"As do you, my dear," Sebastian said smoothly. "The two of you should get along famously." He started to laugh.
Prudence glared at him. Sebastian merely laughed harder. He did not even have the decency to stop when everyone in the room turned to stare.
Prudence looked pointedly at Jeremy. "Would you mind very much dancing with me, Jeremy? If I remain here with Angelstone I shall no doubt disgrace myself by kicking him in the shin."
Sebastian gave another shout of laughter.
Jeremy glanced curiously at Sebastian. Then he grinned and held out his arm to Prudence. "It will be my pleasure, madam."
"Thank you."
It was only after she had taken the floor with him that Prudence realized she had inadvertently given the ton something else at which to marvel. Every eye in the room was now on her.
"People are staring at us."
"Can you blame them?" Jeremy chuckled as he swung her into a waltz. "The Fallen Angel's lady is dancing with a member of the Fleet-wood clan. Furthermore, there is no indication that the devil is about to unleash his wrath against me in retaliation. He is too busy laughing his head off at a joke no one else can comprehend."
"They will think Angelstone has lost his wits," Prudence said. "And they may be correct."
"It will be all over Town by morning that the Fleetwood feud is finished," Jeremy mused.
"I suppose being taken in hand by your mother is not too high a price to pay for ending the feud," Prudence said, trying to be optimistic.
"Don't be too certain of that."
Prudence was still grumbling about the forthcoming shopping trip an hour later when Sebastian escorted her out into the cold, foggy night.
"It is most annoying, Sebastian. Back home no one ever remarked upon my clothes. Here in Town I do not seem to be able to please anyone. And what am I to do with the wardrobe I ordered when Hester took me in hand, I ask you?"
"Give it away, I suppose." Sebastian signaled for his carriage. The Angelstone coach was nowhere to be seen amid the crowd of vehicles that filled the street in front of the large house.
"To whom?"
Sebastian's mouth tilted. "To someone who looks good in shades of violet and lavender." He took her arm and started impatiently down the steps. "Come along. It will take another twenty minutes for the carriage to make its way through this press. We may as well walk to it."
"Very well. I certainly don't care to stand out here for long. It's quite chilly tonight." At least she had worn a cloak this evening, Prudence thought. Sebastian had insisted upon it.
It was difficult to tell one coach from another in the heavy fog. The black Angelstone carriage was waiting at the end of a long line of vehicles. A footman in the familiar black and gold Angelstone livery appeared to open the door for Prudence.
Something about him seemed different. She glanced up and realized she did not recognize him. Before she could raise her glass to her eyes for a closer look, she heard Sebastian swear softly.
"Who the devil—"
A soft, sickening thud cut off his words. Sebastian groaned. Prudence whirled around as she felt him release her arm.
"Sebastian." Instinctively she reached out to him as he crumpled to the pavement. But he was too heavy for her. She went down on her knees beside him. "Dear God, Sebastian, what's wrong?"
A man loomed up out of the fog. His face was a blur, but Prudence had no difficulty seeing the large blunt object in his hand.
"Don't you worry yerself none, ma'am. He'll be all right. I knows me job. Get on with ye, now. Into the coach. I'll put his nibs in there with ye."
Prudence rose swiftly, her mouth already open to scream for help. A rude male hand was instantly clamped across her lips, silencing her.
"Shut yer bloody mouth, yer ladyship," the strange footman hissed in her ear.
Prudence started to struggle. She kicked out wildly, but her movements were severely hampered by the heavy folds of her cloak. The other villain grabbed her ankles. She realized there were three men in all, including the coachman.
"Behave yerself or it'll be the worse for yer man," the false footman muttered. "We're in a hurry, ye know. Ain't got all night. Me and me two mates promised to deliver ye on time. Don't get paid unless we do."
Prudence glanced desperately up at the box as she was bundled into the carriage.
"Get ‘em inside," the man on the box said in a voice that definitely did not belong to Sebastian's regular coachman. "We ain't got all night."
Prudence's captors tossed her onto the floor of the carriage. There was a small, sharp crack that she recognized at once as the sound of her dangling eyeglass shattering beneath her cloak.
She floundered about, trapped in the folds of the garment.
"No sense wearin‘ yerself out," one of the men said gruffly. He reached into the carriage and hoisted Prudence onto one of the seats. "Best save yer energy. Expect me client's got plans for a pretty little thing like you."
The man wearing the Angelstone livery stuffed Sebastian's limp body into the vehicle. Sebastian sprawled facedown on the floor. He did not move.
