“Safe yes, but hardly pleasant.” Lady Harrington shuddered delicately. “The ruts in the roads are absolutely wretched these days.”
As the other guests also planned to depart early the next day, many of the noble ladies drifted from the dining room to return to their quarters to rest. Freddie departed to have port in the drawing room with the husbands, leaving Thea free to her own devices. Her arm throbbing despite the laudanum, she headed toward the stairs as though to return to her rooms. Instead, she slipped out into the night and strode down the familiar path to the lake.
Thin clouds scudded across the sky, hiding the moon and the stars, but she had no need of them to see where she was going. The air had a dampness to it, a holdover from the storm the night before. Breathing in the scents of heather and lake water, she heard the hoot of a hunting owl as it roosted in a tree not far away. Behind her, the scrunch of Liam’s boots on the gravel informed her he followed.
Thea stopped in the grove of trees at the lake’s edge, holding her left arm in her right as though that would halt the dull throbbing ache. Naturally, it did not, and she glanced up as Liam halted beside her. “Hello.”
Liam offered her a half smile and a grin. “Miss Miller, fancy meeting you here. I did not think you would be wanting to talk this night.”
“I will not deny that I crave my bed and a dose of laudanum,” Thea admitted, returning his warm look. “But I also just wanted to see you.”
“I am glad you did.”
Sidestepping close to him, Thea slipped her hand into his. “Do you think our villain can be lured out of hiding, Liam?”
“I hope so,” he replied, toeing a loose stone on the shore with his boot. “We have to, so we can find out who is behind all this.”
“You do not think he is trying to kill us on his own?” she asked, nibbling her bottom lip. “Perhaps he is a tenant on one of our estates who thinks my brother harmed him in some way and is acting out of revenge.”
“That might be a plausible notion, Thea,” Liam said, eyeing her. “Save that tenant farmers hold their landlords in far too much awe to want to kill him. From a simple peasant’s point of view, the aristocratic class is the next thing to God.”
“You know this how?”
He grinned. “I am a servant. I know how servants feel, how they think. No matter how a tenant might feel about his lord, the idea of carrying out an act of vengeance like this would never occur to him. It is truly unthinkable.”
“And Freddie has done nothing to warrant the ire of some deranged killer from London,” Thea continued, staring out over the dark water.
“No. So we are back to him being a hired assassin.”
“But who would want us dead?” she asked, her fears and anger rising. “This is ridiculous. It is obvious the Duke of Bradford is not behind it. So who could it be?”
“Are there no other business associates that Lord Willowdale, or the old Viscount, might have offended?”
Thea shook her head, emphatically. “Freddie does not get involved in the old diamond business my father did. He will pick those reins up in time, as the connections are still there, but he has much to learn when he does.”
“I expect we will know once we have this scoundrel in our hands, Thea,” he said, his voice reassuring.
Yet, Thea found it difficult to be reassured. “Hold me, Liam.”
“I, er, do not want to risk hurting your arm.”
“Bugger that. Just hold me.”
He carefully enfolded Thea in his arms, resting her head against his chest while keeping a little space between their bodies for the sake of her broken limb. She listened to the slow thump of his heart beating and drew in a breath of contentment. “I do not want this to ever end.”
His lungs filled as he sighed. “Nor do I.”
“I know what you are going to say, so please do not. I saw how Freddie is warming to you, discovering you are indeed human and an asset to us. Give it time. Once we get through this mess, I will tell him how I feel.”
“Then I will work toward that end in catching this assassin.”
“Just do not get yourself killed in doing it.”
Liam’s chest vibrated under her cheek as he chuckled. “I will do my best.”
* * *
After a sound sleep with the benefits of laudanum, Thea felt much better as she stood in the courtyard with Freddie, saying farewell to Lady Harrington and the other guests. Her arm still throbbed, but oddly she found she could endure it easier than the previous day.Perhaps I am growing tolerant of the pain.She curtsied low as Freddie bowed.
