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Only two more chapters after this.
Gwen was aware of being jostled with irritating repetition.
Slowly she comprehended that she was being conveyed in a carriage, swaying and jolting all over the road, at high speed.
A terrible smell saturated everything...some kind of potent solvent, like turpentine.
Stirring in confusion, she realized, that her ear was pressed hard against an unyielding pillow, stuffed with some highly condensed substance.
She felt so horribly ill, as if she had been poisoned.
With each breath she took, her throat burned and nausea spread through her in repeated waves.
She moaned in protest, while her clouded mind worked, to disentangle itself from unpleasant dreams.
Cracking her eyes open, she saw something above her...a face that seemed to dart out at her and disappear at random.
She tried to ask something, to find out what was happening, but her brain seemed to have been disconnected from the rest of her body, and though she was vaguely aware of speaking, the words that came from her mouth were gibberish.
"Shhh..." A long-fingered hand moved over her head, massaging her scalp and temples. "Rest. You'll come out of it soon, darling. Just rest, and breathe."
Confused, Gwen closed her eyes and tried to harness her brain, into some fragile imitation of its usual process.
After a while, she connected the voice to an image.
"LorGwai..." she mumbled, her tongue not quite moving properly in her mouth.
"Yes, love."
Her first lurching impulse was one of relief. This is a friend. Someone who would help her.
But the relief turned hollow, as her instincts shuffled in restless warning, and she rolled her head, on what turned out to be Lord Sebastian Gwaine's thigh.
The nauseating smell overwhelmed her...it was in her nose and on her face, the fumes stinging her eyes, and she lifted her fingers to claw at her skin, in an instinctive attempt to scratch it off.
Lord Gwaine caught her wrists, murmuring,
"No, no...I'll help you. Put your hands down, love. There's a good girl. Drink some of this. Only a sip, or it won't stay down."
The nozzle of something...a flask, a skin, a bottle, perhaps...pressed against her lips, and cool water trickled into her mouth.
She swallowed gratefully, and held still, as a damp cloth moved over her cheeks, nose and jaw.
"Poor sweet," Lord Gwaine murmured, wiping her throat, then moving to her forehead. "The idiot who brought you to me, must have given you twice as much ether, as was needed. You should have awakened long before now."
'Ether? The idiot who brought you to me?'
The first glimmer of understanding came to her, and Gwen stared up at him hazily, perceiving only the lean outlines of his face and the color of his hair...dark gold, like the gilding of an antique Slavic icon.
"Can't see..." she whispered.
"That should improve in a few minutes."
"Ether..."
Gwen puzzled over the word, which sounded familiar. She had encountered it before, in some apothecary shop or another.
Ether...sweet vitriol...used as an intoxicant, and occasionally, as an aid to medical procedures.
"Why?" she asked, uncertain if her uncontrollable trembling, was the result of ether poisoning, or the realization. that she was lying helpless in the arms of an enemy.
Though she still couldn't clearly see the expression Lord Gwaine's face, she heard the gravely apologetic note in his voice.
"I had no choice in the manner of your delivery, darling, or I would have made certain, that you had been treated more gently. All I was told, was that if I wanted you, I should come to collect you without delay, else you would be disposed of, in some other manner. Knowing the countess, I wouldn't have been surprised, if she had elected to drown you like a cat in a sack."
"Countess," Gwen repeated faintly, still finding it difficult to maneuver her thick, swollen tongue.
Saliva kept flooding her mouth, an aftereffect of the ether.
"Ar-thur...tell him..."
Oh, how she wanted Arthur.
She wanted his deep voice and loving hands, and the hard warmth of his body against hers. But he didn't know where she was, or what had happened to her.
"You've met with a change of fate, my pet," Lord Gwaine said softly, stroking her hair again. It seemed that he could read her thoughts. "There's no point in asking for Pendragon...you're out of his reach now."
Gwen floundered and strained to sit up, but all she succeeded in, was nearly rolling onto the floor of the carriage.
"Easy," Lord Gwaine murmured, holding her in place, with only the lightest pressure on her shoulders. "You're not ready to sit on your own yet. No, don't. You'll make yourself ill."
