"Good grief," Harriet said again. Then realization struck her. She frowned. "Does this mean, Lord Fry, that you do not know a friend who has a collection of fossil teeth?"

"Afraid not, my dear," Fry said as he took the brandy bottle from Lady Youngstreet.

"What a disappointment," Harriet said. She sat back in the plush seat of the lumbering coach and resigned herself to wait for Gideon.

She knew it would not take him long to set out after her, and when he finally caught up with the Youngstreet carriage, he would not be in a pleasant frame of mind.

She knew she would have to protect her friends from Gideon's wrath.

Chapter Eleven.

Gideon concealed his surprise when Felicity Pomeroy and her aunt were shown into his library very late in the afternoon. Neither lady looked happy, he noticed as he rose to his feet. And Harriet had not accompanied them.

He sensed trouble.

"Good afternoon, ladies," he said as they sat down across from his desk. "To what do I owe the honor of this unexpected visit?"

Effie glanced at Felicity, who nodded encouragingly. Effie turned back to Gideon. "Thank heavens we have found you at home, sir."

"I intend to dine in tonight," he murmured by way of explanation. He folded his hands on the desk in front of him and waited patiently for Effie to get to the point.

"This is a little awkward, my lord." Effie cast another uncertain glance at Felicity, who gave her another brisk nod. "I am not precisely certain we ought to have troubled you. It is rather complicated to explain, you see. However, if what we believe has happened has, indeed, occurred, we are all facing another disaster of monumental proportions."

"Disaster?" Gideon arched an inquiring brow at Felicity. "This is a matter that involves Harriet, then?"

"Yes, my lord," Felicity said firmly. "It does. My aunt is obviously reluctant to explain, but I will get straight to the point. The plain fact is, sir, she has disappeared. "

"Disappeared?"

"We believe she has been kidnapped and is at this very moment being spirited off to Gretna Green."

Gideon felt as if he had just stepped off a cliff. Of all the things he had expected to hear from these two, that had not been one of them. Gretna Green. There was only one reason why anyone went to Gretna Green.

"What in the name of h.e.l.l are you talking about?" Gideon demanded very softly.

Effie flinched at the harshness of his tone. "We do not know for certain that she has been kidnapped," she said hastily. "That is to say, there is a slight possibility that something of the nature is afoot. But even if she has gone north, it may transpire that she has done so quite willingly."

"Nonsense," said Felicity. "She would not have gone willingly. She is determined to marry St. Justin, even if he has been exhibiting her to Society as if she were an exotic pet."

Gideon scowled at Felicity. "An exotic pet? What the devil is this talk of a pet?"

Effie turned to Felicity before the girl could answer. "She is with Lady Youngstreet, Felicity. And while Lady Youngstreet is known for her eccentricities, I have never heard of her kidnapping anyone."

Gideon held up a hand. "I would like a clear and succinct explanation, if you please I think you had better go first, Miss Pomeroy."

"There is no use pretending or trying to put a polite face on it." Felicity looked straight at Gideon. "I believe Harriet has been kidnapped by certain overzealous members of the Fossils and Antiquities Society."

"Good G.o.d," Gideon muttered. His mind instantly conjured up an image of the worshipful glances he had caught Applegate giving Harriet. How many others in the Society had succ.u.mbed to her charms? he wondered. "What makes you think that bunch has made off with her?"

Felicity gazed at him intently. "Harriet went to a meeting of the Society this afternoon. A short while ago we had a note from her telling us that some friends were taking her to visit a gentleman who collects fossil teeth, but I have reason to believe that was not the truth."

Gideon ignored Effie, who was muttering something about not being absolutely certain of events. He concentrated on Felicity. "What makes you believe Harriet is not off somewhere viewing fossil teeth, Miss Pomeroy?"

"I questioned the young footman who brought us the note. He said Harriet, Lady Youngstreet, Lord Fry, and Lord Applegate had all gotten into Lady Youngstreet's traveling coach, not her Town carriage. Furthermore, when I made further inquiries, I learned that several bags were put aboard the coach before it left."

Gideon's hand tightened into a fist. He forced himself to relax his fingers one by one. "I see. What makes you suspect Gretna Green?"

Felicity's lovely mouth tightened grimly. "Aunt Effie and I have just come from Lady Youngstreet's house. We questioned her butler and a couple of the maids. The coachman apparently confided to one of the maids shortly before he left that he had been instructed to prepare for a very fast trip to the north."

