Captive Surrender (2 page)

“
Then I
suppose that I will have to marry you for it then, my dear,” Levant
replied.

Prudence’s blood ran cold
and she felt faintly sick at the thought of being associated in any
way with this callous toad of a man.

“
I would
rather die a thousand deaths than be married to anyone like
you.”

“
That can be
arranged,” Levant replied.

Prudence merely threw him
a disinterested glance before she studied the paperwork the man of
business continued to hold out to her. With a smirk, she snatched
it off him, threw it onto the ground and proceeded to dig it into
the soil. She turned a defiant glare at each of the men on
horseback and nodded to the earth beneath her feet.

“
That will
eventually rot and disappear into the soil. I promise you here and
now that I will have to be the same way before I will allow you to
purchase anything from this family. Your ridiculous offer of
marriage is nothing but offensive, so I am afraid that you have
nothing to offer that any of us are willing to accept. Now, you are
trespassing on private property and, given that we have no prior
acquaintance and never will move in the same social circles, I will
ask you to leave. If you have anything else you wish to discuss
with us, I suggest you contact our solicitor. Until then,
gentlemen, I suggest you take your -” she paused and searched for
the right word, “- offers, and go and pester someone else. The
beach and lands at Cragdale are private property and, by decree of
ownership, have to remain intact. They have been in this family for
generations and will remain so for generations to come, so any
further offers are just a complete waste of time.”

Prudence stalked toward
the corner of the house and dug the shovel into the soil. She
visibly trembled with fear, nerves and temper, but refused to show
any of her emotions on her face; she could feel the men watching
her. Their eyes practically burned into the middle of her back as
she disappeared out of sight without another word.

Once she was in the
safety of the hallway with closed the door behind her, she slid the
bolt home and rested her forehead on the cool panelling while she
tried to fight the tears that threatened. The sound of retreating
hooves on the gravel was the most wonderful sound she had ever
heard. For now, one battle was over, and she had come away
relatively unscathed. She sent a silent prayer of thanks heavenward
and began to hope that she could recoup her energies in time for
the next visit.

“
Good Lord,
Prudence, you mustn’t provoke the man so,” Maggie chided gently as
she rubbed Prudence’s back in silent support.

“
Well, he
deserves it. We will never sell to that man. Never, ever, Maggie.”
Prudence turned and studied her sister for a minute, very much
aware of the fact that despite her fear, her mind was very firmly
locked on the silent stranger who had ridden with Levant. For some
reason, the way he had continuously stared at her had unsettled her
far more than any of Levant’s visits. She wasn’t sure what to make
of it.

A small, odious creature
like Levant was easy to refuse, ignore and be downright rude to.
Someone like the silent, yet handsome and intriguing stranger, who
had the ability to make her knees tremble with only one look, was
someone she knew she would have no hope of being able to ignore if
he ever brought himself to speak to her.

She gave herself a mental
shake and turned solemn eyes on Maggie. “Now that they have gone, I
am going to get that garden dug over.” She didn’t wait for her
sister to reply and quickly disappeared outside, determined to get
the winter vegetables planted in the front garden before the storm
clouds broke. Secretly, she couldn’t help but wonder if they
already had.

Stephen followed Levant
out of the driveway. He couldn’t resist one last look back as the
small group of men ambled slowly down the narrow country lane
toward Dinnington Hall. Levant was busy muttering about stubborn
females and wayward daughters but Stephen paid him no attention.
Instead, he watched the beautiful young woman called Prudence leave
the house and return to digging her garden now that she was safe
and her unwanted visitors had left.

He glanced up at the dark
clouds and wondered if she would manage to get the garden finished
before she was soaked to the skin. He was fairly certain that such
a strong and determined young lady would not give in, even to
Mother Nature. He could only applaud her common sense approach in
the wake of adversity, and admire her strength and determination to
see Levant off. He had fought to keep his approval off his face
while he had watched her throw all of her visitors darkly sinister
looks, and had silently encouraged her not to show any sign of
weakness in front of Levant. To his relief, she hadn’t, and, if
Levant’s grumbling was anything to go by, she had managed to get
the better of the oaf.

Prudence. She really was
rather beautiful, with a mop of dark brown curly hair above an
almond shaped face that embraced rosy cheeks and the most beautiful
pair of emerald eyes he had ever witnessed in his life. He would
remember her eyes forever more; they were framed by the thickest,
and longest, lashes he had ever seen on any woman, and gave her a
sensual look that made him wonder what she looked like first thing
in the morning. With her rosebud lips and slender figure, she was a
sight that had been created for a man’s delectation. From the look
of her equally beautiful sisters, stunning good looks seemed to be
a family trait. It irked him to think that they had no father
figure in residence to give them the protection they deserved until
they married. Women like the Freestone sisters deserved to have men
in their lives who would provide for them, make them smile, and
ensure they were well loved.

Stephen gave Prudence one
last measured look just as the first smattering of raindrops began
to fall. Unsurprisingly, she ignored them and continued to dig. He
shook his head and wondered what had brought the family to live in
such a remote location, all by themselves, without a man in the
house.

He knew from having
overheard Levant discuss the family with Charles Taylor, his man of
business, that there were five sisters in total and one brother.
Prudence was the eldest at four and twenty, followed by Eloisa,
Margaret ‘Maggie’, Georgiana, Madeline, and a younger brother
Robert, otherwise known locally as ‘Robbie’. Their mother, Agatha,
had recently been unwell and was rarely seen around and about the
small village of Marchwell. Instead, the family seemed to do most
of their trading in the nearby larger town of Brumpton
Marches.

