child from danger without thinking of her own safety. Most people would have run for help. Her utter disregard for herself made him feel quite selfish. And guilty. Because he, too, had taken advantage of Penelope’s selflessness.

“Butter the crumpets,” he muttered.

He was not going to be like his father. He would not allow his wife to matter so much to him that he forgot his duty and everyone else. Lucas was so engrossed in his internal turmoil, he didn’t realize Olivia had walked into the room until she spoke.

“How is she?” his sister asked.