The Contract Duchess, a Regency Romance: Key To My Heart Book 1

Chapter 16 - Derrick

Consciousness returned slowly, his head pounding as it had after a night at White's when he had been in London. There was no light, and he was clearly not in his own bed; the horse blanket he was laying on was clear evidence of that. At first, his mind could not remember anything more than slipping out of the bed next to Angie this morning, being cautious not to wake her. He had broken his fast with some toast and eggs, and then headed to his estate to ensure that the workmen had completed the last details he had requested to surprise Angie.

The rest of the morning rushed back into his mind with a speed that made him gasp. He had entered the estate house and inspected it quickly, praising the staff for their attention to detail. He had just finished telling them of what he wished prepared for the first dinner he and Angie would share as husband and wife in their new home together when a firm knock sounded at the front door.

Since he was on his way back to Angie, Derrick had answered the door himself, and he was met by the sight of two men whom he had never seen before.

"Excuse me, sir" said the shorter of the men. "Would you be the future Duke of Chesterton?" His dark eyes, a little too small for his round scruffy face, darted about, reminding Derrick of a stallion about to nip the hand nearest its face.

When he answered in the affirmative, the men demanded he accompany them to see their mistress, but they refused to reveal her name or the nature of her business with him. Their lack of details tickled his sense of caution, and he declined their request, citing the need to return to his wife. At this, the men exchanged a wordless glance and leapt upon him, each grabbing one of his arms and pulling him toward a waiting enclosed coach. He pulled back against them, succeeding at kicking the feet out from under one, before the other man strategically swung him into the frame of the door, rendering him stunned and unable to resist the men when they dragged him into the coach with them and immediately started away.

By the time he was in full control of his senses and body, he had been bound tightly hand and foot and left to lie on the floor of the coach, far from the windows, no doubt to keep him from trying to attract attention. He expected that they would go only a little while before reaching a destination, but the coach continued on without break or pause for long enough that he succumbed to his aching head and slept.

He awoke abruptly when the coach stopped, the lack of light through the window screens telling him that they had traveled a long distance. He presumed that they would be exiting the coach, but his two captors did not move toward the door. Within a few minutes, the vehicle jerked into motion again, and he fought the urge to close his eyes again, wanting to be ready to fight when they tried to remove him from the coach.

He did not even know when the coach stopped the next time, for after only a little while, one of his captors stirred on his seat and a terrible pain erupted at the back of Derrick's skull, and his mind went dark.

He awoke slowly, his head throbbing and his body quivering uncontrollably from cold. He was in the dark, but he knew it was no longer a coach that held him; the surface on which he lay was blessedly still. The smell of musty wood filtered into his nose, along with an earthy scent that told him that he was lying on a dirt floor. He must be in a cellar; no other place could be so dark and so cold in late spring.

He lay quietly for a few minutes and was relieved that the pounding of his head seemed to ease with time; perhaps he was not badly damaged. But he could not rest for long. He was determined to better his situation as quickly as possible, starting with testing the strength of the ropes that bound his wrists and ankles.

It took him moments to determine that his feet had been bound only loosely, but there was very little give in the loops about his wrists. With some fancy footwork, he freed his legs and rose carefully to his feet, grateful that in the darkness no one would be able to witness the awkward way he was forced to gain his feet without the full use of his hands.