The Countess Page 0,61

the Indians as a slave in exchange for some furs they could then sel off. They would more than treble the money they'd expected to get from George for just kil ing me.

"It took a bit of persuasion for the friend of the dead attacker, but in the end his greed won out and they al agreed to the plan. I wasn't too pleased about the being traded to the Indians part of the plan, but I would be alive and alive was better than dead so I told them where the false wal was, and how to open it, as wel as the iron chest, and then they bound and gagged me. They dumped me in the back of a cart, set the townhouse on fire and drove to the prearranged meeting spot where George was to pay them." He glanced toward his brother again. "I heard it al . He wanted to know every moment of the night's events, wanted to know if I'd begged for my life, how crushed I'd been by my valet's death . . . He seemed to take delight in the idea that I'd suffered."

Richard shook his head with disgust. He'd never imagined his brother had hated him so much. "Once they had satisfied his morbid curiosity and gained their pay, the men took me to the docks and dumped me in the hold of a ship. I stayed there for what seemed like forever."

He closed his eyes at the memory of what had turned out to be one long, dark hel ish journey for him. They'd kept him bound the entire trip and only removed the gag to give him food and water. Days had sometimes passed between feedings and the journey had seemed unending. By the time it did end, Richard had been half dead, weak and feverish, his wrists and ankles a mass of infected sores from the chafing of the ropes binding him. Uncaring of that, his three captors had dragged him from the hold, thrown him over the back of a horse and ridden out to try to trade him as a slave to Indians in exchange for furs. However, in the shape he was in, no one had been wil ing to trade anything for him. Final y his captors had simply pushed him off the horse, and then ridden off.

"They just left you there to die? After you'd given them your iron chest?"

Christiana asked with outrage. "How did you survive?"

Richard blinked his eyes open, saw Christiana's upset expression and realized he'd been speaking the memories aloud as he'd recal ed them. Clearing his throat, he shrugged. "I was fortunate enough that a farmer named Teddy McCormick found me. He put me in the back of his cart and took me to his farm. He and his wife, Hazel, both took care of me. They saved my life." He smiled at the memory of the couple.

"The moment I was wel enough I wrote a letter to Daniel explaining al . I had no family except for George," he explained quietly. "And Daniel was my closest friend."

This time when he paused to look at her, Christiana nodded solemnly. She was aware of his lack of family, of course. She'd been married to his brother this last year. Wel , sort of, Richard thought to himself, relieved to note that she was also looking much less suspicious and frightened. She believed him.

"I stayed with Teddy and Hazel and worked the farm with them to pay them back for their trouble in saving me, and waited what seemed like forever to receive a reply. It was almost a year to the day since the attack in my townhouse when who should ride up to the farm but Daniel."

Richard smiled at the memory, recal ing his shock and joy on seeing him. "I'd expected him just to purchase me passage on a ship or send someone to fetch me, but he got on a ship and came after me himself. He brought clothes for me and had a ship waiting to bring us back to England."

"Us? The McCormicks too?" Christiana asked.

"What?" he asked with surprise. "Oh, no. They were happy on their farm, but I had Daniel leave some money with them for al their trouble." He frowned now and added, "Which reminds me I have to pay him back. What with everything that's happened since our return I haven't got around to that yet."

"And exactly what is everything that's happened?"