Although neither Taylor,
nor Levant, had ever raised issue with it, Stephen couldn’t help
but wonder why the family would walk the additional four miles to
the larger town when they could purchase everything they needed
from the nearby village that was only a mile or so away. It didn’t
make sense and was something he made a mental note to look into
when he got the time.

“
What do you
want to do about them now, boss?” Humphrey asked when Levant showed
no inclination to stop grumbling about female
stubbornness.

“
I think that
it is time to increase the heat on the ladies a little, don’t
you?”

“
Do you want
me to pay them a call?” Humphries small round eyes lit with
enthusiasm that was immediately quashed with Ludwig’s loud
sigh.

“
Of course I
don’t want you to pay them a call,” Levant snarled. “What do you
plan to do, rough them up a little? We would have every magistrate
within a hundred miles banging on the door, you idiot,” Levant
snarled. “No, leave this one to me. I am going to get that woman to
sell me that house, and the blasted grounds, or my name is not
Ludwig Levant.”

Stephen snorted and shook
his head. He knew that Ludwig Levant wasn’t the man’s real name,
although why Charles Rochester Kempton would want to willingly
change his identity to such a ridiculous name as Ludwig, heaven
only knew. Stephen glanced at bumbling Humphrey and, not for the
first time, wondered if the man had all of his marbles in one
place. Although he was good with his fists; he had hands the size
of dinner plates, he only seemed able to operate under direct,
clear and precise instruction. He was hardly the kind of man the
French would want to enlist to their cause, and that was the reason
why Stephen was there.

Several months earlier,
he had been tasked with finding out if there was any link between
the mysterious Charles Kempton, aka Ludwig Levant, who had suddenly
started to purchase a lot of properties while having very little in
the way of funds, and a group of French spies, whose string of safe
houses the Star Elite had recently destroyed.

The Star Elite were still
trying to locate five missing Frenchmen; Rousseau, Guerin, Laurent,
Dubois and Fournier, and suspicion had fallen on Charles Kempton,
aka Ludwig Levant, largely because he had appeared out of nowhere,
changed his name, and the properties he had purchased were all in a
meandering line that stretched all the way from Mayfair in London
to Cornwall. Although the French spies had yet to be found, Stephen
suspected that they were not very far away. Were they using the
houses Ludwig had purchased as safe houses? If not, why would
someone like Levant want so much property? More importantly, who
was his financier, because it certainly wasn’t his money he was
spending.

Unfortunately, it
appeared that Levant had now set his sights on Cragdale Manor. Was
that because it had a rather conveniently placed private beach that
would be perfect for the spies to use to get out of the country? Or
was Ludwig nothing more than a bully and a greedy, unscrupulous
landowner who wouldn’t be satisfied until he owned half the county?
Somehow, Stephen couldn’t see that Levant had the intelligence
required to be involved in a clever operation the likes of which
the French had established on English soil, but he knew from past
experience that he would be foolish to discount Levant’s
involvement just yet, especially give the his determination to buy
Cragdale. The fact that Levant had just offered for the beach,
without the house, seemed to confirm to Stephen that his suspicions
were correct: Levant was involved with the French in some way, he
just didn’t know how yet.

He sighed and settled
back into his saddle and thought about his colleagues. Where the
rest of the Star Elite were now, heaven only knew. The last time he
had seen his boss, Sir Hugo, and Simon Ambrose, they had all been
at Jamie Montford’s wedding. Pie’s wedding to the beautiful
Florence had rapidly followed before everyone had departed on their
new missions. He knew that Pie had retired due to his injuries, and
Jamie had decided to quit to enjoy his family, and live the life of
a country gent. Archie was already on his way to welcoming his
second child with his wife, Portia, while Simon and Francesca had
their third offspring on the way. Heaven only knew how many
children Hugo and Harriett had now.

While Stephen had no
intention of admitting it to anyone, he rather envied his happily
married colleagues. His life with the Star Elite brought him many
long and often arduous hours in dangerous locations that had, on
more than one occasion, put his life at considerable risk. The
thought of having nothing more taxing to do with his time than race
the weather in order to dig his winter vegetables rather appealed
to him.

He couldn’t help it: he
simply had to turn around and take one last, lingering look at the
now sodden bundle of femininity who had captured his interest so
fervently. He shook his head, and turned to face forward only for
his attention to be caught by the dark glare Levant gave
him.

“
Seen
something interesting?” Levant demanded snidely.

Stephen stared his boss
down, completely unperturbed by the menace evident on the man’s
dark face. “It appears that she is rather ignorant of the weather
too,” he drawled and nodded to the house behind them. He saw Levant
flicker a dismissive glance at Prudence before he turned to study
Stephen far too intently. “Seems to me that the lady is adamant
that she isn’t going to sell,” Stephen drawled.

“
She will
sell,” Levant growled. There was a hint of frustration in the man’s
voice that warned Stephen that the worst was yet to come. “I am
going to have the beach, and that woman, or my name is not Ludwig
Levant.”

Over my dead
body,
Stephen mused, aware of the flurry
of protectiveness that swept through him at the thought of Levant
ever getting close enough to Prudence, or her sisters, to be able
to touch her.

“
Seems a lot
of hassle to go to though, just for a beach,” Stephen drawled
around a yawn. His posture remained relaxed and at ease, yet
everything within him reverberated with a tension that refused to
subside. He ignored Levant’s disparaging snort and didn’t have to
wait long before he got a reply.

“
It isn’t
just a beach. It is far more than that,” Levant snapped
impatiently.

Stephen lifted a querying
brow and sighed when Levant made no attempt to expand on his
comment. Determined not to be thwarted, Stephen turned a dark glare
on the man beside him. “It is sand, pebbles and sea. There are a
lot of beaches like that up and down the coastline. Why that beach?
Why not the one next door?”