Rena stood in the center of her room amid the clutter of half packed trunks and decided she didn’t like packing, she didn’t like the thoughts of never returning to the only home she had known, and she certainly didn’t like the thoughts of being forced to marry for all the wrong reasons, and right now she could think of no right reasons for giving total control of her life to a man. She thought of what her father had done, and what the new Earl had ordered and she was even angrier than she had been 10 days ago.

Tossing down the gown she had been holding, she stomped to the door. “Do the best you can with all of this. I will be buying new clothes when I get to town, so I really don’t need to take everything. I need to go talk to Miss Proctor. I want this all packed within the hour as we will be off before noon.”

“Yes, My Lady,” the maid murmured and bent once again to her task with a sigh. She would be returning to the parlor when her mistress left and that was a big demotion as far as the other maids were concerned. But it was either that or leave her James to the lures of the other girls, and she wasn’t willing to do that. They would be getting married in the spring and she didn’t want him wondering away because she wasn’t here.

Rena stomped down the hall and flung open the door to Emily’s room. “Men!! Why do they make us do these things!! Why couldn’t they just leave me in peace!!” She flung to the world at large.

Emily turned from the small trunk she had just finished closing and smiled gently. “I thought this was your decision and we were going on the great adventure you had always wanted. Now it is all the fault of the men in your life. If it wasn’t for the men in your life, you would stagnate here and never have your great adventure.”

Rena looked at her with surprise. “I guess I never thought of it in that light, but still, it is their fault that we are being forced out in the dead of winter.”

“It’s hardly the dead of winter. The Spring Thaw has begun, there has not been any snow in a couple of weeks, the sun in shining, the roads are dry and we should have clear travel weather for at least a day or two. How long did you say it would take to get to Lady Angela’s?”

“We should be there in two days time, with good weather and without traveling after dark. I really don’t want to have to hire outriders if we can avoid it. I’ve had Jamie practicing with Father’s pistols and he is becoming quite a good shot, and I have the carriage pistol that he taught me to use so we should be save from highwaymen during the day.”

Emily shivered slightly at the thought of highwaymen, but stiffened her spine and nodded. “How long do you plan on staying with Lady Angela?”

“I told her to expect us for a short visit. I though a week or so to give me a chance to look around for a man of business to find a small manor for us to buy. Nothing too large as I don’t want to waste money on a large staff. Housekeeper, maid, footman and Jamie should be sufficient to keep everything in shape.”

“How is your packing coming?”

“Mary is finishing up the last of it. She is not overly happy about my leaving her, but it truly was her choice. I think she would rather I stayed so she has been very slow about getting it done. Maybe I should just leave the entire lot behind and start totally fresh. There has to be a decent dressmaker in the North.”

“Rena, you need something to wear between here and there and for the time new gowns will take to make. You simply have to be practical.”

“I know, Emily, I just really want to be off. I can’t stand this waiting around any longer.”

Emily hurried over and slipped her arm around Rena’s waist, turning her toward the door. “Come, I’m finished here, let’s go hurry Mary along so we can get on the road.”

Two hours later with their trunks strapped to the top of the traveling coach, and hot bricks at their feet, the two women were on their way. Rena watched in fascination as the scenery passed her by, but eventually it dulled and she drifted into a dose. Jamie had his orders, head toward London for an hour, then catch the road North. She didn’t want anyone who might recognize her to see where she was headed. She had Jamie take the unmarked coach, it was plain and unadorned by the family crest. She was to become Regina Roxbury, she could no longer claim any relationship to the Earl of Fairchild. She still had to find a way to tell Emily about the change in her name and social status, but had discovered that it would not be easy. Since she had decided to call on the aid of her old friend from Miss Tillburgh’s Academy For Young Ladies, Lady Angela, she couldn’t become Regina Roxbury for a little while longer at least.

