Authors: Saralynn Hoyt
"It’s this Sabrina woman, isn’t it?" Lord Suffolk
was frowning as the footman helped him on with his greatcoat.
"Yes, I’ll explain everything on the way."
They stepped out of the club as the carriage pulled up.
"Mr. Northcliffe," Cassie Blakemore stepped out of
the shadows. "Danny told me that Sabrina and Alice are in trouble. What is
this all about?"
"And who is this charming young woman?" O’Neill
peered at the bundled figure of Miss Blakemore. "Another friend of yours,
Northcliffe?"
"Miss Blakemore, may I introduce Lord Suffolk. Believe
it or not, a very good friend of mine." Ford turned to the man.
"Don’t be rude, O’Neill, Miss Blakemore runs an employment agency next
door to your Madame Lou. They are very good friends."
"Really?" Lord Suffolk’s eyebrows rose with
interest. "I don’t believe I’ve ever had the pleasure. That’s very
strange, actually, considering how often I pass by the tearoom. Very
interesting indeed."
"Yes, well," Cassie seemed put out by O’Neill’s fascination
with her. "I can see that you have things well under control here. I’ll
just let Madame Lou and Danny know that you’ll come tell us as soon as you know
that Sabrina and Alice are safe. You will do that, won’t you?"
"Of course, Miss Blakemore," Ford said in his most
reassuring voice. "I know how much you care for them both. But we must
hurry. Madame Lou stressed all manner of urgency."
Lord Suffolk looked both interested and amused as he opened
the door to his barouche. "Won’t you join us, Miss Blakemore? The more the
merrier."
"Oh, I would only get in the way," Cassie said,
already backing away from the two men. "Good luck!" She turned and hurried
back down the street.
"What an odd lass," O’Neill said watching her go.
"And strangely familiar although I’m quite positive we’ve never met
before."
"Well, you must have seen her when you were visiting
Madame Lou. Their shops have a common area in the back." Ford climbed aboard
the carriage.
"Yes, that must be it then," O’Neill answered,
getting in after Ford and latching the door. "But that isn’t what is so
familiar about her."
Suffolk didn’t share anything further, but Ford had the
distinct feeling that there was more to the story. Unfortunately, there wasn’t
time to discuss anything other than the situation that Sabrina was in and how
they could possibly extract her from it.
"So, what kind of trouble is your Sabrina in?"
Suffolk asked, focusing all of his attention on his friend.
"It all started after her husband died nearly two years
ago," Ford began the story wondering if he would be in time to stop the
worst from happening.
He shuddered to think how bad it might get. At best, Gerald
would force Sabrina to marry him, at worst, he would kill both her and Alice in
order to claim the family fortune as his own. Ford couldn’t allow either
scenario to come about. He would rather die himself than allow anything so
horrible to happen to Sabrina and Alice. The love he felt for them both was
such a force in his being that the very thought of them living anything but a
wonderful life made him literally sick to his stomach. Ford wanted Sabrina and
Alice to be happy, no matter the cost to himself. They deserved to live life
with Gerald safely locked behind bars for murdering Edward, even if it meant
living without Ford caring for them both. Ford hoped Sabrina would choose a
life with him, but either way, he would make certain that she never had to
worry about Gerald Tremaine ever again.
"Northcliffe." O’Neill was snapping his fingers in
Ford’s face to get his attention. "Don’t go off on me now, old chap.
You’ll need all your wits about you for this one. After all, you are the smart
one between the two of us."
Now there was a truly sobering thought.
M
adame Lou strolled down the snowy street thinking about
her most recent encounter. Dressed in everyday clothing, no one had recognized
her as the infamous psychic. A necessary affectation because of the type of
business she ran. It wouldn’t do at all for people to believe she was an
ordinary woman. She struggled now with what she should do. Return to the
tearoom and wait for news, or go directly to Berkeley Square and observe the
happenings? If only she hadn’t grown so close to her subjects this time. She tried
to concentrate on what the spirits had to say about the subject, but they were
unusually silent at the moment. In her mind though she could see a card as
clear as day, the Wheel of Fortune. It looked as though the outcome was now in
the hands of fate. A prayer on her lips, she made her decision and hurried back
to Tottenham Court Road.
