Misleading a Duke Read online

  “Faith…”

  “Just tell me. I’m better if I know all the facts,” she demanded.

  Shaking his head, he could see no way to give her hope without lying. “I would guess, your odds are fairly good. I would take that bet.”

  “And yours?” Her fork clinked loudly against the plate as she studied him.

  He searched the room for some way out of it.

  “Tell me,” she said.

  It was the earnestness in her voice that won him. “I wouldn’t take those odds, Faith. We shall need a miracle to save me.”

  The key turning in the lock ended the conversation.

  Charles appeared more sober than usual. “The other gentlemen are back, and I am to bring you both downstairs.”

  A knot formed in Nick’s stomach. “Why should they wish to see Lady Faith?”

  The shuttered look on Charles’s face did not ease Nick’s mind. “I cannot say.”

  Nick stood and faced Charles. He gripped his arm. “You owe me, Karl. I have kept my silence about you with the understanding you would protect her. Has that fact altered?”

  Jerking away, Charles narrowed his eyes. “I will do all that is in my power to keep her out of harm’s way.”

  “Has your situation changed? Is what you can do less than it was when this affair began?” Nick preferred the upper hand. Not knowing what a French messenger might have told the other two spies, left him at even more of a disadvantage.

  “No.” Charles stood straighter. “They will not harm the lady, Nicholas.”

  “If they do, Karl, your life is forfeit.” Nick showed anger, but his heart pounded with panic. He’d hoped they would take him away and the last memory of her would be of their night together. It was a fantasy, but he had hoped.

  Faith clutched his arm. “Nick, it will be all right.”

  Jane stood in the door with worried eyes. “My lady?”

  “Go down to the kitchens, Jane. Wait there until you are summoned.” Faith ordered her maid calmly. The way she made everyone else feel at ease, really was extraordinary.

  On the stairs, Nick leaned close. “Say nothing. Be smart and stay alive. Whatever I say to them with regard to you, do not pay it any mind. You know what is in my heart. Let what comes from my mouth be lies.”

  She nodded as they stepped onto the main floor.

  The salon had been cleared of furniture save for a chair in the corner. Ropes hung from the chandelier. Nick’s heart sank as Joseph pushed Faith into the chair.

  “Have you recovered, Nicholas?” Jean-Claude leaned against the mantel. He toyed with the dagger in his hand.

  Joseph placed a similar dagger just under Faith’s ear.

  She gasped but didn’t move or lower her gaze.

  “Now, Nicholas,” Joseph began. “Stand in the center of the room and slide your right hand into the loop in the rope.”

  It took a force of will to not look at the point where the dagger could easily pierce Faith’s skin. “You intend to appeal to my sense of right and wrong where a lady is concerned, Joseph?” He slid his hand through the loop. “The girl is under my protection. There is no need to be so dramatic. I will comply.”

  “Excellent. Now, Charles, assist our old friend with his other hand and pull the knots tight. We wouldn’t want any accidents that would lead to the young lady being harmed.” Joseph waited until Charles had tightened both loops around Nick’s wrists before he removed the dagger blade and stepped away from Faith.

  Charles’s eyes held an apology, but also a promise. He would keep her safe and that would be enough.

  Joseph stepped close to Nick, shaking his head. “Lady Faith, I am sorry for what you will witness here today. It is unseemly for a lady to see such things, but I suspect my old friend Nicholas has feelings for you and hope your presence will loosen his lips. Or perhaps you have some knowledge you would like to share. I assume since you are here with His Grace and without a chaperone, that you are lovers. Perhaps he has told you something of the movement of troops in England?”

  Faith stared, but said nothing.

  “It occurs to me,” Joseph continued, “that you should not be here at all. Has Nicholas kidnapped you for some purpose? Do you have a large dowry that he might gain by trapping you into marriage?”

  Her expression remained sober and unchanging.

  “I see you have nothing to say on the matter. It is puzzling.” Joseph moved away from Nick. “You may begin, Jean-Claude.”