As darkness fell around them, they pulled into the Swan and Dove outside of Stratford. The mail coach had just pulled in and the confusion in the yard was horrendous. She sent Jamie into the inn to inquire about rooms and a private parlor. But before he returned she decided to stretch her legs and get some fresh air, so she opened the coach door and went to step out. The first thing she heard were male voices raised in drunken song and she shuddered at the vulgar words. But she was determined and stepped down into the yard.

“Rena do you think this is a good idea. Lets wait until the mail coach leaves at least, or Jamie gets back.”

“I have to get out and stretch my legs. I’m not used to sitting in one place for so long.” Just then, she was pushed against the carriage by a large drunken, man, dressed as a gentleman, but obviously far from one in practice.

“Well, sweets, where have you been all my life,” He slurred into her face. “Come and give me a kiss and we can discuss your services.”

“Let me go you lout.” Rena Hissed.

With that he grabbed her arm and began to drag her across the yard. “We’ll discuss this in my room, where it’s quieter, for now.” The vulgar innuendo in his voice caused Rena to shudder. Rena was truly afraid for the first time in her life but she hesitated to scream and call attention to herself. She after all was trying to run away from her guardian and she was out here alone with out any kind of bodyguard. How could she have been so foolish as to think she could carry this off by herself. She continued to struggle in his grasp, but she was no match for him. Finally she saw that he was close to a side entrance and she had to do something or all would be lost. Struggling even harder she drew in her breath to scream, when the man let out a yelp and fell to his knees. Then a little whirlwind kicked him in the back and yelled to her to run back to her coach.

She hesitated a second, and a much deeper voice said, “it would be a good idea if you did as Willy says. This is no place for a Lady. I’ll come and get you as soon as we take care of this cad.”

Not needing to be told again, she lifted her skirts in her fists and ran back to the coach where Emily could be scene wring her hands in anguish over Rena’s plight. Rena hopped into the coach and slammed the door behind her. Catching her breath, she looked at Emily, and for the first time in her life, she fainted dead away.

Several minutes later, Emily had succeeded in getting Rena to respond, they had no vinaigrette as neither of them had ever had the slightest need for one. Emily decided it might not be a bad idea to invest in one. Just as Rena moaned and started coming around, a tall, dark and very handsome man, came to the coach door. “Is she alright?” he asked softly.

Emily looked up and assessed his appearance. He certainly was handsome, he was sober and he appeared well dressed and mannered. She nodded, “yes, she’s coming around. She has never in her life fainted before. I’ve never seen her so overset. But then she has never in her life been nearly abducted.”

“I’ve found your man, and arranged for rooms and a private parlor for both of you. The inn keeper has tossed Lord Wickem and his associates out for the night, so you should be safe. The Inn Keeper’s wife will keep an eye on you and bring you anything that you require.” With that he opened to door, bowed them both out of the coach and escorted them into the Inn where a matronly woman with a care worn face waited for them. She escorted them to a parlor where a fire burned cheerily in the grate with a small table and two chairs drawn up cozily before it.

“Maggie and I will serve you, My Lady, be sure you don’t let anyone else in. My man will escort you to your rooms when you’ve eaten.”

Rena removed her bonnet and plisse and laid them on the small chaise. Moving to the fire she held out her hands to warm them and noticed they were still shaking uncontrollably. She started at them in disbelief for a moment, then hid them in the folds of her woolen skirts and just stood before the fire.

“Why do men do those things?” She asked, more to herself then to Emily. “Isn’t a woman aloud to say no. Is every woman fair game to any man that comes along, just because there isn’t a man with her? Maybe I will read Mary Wollstonecraft’s writings. I just might become a convert.”

Emily came up beside her and took her icy hand in hers, rubbing it to try to force some heat into it. Just then the door opened and the Inn Keepers wife came in with a tray of tea and a decanter of brandy. “After the Lady’s shock, some brandy in her tea will help calm and warm her.” She poured a generous amount into a cup, filled it with tea and added sugar. Handing it to Emily she motioned to Rena. “See that she drinks all of it. Your food will be here directly.”