Sabrina watched in apprehension as they pulled around to the
back of her old house. There would be no neighbors to call out to today. The
snow was keeping most people inside and those who did venture out had their
heads down and their eyes on the slippery street. She tried in vain to loosen
the rope around her wrists, but the knots where too tight and her fingers were
becoming numb. Looking over at Alice, she tried to smile for her daughter’s
sake. But the little girl was concentrating on something else and Sabrina
couldn’t seem to get her attention.
"I know you were cozy with most of the servants, so I
had to let most of them go," Gerald said, gaining her full regard again. "And
since I would like some privacy for the next few days, the new ones have been
given the rest of the week off. Except of course, Scar and Cal here. Cal,
please take Miss Alice up to the nursery and lock her in. She shouldn’t be any
trouble for you, will you, my dear niece?"
"No, Uncle Gerald," Alice said with her head
bowed. "Papa told me to agree with you no matter what."
"What utter nonsense," Gerald said, looking
disgusted. "A lunatic child was not part of the bargain. I will be only
too glad to place her in an orphanage."
"You can’t mean that," Sabrina cried, realizing
her mistake too late.
"Quiet, bitch." Gerald backhanded her, splitting
Sabrina’s lip. She could taste the salty, coppery blood but the pain was numbed
by her suppressed anger.
"You will do as I say and be glad of it. Cal, take her
to the cellar. I’ll be along in a minute."
Sabrina watched helplessly as Scar slung Alice over his
shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carried her in the opposite direction that
she was being pushed.
"Don’t worry, Mummy," Alice called over the big
man’s shoulder. "Nurse left me some presents."
"She’d better hope the nurse left her some crackers,"
Gerald grumbled under his breath. "I won’t be mollycoddling the brat while
she’s under my roof. And since there aren’t any servants here to wait on me,
there won’t be any for the likes of you either. I’ll eat at the Savoy, while
the two of you will be at the mercy of Scar and Cal. If they feel inclined to
share their meager supper, you can consider yourselves lucky. By the way,
Sabrina, I would never have found you if you hadn’t shown up at the hotel with
that lady friend of yours. My investigator had no trail on you, but then I saw
you at the restaurant."
Sabrina gasped at the realization of her mistake.
"Yes, you didn’t think I saw you, but I knew an
opportunity when I saw one. I had you followed immediately and was simply
waiting for you to make a blunder. You didn’t disappoint."
"But, what if I had stayed at Park Lane? You couldn’t
have touched me and Alice then." Sabrina didn’t know why she was saying
that. It only made her feel worse for leaving Ford.
"Maybe," Gerald said, narrowing his beady eyes at
her. "But if you hadn’t gone off on your own, I would simply have had you
arrested. After all, you did try to kill me."
"You wouldn’t dare!"
"Don’t assume you know how far I would go to have you
under my control." Gerald looked truly evil as he said those words. "Soon
you’ll be begging me for favors. Don’t think I won’t remember everything you’ve
done to me. I will make you pay."
He grabbed Sabrina by the front of her dress and forced his
fat, wet lips on her bruised and bloodied mouth. When she tried to twist away,
he yanked her bodice hard. A ripping sound preceded the cold air that hit her
bosom.
"That’s better. Now your charms are more easily
discerned. For a moment there, I forgot what I ever saw in you." Gerald
laughed while one meaty hand fondled her breast.
"I promise, you will live to regret that," Sabrina
hissed, and before she could think better of it, she spat in Gerald’s face.
"Get her locked up, now," he bellowed, looking as
if he wanted to hit her again.
But instead he turned and lumbered his way back upstairs and
into the main part of the house. Cal shoved her hard toward the cellar stairs.
It took all of Sabrina’s concentration to stay on her feet or she might have
kept taunting her brother-in-law. Even though the logical half of her brain
knew it could only hurt her and Alice to do so.
