An Impetuous Abduction

Moments after Persephone Hathersage stumbled upon a band of thieves, the terrified young lady was spirited away on horseback! But trepidation soon gave way to scandalous desire when her brooding captor tenderly nursed a feverish Phona back to health.Spellbound by the battle-scarred blackguard who kept her confined in an ancient fortress, Phona knew any impropriety with this nameless rogue would tarnish her reputation forever, not to mention plunge her into even further peril! However, appearances could be quite deceiving....

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1811, Derbyshire, EnglandThere he was again.The stranger on the hill.Phona reined her gentle bay mare to a halt in the lee of a small copse and patted her on the neck. "What do you think he is doing, Firefly? He has been there on that tall, awkward-looking horse four times this week. And many times in the last several months." She shaded her eyes with her hand. "I can't see his face under that brimmed hat."The mare twitched her ears."No, he never makes a sound. I look up, and there he is, like an apparition in a penny dreadful. And like most apparitions, I suppose, he doesn't seem to see me. Do you think he is a shade, Firefly?" The mare shook her head, rattling her bridle and bit. "No, I'm sure you are right. He must be flesh and blood."Between one breath and the next, the man disappeared again, leaving Phona to wonder if she and Firefly were wrong about his substantiality. "Did you see that? What can he be doing?"The particular hill on which the non-apparition had appeared lay beyond her family's land, so heeding all the usual cautions and admonitions, Phona never rode that far.Today, however, she would make an exception. "Come, let us go and see if we can discover what is so interesting about that specific hill--other than the rider who so often appears atop it."Firefly sidled a bit. "Oh, stop that. I know that approaching him is completely improper. Today I have no patience with proper, nor with cautions and admonitions. None at all."Whoever the man was, speaking with him would be better than talking to her horse. Which was far better than the conversation of Old Ned, her presently evaded groom. Which was infinitely better than going to the little party of young ladies and their mothers to which she and Mama had not been invited.Mama would have the vapors. Again.Except that Mama was already having the vapors over the crushing snub dealt her by Mrs. Rowsley. Phona sighed. "I love Mama, Firefly. You know I do. But sometimes I become very out of patience with her." And with cautions and admonitions.Turning Firefly toward the distant hill, Phona gave her a tap of the crop and cantered across the rolling green landscape, enjoying the warm sunshine on her face and the crisp spring breeze streaming through her hair. She skirted scattered clumps of vegetation, drawing in the fragrance of early flowers emanating from them, and guided her mount around the numerous rocky outcrops. They jumped the drystone wall separating the Hathersage property from the neighbor's and pulled up.Finding herself at the foot of a steep incline dotted with large boulders, Phona slowed her mount to a walk as they began the ascent. As she neared the top of the hill, strange sounds began to drift to her on the wind.Clanks and thumps. The jingle of harness and the creak of cart wheels. Coarse voices calling to one another. What in the world? There should be nothing here but open countryside.Phona reined in. What must she do about this unexpected development? She certainly could not risk encountering a group of rough men by herself. She should turn back. But what were they doing on the far side of that hill? Perhaps she could find a spot to peek over the ridge without being seen. Of course, if she did, they might--How long her prudent self might have debated with her more adventurous one, Phona never learned. Suddenly the sound of hoofbeats erupted just above her. She looked up to see the stranger on the tall, rawboned black burst over the crest, galloping straight at her, wild hair flying from under the hat. A glimpse of a scowling, dark-bearded visage ended the argument in a heartbeat."Run, Firefly!" Phona tugged her mare's head around and kicked her sharply into motion. The steep slope forbade the pell-mell gallop her pounding heart demanded. A misstep on the rugged terrain would likely result in a broken leg for her mount or a broken neck for herself.And certain capture.Ste