An Undomesticated Wife Part 22

Regina whispered, "I am surprised you came after me."

"I had no desire to see you abducted by them." His frown refocused on the three men sitting on a small rug by the door. "Dash it, Regina! I have no desire to be rid of you."

"I stand in the way of you marrying Jocelyn."

"Marry Jocelyn?" He laughed shortly, then grimaced as another lightning flash of pain scored his head. "She has less interest in marrying me than you do. Ironic, isn't it? Marcus Whyte, heir to the Duke of Attleby and the prize of the Marriage Mart, has tangled his life with two women who despise the idea of being married to him."

Regina gazed down at her hands, which were toying with the chain holding them together. "I do not despise the idea of being married to you."

"But you would prefer not to be."

"I am not the wife you want."

"True."

Tears filled Regina's eyes at his curt answer. It was so different from the affirmations of love he had whispered when he held her in their bed. What a noodle she had been to believe those nothing-sayings! Quickly she told herself that she need not worry about their marriage if they did not find a way to get themselves out of this predicament.

Nor, she reminded herself with a slow smile, did she need to fret about owing a debt to Jocelyn Simpson. Marcus's particular had done nothing to help save him. That thought gave her the strength to search her mind for an idea that would free them. Mayhap there was a chance for both their escape and their marriage.

"And it is also true," he went on, "that Fisher and his fellows are looking for you. Are we at Sheldon's house?"

"In a small building in the back." She shuddered. "I do not believe we are the first to enjoy his hospitality, nor are we meant to be the last. How did you know to come here?"

He touched the back of his head and winced. "Sheldon was the obvious choice when he vanished at the same time you were abducted."

"I own that I did not suspect him, especially since he wrote to Papa about his concerns for me."

"Which persuaded your father to arrange for you to leave Algiers, so Sheldon could get you into his diabolical control." He frowned, then cursed under his breath. "Who would have guessed that Sheldon is responsible for our marriage?" His hands fisted at his side. "Where is the b.a.s.t.a.r.d? He owes me for too much now."

Regina looked away, not wanting him to see her despair. Would she ever lose her foolish dreams that Marcus might love her as she loved him? Now he could blame Benjamin as well as her for fouling his life with too many complications.

"Be brave, sweetheart," he said and brushed her hair back from her face. "If we are near Sheldon's house, then Fisher will find us ... eventually."

Regina grasped his arm as the three men's voices drifted toward them. "We may not have that time."

"Why?"

"They do not need two hostages," she whispered. "Lie back down. Drop down, as if you have lost consciousness again."

"Why?"

"Please. I think I have an idea that might work."

His brows lowered. "What is it?"

Putting her hands on his arms, she pleaded, "Marcus, you must trust me. I know the Algerians. You don't. Let me do what I can."

Marcus hesitated, and she knew what he was thinking as clearly as if he had spoken. It galled him to be dependent-even in this most dire situation-on his wife. His wife should be, as he had made obvious, a good hostess, a competent mother, and a receptive lover. She should not be willing to negotiate with kidnappers.

"Please, Marcus," she whispered.

He nodded. She bit her lip when he collapsed back to the floor with just enough noise to sound convincing.

The tall man, who had spoken to her by the brook, stood and came over to where they were chained. He wore the free-flowing robes of Algiers, but seemed as ill at ease as he had while dressed in English clothes when he rode through the creek by Attleby Court. He reached down to grasp the chain on her leg.

"Are you unhooking us, Abdullah?" she asked in Arabic.

"We have spoken long of this," he said, "and it is not right that a woman should watch her husband die when she is innocent."

She drew her leg back under her and shook her head. "First you must tell me why my husband should die. My husband is not your enemy."

"All Englishmen will soon be our enemies." He squatted to bring his gaze even with hers.

She shook her head. "The English government and the Dey's government are allies. By the time you get me back to Algiers, the Dey and the Regent are sure to have signed another treaty."

"We will give away no more of our privileges to the British."

She risked a glance at Marcus, but he was playing his rle well. For the first time, he was actually trusting her. He was recognizing the fact that, at least for now, he needed a wife with her skills. She hoped they would prove the match for this perilous situation.

"Abdullah," she said quietly, "you know I speak honestly."

"The British emba.s.sy shall be more willing to negotiate with that same honesty if they fear for your life."

"That is not true. My father, like you, holds honor more important than anything else." She hesitated, then plunged ahead, knowing she had little to lose now. "Would you betray those to whom you have sworn loyalty simply to protect a loved one? Doesn't loyalty demand sacrifice?"

"I think you should say no more."

"Why?" she pressed, sensing his growing uncertainty. "Why cannot you answer that question? It is not so difficult. Loyalty demands sacrifice, does it not?"

"This conversation is a waste of breath. Sit and be silent, or you shall watch me slit your husband's throat." He withdrew his curved knife from his belt.

She leaned back against the wall but asked, "Why do you fear to speak the truth? The truth is never an enemy, for it lights the mind like the sun upon the sea at dawn. Can you not speak the truth?"

"Regina-" came a low whisper.

Putting her hand on Marcus's arm as she continued to gaze at Abdullah, she squeezed gently. Marcus must remain silent. The wrong word now might mean his death.

