A Season for Honour

Chapter 28

'I'm going to follow that bastard and find out where he's going,' Alex said quietly as Mrs Hamelin and Sir Fabian left the library. He looked towards Octavia, who was now sitting on a chair with Katie kneeling beside her. She looked pale and drawn, so very different from the vibrant woman who had accepted his proposal of marriage only moments before.

She looked up at him with eyes that were round with fear. 'You will find her,' she said.

'Yes,' he replied solemnly, 'will find her and put an end to this madness.' He then turned to Tyne. 'Please look after her,' he said.

Tyne nodded. 'Send word if you need my help,' he said briskly.

'I'll come with you,' Freddie said, 'I am, after all, Olivia's guardian.'

'It's better if he goes alone,' Tyne said, 'and we need you here to arrange any ransom. If Fallbrook cannot find her, it may be our only option for getting her back.'

Freddie nodded reluctantly.

Alex quickly left the library and went into the hall. The ball was still underway, but there were a few guests, who had wanted to leave a little early to avoid the queue for carriages, milling around the front door. He quickly made his way towards the door, ignoring any attempts that they made to engage him in conversation. Once he was outside Holloway House, he then scanned the street for any sign of Mrs Hamelin and Sir Freddie. Then he caught a flash of scarlet from the silk of Mrs Hamelin's dress and identified the carriage that they were using. He was about to cross the road and hail a Hackney carriage when he felt someone draw him into the shadows.

'Don't worry about them,' said the familiar voice of Everard Devereux. 'I know where they are going,' he said knowingly.

'But,' Alex said urgently, not wanting to let them out of his sight, 'they have kidnapped Lady Kendall's daughter and are holding her for ransom.'

'Stretton is a devious little bastard, and I would not trust him as far as I could throw him, but this is far too organised for an oily little card shark like him. No, the men we are dealing with, are far more dangerous. Anyway, I know where they have taken the girl.'

'Where?' Alex said quickly.

'To an inn just off the Holloway Road,' he said. 'Don't worry, Miss de Havilland is watching them.'

'Rachel?' he said, 'how did she find them?'

'I don't know,' he said shaking his head, 'she just turned up outside my usual vantage point, watching Stretton's lodging in Clerkenwell, and told me that I was a fool if I thought he was there. She then ordered me to go and get you and bring you to the inn. Afterwards, I felt like I had been told off by an elderly aunt, who just happened to be dressed like a highwayman. She is quite a remarkable woman,' he said wistfully. 'Quickly, we have no time to lose, or she'll give me another dressing down,' he said with a grin and Alex suspected that the young man was rather looking forward to seeing her again.

Alex nodded and followed Devereux to a Hackney that he had left waiting for them. 'The White Horse, Holloway Road,' he ordered, 'and I'll give you an extra shilling if you get us there quickly.'

During the short journey, in which they were rocked vigorously from side to side, Devereux briefed Alex with everything that Rachel had told him. 'Miss de Havilland told me that the men that took the girl were working for Lord Melrose. Stretton owes him a lot of money, and the ransom from the kidnap will partially pay the debt.'

'Partially?' Alex said looking puzzled, 'he wants twenty thousand for the girl's safe return.'

'Only twenty grand,' Devereux said, shaking his head, 'no wonder Miss de Havilland is worried. She told me Stretton owed Melrose close to forty.'