The lightest fruit may
Break a bough that hangs proud on
A very great tree
“Please, do sit down.”
He indicated a padded, leather chair at his side. Just as my body obeyed Amy’s every command, it seemed I also had to do as this man told me. I perched on the edge of the chair. My breath fluttered in my throat. Was my nightmare finally about to end? Was Christian going to pop out from somewhere and laugh at me for taking this romp seriously? My heart assured me it would be so even as my brain told me to be careful. Very careful.
“Shall I pour some wine?” Amy asked the man. He shook his head.
“No.” I noticed his answer was abrupt, with no courtesy. Amy pouted and he inclined his head in her direction. “You may go now.”
She walked away with only the tiniest of glances in my direction. Suddenly, I wished she would stay. At least Amy was a known quantity, and it was obvious that she liked me. I was instinctively afraid of this unknown man.
“Dear Lady Kyle, I have waited such a long time for this evening. And now the time has arrived at last!” He steepled his fingers under his chin and smiled at me. “Now, I daresay you have many questions for me. Where would you like to begin?”
It was as if he had freed a gag from my tongue. Words poured out from my lips.
“Who are you? Where’s Christian? What is this place? Where am I? I want to go home. Now.” I stopped, panting slightly from the flood of words.
He inclined his head courteously and put his hand up, palm out. Instantly, I was dumb again. If I could have made a noise, I would have screamed in frustration.
“Just as I thought. There is, of course, much you wish to know. Now, as to who I am. My name is Soames. You may call me that, or you may address me as Mr. Soames. I am amenable to either. This place is a palace of pleasure for men who have far more money than is good for them. There’s no point in telling you where you are, it’s irrelevant. And Christian? I assume you mean Mr. Mountjoy?” I nodded. “Ah. By now, I imagine Mountjoy will be well on his way out of London.” He made an elaborate show of consulting the watch that hung from his Albert chain. “I seem to recall him telling me that he was catching the 8:45 train down to Southampton. From there, he intends to take the ferry to France, eventually to make his way to Vienna. Why Vienna, I have no idea. I would have thought it a little too quiet for Mountjoy, but he clearly believes otherwise.”
My lips stumbled over the questions that filled my mouth. At that moment, only one thing seemed important. Christian had left me here? Run away and abandoned me in this terrible place?
“Why?” I said faintly. “Why has he gone? Without me?”
“Don’t you understand yet?” Soames gave an almost fatherly smile. “He brought you here with the express purpose of leaving you with me. I gave him a great deal of money for the pleasure, I assure you. And I am delighted to see that it was money well spent.”
My heart chilled. I understood now. Christian had abandoned me and run away. I had been kidnapped and was being held for ransom. Oh, Callum! I was so very sorry! I wanted to weep, but even that small solace was denied to me.
“My husband will pay you whatever you ask,” I said stiffly. “He’ll raise the money somehow to meet your price.” I thought of lying on Callum’s bed of gold and wanted to cry. How could I have done this to Callum? I was stupid and selfish.
Soames pursed his lips. I stared at him, trying to commit his features to memory. Callum would pay for my return, of course. But anything I could do to help him find this creature afterward and get his revenge, I would also do. He was clean-shaven. Brown hair, worn rather long and brushed back from his face. Age? Perhaps mid-forties. An easy face to disguise. But he would never be able to disguise his voice. It was deep and resonant. Deeply attractive. An opera singer’s voice.
“Ah. I think, dear Lady Kyle, that you still do not quite understand. There is no question of a ransom. You are never going to see your husband again. In fact, once the first frenzy of activity of looking for you has died down and I can get you out of London safely, I doubt you will ever see England again. I have a customer waiting for you, my dear. A very particular Parisian gentleman who has waited a long time for a woman who exactly fits his very discerning requirements. And now you are here, at last! What fun!” He clapped his hands with glee. Suddenly, his face became serious. “Much as I would love to get double the money for you, I don’t think it would be at all wise.”
“Callum will pay you,” I repeated. Panic resonated in my voice and I took a deep breath to try and control it. “As long as I get back to him safely, he’ll pay you.”
“My dear Lady Kyle.” Soames sounded deeply amused. “I had thought of a ransom, of course. A little more money—and easy money at that—is always most welcome. But then I changed my mind. I have heard a great deal about your husband’s exploits in the Crimea. I understand he has a reputation as a gentleman of honor. One who will never give up if he considers the cause to be a just one. And what greater cause than having his beloved wife returned to him?”
I felt physically sick. I closed my eyes, torn between disbelief at my own stupidity and the pressing need to hold my nausea down. Not that I wouldn’t have been happy to vomit all over Soames’ beautiful furniture; I would. But I guessed in my present state my body would refuse to follow the most basic of instincts, and I thought that it might be only too likely that I could choke to death on my own bile. I swallowed and took a deep breath, speaking as calmly as I could.
“If Callum thinks I’ve just disappeared, he’ll never rest until he finds me. You’ve made a terrible mistake, I promise you.”
“What a clever girl you are! And such trust in your dear husband. But unfortunately, you don’t know the whole story. When Lord Kyle comes home from his club, he will find a letter from you waiting for him. It will say that you could not face the boredom of returning to Glen Kyle. That becoming acquainted with Mountjoy again had made you long for the pleasures of the world you renounced. To cut it short, he will learn that you have decided to follow Mountjoy on his jaunts through Europe. You will help him live off his wits, etcetera, etcetera. I have many experts in my employ and one of them is a most expert forger who finds it easy to copy anybody’s handwriting. I found myself in the fortunate position of having a note that you sent to Lady Margrave, excusing yourself from attending her rout. He assured me it contained enough to make the job an easy one.”