  Pushing away from the hearth, Jean-Claude spun his dagger on one finger. “Do you remember the fun we used to have throwing knives, Nicholas? I was quite good. But for you I will not show off my skills at throwing. I don’t want you to leave us too soon. As you know, there are questions that need answers.”

  Nick remembered very well how good Jean-Claude was with a knife, and he also knew how much pleasure the spy took from torture. With his arms lifted and bound, Nick’s back ached anew. He glanced at Faith. Her gaze was fixed on him, but she was expressionless. Only her eyes gave away the worry inside.

  “Why don’t you tell us when the English army will invade and where? If you do that, I will walk to the doorway and throw this knife with a killing blow. I don’t really want to cause you pain, Nicholas. We were friends, after all.”

  Nick chuckled. “I have already told you too much. I understand my fate, Jean-Claude. Do you know yours?”

  Spinning around to face Nick, Jean-Claude approached in a flash. “My only concern is the here and now, Nicholas. And now I have plans to take you apart an inch of flesh at a time until you are begging to tell us anything and everything.”

  Nick grinned through his pain and fear. “My only regret is that I will not live to see you after the emperor has finished with you. I expect you will wallow in the gutter with not a franc to your name. Will your good friend Joseph Fouché be available to you then, or will his grand titles look down on you as I do now?”

  Jean-Claude glanced at Joseph.

  Joseph shrugged and tossed his blade to Jean-Claude, who caught it easily with his left hand. “He is a duke, Jean-Claude. Of course he looks down on all of us. He toyed with us and now he sneers. Get the information and we will return to France heroes.”

  Burying the extra blade in the wood of the mantel, Jean-Claude smiled. He carved a line along Nick’s ribs with the remaining blade, deep enough for pain but not death.

  Faith gasped, but Nick couldn’t look at her while the pain shot through his body.

  Chapter 14

  Faith wanted to crawl into a corner, put her hands over her ears and cry. Watching that monster Jean-Claude torture and maim Nick was killing her from the inside out.

  Each time she looked away, Joseph turned her head to face the horror. “Do not turn away, Lady Faith. You will not want to miss this.”

  And part of her thought he was right. If Nick had to endure the pain, the least she could do was bear witness.

  When she’d first seen the salon with none of its cozy warm furniture in place, it had given Faith pause. The stones held none of the warmth of the room where she had sat waiting for Nick’s arrival.

  She hadn’t understood the meaning of the ropes until Nick had been bound to them. Nick’s blood dripped down his ribs in a slow ribbon, staining his tan breeches.

  The monster made small slices on different parts of Nick’s body and then waited for Nick’s pain to subside before moving on to another spot. He dug his knife into the healing wounds on Nick’s back.

  Faith couldn’t see what damage was being done, but she imagined his agony and wished she could absorb some of what he suffered.

  “Tell us where the English troops will invade?” Jean-Claude kept his face close to Nick’s, taking pleasure from the misery he inflicted. He walked to the fire and placed his knife on the hearth close to the flame, then returned to Nick and kicked
his legs out from under him.

  The ropes pulled tight and a heartrending groan pushed out of Nick’s mouth.

  Faith’s suffering couldn’t compare to his, but she’d have sworn her own back had been torn open with the strain.

  Nick got his feet under him and his gaze met hers. Strength and defiance poured from his bright blue eyes even as sweat beaded along his skin. “Send the girl away. She has nothing to do with this.”

  “She is insurance of your good behavior, Nicholas.” Joseph toyed with Faith’s hair.

  She jerked away from his touch. Nick had told her to ignore what Joseph said, and she did her best. It was not speaking that became the hardest part when she wanted Nick to know she was with him. Not only present in the room, but with him in every way. Did he know? Would thinking it be enough to show him their connection? There were so many things she should have told him and last night had been her chance, yet she’d failed.

  Pulling on his glove, Jean-Claude walked back to his blade and picked it up. The heat moved the air around the knife.

  Faith bit the inside of her cheek. It was too much.

