To Seduce a Bride (31 page)

Fanny's dresser, Joan Tait, Lily realized as she entered.

“Thank God you are here, Lily!” Chantel exclaimed, while Fleur's head snapped up.

“Where is Lord Claybourne, Lily?” Fleur demanded urgently. “We need him at once!”

“Why?” Lily asked in bewilderment, looking from Fleur to Chantel and back again. “What has happened?”

“That dastardly O'Rourke took Fanny, and we need Claybourne to rescue her!”

Chapter Eighteen

For a nobleman Lord Claybourne is exceedingly fearless and daring, even heroic.

—Lily to Fanny

“He took Fanny?” Lily repeated, her stomach clenching with dread.

“Yes,” Chantel replied hoarsely. “That devil abducted her in broad daylight. Tait saw it all.”

Trying to control her alarm, Lily turned to Fanny's dresser. “Tell me exactly what happened. You saw Miss Irwin being abducted?”

Gulping back tears, Joan Tait nodded vigorously. “Yes. Just as Miss Irwin returned from the wedding a short while ago. Mr. O'Rourke's carriage was waiting on the street in front of the house—I saw him from an upstairs window when his coach door opened. Then two hulking footmen jumped out and pushed Miss Irwin inside, and the coach drove off right before my very eyes.”

“She didn't go willingly?” Lily asked, wanting to be certain.

“No, Miss Loring. I heard her cry out for help.”

Basil clenched his fists in fury. “That
bastard.
If he has harmed her, I swear I will kill him.”

Lily felt a similar sentiment. Fear and fury warred inside her as she imagined what Mick O'Rourke might be doing to Fanny this very moment. “How long ago was this, Tait?”

“Perhaps twenty minutes. I came directly here—I didn't know where else to turn.”

When the dresser started weeping again, Chantel patted her shoulder comfortingly. “You did exactly right. Lord Claybourne will help.”

“I am not waiting for Claybourne,” Basil declared, spinning on his heel and heading for the door.

“Basil, stop!” Lily exclaimed. “You cannot go off half-cocked. We need a plan.”

“My plan is to find O'Rourke and cut out his liver.”

Lily shook her head, thinking furiously. “They are right. Lord Claybourne can help us.” Although she wasn't certain he would be
willing
to help her after their acrimonious parting barely an hour ago. But she knew Heath would be more capable of dealing with O'Rourke than she and Basil were.

Basil wasn't of the same mind, obviously. “
You
go fetch him, Lily. I am riding to O'Rourke's gaming hell to find Fanny.”

“He won't be naive enough to take her there. Not when he knows that is the first place Fanny's friends will look for her.”

“But that is the best place to start,” Basil insisted. “You find Claybourne and meet me there. I mean to save Fanny from that devil's clutches,” he growled as he stalked from the room.

Basil would likely head to the mews to fetch his horse, Lily conjectured, so it was up to her to find Heath—

“I need your carriage,” she said quickly to Fleur.

Joan Tait lifted her head. “I have a hack waiting on the street, Miss Loring. It will be faster if you take it.”

“Thank you, I will,” Lily said before swiftly following after Basil.

She would go to Heath's home first, Lily decided as she hurried down the staircase. And if he wasn't there, she would search the gentlemen's clubs next. Or perhaps he might even be with Marcus, still celebrating after this morning's wedding.

Heath's mansion in Bedford Square, Lily discovered a short while later, was elegant and imposing. And the Claybourne butler was even more stately, looking down his haughty nose at her when she identified herself and asked to speak to the marquess.

Calling at a bachelor's establishment was rather wanton for a young lady, Lily knew, especially when she wore no veil to help disguise her features. But her urgent tone of voice must have made an impression on the august servant, or perhaps he recognized her name, for he admitted her at once and showed her to a sitting room while he excused himself to go in search of Lord Claybourne.

Heath appeared moments later, much to Lily's relief.

“Thank heavens,” she murmured, aware of how glad she was to see him. He had taken off his coat and cravat but still wore his formal wedding attire.

