Plain and Proper - M J Marlow (red queen free ebook .txt) 📗

his head to her. “We’ve come to congratulate you on your wedding to the Earl of Strathmore.” He reached out to stroke her cheek and she pulled away from him. “Our employer is quite pleased at your union. It makes you an even more valuable hostage.”
“You can’t do this to me,” Marianne protested as she watched Marie take out a flask. “This is abduction!” Marie held the flask to her lips and Marianne tried to refuse the drug. “No!” she cried in protest and Philippe moved next to her and held her. “Let me go!”
“Your new ‘father’ is eager to have you in France, little lady,” Marie laughed as she got the laudanum into their victim. “You will be treated like a princess.” She smiled as the girl whimpered in protest; “while he uses your status as hostage to force your young husband to do his bidding.”
Marianne could feel the drug taking over. She grabbed the handle of the carriage and yanked it open as the vehicle started to hurry away. She hit the ground and struggled to her feet, the world tilting around her sickeningly. She could not let them take her again, was her only thought as she stumbled back towards the museum. She saw Gerard getting to his feet and ran to him, sobbing. He held her in his arms tightly and glared at the carriage moving off at far too fast a speed than absolutely necessary. He took her into the museum office and cut her loose. The Director had a glass of brandy ready.
“It was Dominique’s brother, Gerard,” she whimpered as the shock wore off. “He – he said that he was going to take me to France so the Emperor could use me as a hostage against you.” She leaned against him, shaking in fear. “I don’t want to go to France, Gerard. Please don’t let him take me away.”
“No one is going to take you away from me, Marianne,” Gerard said softly as he kissed her hands and held them to his chest. “You are mine!” Marianne burst into tears and he looked at the Director in confusion. Why was she crying still? She was safe and she was with him. “Could you send for a carriage, sir?” he asked as Marianne drifted off. “It’s time I got my wife home. This sorry event has left her distraught.”
The Director went to see to that matter and Gerard held her close, scowling darkly at the thought of how easily he had been taken down. He had been knocked aside like he was nothing! He winced as he felt the pain in his knees and palms from where he’d hit the street when he fell. He could see the blood on his trousers at the knees and knew he would have to see it tended. But not now, he thought. Right now, she was the only person who mattered. She had been badly frightened by this experience and he had hated seeing that fear in her eyes.
“They had her in their foul hands, Andrew,” Gerard hissed later after Marianne had been put to bed and Andrew summoned. “Even drugged, they could not keep her. She jumped from the carriage as it started to move off and found her way back to me.” He winced as the pains hit his knees again. “I’d better have a doctor look at the knees. Lawrence,” Gerard called his butler, “have a runner get the doctor.”
“Very good, sir.”
The butler left the room and Andrew refilled Gerard’s glass. He was not happy at this attempt on his niece one bit. Gerard was his best man, and he had been taken down like a sapling. If Marianne had not kept her wits, she would now be on her way to France. He finished his drink and pour out another for himself and Gerard.
“We will discuss this with her tomorrow,” Andrew told the younger man firmly. “Go to your room now. I’ll send the doctor up when he arrives.”
Gerard looked at his superior in shock. He was sending him to his room like a naughty child. Andrew was in no mood to care, he saw. His mind was filled with the worries of the situation and his desire to keep his niece safe. Gerard did not envy him that, but he certainly knew how he felt. His heart had nearly died when he had seen her being dragged off while he was trying to get to his feet again. And she had not fallen to faint, but kept her wits and found a way to escape her kidnappers. He felt his heart swell with pride then; this fierce little beauty was his!
He hobbled out of the study and saw Lawrence lying on the floor. He heard a noise and saw men bringing Dominique and Marianne down the stairs. He found his gun and fired a shot into the air. The men froze and turned towards him. Dominique’s eyes cried out a warning to him and he turned a moment too late. Philippe struck him down and laughed. Then he nodded to his men.
“Get them out of here,” he ordered. He made certain the men were down and then he went to the waiting carriage. It moved off as he turned to smile at his angry sister. Dominique was holding the sleeping Marianne in her arms and glaring at him coldly. “There is no reason to be angry, sister dear. Your little lady is going to be kept hostage by one of the Emperor’s household now.” He reached out to touch her cheek and she moved away. “You shall be allowed to remain as her attendant only if you do nothing to keep this from happening.” He grabbed her by the throat and his eyes were cold and hard. “At the first sign of disobedience, sister, I will let Marie sell you to Madame Sophie. You’ll behave now, won’t you?” He laughed as Dominique sobbed. “I thought so.”