Prudence gazed at him in horror, trying desperately to see if there was blood on his head or if his eyes were open. It was impossible to tell. Even if she had been able to get to her spectacles in her reticule, she knew she would not have been able to see how badly Sebastian was injured. The interior of the carriage was very dark.
The villain in the Angelstone livery jumped into the carriage and sat down across from Prudence. There was just enough light for Prudence to see the pistol in his hand.
"Well, now, reckon you and me will have to find somethin‘ to talk about for the next hour or so, ma'am. Yer man ain't goin' to be in the mood fer conversation for a while." He nudged Sebastian's still body with the toe of his boot.
"Don't touch him," Prudence said.
"Don't worry, he'll be in reasonably good shape when I deliver him to Curling Castle. That was the deal I made with his lordship, y'see. Both packages to be delivered in good shape."
Prudence could hardly breathe. "You're taking us to Curling Castle?"
"That's where we're headed, right enough. This damn bloody fog will slow us down somewhat but not much. Jack up there on the box is real good with the reins. I reckon we'll get there in no time."
The black chamber was every bit as cold as Prudence had remembered. The dark, heavy chill seemed to have a life of its own. It emanated from the stones themselves, not from the night air outside the castle walls. Like the fog, it shrouded everything in the room.
Prudence turned her head. The men who had brought her and Sebastian here a few minutes ago had left a single candle burning on the table. The flame was of little use against the oppressive shadows that filled the chamber.
She lay very still on the bed, listening to the sound of retreating boots in the hall. A small sense of relief washed over her. The kidnappers had departed.
She sat up stiffly. Her hands and feet were still bound, but at least the villains had not gagged her. Not that she intended to start screaming now, she thought. The last thing she wanted to do was summon one of her captors.
Chains clanked against stone.
Prudence raised her head swiftly and peered into the shadows. "Sebastian? Are you awake?"
"Bloody hell."
The surly sound of his voice revived her spirits as nothing else could have done. "They put you in those awful manacles on the wall."
"I noticed." Chains scraped lightly on stone again, as if Sebastian was quietly testing them. "Are you all right?"
"Yes." Prudence managed to sit up on the edge of the bed. "What about you?"
"I feel as if I've gone a hundred rounds with Witt himself, but other than that I seem to be in one piece."
"You've been unconscious for a very long time. I was terribly worried about you."
"I wasn't unconscious, just dazed." Sebastian sounded coldly furious now. "I couldn't seem to move for a while, at least not quickly enough to take that pistol away from the man in the carriage. I decided to bide my time."
"We're at Curling Castle," Prudence offered.
"Believe it or not, I figured that out all by myself."
Prudence frowned. "There's no need to get sarcastic. I was just trying to help you orient yourself."
"I beg your pardon, madam. I am not in the best of moods." Chains rattled again. "Damnation."
"What's wrong?" Prudence asked.
"What isn't wrong? This entire investigation has been wrong right from the beginning. Bloody hell."
"I mean what's wrong right now?" Prudence said patiently. "Why are you swearing?"
"Because I can't get quite the right angle on the locks of these manacles. I need to be a few inches higher."
Prudence brightened. "You're trying to pick the locks?"
"Yes." Chains rattled softly. "Damn it to hell."
"Is there anything I can do?"
"See if that chamber pot I saw under the bed last time is still there," Sebastian said.
"A chamber pot? Don't you think you can restrain yourself for a little while? We're in something of a hurry here, Sebastian."
"I need the damned pot to stand on so that I can get the wire into these locks," Sebastian said through his teeth. "If you find it, try to kick it over here."
"Oh. Yes, of course."
Chagrined, Prudence scooted off the bed. Unable to use hei bound hands or legs to control her descent, she landed with a thud or her knees. "Ow."
"Hurry."
She bent down and looked beneath the bed. The fuzzy outline of the chamber pot was just barely visible in the deep shadows. "It's there."
"Get it over here," Sebastian ordered.
That was going to be easier said than done, Prudence thought. But there was no point complaining about the difficulty of the task. She had the uneasy feeling that their lives might very well depend on her getting the chamber pot out from under the bed.
She lay on her side and wriggled partway under the iron bed. It took three attempts before she successfully hooked her bound ankles around the pot.
"Got it," she whispered.
"Push it over here."
"I'm trying."
Prudence tried three different positions before she finally rolled onto her back and used her feet to guide the pot.
"I feel like a worm." She inched the pot along the cold stone floor.