"The truth does not frighten me," Abdullah said.

"Then why do you pledge your loyalty to a man who has already proven that he holds no vow sacred?"

"I would spit on such a man."

"Would you? Benjamin Sheldon has betrayed his government."

Abdullah smiled. "He has seen the truth. Like a child, he has made mistakes but now understands. We do not punish a child for a child's mistakes."

"Do you punish a woman for a woman's mistakes?"

"Of what do you speak?"

She took a deep breath, then said, "Adultery is a serious crime."

"The most serious. You know that an adulterous woman may be tied in a bag with a heavy stone and tossed into the sea."

"Then you should be forewarned that that is what shall happen to me the moment I set foot in Algiers."

His eyes widened as he scowled. "You are an English lady. Your husband would not allow-"

"You need only ask Benjamin Sheldon how he convinced my husband to challenge him to a duel. You should ask before you find yourself with no way to negotiate." Lacing her fingers together in her lap, she said, "You might wish to let my husband live."

When Abdullah jumped to his feet and went back to his companions, she sagged against the wall. She was not sure what her words had gained her, other than death. She started when a hand settled on hers, then smiled weakly at Marcus.

"What did you say to him?" he whispered.

"Something that might put an end to this."

"How?"

"Do not ask."

"Tell me!"

"Please, Marcus, this is the one thing I can do for you. Just be silent, and let me save your life."

"My life?" he demanded, pouncing on her words. "Not our lives?"

"Please, Marcus-"

He seized her arms as he sat. "I will not let you forfeit your life for me!"

"Marcus, I-"

Jumping to his feet, he shouted, "I do not know what she told you, but none of it is true."

"Marcus," she cried, "stop before they slay you!"

He ignored her. "Is that your way? Do you murder innocent women? No wonder the British have been able to stuff every treaty down your cowardly throats. You are afraid to fight a single Englishman."

Regina looked from the three men to her husband. Abdullah's companions' faces twisted with fury as he translated Marcus's words. When she called out that they should not listen to him, that he was out of his mind with his aching head, Abdullah drew out his knife again.

Suddenly the door crashed open. A flood of men flowed into the room. Regina gasped as Marcus pressed her back against the wall. A single gun fired above the cacophony of voices shouting in two languages. Dirt and wood rained on her.

"Are you unhurt?"

In shock, she looked up at Mr. Fisher. He held out his hand to her as Marcus stood. With a smile, she put her hand in Marcus's hand instead. The Bow Street Runner grinned before turning back to collecting his prey.

"Well?" Marcus asked. "Are you unhurt?"

She started to answer, then threw her arms around him. She clung to him, sobbing.

Nineteen.

"Forgive me," Regina said. "I have not cried in many years."

Marcus smiled, knowing he looked a bit rakish with a white bandage against his black hair. "Sweetheart, you have said that at least a dozen times." Raising his voice, he called, "Andrews, get Lady Daniston another handkerchief."

"You should remain quiet," she said through a hiccup of sobs. Putting her hands on his chest, she gently pushed him back in the chair in the middle of the sitting room. "That wound on your head is not a slight one."

"This is a fine woman!" His father slapped him on the shoulder. "Best thing you've ever done, son, was to agree to marry her."

Marcus was startled. He could not remember the last time his father had complimented him, even so off-handedly. "Thank you, sir."

"I know you thought I was choosing a wife for you out of hand, but what Morrissey wrote to me of his daughter told me she was the perfect wife for you."

"Perfect," chimed in the dowager d.u.c.h.ess, who could not bear to be left out of any conversation. "Didn't I tell you that this would be the most wondrous marriage ever?"

He let the voices swirl around him as his gaze followed Regina as she went to the door to collect the meal Cook had sent up to him. No doubt, he thought grumpily, it would be thin soup and dry bread. His captors might have fed him better ... before they killed him.

But Regina had been determined to ensure that he lived. That much Fisher had told him before the Algerians had been taken away. He wished he knew how he felt about her near sacrifice. It irritated him that she had a.s.sumed control of the situation, but it warmed him to think of what she was willing to surrender for him. If only she could be an ordinary wife ...

You could well be dead, his conscious reminded him. He tried to ignore it. He did not want to own that he had been completely wrong.

"... deported," his father was saying when his attention came back to the conversation. "Liverpool sent a message on that."

"And Benjamin?" asked Regina as she set the tray next to him.

"That will be a bit more complicated. I suspect he will be in prison for many years unless he manages a way to slip out of the country." His father smiled. "Any prison can be escaped with a little ingenuity and a lot of blunt. Sheldon has both."

Marcus frowned when she replied, "I am glad to hear that."

Dash it! His wife should not care about the future of a man who had tried to kill them.

"Do eat up," Regina said as she smiled at him.

"I shall eat when I am hungry!"

"Marcus!" scolded his grandmother. "That is no way to speak to your wife, especially a wife who helped save your life."

Regina said, "Do not reprimand him, Your Grace. He must feel quite discomposed in the wake of what has happened today. Mayhap it would be best if we leave him to Andrews's care."

His father stood and put his arm around her shoulders. "What a compa.s.sionate young woman you are! And you would be wise to seek your own bed. You have had an unsettling day, too." He pointed toward the door. "Mother?"