Page 2 of How to Ruin a Rake

He laughed. “Go ahead. You probably couldn’t hit a pig in a poke.”

Even as the words left his mouth, the book was in the air. It hit him hard on the head, and he slumped down onto the seat like he’d been shot.

Allegra allowed herself a small smile of triumph and then studied him more closely. “Sir?”

She swallowed hard. Her aim had been true, but it appeared her victory came at a cost. Her abductor was unconscious, and his ability to turn the carriage around was now nonexistent. She had a sense that even if she attempted to gain the driver’s attention, her pleas would fail to move him.

“Fool,” she whispered to herself. “Now what are you going to do?”

As time went by, apart from regularly checking her abductor’s breathing to make sure she hadn’t killed him, and admiring the large goose egg–sized bruise on his temple, Allegra had little to do except worry about exactly how her journey would end. If it was supposed to be a jaunt around town, then it surely had encompassed every street in the capital by now? It was too dark to see much out of the windows, but she was disturbed by the lack of lights. She gasped as the carriage shifted suddenly to the left, the springs compacting to keep it upright, and held on tight to the leather strap.

The faint sound of whooping filtered down into the carriage, and her mouth went dry. She’d seen how some of the young rakes liked to drive and was convinced there wasn’t a professional attending to the horses. She struggled to let down the window and angled her head to look up, only to scream and recoil as they passed a farm cart on the wrong side of the road, a finger’s breadth from her nose.

She steadied her breathing and looked out again.

“Please stop!” she yelled in a most unladylike manner. “This is madness!”

She was met with a hunting cry and an increase in pace that made her fear for her life. Hanging onto the strap to stop herself from falling, she watched as her senseless companion slid onto the floor in a most awkward fashion and stayed there, breathing noisily.

With a muttered curse, she went down onto her knees and attempted to sort his splayed limbs into some kind of order.

“Sir!” She shook him none too gently. “You must wake up. We are in danger.”

There was no response. She was just about to try again when the carriage floor buckled like a horse trying to unseat its rider and both she and the man were flung to one side. There was an ominous groan as the door flew open, and the carriage hit the hedged road and fell partially into what Allegra could only assume was a ditch.

Entangled together by his long limbs and her skirts, they rolled out through the door onto the verge just before the carriage tipped over completely and was dragged forward by the plunging horses in mad panicked leaps. It was dark, and Allegra struggled to find her bearings as the man beneath her groaned, muttered something unintelligible, and went straight back to sleep. It took Allegra a few moments to steady her breathing. Using all her strength, she pushed free of him and stood up, rocking on her heels to survey the carnage.

There was no sign of the driver, and the horses had stopped trying to pull the wrecked carriage but were obviously panicked, rearing and snorting within the tangled reins and traces. With little thought for her own safety, Allegra moved on instinct and ran toward them. She slowed as she approached, one hand outstretched, and fought for a calm tone as she reached for the bridle of one of the bucking horses.

“It’s all right, I’ve got you.” Her arm was nearly wrenched out of its socket as the horse reared up, his forelegs close to her face. “It’s all right.”

On its way down, a hoof struck a glancing blow to her shoulder, but the horse didn’t rear again and began to settle. Allegra winced in pain as she began the job of releasing him from the wreck of the carriage.

“Well done,” she said, and smoothed her trembling fingers over the horse’s face, checking that the bit and bridle were still serviceable. “You’ll be fine now.”

She turned her attention to the second horse, which had already quietened considerably, and freed it from the tangled mass of reins.

“There you are, my beauty, all safe now.”

The bay nuzzled her throat, and for a moment tears threatened at the gentle touch. Grabbing both bridles, she led the horses away from the wreckage and over to where she’d left the man who’d abducted her. He lay on his back, oblivious to the world, snoring slightly through his open mouth. Allegra barely resisted the urge to kick him as the enormity of the situation threatened to overwhelm her. She was on a narrow country road with high hedges that obscured almost everything around her. The driver of the carriage might be lurking, waiting to abduct her, and her kidnapper was of no help at all.

Should she go in search of the driver? She shivered as a sharp breeze cut through the thinness of her traveling dress under her sensible cloak. The light was fading fast, and her first priority should be to find shelter for herself and the horses. She looked ahead of her, but there were no friendly lights on the horizon, no inn with an obliging innkeeper, no well-kept cottage or farm to welcome her.

She found her reticule farther along the ditch and unearthed a knitted scarf that would suffice to lead the horses with. She went back to the man and knelt beside him on the ground.

“Sir, you need to get up. You cannot stay here. It isn’t safe.” There was a faint groan and she shook him harder. “Wake up!”

Something in her tone must have registered, because his eyes fluttered behind his mask, and his gaze suddenly fastened on her.

“Who the hell are you?” he asked.

Allegra set her jaw. “That is quite irrelevant. We are in the middle of a country road, the carriage is damaged beyond repair, and we have to get these horses into shelter before it starts to rain.”

“Horses …” He attempted to sit up, and Allegra assisted him. “Why am I wearing a damn mask?”

“To assist with my abduction?” Allegra asked sweetly. “Because I don’t know what game you’re playing, but when I find out who you are, I can assure you that your life won’t be worth living.”

“Then why don’t you leave me here?”