"Now behave yerself," Cal said derisively, eyeing
her bared bosom lasciviously. "Mister Tremaine wants you all to himself
for now, but if you give him any trouble, I’m sure he’ll be sharing your
charms."
Sabrina wanted to rail and shout at the man, but she knew
that now was the time to keep quiet. Maybe if he left her alone for a while,
she would be able to figure a way to get them out of this mess. Cal shoved her
into a dark room and locked the door behind her. The space was completely black
and only a sliver of light showed under the door. She had barely gotten a
glimpse of the space before being plunged into darkness, but she knew there was
a filthy mattress in one corner and some boxes against the back wall. It was
not a promising situation. Yet once again, she had to admit that Madame Lou had
been absolutely, irrefutably correct in her predictions. With her bound hands,
Sabrina reached into her skirts and pulled out the knife the psychic had
instructed her to have on her person. At least she had done that one small
thing.
Awkwardly, Sabrina sawed through the cord that bound her
wrists. Pain shot through her arms and fingers once she was free. As soon as
her hands stopped throbbing, she found the matches in her other pocket and lit
one, looking around the room for a lamp or a candle. She had to use three
matches before she finally found a half of a candle stub. It was better than
nothing, she surmised, and used the feeble light to thoroughly search her
prison. There was very little there of use, but one or two things she might be
able to use in her defense if she was very clever. Sabrina didn’t pretend that
she was as smart as somebody like Ford, but hers and Alice’s lives might depend
on what she could make of the rubbish on hand. She wasn’t about to let any of
it go unexamined.
Sighing, she finally sat gingerly on the filthy mattress and
examined her torn gown. She wished she had the needle and thread now. That
Madame Lou really knew what she was doing, Sabrina thought as she tried to
repair her clothing without them. When she had that task complete as best as she
could, she realized that she hadn’t eaten since the night before and her belly
rumbled in protest. Again, Madame Lou’s prediction had been accurate. Ignoring
the protests of her stomach, Sabrina set the candle within easy reach before
extinguishing it. Then she lay down on the makeshift bed and made an effort to
get some rest. She would need an abundance of energy if she was going to fight
her way out of this situation. And she did intend to fight.
****
Alice smiled happily at the ugly man as he shut the sturdy
door and locked her in the nursery. She felt right at home in her old rooms.
She was very hungry though and wondered if the old tin of crackers was where
she had left it. Skipping off, Alice decided to check all the places she used
to hide candy too, although she couldn’t imagine having left any behind. Much
to her surprise and delight, she found several peppermints and a sealed box of
gingersnaps. They weren’t moldy or anything. A bit stale, but that was to be
expected considering they’d been there for nearly two months. She polished the
crackers off and tucked the candy into her pocket as she wandered around
thinking about what her Papa had said to her. Nurse had told her something very
important when she was just a little girl and if she could remember what it
was, Papa was certain she could escape and help Mummy.
She picked up small rag doll she’d left behind in her rush
to leave that night so long ago and hugged it tight. Mummy had given it to her
and now Mummy was counting on her to be brave. She was determined to make both
her parents proud and make Uncle Gerry sorry he’d hurt them!
Alice looked longingly at the cold coal stove. Once upon a
time it had helped keep the nursery toasty warm. Not to mention the pot of
chocolate that used to sit atop it, ready to be poured anytime she and Nurse
wanted some refreshments. But from the frosty chill in the air, it was obvious
that no one had ventured anywhere near the nursery since she and her Mama had
left. Alice peeked in the coal bucket, just in case someone had left a bit. Of
course, it was empty. With a sigh she looked around the room trying to remember
everything Nurse had ever told her about this house.
"What is it, Papa?" she said aloud, hoping her
father would simply tell her what she needed to know. Unfortunately, he didn’t
always oblige her. Lately, his messages were more and more cryptic and
sometimes he wasn’t around at all. A few days ago, he’d told her that soon he
wouldn’t be talking to her anymore. She’d cried and begged him not to go, but
he insisted that she would be far too busy to communicate with him soon.
"Why?" she’d asked him.
"You’ll see," was all he would answer.