Suttersby let out a yelp and jerked his hand away. Mary drew breath and screamed at the top of her lungs. She could feel his grip around her slipping, and she renewed her kicking and struggling.
“Damn it, woman, help me! She’s a wildcat!” he roared. He tried to shift his hold on Mary, and his grip loosened slightly.
Mary seized the chance to swing her elbow back as hard as she could, and it connected with the man’s midsection. He let out a grunt, followed by a curse as he released her. Mary twisted around to face him.
“It was you!” she spat. “All this time, it was you!”
Mary whirled to run, but Miss Dalrymple stood in her way. Mary feinted to one side, then went the other way. Miss Dalrymple followed her feint, but she was able to turn in time to grab Mary’s skirt and hang on. Egerton came up behind Mary and dropped the sack he had been holding over her head. He wrapped both his arms around her, pinning her inside the dark sack. Mary could still scream and kick, though, and she did.#p#分页标题#e#
“Be quiet!” Egerton roared, knocking her in the head so hard Mary’s teeth clacked together and her eyes watered.
Then she heard Royce calling her name. She screamed again, aware now of more sounds—running feet and her name being called. Someone flew by her, knocking into Suttersby and taking him down to the ground.
Released, Mary staggered and fell. Frantically she grasped the edges of the sack and yanked it off over her head. She whirled around to see Royce drag Suttersby to his feet and punch him, sending him reeling back into a hedge. Mary turned and saw Miss Dalrymple going in the opposite direction. Scrambling up, she lifted her skirts and took off after her, but the woman had a large head start and was running with desperation.
Beyond Miss Dalrymple, Mary saw her sisters hurrying toward her, calling her name.
“Get her!” Mary screamed, pointing. “She’s part of it! Get her!”
It took her sisters only an instant to understand and respond. They ran straight at Miss Dalrymple. Miss Dalrymple veered onto another path and sped off in a different direction, but Camellia, skirts lifted to her knees, was hot on her trail, with Lily and Rose only a few steps behind.
Gasping for air, Mary stopped and sank to her knees.
“Mary!” Royce ran to her and dropped down beside her, wrapping his arms around her. “Are you all right?” He rained kisses over her head and face.
“Yes. Yes, I’m fine.” Mary threw her arms around him and buried her head in his shoulder, breathing in the scent of him, feeling his strength around her, while the shivering inside her subsided. Finally she raised her head. “Suttersby! Where is he?”
“Him? He’s not going anywhere.” Royce jerked his head toward where the other man lay stretched out inert on the ground.
“Oh. Thank God you came in time. How did you know?”
“I couldn’t find you. I wanted to tell you—well, that doesn’t matter right now—the point is, your sisters came running up, telling me you had disappeared and they thought you’d been lured into the gardens. So I ran out, looking for you.”
“I’m so glad you did.” Mary tightened her arms around his neck and stretched up to kiss him.
His mouth fastened on hers, hard and desperate. His arms pressed her so tightly against him she felt she might break. But she wanted him to hold her this way forever.
“Mary! We got her!” Camellia’s voice cried. “Oh! Sorry.”
Royce let out a curse and raised his head, releasing Mary. With an inward sigh, Mary turned and saw her three sisters standing a few feet away, their faces a blend of curiosity and excitement. Camellia and Rose were on either side of Miss Dalrymple, dragging her with them. Lily brought up the rear, pushing the woman from the back. Miss Dalrymple’s hair was askew and falling down on one side, and her cheek was smudged with mud, her skirt torn at the bottom and trailing in the grass.
Royce rose and reached down to help Mary to her feet. At that moment, Fitz and Oliver came striding along the path toward them, followed closely by Sam Treadwell, Charlotte, and Vivian.
“Royce! Mary! What is going on? Sam told me—” The earl stopped and looked beyond them at the form lying on the grass. “Who the devil is that?”
“Your kidnapper,” Royce told them tersely. “Along with her.” He pointed at Miss Dalrymple.
“I never!” Miss Dalrymple began indignantly. “These girls are quite mad! Out of control. They don’t know what they’re talking about.”
Royce stilled her with a single murderous glance. “I saw you. That villain was trying to carry Mary off, and you were helping him!”#p#分页标题#e#