Emily forced the cup into Rena icy hands and forced it to her lips. “Come on Rena, drink this, it will help.”

Slowly Rena sipped at the hot liquid, at first not seeming to realize what she was doing. Then suddenly she felt the burning warmth of the brandy as it slid down her throat and her eyes lost some of their glazed appearance. By the time the cup was empty, she had regained her color, and, Emily was glad to see, her temper.

“How could he do such a thing?” She repeated her question from before. “What is it about men that they think any and every woman is fair game if she isn’t with another man? Are women only of use as the appendage of a man!! Never!! Maybe I should start writing articles about this. Follow in the footsteps of Mary Wollstonecraft, stir people up, make women think.” She started pacing the room, and Emily breathed a sigh of relief, she was almost back to normal, although her hands were still shaking slightly. Just as Rena was completing her third circuit of the room, muttering to herself about women’s rights and the defense of them, there was a timid knock at the door, and the inn’s maid entered with a laden tray, followed by the Inn keeper’s wife carrying a bowl of water and towels.

“Thought as how you had been traveling all day, you would like to freshen up here in private while we lay out your repast.” She said as she set her burden on a small table in the corner and hurried over to help the maid lay the table for supper.

Emily and Rena washed their hands and faces in the warm water with the lovely lavender soap provided and dried on the clean, coarse towels, and then seated themselves before a plain, but hardy meal. Stew, warm and filling, with plenty of fresh bread took the edge off of their hunger. “I’m beginning to think I was so overset due to hunger,” Rena laughed to try to cover her embarrassment at fainting. “It is either the cook here is the best in the world, or hunger is an excellent sauce for her wares.”

They ate in silence for a while, each one thinking her own thoughts. “I hope all my adventures don’t turn out like this one did.” Rena said quietly after a while. “I really can’t countenance fainting every day of my life. That would not be quite the thing.”

“Well, at least there was one gentleman in the place to come to your rescue.” Emily Laughed.

“Yes, and he was only about 7 years old!!” Rena Retorted. “If it hadn’t been for that little tyke attacking my abductor, heaven only knows how it would have ended.”

“Oh now, give his master a bit of credit. He did step in and take care of everything.”

“Yes, probably only to rescue Willy, I think he called him.”

“Give him a little bit on credit, Rena. He did arrange for our rooms and this lovely dinner and parlor. And he helped Jamie see to the coach and horses, I saw him and his Willy leading them to the stable. I think he might me a good man, given a chance to show it.”

“You are just too trusting, Emily,” Rena retorted. “You have no idea what men are capable of. No idea what so ever.”

Emily nearly retorted that she knew exactly what men are capable of, but just in time she caught herself and resorted to the noncommittal response she had been using for the last six years to protect her secret.

“I think I will have some more of that lovely tea and brandy,” Rena said, holding out her cup.

“Don’t you think you’ve had enough of that, what is that now, your second cup.”

“Actually I think that was my third, but who’s counting. Will you prepare it for me, or do I do it myself. I might just forget the tea if I prepare it.” Rena coaxed with an innocent smile.

Emily reluctantly got up and prepared another cup of the brandy laced tea and handed it to Rena. “I think it is time we rang for the Inn Keeper so we can go to bed. We need to get an early start tomorrow if we are going to get to Lady Angela’s before dark. I really don’t think I’m prepared for a repeat of today’s adventure by spending a second night at an inn.”

Rena went to stand , but discovered the room wanted to spin around her when she did, so she dropped into her chair again, and put her hand to her head. Emily rushed over and knelt in front of her. “Rena, what is it, are you ill?”

“No,” She said, brushing aside the helping had Emily extended. “Just a dizzy spell.” She giggled, struggling to stand again.

“Oh no, you’re foxed!!” Emily groaned!! “How are we going to get you to our room with you foxed and unable to stand?”