His expression was quizzical at first, but it darkened as Lily quickly told him about Fanny's alleged abduction by O'Rourke.

“I warned him…” Heath said dangerously, a muscle pulsing in his jaw.

“Basil has gone to O'Rourke's club to try and discover her location, but it may be all for naught. Please, Heath, will you help us rescue Fanny?”

He looked impatient at her request. “Need you even ask?” Abruptly he turned and strode from the room.

“Where are you going?” Lily said, hurrying after him.

“To fetch some weapons.”

“I have a hack waiting.”

“Good. It will save me the trouble of having my own carriage harnessed. Go wait for me there, Lily.”

Grateful that he hadn't hesitated, Lily obeyed and returned to the hack. In a very few moments, Heath appeared. He had donned his coat, although his cravat was still missing. And he carried two small cases that Lily suspected contained pistols, and one long case that looked familiar from her fencing lesson with him.

Behind him were two strapping footmen who climbed up on the rear perch of the hack.

“Reinforcements,” Heath said brusquely as he joined Lily inside.

The small cases did indeed hold pairs of matching pistols, she saw when Heath opened them, but the longer one contained extremely sharp rapiers rather than the buttoned practice foils she had used with him for their bout.

During the drive to Bond Street, Heath carefully primed and loaded each of the guns. His jaw was set in anger, and he spoke little on the way.

Lily tried not to let his silence bother her. She couldn't let herself dwell on Heath's remoteness when she was so dreadfully worried about Fanny.

When the hack eventually slowed and came to a halt before a tall brick building that must be O'Rourke's gaming club, she bestirred herself to say, “I want to come with you.”

Heath hesitated but then nodded grimly. “Very well, but you will let me take the lead.”

They had barely descended from the carriage, however, when they heard shouts from the vicinity of the front entrance door. Lily's heart leapt to see Basil being thrown unceremoniously out of the gaming hell. He tumbled down the short flight of steps to land in a heap on the sidewalk, while the door slammed shut behind him.

Giving a gasp of alarm, Lily ran to him, but she wasn't required to help him up. Instead, Basil lunged to his feet, his fists clenched with rage as he glared at the entrance door. He was sporting a bruised eye and a bloody nose, and he was livid.

He would have rushed back into the club, but Heath clamped a calming hand on his shoulder, preventing him. “Hold there, Eddowes. Pistols can be far more persuasive than fists.”

Upon seeing the loaded weapon Heath held, Basil let his shoulders sag. “Fanny isn't there, nor is O'Rourke. But his bloody bruisers wouldn't say where she was taken.”

“Perhaps they will tell me,” Heath replied, making for the door.

Lily followed immediately on his heels. Her friend's beating had lit the fire of anger inside her, and she was ready to strangle O'Rourke and his minions with her bare hands.

The door swung open the instant Heath knocked. The large, burly man standing there wore a fierce scowl and had raised his fists threateningly, as if he'd expected Basil to return. But the sight of a pistol pointing directly at his chest made his eyes widen in alarm.

Glancing back at Lily, Heath withdrew a handkerchief from his coat pocket and handed it to her. “Why don't you accompany Mr. Eddowes to the carriage?” he advised. “I expect I won't be long.”

Then with a lethal smile at the doorman, he gestured with the pistol. The servant backed away carefully, and Heath stepped inside, shutting the door quietly behind him.

Basil immediately started sputtering in outrage at being denied his revenge. Lily felt like doing the same, yet she wanted more to stop him from charging back inside and suffering even more damage to his battered face.

Telling herself she could trust Heath to handle the matter, she corralled Basil back inside the hack, then climbed in after him. Yet she was still worried for Heath. She hated to think of the danger he might be in, facing those brutes alone, even if he
was
armed.

For the next interminable five minutes, Lily kept peering out the carriage window while applying the handkerchief to stop her friend's nosebleed, alternating between fretting silently and trying to reassure Basil that Lord Claybourne would succeed in discovering where Fanny had been taken.

