“It’s you or the brat,” he declared with a grin. “I’ve no use for a sideslip, even if he is mine, so choose.” Adam’s eyes shot to the gentleman’s face with horror, but Lord Sterling did not even bother to look at the boy.
“Take me,” Peggy said without hesitation. She held up her hands in submission and allowed her malicious ex-lover to pull her to him as Adam was shoved away toward the approaching horses.
“Run,” she ordered, and though her son looked like he wanted to do anything but run, he finally acquiesced when she repeated the demand in a tone that would not be argued with.
Peggy watched until Adam was out of sight. When Lord Sterling took a long draw of her scent and expressed having dreamt about her these long years, she cringed.
“You disgust me,” she spat, but he only laughed.
“You agreed to give yourself for your son,” was all he offered. “You’ll tell those men to leave, or I’ll make sure you never see that boy again. I promise you, I will hunt him down and kill him. I found you once. I can find him the second time.”
Peggy looked up at his words to see Nash riding at the front of the group, his face wracked with a mixture of fury and fear. At his sides were his father, Mr. Finch, Jemmy, and several other men of the town, including what appeared to be a few local lords. They had rallied the forces, but it seemed not in time.
Peggy felt the press of the cold metal against her temple.
“Leave now or the ladybird dies,” Lord Sterling shouted so that all would hear. “She’s mine, but you can take the boy unharmed. The brat stabbed me, but you can take him.”
“That’s my boy,” Nash and Mr. Finch said in unison, before glancing at each other with some pride.
Peggy thought she had never loved Lord Belton more. He was here, for her and for Adam, but she was resolved that she would go with Lord Sterling before she put either of them in danger.
Lord Belton had other ideas.
“We aren’t going anywhere,” Nash declared as he dismounted no less than thirty paces away. Peggy prayed he would not come any closer. She did not wish for the man that she loved to be anywhere within range of the pistol, and he was already near enough to put Lord Sterling on edge. She could feel it in the way he trembled, not with fear but with excitement, and he didn’t seem terribly competent with the pistol. It could go off at any moment.
“Tell your men not to move an inch or I’ll put a bullet in her head,” Lord Sterling shouted when the riders had begun to move as if to circle around. “I’ll do it. I’ll kill her before I give her up.”
Peggy knew without a doubt that he meant every word. Lord Sterling seemed like a passionate man in his youth. Now she realized that he was crazed.
“Lower the weapon,” Nash said in a calm tone, taking one slow step forward. “We can talk about this, gentleman to gentleman.”
Lord Sterling pointed the pistol at Nash to force him to stop his approach and then swiftly returned the gun to Peggy’s temple when he realized the mistake. Nash had meant to draw the weapon away from Peggy’s head even if that meant having it leveled at himself.
“No closer!” the assailant cried. “We are going to climb into the carriage and be off. You can keep the boy, but don’t follow or she’s dead.”
“With what driver?” Nash wondered, looking down at the unconscious man who still lay sprawled at the foot of the carriage.
Lord Sterling seemed to all at once take note of his precarious position. True, he held the hostage. But it was dozens of men against one, and even if he got them into the carriage, there was no one to drive it. If he drove the rig himself, then Peggy would not be so well guarded and might even attempt to fling herself upon the road. He had found himself in a pinch, to be sure. He looked uncertain.
“You don’t want her anyway,” Lord Sterling shouted for the benefit of the crowd. “She’s ruined. I ruined her.”
“That is where you are wrong. I want her very much,” Nash replied.
“We want her,” Mr. Finch said. “We find her quite respectable. A widow, whose husband died in the war.”
Peggy stared, realizing that the whole town was perfectly willing to hide her secret, but Lord Sterling knew the truth. “I ruined her!” he shouted.
Nonetheless, there were nods of agreement from the men of Riversbend that brought tears to Peggy’s eyes. Not that her fear, the fingers clawing at her hair, or the gun at her head helped much.
“Who are you?” her captor demanded while waving the gun wildly. “Some other sap caught in her spell?”
“I am Baron Whitehall,” Nash revealed. “And yes, I suppose I am quite caught by her. So you see, I won’t be letting you take her. Not today. Not ever.”
Lord Sterling bristled. “The damned baron from the letters,” he snarled, and his tone turned sly and mocking as he turned his attention to Peggy and began to berate her. “You think he is going to claim you? Ha. You weren’t worth a viscount. You won’t ever be more than a whore, no matter whose bed you warm.”
He turned back to Nash and addressed his rival with distain. “She’s good enough to bed, but not good enough to wed, right? Shameful thing these upstart merchant’s daughters. They think money makes them equal, but the breeding just isn’t there. Now, as a mistress I will tell you… that is a fine choice.” He shrugged against her as if he expected that as men of status, they must have an understanding.