“You’ll think of something, my resourceful Emily,” Rena crooned, “Emily the resourceful one, Emily the proper one, Emily the sweet one, Emily my friend.”

“Oh dear!!”

She hurried over to the bell pull and rang for the inn keeper’s wife and when she arrived, she took in the situation at once. “Indulged a bit much in the brandy did my lady. Well, it’s to be expected after what she’s been through this night. You gather up your belongings, and I will help her up to your rooms. No one will be the wiser.”

So saying she got Rena to her feet and supporting her around the waist with one are and leading her with the other, she got her up the stairs and into a large suite overlooking the front square of the inn. There was a small dressing room connecting two bedrooms each with a large bed, a small chest, a rocking chair and a fireplace with a small cheery fire burning.

“There is a lock on the outside door and there is no entrance from the outside so you should be safe enough here for the night. Be sure to lock up after me. We did oust the offenders earlier, but you can never be too careful.”

With that, she closed the door and Emily shot home the bolts, then turned to find Rena fast asleep on the chaise in the dressing room. She managed to get her gown unfastened and over her head, and removed her shoes and stockings, but she decided it was not really worth the effort to try to remove all the petticoats and put on a nightgown, so she half dragged, half walked her into one of the bedrooms and tucked her in among the warm blankets, blew out the candle and walked across to enter the other room and prepare for the night.

Sleep didn’t come easily this night for Emily. She kept remembering Rena’s words – “You have no idea what men are capable of” - Oh yes she did know what perfidy men were capable of. Her memories kept sleep from her for a long time, but she would never regret the decision she had made, and the vow of silence she had kept for over six years. No one would ever know her secret.

When Rena woke it was still dark outside, but the gray mist of morning was lighting the eastern sky. She lifted her head off the pillow, that was odd, she didn’t remember going to bed, but the exploding pain had her laying her head back into that softness. She couldn’t see much, as the room she was lying in was in darkness, the fire had died down to a mere glow and there were no candles lit. The only glow was from the torches still lit in the courtyard outside. And she didn’t want to look out there too much because for some reason it hurt her eyes.

She groaned as she remembered the events of the night before. The abduction and rescue, the dinner, the brandy, oh yes, the brandy. It had made her feel wonderful at the time, but she wasn’t so sure it was worth it in the light of this new revelation. Her head hurt, her stomach felt very queasy, like she could cast up her accounts at any moment. Just then the door of her room opened and Emily peeked around the corner.

“I thought I heard you. Here drink this.” She said handing Rena a glass full of liquid.

“What is it?”

“I have no idea, but the Inn Keeper’s wife, her name is Marjorie by the way, said it would fix what ails you this morning.”

“How would she know that anything would ail me this morning?” Rena asked suspiciously.

“She half carried you to the room last night, she knows exactly what ails you this morning,” Emily replied tartly. “Now drink it, we need to be on our way. The sun will be up in a few minutes, Marjorie is bringing breakfast to our dressing room, so drink up and get dressed.”

Rena tasted the vile stuff and nearly spit it out, but one glance at Emily’s resolute face, forced her to swallow the mouth full. “It is awful Emily, I can’t drink this.”

“I refuse to ride in a carriage with you casting up your accounts every mile or so all along the way. Now drink.” She stood there with her hands on her hips glaring at Rena in a way she never had done before. Rena decided she was seeing a side of Emily she hadn’t known existed, and it might be a good idea to just drink this stuff before she saw any more of this side of Emily.

Twenty minutes later, as the sun was breaking through the mist on the eastern horizon, Rena and Emily, wrapped snuggly against the early morning chill, climbed into their carriage. The Inn Keeper had supplied them with hot bricks and his wife had provided a hamper with food for their journey. Just as they were headed for the gate, a fancy curricle with a pair of beautifully matched bays, negotiated the turn out the gate and headed in the same direction they were going to take.

