Terry failed to appear. I believed he’d taken Richard’s threat seriously and would trouble me no more. I didn’t want to imagine what Richard would do if Terry raped me.

When the door opened, Tom and I sat next to each other. The chair was brought in and Terry sat down heavily. He stared at me pointedly. “Come on then,” he said, roughly. I sat still. “Do it, or I’ll hurt him again.” He waved a casual hand in Tom’s direction.

Sighing, I did as he demanded, despite Tom’s pleas for me not to. I had no wish to cause my friend any more hurt, and it seemed a small thing to me, if a distasteful one. It didn’t help. I sat next to Tom and watched as Terry got to his feet and walked over to him. First, he struck his head as he had before and then he kicked him in the groin, in an almost detached manner. Tom lay groaning, doubled up with the pain, and I made a move to go and help him.

Terry turned his back on Tom, returned to his chair. “Come here.”

I stared at him, debating whether it was worth defying him, but when I saw the expression on his face, I got up and went to stand before him. My stomach turned over, but I was determined he wouldn’t see my terror.

There was no mercy anywhere about him. He pulled me down to sit on his lap, and then laid his filthy hands on me. “Very good,” he grunted. I stared back, unmoving, feeling those clammy, meaty hands in the places he had no right to be. I called on all my training, everything I’d learned from Richard and Martha to keep my face impassive. He might abuse my body, but I wouldn’t let him see how much this hurt me, how devastating this attack was. And my fear of what was to come.

“I went into Exeter last night,” he remarked, his hands busy tweaking, pinching, trying to get a reaction, “to see my wife and daughter. And do you know what my little angel told me?”

“I can guess,” I replied coldly, trying to keep the tremor out of my voice. Oh no. Eustacia had told him what she knew of Richard and me. I prayed she hadn’t told her father of our affection for each other, only the fact that we were lovers.

“You’re not the ice maiden I took you for, are you?”

He was so close his smell rose to attack my nostrils, all sweat and bad breath. “My daughter heard some interesting things in that room the night of the Assembly. Though why a man would want to marry a woman he’s already taken beats me.” He squeezed a nipple hard, and I caught my breath on the pain. “You’ll have to get used to that sort of thing. Whores have to put up with a lot worse, you know. Do you know what I’m going to do with you?”

I didn’t give him the satisfaction of a reply. He continued to talk without one. He watched me the whole time he spoke. “Skerrit can go back tonight, but I’m not letting you go. Not yet.” All the time he talked he pinched and squeezed, seeming to get satisfaction from my pain and humiliation. I put all my effort into keeping my face calm and clear, trying to forget my body belonged to me. “I need a hostage until Sunday at least. I don’t place any faith in promises, least of all your little lordling’s. But I can do something I’ve wanted to do for years.” He gazed at me, let his attention drift to my lips, my breasts, licked his thick lips with an equally thick tongue. “I’m going to bring you back here, strip you and take you. Then I’m going to give you to anyone who wants you. There’s plenty who’ll want a piece of a fine lady like you. I doubt if Strang’ll want you after what I’ll do to you.”

Oh God, he would ruin me. Anything Richard and I shared would always have this taint, even if Richard still wanted me after this. Terry continued to taunt me with his hands and his voice, “Two birds with one stone, you might say. It’ll give my Eustacia a chance and I can take my fun at the same time. I don’t know how it is, but I’ve always liked to watch.”

He reached down, and his gaze lustful on my face, fumbled his way under my skirts. I went rigid with horror and terror. I knew what he meant to do, and I couldn’t think of any way to stop him. He was going to rape me now. I closed my eyes, forcing myself to stay calm, not to react in any way.

I couldn’t let him hurt Tom any more, and there was no one else here to help me. In desperation my gaze went to the man who stood behind the chair, a different one to the one earlier. He stared at me, his tongue between the few teeth he had left, his pistols trained on Tom. There was no help there.

Tom didn’t take this in silence. He sat up again, heedless of any danger to himself. “Leave her alone, Terry. Lord Strang will kill you for this. Think of your daughter.”

Terry smirked. “He can’t do much damage for all his fine words, and when he finds out what I’ve done, he’ll think twice about wedding this one, and turn somewhere else.”

“Didn’t your daughter tell you? He