Chapter 14

The fireworks that lit up the sky above Vauxhall Gardens were a serious distraction, not only for Lizzie, but also for Emily. She had never seen such a display and inspite of her concerns she kept pausing to look up at each colorful flash. Cascades of light showered down from the heavens, the loud hissing explosions partially drowning out the crescendos of the energetic orchestra and the cheers of the crowds.

It was a thrilling spectacle and Emily would have been thoroughly captivated if she had not had far more important matters on her hands.

"Lord love us, ma'am, I never saw anything like this back in Little Dippington." Lizzie gazed in awe as another display of fire and light lit the night sky.

"Yes, I know, Lizzie. It is quite wonderful, but we must not linger. We must find the Dark Walk."

" Tis way off at the far end of the grounds, ma'am," Lizzie said promptly. "Very dark and narrow it is, too, not like the one we're on now. Surrounded by trees and bushes, it is. Young ladies have been known to be carried off the walk, straight into the woods and ravished."

Emily shot her maid a suspicious glance. "How would you know about the Dark Walk, Lizzie?"

"George the footman took me there the night you went to the Northcotes' ball," Lizzie confided with a cheerful grin. "Bought me ice cream, he did."

"I see." Emily clutched her shawl more tightly around her shoulders and tried to sound stern but she could not help feeling a bit envious of her maid. The thought of eating ice cream and promenading down the Dark Walk with Simon was enough to revive all her natural romantic impulses. "Then you will be able to show me how to find the walk."

"This way, ma'am."

Lizzie skipped off into the shadows. Emily followed, glancing around uneasily. The farther she and her maid got from the main promenades, the fewer lanterns were about to light their path. Giggles, small, feminine yelps, and masculine laughter drifted out from the woods that lined the paths.

Eventually Emily and Lizzie reached the narrow, tree-bordered Dark Walk. Here and there couples strolled, lost in a world of their own. One young man on the path ahead of Emily bent his head and said something into his girl's ear. She giggled, glanced back and forth along the path, and then followed her escort into the undergrowth. The couple promptly disappeared.

"Just like I told you, ma'am. Ravishers is hovering everywhere waitin' to prey on innocent young females," Lizzie whispered in an excited voice.

"Stay close to me, Lizzie. We don't want you being snatched. Where would I find another maid as skilled as you?"

"True enough, I suppose."

There was no one else in sight now. Emily looked about and saw only the night-shrouded woods. Involuntarily she moved closer to her maid.

"Do not forget to show your fan, ma'am," Lizzie said, sounding a bit more subdued now as they found themselves alone on the Dark Walk. "George particularly said you was to bring it. He said that's how this professional villain would recognize you."

"Oh, yes. The fan." Emily hastily unfurled the white fan with the elegant dragon motif on it. She waved it about industriously. "I do hope George knew what he was doing when he hired this person from the criminal class."

"No offense, ma'am, but I hope you know what you're doing. This is a strange business we're at here, if you don't mind my sayin' so."

"Do not be impertinent, Lizzie." But the truth was, Emily was beginning to agree with her. The plan had seemed perfect when she had drafted it in the safety of her own bedchamber but now she admitted to herself she was having a few qualms. She really did not know all that much about dealing with professional villains. A sudden movement on the path ahead startled her.

"Bloody hell." Emily bit back a small shriek when a young urchin suddenly dashed out of the woods and came to a halt directly in front of her. Lizzie gave a scream of fright and clutched at Emily's arm.

"You be the lady with the white fan?" the lad demanded.

"Yes," Emily said, trying to calm her racing pulse. "Who are you?"

"No matter. Yer to go straight into them bushes. Alone." The boy looked meaningfully at Lizzie.

"What about me?" Lizzie asked fearfully.

"Yer to stay right there and wait for yer mistress to come back," the boy told her brusquely. Then he whirled and dashed off. In a few seconds he had vanished back into the woods.

Lizzie looked plaintively at Emily. "I do not want to be staying here all alone, ma'am."

"Calm yourself, Lizzie. You will be quite all right. Stay right here in the center of the path."

"But, ma'am…"

"You must be brave, Lizzie." Emily patted her maid's arm reassuringly and straightened her shoulders. She wished there was someone around to reassure her.

It took courage to step off the walk into the shadowy woods. The darkness thickened immediately as drooping branches closed in around her. Emily held her fan in front of her as if it were a talisman and peered sharply into the heavy undergrowth. She could not help remembering what her maid had told her earlier about ravishers lurking in these woods.

When the deep, rasping, masculine voice came softly from behind a large tree on her right, Emily jumped several inches.

"You be the lady what's wantin' to hire herself a kidnapper?"

Emily swallowed, aware that her palms were suddenly damp. "That is correct. You, I assume, are the, uh, professional villain seeking employment?"

"Depends what exactly yer wants done."

"Nothing terribly difficult," Emily assured the rasping voice. "A little matter of kidnapping, as my footman no doubt told you. There is a gentleman whom I would like to have removed from town for a few days. I do not want him hurt, you understand, but merely held in a safe place for, oh, say five days. Can you do that?"

"It'll cost yer plenty."

Emily relaxed a bit. This was familiar territory. Apparently business deals in the criminal world were similar to those conducted in the ton. "I understand. I am prepared to pay a reasonable sum, naturally. But before you tell me your price, let me be clear that there really is no danger attached to this job. A very simple matter, really."

"Why five days?"

"I beg your pardon?" Emily frowned.

"Why d'ya want this gentry cove to disappear for five days?" the rasping voice repeated, sounding impatient.

"Not that it is any of your business," Emily said curtly, "but that is approximately how long I imagine it will take to clear up the problem here in town. When things are settled here, it will be safe for Charles—that is, for the gentry cove—to return to his lodgings."

"Yer just a female. How do you plan to fix matters here for the cove? Or do yer intend to hire me fer that part, too?"

"Oh, no, I shall not be needing your services to handle the main problem," Emily explained breezily. "My husband will be taking over soon. He will see to the details of settling

the issue. When that is done, you may release my bro—er, the gentry cove."

There was a distinct pause from the other side of the tree. When the rasping voice spoke again, it sounded somewhat baffled. "Yer husband is going to settle things?"

"Of course."

"If that be so, why the devil ain't 'e 'ere tonight? Why ain't he arrangin' the snatch?"

Emily cleared her throat. "Well, as to that, he is a trifle annoyed with me at the moment. He does not completely approve of my efforts to save this particular gentry cove, you see. But he will soon come around. He just needs a little time to think about it."

"Damnation, lady. What makes yer think 'e'll change 'is mind?" the rasping voice demanded, sounding incensed. "Ye think ye got 'im on leading strings? Ye think 'e's so besotted with ye that all ye got to do is beckon 'im into bed with yer little finger and 'e'll do what 'ere you want 'em to do?"