The carriage moved off and no one inside noticed the four stern-faced young men watching from nearby. The Tremayne boys had been invited to join Marianne and Gerard in London and were just arriving as Philippe and his men came out with their friend and her aunt. They followed at a distance as Philippe drove to Dover and met a ship there. Philippe and Marie celebrated as the ship sailed out into the Channel and headed around the eastern stretch of England. They stopped several hours later and laid anchor. Marianne and Dominique were lowered down into a dinghy and Philippe and Marie joined them and were rowed to shore. Several large swarthy men were on the beach waiting.
“Gentlemen,” Philippe smiled as he pulled the sleeping child out of the dinghy. “I present your lady to you: Marianne, heiress to the Baroness Tregallen; granddaughter of the Macalester, and wife of the Earl of Strathmore. She is to be treated with all due respect, and guarded like the crown jewels.” He yanked Dominique out of the dinghy and shoved her to the ground. “And this,” he laughed as Marie yanked Dominique up onto her knees; “is your new plaything, Dominique. As long as you do not interrupt her duties in the kitchen, you are free to amuse yourselves with her as you wish.”
The men laughed as Dominique cursed behind the gag. One of them hefted her over his shoulder and carried her off as she kicked and struggled for freedom. Philippe carried Marianne up to the house on the cliffs above and laid her on a bed in the tower room. He put the shackle on her ankle and fastened it to the foot post of the bed securely. Then he left her sleeping as he locked the door and went downstairs to join his men. He accepted the glass Marie handed to him and raised it.
“We now have a secure camp on English soil!” Philippe smiled. “To Napoleon!”
“Napoleon!”
“They’re spies, Robert,” Samuel reported when he slipped back to where his brothers were waiting. They had seen the carriage and followed it as discreetly as possible. They had snuck aboard and found a secure hiding place for the voyage. As their friends were rowed ashore, the boys had swum in and followed. “They have our girl as their hostage.”
“One of us is going to have to go get Gerard,” Robert decided. “By the time he gets here with help, we’ll know how many men are here and how to get in to her.” He saw Hugh’s worry. “You are the fastest on a horse, Hugh.” He saw the boy frown. “We need help here fast, brother. They’re not going to hurt our girl. They need her alive or they lose their ground.”
Hugh nodded and they moved out to find a horse. They got to the local inn and saw a seriously inebriated gentleman trying to mount. They escorted him to the stables and left him lying in a pile of hay. Hugh was given the man’s coat and hat, as well as his wallet. They would pay the man back later; once they had Marianne back. Hugh rode out, keeping his head down so that no one could see his face. They watched him gallop away, intent on his mission. Then Robert and the twins headed back to the place they had chosen to watch the house.


Marianne woke up and frowned. This was not the house in London. Where was she? She sat up and stayed still until the room stopped spinning. She looked around and saw the shuttered windows and the two doors. There was a fireplace with logs on the grate warming the simple room. A small table with two chairs was in one corner and an armoire was in the far corner. There was an upholstered chair with a lamp table sitting next to it with several books piled on it near the fireplace. Marianne got to her feet and heard the clank of metal. She looked down to see a chain on the foot post leading to - her ankle! She had been shackled like a beast! She sank back down, shaking in fear. This was not right! She had never had anything but love shown to her. Marianne did not know how to handle something like this. The door opened and she looked up to see Dominique coming in with a tray.
“Domi?” Marianne cried as she saw the collar on her companion. It was obvious from the bruises on her face and her torn gown that she had been roughly treated. The woman set the tray down and held Marianne in her arms as the girl sobbed.
“How maternal you are, sister dear,” Philippe laughed from the doorway. “You have duties to perform, slave. Your mistress is waiting for supper.” Dominique left the room and Philippe looked down at the child; and smiled as he saw the fear in her eyes. “You have no reason to fear us, Lady Marianne. You are safe here.”
“You hurt my aunt!” Marianne sobbed.
“My sister is just being reminded of her former life,” Philippe shrugged. “As long as she does as she is told, she will not be too badly bruised.” He shook his head and laughed. “You’re actually worried about the whore?”
“Domi is no whore!” Marianne protested. “She is my family and you will not hurt her!” She looked indignant as he began to laugh. “Have I said something to amuse you?”
“My sister would be quite touched to hear you defend her, little lady,” Philippe smiled at her. “You have no voice here, child. You own this property, but that is as far as it goes.” He took a step towards her and she backed away from him with a squeak of fright. “Someone will be here in four days, Lady Marianne, to escort