“The Duke of Bradford has invited us to visit,” she said, handing him the note. “Do you think this means he is innocent?”
Freddie read it, stroking his chin with his thumb. “So difficult to say, Thea,” he replied slowly. “This Friday, hmm. It will take us two days by carriage.”
“Which means we must leave tomorrow. You are not well enough to go.”
“But I must.”
Thea paced to the window to gaze out over the hills. “Not necessarily, Freddie. Mr. Noonan taught me and five footmen to shoot. Permit me to go with Mr. Carter and Mr. Jonesboro as my guards. If the Duke is innocent, then there is nothing to fear, and I will explain why you could not come.”
“And if he is guilty?”
“I believe I can spot a liar,” she said, her tone thoughtful. “He would not dare harm me, and it is, after all, a social visit.”
Freddie shook his head, staring at the letter. “I do not like it, Thea.”
“I know. I also know I will be perfectly safe.”
After a time spent contemplating the possible dangers, Freddie finally nodded. “All right. But I want Mr. Noonan to accompany you as the coachman. He was a soldier, and can help protect you if there is indeed trouble.”
Thea took the letter back and reread it. “Somehow I cannot see His Grace inviting us if he is guilty of trying to kill you. Even if he plotted to murder you by bringing you to him, he would hardly harm you in his own house.”
“You are quite right about that,” he said, sighing. “That is the only reason I am agreeing to this.”
“And if he were to send men after us, three armed men are enough to protect me.”
“As the Duke would never consider arming his footmen, he would have to have ruffians on his own property.”
Thea grinned. “That is something no self-respecting Duke would do.”
“I do not think I am well enough to come down for supper,” Freddie said with an apologetic smile. “I am still in considerable pain.”
“I will order it sent to you,” Thea told him, bending to kiss his cheek. “Did Mr. Noonan leave laudanum for you?”
“Enough to knock an elephant out.”
“Get some rest, brother. I will see you before I leave in the morning.”
* * *
Thus, her clothes packed in trunks and loaded onto the carriage, and Mr. Noonan garbed as a coachman with a blunderbuss concealed under his seat, Thea put her hand in Liam’s for him to assist her inside. Felicity joined her, eager for a trip to the Duke of Bradford’s country estate. Thea artfully managed to conceal her loaded pistol among her things and wished for a way to hide it on her person. The thing was far too big to thrust down into her bodice.
With Liam and Mr. Jonesboro standing on the steps on the back of the coach, Mr. Noonan cracked his whip over the team of four sleek white horses. They started off at a trot, Thea leaning out the window to wave at Freddie, who had come down from his room briefly to see her off.
“Do not make me remind you to be careful,” he had warned her as he kissed her cheek.
“Then do not,” she replied tartly. “Because you know I will.”
The previous evening, she had sent footmen off to arrange rooms at inns along the way with changes of horses ready. Excitement filled her at the thought of a journey, and one that would permit her to escape that wretched Baron of Ampleforth for a time. However, she knew that by doing so she left Freddie alone with him and his machinations.
“I will just have to remind him of his promise when I return,” she muttered as she stared out the rocking carriage at the fields passing by.
“Miss Miller?”
“Nothing. I was just talking to myself.”
They arrived at the Duke of Bradford’s castle at midafternoon the following day, with Thea observing the Duke, himself, propped up on a walking stick and a younger version of him standing at his side. The pair stood beside a long circular driveway as her carriage rolled up, yet Thea could not read their expressions as Mr. Noonan pulled the horses to a rocking halt.
Footmen in black and silver livery awaited to take her possessions inside the castle, and both Liam and Mr. Jonesboro jumped down to assist her from the carriage. As he opened the door, the Duke limped forward, a faint smile on his face while his son maintained a step behind him. With her hand in Liam’s, Thea stepped out of the carriage to walk forward, then curtsey.