Anger swelled and began to take the place of terror. Christian had done this to me. And to Callum. He had sold me. And I had thought he was our friend!
“Let me go,” I said, and I was surprised by how calm I sounded. “You will regret it if you try and sell me. I promise you, your customer will not be happy with me. I’ll make sure of that.”
“Oh, but he will! I doubt there is another woman who is such a perfect match for his needs.” Soames lifted his hands and began to tick points off on his fingers as he spoke. “Alain demanded a geisha. He has heard much of Japanese culture and is mad for it. Not just any geisha, however. He demanded a beautiful, cultured woman. Also, one who spoke perfect English. He himself is proud of his grasp of the English language. And this particular woman had to have one more quality. A unique one. She had to be able to play the part of both mistress and master, depending on his whim.” I felt the blood leave my face as I understood. I glanced down at my shirt and trousers. If I had been able to, I would have torn them off my body. Oh, Christian! What have you done to me? “You see, finally? I had virtually despaired of finding this ideal creature when dear Max Marchant whispered to me about an enchanting Japanese lady that Mountjoy had introduced to her, and how odd it was that a few weeks later she appeared to have become a he. I guessed Mountjoy’s real purpose in showing you off to the guttersnipes of the East End was to attract my interest. Mountjoy is as trustworthy as a serpent. He is also a very old friend of mine. It took no time at all to persuade him to bring you to me.”
“Bastard,” I whispered. Soames raised his eyebrows and I wondered cynically if he thought I was talking about him or Christian.
“Good lord, such language from a lady! But then, you’re not just any lady, are you? I’ve watched you, you know. I’ve seen you in the Alhambra and the Royal Opera House. Watched you conceal your boredom at fashionable soirees—and very well you did it, too. Have you ever thought of becoming an actress?—where I was a fellow guest of the great and the good. And I saw you help Mountjoy rob the poor fool who thought he was going to bugger you down an alleyway.”
My lips moved, but no sound came out. I felt the last glimmer of hope curl and die in my heart. How long had Soames been watching me, waiting to pounce? And how could I never have noticed him? Finally, I managed to speak.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“Such perceptiveness! The ultimate question, of course. Any other woman would have continued to bleat on about how I would never get away with it. But you know I already have, don’t you? As to who am I? Well, I think I may say without bragging that I am the greatest criminal mind in London. The police think me at least a dozen different people. I have stolen jewels from the necks of old and ugly women. Relieved banks of their hoarded gold. Blackmailed men without number, mainly those idiots who have enjoyed my hospitality here in my palace of pleasure and pain. And—I freely admit—kidnapped the odd heir to vast fortunes. Now, I know your next question! Why do I do it?”
He leaned forward and smiled warmly at me. I answered him at once.
“You do it because you can. Because it amuses you to get away with it. I suppose the money helps, but that’s only a small part of it.”
I had surprised him, I was bitterly pleased to see. The smile slipped for a moment, and I saw the utter coldness beneath.
“What a clever girl you are. I’m almost persuaded to keep you here for my own amusement. But no. A promise is a promise. You shall go to Paris to live a life of luxury as a pampered slave. A bird in a gilded cage.”
His smile was back in place. A lock of hair fell over my face and I tried—and failed—to raise my hand to push it away. I thought of his words and almost smiled to myself. A slave? I had been a slave. I would not be a slave again. I knew that without any doubt at all. I glanced at his face and saw the tiniest flicker of—what? Doubt? Surprise? I changed the subject instinctively.
“What have you done to me?” I asked.
“I? I have done nothing at all to you. Mountjoy, though. Perhaps if we rephrased the question and asked what has he done to you, we might come to an answer.”
He was watching me very carefully. I schooled my face to remain passive and I saw yet again that glimmer of worry in his eyes.
“It was the flowers, wasn’t it? My corsage.” I glanced down at the carnations, so beautiful, so innocent, that Christian had fixed in my lapel. “I knew they smelled odd.”
“Bravo!” Soames patted his hands together in exaggerated applause. “What a clever girl you are. I must take credit for a little of the deception. The liquid that Mountjoy poured on them is of my own devising. I have found it to be tremendously effective in subduing the most difficult of subjects. It allows the body to function, yet the mind to be bent entirely to the will of those around you. Far superior to chloroform, or anything else known to medical science.”
He was preening, actually expecting me to be awed by his cleverness! I stared at him and he pouted sulkily.
“Ah, well. I suppose I could hardly expect you to find it amusing. Now, I think it is time you went to bed.”
I had kept my head averted from my buttonhole while he was speaking, and tried to breathe as shallowly as I could. As Soames stood and walked toward me, I tensed away from him and I realized with a thrill of excitement that I had had actually been able to move of my own accord. I waited until he was bending over me, then jerked my head into his face as hard as I possibly could. My head was spinning with the pain of the blow, but I took a vicious satisfaction in seeing Soames reeling back, blood running from his nose.
I took my chance. I jerked to my feet and staggered toward the door as fast as I could move. My vision was swimming and my legs felt as if they had atrophied, but still I forced myself to lurch forward. But Soames was far quicker. His hands were around my waist before I could touch the door. He held me tightly, forcing my arms against my sides. I tried to kick him, and knew I had connected when I heard him shout angrily.
“You little bitch!” He breathed into my neck. I twisted my head and tried to bite his face. The last words I heard as I felt a violent pain at the back of my head were, “Such fun!”