Though she despised herself for it, Gwen couldn't prevent a whimper of distress, as she collapsed back into his lap, her head falling weakly against his thigh.
"What are you doing?" she managed to ask, panting for breath and striving to keep her stomach calm . "Where are we going?"
"To Gretna Green. We're going to marry, sweet."
It was difficult to think past the nausea and the instant panic.
"I won't cooperate," Gwen finally whispered, swallowing and swallowing.
"I'm afraid you will," he replied evenly. "I know of several methods, to solicit your participation, though I would prefer not to cause you unnecessary pain. And after the ceremony, an expedient consummation, will make the union permanent."
"Arthur won't accept it," she croaked. "No matter what you do. He'll...he'll take me away from you."
Lord Gwaine's voice grew soft.
"He will have no legal right to you by then, sweet. And I've known him far longer than you have, which is why I know, that he won't want you after I've taken you."
"Not if it's rape," she choked out, flinching, as she felt the easy slide of his palm over her shoulder. "He wouldn't blame me."
"It won't be rape," Lord Gwaine said gently. "If I know one thing, darling, it's how to...well, I won't boast. But rather than quibble over technicalities, I can assure you, that although Arthur won't blame you, neither will he chance the possibility, of you giving birth to another man's bastard. Nor would he be able to accept a woman, who has been defiled.
He will...with reluctance, of course...inform you, that it would probably be best for all parties concerned, to leave things as they are. And then, he'll go on to marry the proper English girl, that he should have chosen in the first place. Whereas you..." His finger traced the curve of her trembling cheek. "...will do just fine for me. I daresay, your family will reconcile themselves to me fairly soon. They're the sort to make a virtue of necessity."
Gwen didn't agree with his analysis, at least where Arthur was concerned. She had a good deal more faith in his loyalty, than that.
However, it wasn't a theory, that she cared to test...especially, the unwilling consummation part.
She lay still for a long minute, discovering to her relief, that her vision was clearing, and her nausea had eased slightly, though the pools of bitter saliva, kept collecting in her mouth.
Now that her initial confusion and the first flush of panic were over, she was able to harness her sluggish mind sufficiently, to think.
Though, part of her longed to explode with rage, she couldn't see much benefit for herself in that. It was much better to recover her wits, and try to think rationally.
"I want to sit up," Gwen said flatly.
Lord Gwaine seemed admiring and surprised by her calmness.
"Slowly, then, and allow me to support you, until you get your bearings."
Showers of white and blue sparks veiled Gwen's vision, as she felt him maneuver her, until she was braced in the corner of the carriage.
More saliva, a surge of weakness, and then she managed to collect herself.
Her dress was unfastened, she realized, with the front gaping open to the waist, to reveal the crumpled chemise underneath.
Her heart kicked anxiously at the discovery, and she tried unsuccessfully to tug the edges of the gown together.
Her accusing gaze lifted to Lord Gwaine's face. His expression was grave, but his eyes were light and smiling.
"No, I haven't ravished you," he murmured. "Yet. I prefer my victims to be conscious. However, your breathing was weak, and I feared the mixture of an ether overdose and a very tight corset, might have finished you. I removed the corset, but I couldn't quite fasten your gown."
"More water," Gwen rasped, and took a cautious sip from the leather skin, that he handed to her.
She stared at him stonily, searching for any vestige, of the charming companion she had known at Stony Cross Park.
All she could see, were the dispassionate eyes of a man, who would hesitate at nothing, to get what he wanted.
He possessed no principles, no sense of honour, no human weakness.
She could cry, scream, beg, and none of it would move him. He would stop at nothing...even rape, to achieve his ends.
"Why me?" she asked in a monotone. "Why not make off with some other unwilling girl, who has some money?"
"Because, you were the most convenient option. And financially speaking, you're by far the most well endowed."
"And you want to strike at Arthur," she said. "Because, you're jealous of him."
"Darling, that's going a bit too far. I wouldn't trade places with Pendragon and his infernal load of obligations, for all the world. I merely want to improve my own circumstances."