  In three steps, Jean-Claude pressed the heated blade against Nick’s side and the skin seared, filling the room with the stench of burning flesh and Nick’s wailing protests.

  Nick collapsed against the ropes, and while the burn did not bleed, blood ran down his arms from where he was bound. The ropes had cut into his flesh.

  The burn blistered and charred.

  Tears fell from Faith’s eyes; though she tried to blink them away, she couldn’t stay the flow.

  Even Charles stood from where he’d perched on the windowsill. “For the love of all that is holy, Jean-Claude. Must you stink up the entire castle with the penchant for pain?”

  “He knows things, Charles, and he owes us all for what he’s done. Do you want to take over the job? We would be here a month and then you would bore him into submission.” Jean-Claude sneered and circled Nick like a beast about to kill his prey.

  Joseph pulled a lace handkerchief from inside his coat and placed it over his mouth and nose. “In this, I must agree with Charles. It does stink, and we’re not out of doors, Jean-Claude. Find another method to gain the knowledge in Nicholas’s pretty head.”

  “Perhaps that is the answer,” Jean-Claude said. “Maybe I should cut the information out of his head. I could take an ear first.” He held the cooled blade up to Nick’s left ear.

  Instead of removing the ear, he ran the tip of the blade from just under his ear down his neck and stopped at his collarbone, leaving an angry, bleeding cut in its wake.

  Nick gritted his teeth but didn’t cry out. Perhaps the pain of the burn was still too severe to pay the slim cut much note.

  Gut clenching, Faith could barely keep her seat as blood dripped across his chest. Not so much that he might die from the slice, but enough that the cut should be bound. She didn’t know how deep a cut needed to be for a man to bleed to death, but the vein pulsing in Nick’s throat loomed terribly close to danger. She held her breath and prayed for the miracle.

  A distant and rolling noise sounded like thunder, but the sky was clear. It grew louder, but it was not thunder. The fall of many hooves on the wet roads pounded out the hope of salvation.

  Charles spun toward the window facing down the lane in front of Parvus. The blood drained from his cheeks. “We are discovered.”

  The other two rushed to the window.

  Faith was not at an angle to see what was coming. She ran to Nick’s side, pulled the knife from the mantel, and cut through one binding before Jean-Claude turned around. Unable to free Nick’s other hand, she held the knife in front of herself and guarded him.

  “I will kill you both before those troops ever reach the door.” Jean-Claude approached.

  “Stay away. Run before they lock you up in an English dungeon. I can tell you from experience, you will not like it.” Faith sliced from the fiend’s chest to his abdomen before he could jump away.

  Looking down at his bloody hand where he’d grabbed his cut blouse and bleeding flesh, Jean-Claude’s face twisted with surprise. “You bitch!”

  “There is not time for this!” Charles grabbed Jean-Claude’s arm before he could drive a killing blow. “We must get to the horses.”

  Joseph was already running toward the door. He stopped and turned toward Nick. “Another time, Nicholas.”

  “Go,” Charles commanded. As soon as the other two were out the door, Charles turned back and glanced from Faith to Nick. “My debt is paid, old friend. I imagine it will be difficult even for Joseph to return to England after this. Stay safe.”

  Nick managed half a nod.

  Charles left at a run. The sound of his boots followed the other two out the back of the house.

  Turning, Faith let her tears loose. She could barely see as she cut his other arm from the rope. Holding him around the middle, she did her best to keep him from hitting the floor as they both collapsed in a heap under Nick’s weight.

  Hooves and carriages approached with the sound of men hollering.

  Faith let the knife fall to the stone floor and pressed her hand to the bleeding cut under Nick’s ear. “Help!” She’d meant it to be a full scream, but it came out strangled. “Help!”

  Dragging her leg out from under Nick’s, she grabbed the bottom of her dress and tore off the flowered detail that decorated the bottom few inches. She pressed the cloth against the wound. “Stay with me, Nick. Help is coming.”

  Shallow breaths puffed against her neck. “I will try, sweetheart. I’m so sorry.”