The process seemed to take forever. She was perspiring in spite of the terrible chill. She heard her delicate silk skirts shredding against the stone.
"A little closer, Prue," Sebastian said softly. "You're almost here."
She wriggled forward and pushed the pot ahead a few more inches.
"I have it," Sebastian said with soft triumph. He caught the chamber pot with the toe of his boot and dragged it closer.
Prudence sat up and watched as Sebastian stood on the overturned pot. She squinted, trying to see what he was doing.
"That's it, love," Sebastian crooned softly. "Give me what I want. Open for me, sweet. Let me inside. All the way inside." There was a small snick of sound. "Yes. Ah, yes. Beautiful."
"Did you get it open?" Prudence asked.
"One of them. One more to go."
The second lock went much faster. Sebastian was free a moment later.
He stepped down from the pot and went to work on the ropes that bound Prudence's hands and feet. She realized she could feel nothing at all in her upper arms.
Then the feeling began to come back.
Prudence bit back a scream as a painful tingling sensation swept through her arms. She stuffed a handful of the cloak into her mouth and bit down hard.
"Christ. I should have realized." Sebastian began to rub her arms swiftly. "Hold on, Prue. You'll be all right in a minute. Can you feel my hands?"
She nodded, not yet daring to spit the fabric out of her mouth. She was still hovering on the edge of a scream.
"Good." Sebastian sounded relieved. "That means they didn't bind you too tightly. You'll be fine."
Prudence was not so certain of that. But after a short while she was no longer afraid she would cry out if she moved her arms. She let Sebastian pull her to her feet.
"My God," she whispered.
"We've got to get out of here," Sebastian said. "We can't wait any longer."
"I know." Prudence took a deep breath. She looked down at the broken lens of her glass dangling on the end of the fashionable velvet ribbon. It was useless. Her tiny beaded reticule was still attached to her wrist, however. She opened it and discovered her spectacles safe inside. The wire frames were bent, but the glass was undamaged. She pushed them quickly into place on her nose.
"I'm ready," she announced.
"You are an amazing female, my dear." Sebastian grabbed her hand and hauled her toward the door.
Prudence heard the footsteps in the hall at the same instant that Sebastian heard them.
"Hell and damnation." He stopped. "Is nothing going to go right tonight?"
Prudence felt his fingers tighten again around her wrist. He jerked her over to the wall on the far side of the door.
"Don't move," he whispered.
She pressed herself against the stones. Sebastian strode swiftly across the room and scooped up the chamber pot. Then he flattened himself to the wall alongside her.
The door opened. A man with his hands tied behind his back stumbled into the chamber. He was given a push from behind that sent him reeling. He lost his footing and fell.
The candlelight flickered on Garrick Sutton's face. His eyes met Prudence's in the shadows.
Before she could react, one of the men who had kidnapped her and Sebastian stepped into the room. He was holding his pistol in one hand.
"Well, now, that's that, then," he announced in tones of satisfaction. "A job well done, if I may say so."
Then his gaze fell on the empty bed. Prudence saw his eyes start to widen as he glanced at the dangling manacles. "What's this? They've escaped."
He opened his mouth to yell for assistance.
Sebastian took one step away from the wall and brought the chamber pot crashing down on the villain's head. The pistol fell and skittered under the bed.
The man sank to the floor with no more than a groan. He did not move.
Sebastian looked down at Garrick. "This certainly complicates matters."
"Sorry about this," Garrick said ruefully. "They were waiting for me when I left my club."
"Untie him," Sebastian said to Prudence. "I'll get the pistol. At the rate we're going, we shall undoubtedly need it."
But before Prudence could move, the door of the massive black wardrobe swung wide. Lord Curling stood there, a pistol in his hand. Behind him yawned the black opening of a hidden staircase. Prudence belatedly recalled the false back Sebastian had discovered in the wardrobe. Now she knew what had been concealed behind it.
"Pray do not move so much as an inch, Angelstone." Curling stepped down from the wardrobe. "Or I shall put a bullet into your lady."
Sebastian froze. "This has gone far enough, Curling."
"Not quite." Curling beckoned to Prudence. "Come here, my dear."
Prudence did not move.
Curling's eyes narrowed. "I said, come here. If you do not, I may change my mind and put the first bullet into your precious Fallen Angel."
Prudence walked forward reluctantly. As soon as she was within reach, Curling put an arm around her throat and pulled her against him to use as a shield.
"There, now," Curling said. "This is much better."