“There goes your rescuer of last night.” Emily Teased.

“Yes, I noticed Willy sitting up there as big as you please. Doesn’t he look cute in that livery. I wonder who his master is? I don’t recognize the livery, but then of course I haven’t been in London where I would see them all. There’s no markings on the curricle either. Maybe he is just a wealthy merchant putting on airs.” Rena said resignedly. “It seems the noble families aren’t very noble anymore, the only real nobility comes from the merchants and the poor. It really doesn’t make any sense any more.”

With that cryptic remark, she laid her aching head back against the seat and closed her eyes against the too bright light and prepared to dose. When she was sound asleep, Emily pulled a blanket around her friend, and then sat back and stared out the window and the increasingly familiar scenery. She sincerely hoped they did not run into anyone she had known six years ago. She knew she looked somewhat different, but she also knew that she resembled her mother a lot and people had loved her and remembered her. She just prayed they didn’t run into any of them.

The day wore on in a long blur of dosing and waking. They made several stops at small quiet inns along the way so the ladies could stretch their legs and visit the convinence, and the horses could be watered and rested. Finally in the late afternoon, they heard the sounds of a struggle on the road ahead of them. Horses were screaming and the sharp crack of gunfire echoed through the glade.

Rena and Emily woke from a dose with a start at the volley of gunfire and Jamie pulling the horses up short so he didn’t round the bend.

“What should I do Miss?” He asked anxiously peering in the window.

“Take the guns and creep around to curve and see what is going on, without hopefully being seen.”

Jamie nodded and grabbed the musket and pistol off the seat and slipped from tree to tree, gradually coming nearer to the curve. All was quiet, but who knew what he would find when he got there. The ladies watched, each with a pistol in hand, as he slipped around the curve. He was only gone a moment, when he came racing back.

“Miss you have to come, he’s bad hurt!!”

“The man what saved you last night, and Willy don’t know much about what to do, he’s scared!!”

Rena and Emily hopped out of the carriage before Jamie could let down the step and they both hurried up the road. The scene they came upon was out of their worst nightmare. The handsome rescuer from last night lay in a pool of blood on the road, the little Willy was sitting guard with a pistol in his arms and his hands covered with blood. The horses were standing stock still. The entire scene looked like a watercolor painting gone all wrong.

Emily rushed to the man’s side, ripping a strip from her petticoat as she ran. Rena hurried to Willy. “What happened?” She demanded.

“They got him. I’ve been so careful and so watchful, but he didn’t think they would find him this far from London, so he said I didn’t have to watch so much. But they got him. He’s dead, and it’s all my fault.” His lips trembled and his eyes filled with tears he refused to let fall.

Rena patted his shoulder and looked at Emily. “He has a graze to his head which is bleeding badly but not serious. He also has a shoulder wound. I can control the bleeding, but we need to get him to shelter and fetch a doctor. Quickly.”

“Jamie,” Rena Ordered. “Help me get him into my carriage. You will drive him and Emily to Longthorne Manor post-haste. I’ll keep Willy with me and we will drive the curricle and get there as soon as we can.”

“But Miss, I can’t leave you alone with no protection.”

“You can’t leave this man to die!! Now do as I say, or do I have to do it myself.”

“Yes Miss.”

After calming Willy down and assuring him that his master was still alive, she saw to installing the injured man in her carriage and then faced the problem of driving two high spirited horses the distance to Longthorne Manor without landing all of them in a ditch. Sighing deeply and willing away the last of her headache, she climbed up into the curricle and motioned Willy to lead the horses off to the side of the road so the larger carriage could go on ahead of them.

“Okay Willy, sit up here beside me and give me some pointers on diving this. I’ve driven a pony cart, but never a team. I’m going to need all the help I can get.”

Willy rolled his eyes and smothered a giggle, but climbed up beside this pretty lady and proceeded to tell her just what to do.