  The front door banged open and boots stormed through Parvus.

  Jane’s screams filled the room.

  Faith saw the stricken maid at the threshold with her hand over her mouth.

  Geb stood beside Jane looking nearly as shocked, but he recovered first. “Go and send for a surgeon.”

  Relief flooded Faith and mingled with her panic that Nick’s injuries were too severe. The images blurred with more tears as she held him tight.

  “They had horses.” Faith caught her breath. “They were French spies. They left a few minutes ago.”

  Geb gave orders to a man in a red coat who was clearly an officer, but the man surveyed the scene and then followed them without question.

  More boots on the stone floors and then silence.

  A tall shadow fell over Faith. She gazed up into the kind face of Geb’s butler, Kosey.

  He knelt beside them. “You will have to let him go, my lady.”

  She understood the words, but she couldn’t comply. Nick had nearly died, might still die, and all he wanted was to protect her. Pressing her cheek to his, she wished for half the strength of Nicholas Ellsworth. He knowingly had decided to die for her, and she was not worthy. “I should have done more.”

  Kneeling beside her, Geb said, “He is alive, my lady. That is a miracle.”

  “He said it would take a miracle.” Faith glanced at Geb through watery eyes. “How did you know?”

  Warmth swept through Geb’s dark eyes. “There is much to tell on both ends, but you need rest, and His Grace needs a doctor.”

  Jane helped her stand while Kosey lifted Nick into his arms like he was a child. A head taller than any man Faith had ever seen, the Egyptian servant was formidable yet gentle as he carried Nick away.

  “I should be with him,” Faith said through more tears that she had no explanation for, other than relief and exhaustion.

  Jane wrapped her arm around Faith’s shoulders. “Come, my lady. Let’s get you cleaned up and in bed. You will be of no use to His Grace if you fall ill.”

  Safe and unharmed, Faith let Jane take care of everything. She didn’t remember changing into a nightgown or getting in bed. One moment she was climbing the stairs and the next she woke from a nightmare. Everything was a blur.


  Jane rushed to her bedside. “Are you all right?”

  Kosey stood near the door, his eyes bright with concern. The moon shone through the window.

  Lying back against the pillow, Faith yawned. “Just a bad dream. But it wasn’t a dream, was it, Jane?”

  “I’m afraid not, my lady.” Jane took her hand.

  “How is His Grace?” She yawned again, her eyelids heavy.

  Kosey’s deep voice filled the room. “He will need much time to heal, but he will live and I believe it is thanks to you, my lady.”

  As hard as she tried to deny any credit, her eyes closed and she fell into darkness.

  * * * *

  Blood covered Faith and Nick, or was it wine? They were drowning in it.

  Faith woke, gasping for air as she sat up in the bed. The white coverlet was crisp and clean with not a sign of blood. The sun shone defiantly through the clouds and streamed through the window in shards of color.

  “It’s all right, my lady. You’re safe.” Jane folded Faith’s clothes into a trunk but her eyes filled with worry.

  “You’re packing.” Faith brushed her hair from her face but it tumbled back an instant later. She pushed herself to sitting, with her back against the headboard. “How is Nick? I mean, His Grace.”

  “He sleeps with the help of a draught the doctor gave. He is in much pain and the burn is quite serious. I think even the doctor was shocked at the damage he’s survived. But he is alive and strong.” Jane looked up from her task and failed at an attempt to smile.

  “We are being sent home?” The answer was obvious, but she asked anyway.

  Jane nodded. “Mr. Arafa has arranged a carriage, and the giant will accompany us to ensure our safe return to London.”

  “He is not a giant, Jane. Just a very tall man.” Faith swung her legs over the side of the bed. “Is it morning or afternoon?”

  Rushing over, Jane said, “Go slowly. You have been asleep for nearly eighteen hours. It’s morning.”

  Pushing to her feet, she let Jane steady her until she was sure she could manage on her own. “Help me dress so that I can go down to breakfast, Jane.”