Effie sighed. "The fact that Lord Applegate has been muttering a great deal lately about saving my niece from marriage to you, sir, makes us suspect that he may have decided to take matters into his own hands. Lady Youngstreet and Lord Fry have apparently a.s.sisted him in doing so."

Gideon's insides were turning to ice. "I did not realize Applegate was worrying about saving my fiance."

"Well, he would hardly mention the notion in your presence, my lord," Felicity said matter-of-factly. "But the truth is, he has talked enough about saving Harriet for the matter to have become the subject of a great deal of gossip."

"I see." Gossip that had not been repeated to him, Gideon realized. He looked at Effie. "I find it interesting that you have come directly to me, Mrs. Ashecombe. May I conclude from this that you would rather your niece married me than Applegate?"

"Not particularly," Effie said bluntly. "But it is too late to have it otherwise. This crazed notion of a runaway marriage to Applegate is going to cause even more of a scandalbroth than we are already dealing with now."

"So I am the lesser of two evils," Gideon observed.

"Precisely, sir."

"How nice to know my offer of marriage is favored on such practical grounds."

Effie's eyes narrowed slightly. "The situation is worse than you know, St. Justin. Rumors of the night you and Harriet spent in that dreadful cave may have reached Town. I got the barest hint of it last night at the Wraxham soiree. In addition to all the other gossip, people may soon be wondering if Harriet was, indeed, compromised by you. Her reputation cannot withstand this kidnapping affair."

"It would be one thing if we actually thought Harriet would marry Applegate," Felicity explained pragmatically.

"Ah, yes. Indeed it would." Gideon's fingers clamped around the small figure of a bird that sat on his desk.

"However," Felicity continued, "we know that even if they get her to Gretna Green, Harriet will not marry Applegate."

Gideon ran his thumb along the bird's wing. "You do not believe so?"

"She considers herself committed to you, my lord. Harriet would never break a commitment of that nature. When they all return from the north with Harriet not wed to Applegate, the tale will be all over Town. We are already dealing with quite enough speculation on your forthcoming marriage to my sister as it is."

Effie groaned. "They will all say poor Harriet tried to escape the clutches of the Beast of Blackthorne Hall by running away to Gretna Green and that when she got there Applegate changed his mind. The dear girl will be ruined twice."

Gideon got to his feet and pulled the bell cord to summon his butler. "You are quite right, both of you. There is already enough talk. I shall deal with this matter immediately."

Felicity glanced toward the door as Owl opened it. Then she looked back at Gideon. "You are going after them, my lord?"

"Of course. If, as you say, they have taken Lady Youngstreet's ancient traveling coach, you may rest a.s.sured I will overtake them in a short while. That carnage of hers is at least twenty years old. Very heavy and badly sprung. And her animals are almost as old as her coach. They will not be able to make good time."

"Yes, my lord?" Owl inquired in his graveyard tones.

"Order the phaeton horsed with Cyclops and Minotaur and brought around immediately, Owl," Gideon said.

"Very good, my lord. Not a pleasant evening for driving, if I may say so, sir. I feel there may be a storm on the way."

"I will take my chances, Owl. Kindly do not delay relaying my orders."

"As you wish, sir. Never say I did not warn you." Owl withdrew, shutting the door softly behind him.

"Well, then." Effie got to her feet and retied the strings of her bonnet. "I suppose we had best be off, Felicity. We have done all we can."

"Yes, Aunt Effie." Felicity stood up and gave Gideon a sharp look. "My lord, if you do catch up with thema""

"I will most certainly catch up with them, Miss Pomeroy."

She studied his expression for a few seconds and then drew a deep breath. "Yes, well, when you do, sir, I trust you will not be unpleasant to my sister. I am certain she will have a satisfactory explanation for this affair."

"She will no doubt have an explanation." Gideon strode to the door and opened it for the women. "Harriet is never short of explanations. Whether or not it will be a satisfactory one is another matter."

Felicity frowned. "Sir, you must give me your word you will not be harsh with her. I would not have insisted on coming here to tell you what has occurred if I had thought you would be angry with her."

Impatience flared in Gideon at the sight of the concern in Felicity's eyes. "Do not trouble yourself, Miss Pomeroy. Your sister and I understand each other very well."

"That is what she keeps saying," Felicity murmured as she followed her aunt out the door. "I trust you are both correct."

"By the bye," Gideon said as Felicity and Effie stepped out into the hall. "Pack a bag for my fiance as soon as you return home. I shall stop for it on my way out of Town."

Effie looked suddenly wary. "You do not believe you will be able to return her safely to us before dawn?"

