Of course, she would have been happier if she was not still gagged and had her wrists tied behind her back, but Davy’s one attempt to remove the gag had resulted in her screaming so loudly he had proclaimed she had ‘fair deafened’ him with the noise, before he had hastily replaced it.
A nasty smelly piece of now damp rag, which literally made her want to gag every time the smell assailed her nose.
Still, she was at least out of that dark room, and with only these two men to guard her she had hoped for the possibility of escape.
Except there had been no opportunity to do so as she was pushed back into that uncomfortable cart before being brought here to this bridge, the two men now seeming to be waiting for something. Or someone.
Christian?
Lisette could not think of anyone else who would be in the least interested in whether she lived or died. After her earlier disobedience of his instruction, she was not altogether sure that Christian would be interested either.
But she could hope.
* * *
Christian could see the three figures standing beneath a guttering street lamp at the far end of the bridge as he and Maystone alighted from his carriage together. None of them looked to be very big, but he was sure that the slighter one in the middle was Lisette. He hoped and prayed the middle one was Lisette, as much as he hoped and prayed that she was unharmed.
‘The note said I must go alone, Christian,’ Maystone reminded as he placed his hat determinedly upon his head.
‘They may be armed—’
‘I too am armed,’ he reminded quietly, having hidden a pistol in the waistband at the back of his pantaloons. Not the most convenient of places for him to retrieve it, but it would not do to reveal he was armed from the onset. ‘But I doubt it will be necessary,’ he added softly, his gaze fixed on the three figures on the bridge.
Christian was also armed with a pistol, but he knew that he would never be able to make his shot anything near accurate from this distance. ‘What are you not telling me, Aubrey?’ He eyed the other man frustratedly.
Maystone gave him a calm smile. ‘Does your Lisette possess a temper, Christian?’
‘She is not— Yes,’ he confirmed impatiently as Maystone raised mocking brows. ‘Lisette has a very fine temper indeed.’
‘I believed that might be the case.’ Maystone nodded. ‘A word of advice, Christian: whatever you do, never be the one to incite that temper.’
‘Oh, I believe it is far too late for that!’ he murmured drily as he recalled the names Lisette had called him in her tirade both yesterday and again today.
‘I have no doubt you are more than up to the challenge.’ Maystone chuckled as he held out his hand. ‘I am glad to have known you, Christian.’
He slowly reached out to take that hand and return the handshake.
‘You are a man any parent would be proud to call his son.’ The older man nodded in satisfaction.
‘What—?’
‘Never fear; I will send Lisette back to you in just a few minutes.’ He straightened. ‘You will find several letters on my desk at home; if I could ask that you deliver them to the appropriate people if I should not return?’
Christian was liking the sound of this less and less.
‘Strangest thing about women,’ Maystone mused as he stared across the bridge. ‘Softest creatures on earth when they are loved, and the most vicious when they are not.’
‘Aubrey—’
‘I am not rambling, I assure you, Christian,’ he continued briskly. ‘Wait here for Lisette.’
‘But—’
‘You will do as I ask, Christian.’ The older man’s eyes glowed with determination.
Leaving Christian with no choice but to stand and watch as Aubrey Maystone began to walk across the bridge to where Lisette and her abductors waited.
* * *