"And therefore, you are willing to take a wife who will hate you?" Gwen asked, rubbing her eyes, which felt filmy and sticky. "If you think I would ever forgive you, you're a vain, self-centered idiot. I'll do everything in my power to make you miserable. Is that what you want?"
"At the moment, pet, all I want is your money. Later, we'll discover ways, in which I might be able to soften your feelings towards me. Failing that, I can always deposit you in some remote country estate, where the only entertainment, is watching the cows and sheep through the window."
Gwen's head pounded and throbbed. She moved her fingers to her temples and pressed them firmly, in an effort to ease the ache.
"Don't underestimate me," she said, with her eyes closed, while her heart felt like a cold, hard stone in her chest. "I will make your life hell. I may even murder you."
A gentle, mirthless laugh, greeted her statement.
"No doubt, someone will, someday. It may as well be my own wife."
Gwen fell silent, squeezing her eyes tighter, over a threatening prickle of useless tears. She would not cry. However, she would wait for an opportune moment...and if murder was what was required for her to escape him, she would happily oblige.
By the time Arthur had reached the countess' private suite of rooms, with Percy Hunt in close pursuit, the commotion had attracted the attention, of half the household.
Intent on reaching the malicious bitch, who was his mother, Arthur was only vaguely aware of the stunned faces of the servants he passed.
He ignored Percy Hunt's exhortations to calm himself, to keep from tearing off in a fury, to behave rationally.
Never in his life, had Arthur been so far beyond the reach of sanity.
Reaching the door of his mother's apartments, he found it locked. He rattled the handle violently.
"Open it," he bellowed. "Open it now!"
Silence, and then a maid's frightened reply from within.
"Milord...the countess bade me to tell you that she is resting."
"I'll send her to her eternal fucking rest," Arthur roared, "If this door isn't opened now."
"Milord, please..."
He drew back three or four paces and hurled himself against the door, which shook on its hinges and partially gave, with a splintering sound.
There were fearful cries in the hallway, from a pair of female guests, who happened to witness the astonishing display of raging frenzy.
"Dear God," one exclaimed to the other, "He's gone berserk!"
Arthur drew back again and lunged at the door, this time sending chunks of paneling flying.
He felt Percy Hunt's hands grasp him from behind, and he whirled with his fist drawn back, ready to launch an attack on all fronts.
"Jesus," Hunt muttered, retreating a step or two, with his hands raised in a defensive gesture.
His face was taut and his eyes were wide, and he stared at Arthur, as if he were a stranger.
"Arthur..."
"Stay the hell out of my way!"
"Gladly. But let me point out, that if our positions were reversed, you would be the first to tell me to keep a cool..."
Ignoring him, Arthur swerved back to the door and targeted the disjointed lock with a powerful, accurately aimed blow of his boot heel.
The housemaid's scream shot through the doorway, as the ruined portal swung open.
Bursting into the receiving room, he charged towards the bedchamber, where the countess sat in a chair, by a small hearth fire.
Fully dressed and swathed in ropes of pearls, she stared at him with amused disdain.
Breathing heavily, Arthur advanced on her with blood-lust racing through his veins.
It was certain that the countess had no idea, that she was in mortal danger, or she would not have received him so calmly.
"Full of animal spirits today, are we?" she asked. "Your descent from gentleman to savage brute, has been accomplished so very quickly. I must offer Miss Sweetly, my compliments on her efficacy."
"What have you done with her?" Arthur asked.
"Done with her?" Her expression taunted him with its innocent perplexity. "What the devil do you mean, Arthur?"
"You met with her at Butterfly Court this morning."
"I never walk that far from the manor," the countess said haughtily. "What a ridiculous assump..."
She let out a strident cry, as Arthur seized her, his fingers wrapping around the pearl ropes and tightening them around her throat.
"Tell me where she is, or I'll snap your neck like a wishbone!" he growled.
Percy Hunt seized him from behind once more, determined to prevent a murder from occurring.
"Arthur!" he exclaimed.
But Arthur closed his hand in a harder grip around the pearls.
