“I ain’t sayin’ nothin’,” the man replied surlily.

“I suppose you know the penalty for playing this sort of game?” the Duke asked.

The man did not reply and the Duke thought that, as he looked an inferior sort of creature, it was unlikely he was anything more than an underling to those who thought themselves in a strong enough position to demand five hundred pounds from him.

He therefore said nothing more but merely waited, feeling as he did so a growing fury and frustration at having to comply with what had been demanded from him by blackmail.

He actually waited only five minutes before there was the sound of carriage wheels outside and James had come hurrying back through the house to open the front door again.

But to the Duke it had seemed more like five hours and when he stepped into the carriage it was an added infuriation that he was forced to carry with him the messenger who had brought him the letters.

The man gave the coachman directions where to go in such a low voice that, as the carriage moved off, the Duke asked,

“I presume you are prepared to tell me where we are going.”

“You’ll see when you gets there,” the man replied.

The way he spoke with what the Duke recognised as a triumphant note in his voice made him want to punch the man in the face or shake him until he received the answer he required.

Then he knew that the best thing he could do was to behave in a dignified manner and he only hoped that when he reached his destination he would not find that it was some sort of trap in which he would find himself a prisoner as well as Honora.

Then he assured himself that it had all been done on the spur of the moment resulting from Honora’s foolish action in going out of the house alone.

As soon as the miscreants, whoever they were, received the five hundred pounds they had asked for, there would be no more difficulties.

He, however, was not entirely optimistic and, when the horses came to a standstill, one glance at the house they had stopped at told the Duke where they were!

As he looked, he felt his anger rising furiously and knew it was going to be very difficult for him to hold his temper.

The sight of Kate, however, made him take control of himself and only when she had taken the money from him and counted it did he say in a voice that cracked like a whip,

“Now take me to my wife. One word to anybody about this you understand and I will have you closed down.”

“You can trust me not to talk, Dook,” Kate said pertly, “and the best thing for us both, as you well knows, is to part with no hard feelings.”

Because what she said made a sort of common sense, the Duke did not reply but merely tightened his lips.