After a little while when Rena began to feel a bit more comfortable with the reins, she glanced at Willy. He looked so much like a forlorn little waif, her heart went out to him. “What is your master’s name?” She asked, curious now about the man who had rescued her last night.

Willy looked up at her in surprise. “Governor, I guess. Don’t rightly know him by any other name.”

“But you have obviously been with him for a while, don’t people call him by some other name?”

“He doesn’t seem to have a lot of people he chats with, besides Will, and Tommy. Will calls him Robby and Tommy calls him Governor too. I’ve only been with him for about a week. Tommy rescued him two other times when someone tried to kill him. Are you sure He’s going to be okay? I’m supposed to be guarding him, Tommy said it was important.”

Rena was at a loss for words. How did you calm the fears of a seven year old tyke when she wasn’t sure of anything herself. Her experience with gun shot wounds was nonexistent. “I’m sure he will pull through just fine. But we will have to take good care of him and make sure he has the best doctor and rests, and eats right.”

Rena thought back over Willy’s words and came up short when she came across the “other times when someone tried to kill him.” Quickly going back over the conversation, she was sure that was what he had said.

“Are you telling me that this has happened to him before, that someone has tried to kill him on more than one occasion?”

“Well, Tommy met him when he was shot at in front of his hotel. If Tommy hadn’t been there, and the Governor bending to give him a penny, he would have been shot in the head. Then I over heard some bloke hiring someone to kill the Earl and told Tommy. We staked out the place and rescued him when this big bloke jumped him. Then he offered me a job seeing as how I’m so good with horses and Tommy and the gang are working gathering information. But my job was to guard him. And I failed.”

“No you didn’t, or he would be dead. If you hadn’t stood or sat over him with that gun, the attacker would have reloaded and shot again. As it was he couldn’t. You do know how to use that gun, don’t you?”

“Well,” he squirmed in his seat like any small boy would who was caught in an untruth. “Not exactly. I know which end to aim” he brightened, “And where the trigger is.”

“That’s okay, the attacker couldn’t know you didn’t have any more knowledge than that. It was enough and Governer is still alive and likely to stay that way. Okay, now how do I turn these beasts into that gate up there.” She asked as they came to the wide iron gates of Longthorne Manor.

Willy gave her detailed instructions on how to go about negotiating the turn and they managed to pass through the gates into the park without incident.

Rena had much to think about as they tooled along the raked drive through the lovely wooded landscape. What had she inadvertently fallen into, and how was this going to effect her plans for her future. Well, she would see he was taken care of and on the road to health and then she and Emily would be off to their new life. She would still be able to find a man of business who would handle the purchase of her house and set her affairs in order. She would also have to get a letter off to her publisher to let him know she would be writing more books in the near future.

Pulling up in front of the Palladian style Mansion, she handed the reins to the groom who came running up, and allowed Willy to hand her down from the curricle. Hurrying up the stairs with the boy in her wake, they were met at the door by Lady Angela. She was enveloped in a scented embrace, “I might have known that my Rena would come with scandal and adventure in her wake.” Lady Angela whispered in her ear. “But come, we have sent for the doctor, I’ve made your gentleman comfortable and ordered up tea and brandy. Now who is this?” She asked suddenly seeing Willy hiding behind Rena’s skirts.

“This is Willy, he’s Governor’s tiger, and would probably like to resume his guard duty, as soon as he has had some tea and cakes.” She was delighted to see his eyes light up, but whether it was at the idea of his guard duty or the tea and cakes she wasn’t sure.

“Come then, we will retire to the parlor and you can partake of the refreshments, and when he is done I will have Briarly take him up to his ‘Governor’ is it? Your Emily is up there now, with my housekeeper, she should be down shortly, I told her she could not stay, and she does need to change her dress, she is covered in - oh I'm sorry!” she said as Rena's face began to pale. "Here have some tea and brandy."

© 2002 by KayDee Ward
All rights reserved