Ushered like sheep, Eugenia and Lady Helena walked ahead of Maximilian and Mr. Curry, the two men murmuring to one another about how best to find this man who seemed so determined to kill Eugenia and the Duke. At their door, Mr. Curry bowed to Lady Helena as she curtseyed to Maximilian before walking inside. Eugenia followed suit, but when she would have passed the threshold, Maximilian said, “A moment, Miss Betham.”
Turning, the door still open, she saw Maximilian make a quick gesture to Mr. Curry to give them a bit of privacy. As he walked a short way down the corridor, Maximilian shook his head, his brows furrowed as he stared hard at Eugenia. “I am still quite put out with you. You deliberately put yourself in harm’s way when I expressly forbade you to do that.”
Eugenia could not stand to see the smoldering anger in his narrowed eyes, his thinned lips. “I am sorry, Max. I truly thought this would catch the person trying to kill us both. How did he know Mr. Oldman stood behind the door?”
“Consider it logically,” he replied, his voice still annoyed. “The library is not that large, and he obviously knew you were being guarded. When he opened the door and did not see Mr. Oldman, he simply assumed he was hiding behind it.”
“That makes sense, I suppose.”
Maximilian finally drew a deep breath, relaxing his anger and then smiled at her. He trailed his finger tenderly down her cheek, making her shiver with delight.
“I do wish to thank you,” he said, his voice soft. “You put me ahead of yourself, willingly risked your life to capture this fiend. I will not apologize for being angry, for you should not have done it.”
“Perhaps not,” she murmured, both awed and pleased by his sweet words. “It may have worked, had he not already known about Mr. Oldman’s position as my bodyguard.”
“And you might be dead, even if he had been caught. You had no idea if he would shoot.”
“I considered it. I know it was a terrible risk, Max, but it was worth it to keep you safe. I was so upset when I learned those highwaymen could have killed you. I wanted this man caught and hanged.”
“As do I.”
Maximilian brushed his fingers down her cheek, the lightest butterfly touch. She shivered with pleasure at the tender gesture, the contact of his skin against hers. She craved to lean into it, to press a kiss into the palm of his hand.
“But where would I be if I lost you? Should you be killed, I know I would go mad with grief. Do not risk yourself again, please, Eugenia. Life is not worth living without you in it.”
“That is how I feel about you.”
“Then somehow, some way, we will find this fellow,” he said and smiled again. “If I have to tear this castle down stone by stone, I will find him.”
Glancing down the hall to see if Mr. Curry watched them, and finding he did not, Eugenia squeezed Maximilian’s hand. “I will be right there with you as you do.”
His lips briefly pursed in an air kiss. “I will stand here at the door and listen to make sure you bolt it when you go in. I and Nigel will come by through the night to check on you. But, no matter what, do not open this door for anyone. Except me. I will arrive in the morning to let you know it is safe to come out.”
Eugenia toyed with the end of her braid. “You think he might come knocking?”
“I would.”
“Very well. Good night then. I will see you in the morning.”
Maximilian’s eye dropped in a quick wink as she slowly closed the door in his face. She dropped the bar into the slats meant for it and thought it had probably not been used in a long while. She heard Maximilian say, “Good night,” and pressed her ear to the wood to listen to his footfalls trail away down the corridor.
Leaning against the door, she found Lady Helena watching her. “I envy you, you know,” she said.
“You should not.”
“You captured the heart of a Duke,” Lady Helena went on. “I came here, hoping to enter a marriage contract with him, but it is you he wants. He loves you.”
Crossing her arms over her breasts, Eugenia gazed down at the stone floor. “But what can I offer him?” she asked, her tone soft. “He cannot marry me. I cannot stand at his side in society. Did it never cross your mind, My Lady, that I hoped this lunatic would kill me so that I do not have to say to him, ‘I cannot marry you, you must marry another’?”
Chapter 30
After a nearly sleepless night of dozing lightly, only to wake and walk around the castle to make sure no one tried to break into Lady Helena’s and Eugenia’s chambers, Maximilian rose at the sunlight streaming in through his rooms. Yawning, bleary-eyed, he let his valet dress him for breakfast after a wash in cold water to wake him up. Neither he nor Nigel had found anything untoward during the night.
Upon walking up the wide stairs to their chambers, he found Nigel on the same errand. “Nothing at all last night, Your Grace,” Nigel said, his eyes slightly bloodshot from lack of sleep. “I wish we could consider him frightened off.”
“I wish that as well,” Maximilian admitted as they walked. “But we both know this bloody bugger is determined.”
“Too true.”
