The Gallows Bride by Rebecca King

Dunnicliffe
that was vaguely - odd.
    “ Murdered?” Sir Dunnicliffe sounded the word cautiously, as if
realising there was something he was missing. He studied the toe of
his boot intently and waited for someone to fill him in.
    When
neither Dominic nor Peter seemed inclined to explain, Sebastian
took it upon himself to inform the man of the circumstances of
Jemima’s demise earlier that morning as briskly as
possible.
    “ Ah, I see,” was all Sir Dunnicliffe said as he glanced at
each man in turn.
    “ You got word about Scraggan, I take it?” Dominic snapped,
unwilling to allow the man off the hook just yet. He was well aware
that Sir Dunnicliffe had not actually told them anything, and,
given the circumstances of the morning, it rankled. A
lot.
    Sir
Dunnicliffe nodded and looked sideways at him, before taking a
long, fortifying draught of the amber liquid in his goblet. He knew
if he had any chance of getting out of the room alive, he had to
choose his words carefully. He couldn’t afford to mess things up;
at least two people’s lives were at stake.
    He
nodded and glanced at Dominic. “We got your message. The Star Elite
are in position and have been watching him for some time
now.”
    The
conversational tone of his voice belied the brutal efficiency of
the small group of elite soldiers who often worked undercover on
the most secret missions for the War Office. Very few people knew
of their existence, with only a handful of men in the War Office,
and the Prince Regent himself, aware of what they have done to gain
results. For this particular group, failure was not an option. Sir
Dunnicliffe wondered if Peter and Dominic really knew anything
about the group of men they had left behind to tie up loose ends in
Norfolk, and somehow doubted it. They had certainly progressed from
the rag-tag group of ex-soldiers Peter and Dominic had once
considered friends.
    “ I need to take this -” Sir Dunnicliffe’s words were drowned
out by a muffled scream from outside the window. Within seconds the
room erupted into chaos, as they ran to the French windows as one
to see who was screaming this time.
    “ They’ve got Eliza,” Edward snarled, slamming out of the
French doors, and breaking into a run after the burly man carrying
a screaming Eliza across the manicured lawn to the
trees.
    “ I’ll get the horses,” Sebastian shouted, racing toward the
back of the house.
    “ Wait!” Sir Dunnicliffe ordered, relieved when Peter drew to a
reluctant stop just inside of the door, clearly bristling with
impatience at having to stop and explain. “What’s
happening?”
    “ By the look of it, Rogan, Scraggan’s son, has got Eliza,”
Peter’s voice was merciless.
    “ Eliza Trelisk? Jemima’s sister?” Sir Dunnicliffe turned to
frown out of the French doors, watching the Cavendish brothers tear
across the manicured lawns after the group of burly men who were
carrying a screaming young woman, presumably Eliza towards the
woods.
    “ Yes,” Peter sighed. “Edward found her in Derby a couple of
weeks ago. Unfortunately, so did Scraggan’s men. Edward managed to
keep her safe while he sent word to us asking for our help. Eliza
insisted on going to Padstow to see if Jemima was there, so Edward,
Dominic, Sebastian and myself agreed to escort her and keep her
from Scraggan’s clutched. We were all on our way to Padstow, when
we got news of Jemima being held in Derby Gaol. Although we tried
to get there in time, we –” Peter sucked in a breath, unable to say
the words. He shook his head sadly, and flicked the man a stark
look.
    Sir
Dunnicliffe shook his head regretfully, and turned to stare out of
the French doors while he listened to Peter’s
explanation.
    “ Scraggan set Jemima up,” Peter’s voice was raspy with
emotion. “There is little we can do to help her now, but while I
have breath in my body, they will not take Eliza too.” He didn’t
waste any more time with explanations, and vanished.
    Sir
Dunnicliffe knew