Her confidence was soon rewarded. When Heath appeared, he was unscathed. He gave directions to the driver and then settled inside across from Lily and Basil.

“I persuaded O'Rourke's lackeys to tell me where he might be found,” Heath explained as the hack moved forward and picked up a rapid pace. “It appears he recently built a private residence in Marylebone, and yesterday sent several of his servants there to ready the house for habitation. He intended to be gone for the next several days.”

Marylebone was a district just north of London, Lily knew, not too distant from Heath's own town house.

“So Fanny is likely being held there?” she asked.

“That seems a reasonable assumption.”

“How do we rescue her?” Basil demanded.

Heath shifted his attention to the younger man. “I would rather you allow me to handle it.”

Basil's jaw hardened. “No, my lord, I cannot do that. I could never forgive myself if Fanny came to harm while I stood idly by.” His voice lowered to a rough whisper. “It is bad enough knowing that bastard could have brutalized her by now.”

“If he has, he will pay for it,” Heath said grimly. “But there is a possibility the dresser mistook what she saw for an abduction.”

“A
slim
possibility,” Lily muttered. “It is much more likely that O'Rourke is a true villain.”

“I agree,” Heath replied. “Which is why we will take adequate precautions. Reportedly the house is in a quiet neighborhood, so we will halt a distance down the street and proceed on foot. There is no need to alert O'Rourke to our arrival.”

Basil scowled. “But you mean simply to knock on the front door?”

“That is the usual method of gaining entrance to a house,” Heath said dryly. “Although I don't plan on knocking in this instance. I intend to walk in and take him by surprise.”

“What if the door is locked?”

“Then I will break a window.”

“You realize O'Rourke could have an army of bruisers guarding Fanny?” Lily warned.

“True,” Heath responded. “So we will go in armed. I will approach the front and my two footmen will cover the other exits to cut off any escape routes.”

Basil still looked skeptical. “I cannot believe you will just waltz up to the house as if you are paying an afternoon call.”

Heath raised a quelling eyebrow. “Would you prefer that we burst in shooting? That could lead to hurting innocent bystanders, perhaps Fanny herself.”

The wisdom of his argument prevailed with Lily, and even Basil eventually nodded his head slowly.

“As you wish, my lord, but I mean to help,” he insisted.

“So do I,” Lily seconded.

Heath gave a grimace as he regarded her for a long moment. “I have no doubt that you are daring and fearless, sweetheart, but I would rather you remain in the carriage. You could put yourself in danger—”

Her scoffing sound cut him off. “It is all very well for you to play the hero, but I cannot because I am a woman?”

“I don't want to see you hurt. The thought makes my blood run cold.”

At his admission, Lily felt her defenses soften. Yet she wasn't swayed from her determination. “Heath, Fanny is my friend, and if she is in trouble, I mean to save her. I am not remaining behind like a useless ornament. Besides, you may need more than your two footmen to rescue her.”

Raising his eyes briefly to the carriage ceiling, Heath gave a sigh of resignation. “Very well, but you will do
exactly
as I say, both of you.”

“Yes, of course,” Lily said quickly, fearing he would change his mind. “And Basil will also.” When Basil kept his lips shut, Lily prodded him with her elbow. “Say you will do as Lord Claybourne tells us.”

“All right, I will!” Basil agreed under duress.

He lapsed into morose silence as Heath explained his plan, but Lily listened carefully to his every word, determined not to put Fanny in any more danger than she might already be in.

Lily's stomach was curled into knots by the time the carriage began to slow. They were traveling along a wide avenue, in a stylish and obviously wealthy neighborhood. Most of the houses were opulent mansions and had the look of newness about them.

When the hack halted, the driver jumped down to open the door and let his passengers out. “Number Twelve is just up ahead, yer lordship.”

Lily's glance followed the coachman's pointing finger. The elegant terrace house he'd indicated was built of gleaming white stucco. The classical decoration and Corinthian columns proclaimed it to be a creation by John Nash, the architect who frequently designed houses and parks for the Prince Regent and other wealthy aristocrats.