Never Less Than a Lady Read Free Page B

took her away!” The young woman wiped at her teary eyes. “I’m Jenny Watson, her apprentice. My baby and I live with her. The men who took her tied me up. When I managed to get free, I came here hoping for Mr. Townsend’s help, but Emma says he’s away. I don’t know what else to do!”
    Randall’s fear kicked up higher. “Do you know why they took her?”
    “The man called her Lady Julia, but that might just have been to be mean. He said they were taking her for justice.” Jenny swallowed hard. “He said that…that she was a murderess. But that’s impossible!”
    Randall also had trouble imagining that, but no matter. His first consideration was to rescue Julia from her kidnappers. “What exactly was said?”
    The girl took a deep breath, then recounted the conversation she’d overheard. “They’re taking her on a long journey,” she ended. “And…and she doesn’t expect to come back alive. She wrote a note leaving her cottage and everything in it to me.” The tears started again. “I don’t want the house! I want Mrs. Bancroft back safe!”
    “How long is it since they left?”
    Jenny furrowed her brows. “Maybe an hour, or a little more.”
    He glanced at her bloodied wrists. “How did you escape your bonds so quickly? You dragged your hands out?”
    “They didn’t tie my Molly,” Jenny explained. “She’s only fourteen months so they left her free. After they left, I had her bring me a knife so I could cut myself loose.”
    “Clever girl,” he said approvingly. “Were the accents English or Scottish?”
    “English. Southern English.”
    “So they’ll probably take the road east to Carlisle, then head south into England rather than north to Scotland.” He turned to Emma. “Mr. Townsend had a fine blood bay, Grand Turk. Is the horse here?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “I’ll take him then. Have the horse saddled.”
    “Be careful, sir,” Jenny said. “They’re dangerous men. I…I don’t want to think what they’ll do to Mrs. Bancroft.”
    “If they wanted her dead, they would have killed her when they found her. She is safe until they reach their destination, and I will find her before then. I promise you that.” He spun on his heel and headed to his room while he thought about what he needed to take. Money and his hat and cloak, plus a pack with bread and cheese and ale so he wouldn’t have to stop to eat.
    Luckily, he always traveled well armed.
     
    On his way through Hartley, Randall paused to talk to old Mrs. Morse, who was working in her garden and saw all the local comings and goings. After getting as many details as he could of the carriage’s appearance, he headed east toward Carlisle. Grand Turk was as good a horse as Randall remembered, his long strides eating up the distance.
    There were no posting houses on this road, so the kidnappers would be unable to replace the horses tired by the drive to Hartley. With luck, he would catch up with them before they reached Carlisle. Once the devils reached a busier road, they would be harder to track.
    They must know that pursuit was unlikely. Even if Charles Townsend, the most prominent man in the area, had been home, he wouldn’t have been able to do much. Plus, the poor road would slow their pace. A pity that Randall’s servant Gordon was visiting his family. Randall was quite capable of looking after himself on the trip to Scotland, and Gordon had certainly earned a holiday. But he was a good man in a fight, and his presence could be useful here.
    No matter. Randall had surprise on his side. With luck, he could get Julia away with no one getting killed. Though if killing was necessary…
    He settled into the horse’s ground-eating trot. His leg ached like the devil and would get worse, but it would last for as long as necessary.
    As he rode into the darkening sky, he wondered what Julia would do after he rescued her. Her kidnappers knew where she lived, so she would never be safe in Hartley again.
    Another solution must