It was Felicity who responded to that. "Of course he will not return her to us this evening, Aunt Effie. Who knows how far Harriet and her friends will have gotten on the road north? In any event, I expect that the next time we see Harriet, she will be a married woman. Is that not right, my lord?"

"Yes," said Gideon. "Quite right. I think the time has come to put an end to this nonsense once and for all. I cannot have all and sundry trying to rescue my fiance from the Beast of Blackthorne Hall. This sort of thing could become a d.a.m.ned nuisance."

Owl had been wrong in his prediction of the weather. The evening sky was overcast, but there was no rain and the road was dry. Gideon made good progress through the streets of the city, and as soon as he was free of the traffic, he gave his horses the signal to move out at a swifter pace. Cyclops and Minotaur exploded into action, big hooves striking the ground with relentless, rhythmic power.

It would not be truly dark for another two hours. Plenty of time to catch up with Lady Youngstreet's heavy old traveling coach.

Plenty of time to think. Perhaps too much time.

Was he pursuing a kidnapped fiance or a fiance who was fleeing from the Beast of Blackthorne Hall?

He longed to believe Felicity was correct when she said Harriet considered herself committed to him. But the notion that Harriet might have run off willingly into the arms of the lovestruck Applegate was a possibility Gideon could not ignore.

She had been very annoyed with him yesterday when he had taken her for that drive in the park. He remembered the little lecture she had delivered on what she called his dictatorial tendencies. She had made it clear she was not accustomed to being ordered about, no matter how well intentioned the one was who was issuing the orders.

Gideon's jaw clenched. She had obviously been doing a great deal of thinking lately about what being married would mean. She had wanted to make it clear that she did not expect to give up her independence after the wedding.

The problem, as Gideon saw it, was that Harriet had been independent for a long time. She had been forced to make decisions for herself and others for several years. She had grown accustomed to doing so, just as she had grown accustomed to running about alone in caves.

She had grown accustomed to her freedom.

Gideon watched the road ahead, absently aware of the play of the leather in his hands as the horses bounded forward. He had chosen Cyclops and Minotaur just as he chose everything else in his world, for their stamina and endurance, not their looks. Gideon had long ago learned that superficial beauty mattered little in horses, women, or friends.

A man who was obliged to face the world with the scarred features and the ruined reputation Gideon possessed and who found himself judged on that basis soon learned the virtue of looking beneath the surface in others.

Harriet was like his horses, he reflected. She was made of st.u.r.dy stuff. But she had a mind of her own.

Perhaps she had decided life would be more pleasant for her if she married someone like Applegate, who would never dream of issuing orders to her.

Applegate had a great deal to offer, including a t.i.tle and a fortune. On top of all that, Gideon realized, Applegate shared Harriet's interest in fossils. Harriet might have found herself overwhelmingly attracted to Applegate's brain.

Marriage to Applegate would have a number of advantages and none of the drawbacks that would most a.s.suredly accompany marriage to the Beast of Blackthorne Hall.

If he were truly a gentleman, Gideon thought, he would probably allow her to run off with Applegate tonight.

Then he pictured Harriet in Applegate's arms. Gideon suddenly felt coldly sick. He imagined Applegate touching her sweet b.r.e.a.s.t.s, kissing her soft mouth, pushing himself into her tight, welcoming heat. Anguish and a shattering sense of loss tore through Gideon.

It was impossible. Gideon knew he could not give her up.

Life without Harriet was too bleak to contemplate.

He remembered something Felicity had said earlier about exhibiting Harriet to Society as though she were some rare creature from a distant part of the globe. Gideon's hands tightened briefly on the reins as he acknowledged to himself that he might have done just that.

The only woman on earth who is not afraid to marry the Beast.

Gideon loosened his grip on the reins, urging the horses to an even faster pace. He could only pray to whatever G.o.d had abandoned him six years ago that Harriet was not running away willingly tonight.

The brandy fumes filled the interior of Lady Youngstreet's ma.s.sive traveling coach as it bowled along the road to the north.

Harriet opened a window as Lady Youngstreet led Lord Fry in a rousing rendition of yet another bawdy tavern song. She made a note to ask the lady where she had learned such ballads.

There was a voting lady from Lower East Dipples

Who was blessed with an astonishing pair of nipples.

Across the way Lord Applegate gave Harriet an apologetic look. He leaned forward to make himself heard above the l.u.s.ty verses.

"I hope you are not too offended, Miss Pomeroy. Older generation, you know. Not quite so refined. They mean well."