He glared without blinking into his mother's face, not missing the flicker of vindictive triumph, that lurked in her eyes.
He did not take his gaze from hers, even as he heard his sister Morganna's voice.
"Arthur," she said urgently. "Arthur, listen to me! You have my permission to throttle her later. I'll even help. But at least, wait until we've found out what she's done."
Arthur tightened the tension of the pearls, until the elderly woman's eyes seemed to protrude from their shallow sockets.
"Your only value to me," he said in a low tone, "Is your knowledge of Guinevere Sweetly's whereabouts. If I can't obtain that from you, I'll send you to the devil. Tell me, or I'll choke it from you. And believe me, I have enough of my father in me to do it, without a second thought."
"Oh yes, you have him in you," the countess rasped.
As his hold on her necklace loosened marginally, she smiled with malevolent enjoyment.
"I see, that all pretenses of being nobler, better, and wiser than your father, have finally vanished. That Sweetly creature has poisoned you, without you even being..."
"Now!" he roared.
For the first time, she began to look uneasy, though no less self-righteous.
"I will admit, I met with Miss Sweetly this morning at Butterfly Court...where she told me of her intentions, to run away with Lord Gwaine. She has decided to elope with him."
"That's a lie!" came Morganna's outraged cry, while a burst of agitated female voices, came from the direction of the doorway. It was the wallflowers, who seemed to be vigorously denying the statement.
Arthur released the countess, as if he had been burned.
His first reaction, was a piercing relief that Gwen was still alive.
However, the relief was followed immediately, by the awareness that she was far from safe.
In light of Lord Gwaine's need of a fortune, it made perfect sense for him to abduct her.
Arthur turned from his mother, never wanting to look at her again, unable to bring himself to speak to her.
His gaze locked with Percy Hunt's. And predictably, Hunt was already making rapid calculations.
"He'll take her to Gretna Green, of course," Hunt murmured, "And they'll have to travel east, to the main road in Hertfordshire. He won't risk traveling the back ways and getting mired in mud, or having the wheels damaged from broken road. From Hertfordshire, it will be approximately forty-five hours to Scotland...and at a speed of ten miles per hour, with occasional stops for fresh relay horses..."
"You'll never overtake them," the countess cried with a cackling laugh. "I told you I would have my way, Arthur!"
"Oh, shut up, you evil hag!" cried Daisy Sweetly, impatiently from the doorway, her eyes huge in her pale face. "Earl Pendragon, shall I run to the stables and tell them to saddle a horse?"
"Two horses," Percy Hunt said resolutely. "I'm going with him."
"Which ones..."
"Ebony and Jasmine," Arthur replied.
They were his best Arabians, bred for speed over long distance. They were not as lightning-fast as thoroughbreds, but they would endure a punishing pace for hours, traveling at least three times, as fast as Lord Gwaine's coach.
Daisy disappeared in a flash, and Arthur turned to his sister.
"See that the countess is gone by the time I return," he said curtly. "Pack whatever she needs, and get her off the estate."
"Where do you wish me to send her?" Morganna asked, pale but composed.
"I don't give a damn, so long as she knows, not to return."
Realizing that she was being banished, and most likely exiled, the countess rose from her chair.
"I will not be disposed of in this manner! I won't have it, my lord!"
"And tell the countess," Arthur said to his sister, "That if the slightest harm comes to Miss Sweetly, she had better pray that I never find her."
At that, Arthur strode from the room, shoving through a small crowd that had gathered in the hallway.
Percy Hunt followed, pausing only to murmur briefly to Isabelle and press a kiss to her forehead.
She stared after him with an anxious frown, biting her lip to keep from calling after him.
After a lengthy pause, the countess was heard to mutter,
"It matters not what become of me. I am content in the knowledge, that I have prevented him from befouling the family lineage."
Morganna turned to give her mother a half-pitying, half-contemptuous glance.
"Arthur never fails," she said softly. "Most of his childhood was spent learning to overcome impossible odds. And now that he has finally found someone worth fighting for...do you really think he would let anything stop him?"
Stay safe!