“I am so sorry to disturb you, Your Grace,” Hardy said, “but I have to inform you that Lady Delia and Mr. Barrie have arrived at the Hall. They turned up, and I hate to say, under the influence of alcohol or some other substance. Lady Delia then demanded four bottles of the Duke’s Krug and they have gone up to her room with it. I am somewhat alarmed, Your Grace. I thought you should know … and Lady Victoria … I wondered if she is aware they are together?”
Ruth had bit her lip and tried to still her fears, hearing the distress in Hardy’s voice.
“Thank you, Hardy. I’m not sure, to be honest. I’ve had a call from the club. I know Lady Victoria is very upset and I’m going down to London tonight to be with her. I know it’s hard, but could I ask you to keep an eye on things at Canleigh and if there is anything … anything at all that you are worried about, please ring me at the club. Whatever you do, don’t ring the Duke.”
“No, of course, not, Your Grace.”
“As soon as I can get away from London, I’ll come up to Canleigh.”
“Very well, Your Grace. I look forward very much to seeing you again,” said Hardy, hoping it would be much sooner than later. He was becoming too old to deal with Lady Delia’s shenanigans. It was time he and Betty thought about retiring.
Ruth shuffled uncomfortably in her seat, desperately sorry for the Hardy’s, having to deal with a drunken Delia and Barrie but she had to go to Vicky first but when she did get up to Yorkshire, she really didn’t know how she was going to handle the situation. Canleigh was Delia’s home and she wouldn’t leave. Of that, Ruth was very sure but she pushed that situation out of her mind for the moment. There was nothing she could do about it and Vicky’s needs were paramount. The landing at Heathrow wouldn’t be long now and then she could find out from Alex exactly what had gone on at the flat. He hadn’t said much on the telephone, only enough to make her realise that Vicky was in a bad way, refused to go to hospital, and only wanted Ruth to see to her injuries. What injuries for goodness sake? Whatever had Delia and Barrie done to her? It made Ruth feel sick to the core to think they could hurt such a lovely, fragile person in any way. Poor Vicky. Thank God Alex had found her and no-one else. They could all rely on his discretion.
True to his word, Alex was at the airport to greet her, his face unusually stern and forbidding, his cheeky grin completely vanished. He took her case and held open the passenger door of his brand new shiny black BMW, a symbol of how successful the club was becoming Ruth surmised, remembering how neither Alex nor Barrie had a penny to their names when the business commenced.
“Now, for goodness sake, tell me what’s happened,” Ruth urged as Alex steered the car away from the airport and into the city.
Alex gritted his teeth. “Christ, Ruth. If I could only get my hands on Barrie and that perverted woman … they handcuffed Vicky to the bed, beat her up, and sexually assaulted her. God, Ruth. I could swing for them. I knew Barrie was a sod but not in a million years did I think he would stoop so low … and to do it to Vicky of all people. If I catch up with him, Ruth, he’ll be sorry he was ever born. I’m not normally a violent man but I can promise you he’ll not look the same when I’ve finished with him.”
Ruth sat motionless in the passenger seat, finding it hard to take in what he was saying. It was appalling. Hideous. Monstrous. How could they? Poor, poor Vicky. What on earth would this terrible incident due to her, mentally and physically?”
“You said she had injuries,” said Ruth, quickly. “What injuries? What on earth have they done?”
“Her face is badly bruised. She’s having difficulty opening her right eye and she has a couple of teeth missing, luckily at the back so it’s not too noticeable Her back and buttocks are streaked with whiplash marks, her ankles and wrists are chaffed badly from the handcuffs and she has a lot more bruising on her inner thighs.”
“Oh, my God,” whispered Ruth, the full horror sinking in. “How did you find out what had happened?”
“It wasn’t until this afternoon. I had to work late last night as Barrie, nor Vicky, made an appearance, although I kept ringing them but no-one answered. I knew Barrie was there because his car was in the car park but didn’t realise Delia was with him. Anyhow, I didn’t have to be at the club until two o’clock today but when I arrived Barrie’s car was gone but there was still no sign of Vicky, and the staff said they hadn’t seen her all morning. I rang her but again, no answer, so in the end, I took the spare key for the flat out of the office and let myself in. I … I found her in the bedroom, covered in blood and moaning terribly … but she was conscious and knew it was me.”
He shuddered and glanced at Ruth. “God, it was awful, Ruth. They had even left the bloody whip on the bed.”
“Don’t tell me she was still tied up,” Ruth whispered.
“No. At least they had released her but God, Ruth, she was … is in a mess. I’ve done what I could but she needs proper
