“Dae I have tae?” the younger one complained a little as he asked the question. If she had any doubts about his age, that pretty much told her all she needed to know about him. “It’s probably an animal.”
“We have tae be certain,” the older one replied. “Now go and dae as I told ye.”
The crunch of branches under the man’s feet was the only indication that he followed orders. He’d find her soon, but she had nowhere to go. They’d find her soon, and then what would she do? She didn’t know them and had no way of discerning their intentions. They may or may not have planned to abduct a girl from the school. Though she couldn’t ascertain any reason they would do such a thing.
“What dae we have here?” His voice was full of wonder. His face was smudged with dirt and she couldn’t tell what color his hair was. The man was younger than the other male with him, and he apparently didn’t believe in bathing. “Da, there’s a lass hiding here.” Ah…the older man was this one’s father.
“Is that so?” He chuckled. “Bring her out here.”
He reached over and snatched her wrist, then pulled her out from behind the tree. She tried to wrestle her arm free but was unsuccessful. “Let me go,” she demanded.
“Naw, I dinnae think I will,” he told her. He forced her out and nearly dragged her over to his father. She wiggled in his grasp and when that didn’t work she tried dropping to the ground with a thud.
The old man stared at her and then perused her from head to toe, then back up again. “What’s a bonnie lass like ye doing out here in the woods?” He lifted a brown. “Are ye meeting a lover?”
She snorted. As if she’d do such a thing. “I don’t owe you any explanations.”
“That be true,” he agreed. “But I still have tae insist. You are a hindrance in our plans.” He sounded as if he had no problem hurting her if need be. She had to find a way to convince him she wouldn’t cause any trouble. Not that she would keep to that promise, but he didn’t need to know that.
“I promise that my current situation will not cause you any difficulties. Let me go and I’ll be on my way, and not long afterward, you’ll forget you saw me.” She took a fortifying breath. “And I’ll do the same in return.”
“Is that so?” He scratched his chin. “There’s one problem with yer solution.”
“Oh?” She tilted her head. “What’s that?”
“I do believe yer the lass we’re sent to retrieve.” He grinned. The moonlight did not do him any favors. His face was smeared with dark smudges…she assumed dirt. His hair looked like it hadn’t been washed in days, maybe weeks. Chris didn’t want to get close enough to find out. “Nice of ye to make our task easier.”
Oh, hell… This plan had gone bad and fast. How was she going to escape now, and why the blazes did they wish to abduct her? She blamed the Marquess of Foxworth. Somehow this was all his fault…
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Excerpt: When an Earl Turns Wicked
Bluestockings Defying Rogues Book OneDawn Brower
Prologue
Southington Castle, England, 1808
The day was like any other one in England. Rainfall had become a normal enough occurrence that Jonas didn’t notice it—even as it dripped down his face, drenching him completely. He stared at the chiseled stones in the cemetery near Southington’s chapel. Only members of his family were buried there—many he never met personally. Pictures of them filled the great hall, but they were history to him, and he’d been able to distance himself from their stories. This, however, was far different.
His life would never be the same. The death of his father had marked an unchangeable truth. The duke now had control over Jonas’s life. His grandfather was a tyrant and had always attempted to browbeat his will into him. His father had been the one person he’d been able to count on. A buffer the duke couldn’t break through, and he’d tried often.
So, no, the cold didn’t matter because he was numb through and through. Rain? Paltry in comparison to what he had yet to face. The Duke of Southington, his grandfather, hadn’t started yet—mainly because he couldn’t. There were people around, and he dared not cause a scene. Once all the mourners departed, things would start to unravel ever further around him. Would his grandfather allow him to return to Eton? What about his mother? Would she have it in her to fight him? Somehow, he doubted everything and yet prayed for anything resembling his life before his father’s death.
“Lord Harrington,” a man said as he rested his hand on Jonas’s shoulder. How could he be the earl now? That was his father’s name, and he doubted he’d ever become accustomed to it. “It’s time to head back.”
He glanced up at the man as the rain continued to drip down his face. His hair was black, but had already started to turn to gray along the sides. Jonas barely knew him, but Lord Coventry had been a friend of his father’s. “I’m not ready,” he told him.
“George was a good man,” Lord Coventry said. “He loved you.”
“I know,” Jonas replied woodenly. He’d long ago stopped feeling and now went through the motions. What else could he do? Lord Coventry was correct—it was long past time to go, yet he couldn’t move. Once he left, it would all become too real for him. His grandfather would start barking orders, and he had years before he could be free of him. Three long years to be exact—once he turned eighteen he could seize control of his inheritance. As long as his grandfather didn’t find a way to break the will. “But that doesn’t change anything.”
“No,” Lord Coventry agreed. “He’s still gone, and nothing