“Now. Here’s the thing. I’ve found mine. You’ll just have to look elsewhere. I’m sure there are plenty of willing convenients for your by-blows,” Lord Sterling said with a grin. Peggy could tell that he was enjoying the attention, the power he felt in this moment with everyone waiting on his action. “Now, as I said…” He fumbled to pull back the hammer on the pistol with the thumb of the same hand that held it and then changed his mind. Peggy wondered how proficient he was with the pistol. “Allow us passage or we all lose.” He released her hair and wrapped his elbow around her neck. With the newly freed hand, he pulled back on the hammer once more to ensure it was in place.
Peggy’s eyes met Nash’s, and her heart ached at the sight. She could see in his eyes that he would fight to the death for her, to his own death, and she could not allow it. Tears began to flow freely as she shook her head, begging him not to act. They would both be killed. She could not see Adam from the skyward position which Lord Sterling held her head, but she hoped that he had run free of the sight, for she could see that Nash would not surrender her to this fiend. If she died, he would go down fighting unless she could convince him otherwise. She had not a moment to waste. “Take care of Adam,” she said. “Be there—”
She caught Nash’s eye, and for a moment they were of one accord.
I will be there. Always.
“Always,” he said.
She slammed her head back into Lord Sterling’s face, hoping to catch him in the nose or strike some other painful blow. In surprise, he released her, and she fell forward to the ground. At the same moment, she saw Nash spring forward from the corner of her eye, but he was too far away. As she turned back to face Lord Sterling, she watched as he leveled the gun at her and… pulled the trigger.
Nothing happened.
Peggy sat on the ground shaking, too filled with fear to even bother crawling away. She knew Nash and the now others were running toward her. She could her him cry out her name, but the world seemed to have shrunk in size to nothing more than herself, Lord Sterling, and the weapon. He shook the offending item and slammed it against his palm, pulling the hammer back yet a third time as he reset the pistol for a second attempt. This time, he aimed straight at her face, his grin unearthly and terrifying. She closed her eyes and hoped only that it would be painless.
He pulled the trigger, and a resounding crack shook the air. Peggy smelled gunpowder and heard a thud but there was no pain. It was over, she thought.
She was dead.
Then, a pair of arms were flung around her, and knees landed at her side. She felt herself being pulled into the lap of a large form that she had come to know so well. Nash. Perhaps she was not quite dead, but at least she felt no pain, she thought. Perhaps this was what it felt like when one’s soul left their body. If so, she was in heaven. She sighed and burrowed into him, listening to the heaving breaths that were torn from his chest.
“It’s all right,” he murmured in her ear. “Open your eyes. You’re all right. I can’t believe it, but,” his voice cracked with emotion, “you are unharmed.”
Peggy did not understand, but after he repeated the words, she did as he had instructed. She opened her eyes and looked up into the most stunning blue she had ever seen. The same blue eyes that she had grown to love these past months.
“What… What happened?” She turned to look at Lord Sterling, but Nash’s hand cupped her cheek and prevented her from glancing over her shoulder.
“You do not want to see it,” he explained. “The gun must not have been properly loaded. It misfired. It exploded when he pulled the trigger. He’s dead.”
“Adam?” she asked, craning her neck to look over his shoulder for her son. He was her only concern in the moment.
“He’s fine. Jemmy saw him in the field and went to get him. They are headed back to the village. He didn’t see it.”
All at once, the tears flowed freely. Adam was safe and he would not be traumatized by the horrific death of Lord Sterling Pentworth. She clung to Nash for all she was worth, not even opening her eyes.
“I tried, Nash. I really did,” came a frustrated male voice. “I left her with her mother.” Peggy looked up to see one of the gentlemen in the group glaring at Miss Nora as she dismounted at their side. She looked as if she had ridden through a maelstrom, so flushed and disheveled the lady appeared in her effort to catch up with the menfolk.
“Lord Abernathy,” she snipped in acknowledgement of her nemesis. Then she turned to Peggy and cried. “I tried to join from the off, but they left me behind, and it took ages to give Mama the slip. I’m so glad you are safe, Peggy. I’ve been worried sick.” She shook off Lord Abernathy’s hand as he attempted to steer her away so that Peggy and Nash might have their privacy, but Miss Nora paid him no mind. “I passed Jemmy and Adam on the way, and they said that some beast was…” She turned and must have caught sight of Lord Sterling’s mangled form because her face suddenly went ghost white. The boys had warned her of the villain but had known nothing of his terrible outcome.
“Oh,” Nora said turning now a vivid shade of green.
“Come.” Lord Abernathy caught Miss Nora’s elbow to pull her away from the gruesome sight. The fact that she did not resist was the best indication of her state.
“Oh my,” she groaned, and then in a flood of unaccustomed feminine weakness, she became sick all over Lord Abernathy’s boots.