Claire felt sick to her stomach as she recalled the insufferable heat and the thick, swirling smoke—if she had a vision of hell, it would be those few moments that they were trapped in a burning carriage.
She would be forever grateful to those men who went out of their way to help them.
Without him, Lady Suzanna and I would have perished by now,Claire thought, her bile rising up in her throat.
“It is rather late and you have both suffered a fright,” Oliver told them. “You should both retire to your rooms and rest.”
Lady Suzanna smiled bleakly at him. “You are right. Now that you are back home, I can finally sleep peacefully.” She turned to Claire. “I shall go first. You should get some rest, too, dear heart.”
Claire nodded weakly at her friend but stayed in her seat. There were so many things she wanted to ask, so many questions left unanswered.
However, for now, she just wanted to bask in the relief that His Grace had managed to come back home safely. After he left, her entire stomach had been tied in knots.
She just wanted to stay up with him a little longer.
“Are you not going back to bed, my darling Claire?” Oliver asked her tenderly.
She shook her head a little. “I was so afraid earlier, and when you ran out to chase after the Marquess, I was so worried for you. Please…do not ever do that again.”
He looked at her with a sheepish smile. “I admit that I might have been rather impulsive earlier but I just wanted to make sure you both were safe and I cannot rest while those who sought to harm you and my sister still walk free.”
“I know,” she said with a soft smile. “I know how much you care for us and that you would do anything for the both of us. I just wish you would take care of yourself more.” She looked down as a telltale warmth spread across her cheeks. “You mean the world to me, Your Grace. I could not bear it if something bad happened to you.”
“Oh, my darling Claire!” the Duke clasped her hands in his. “You do not know how much your kind words warm my heart. I swear I shall do my utmost to never make you worry again.”
She lifted her chin and gave him a glare with no real anger to it. “Oh, you had better because I cannot stand you risking your life like that again!”
He laughed and pressed a loving kiss to her temple. “I do not make promises I cannot keep.”
“Oh, you scoundrel!” she huffed, her voice tinged with exasperated laughter.
They sat like that for a while, luxuriating in the presence of one another. Having nearly lost each other, they were content to simply be together for the moment.
I have no inkling what tomorrow holds for the both of us,Claire realized with some apprehension in her heart.But for now, I will hold fast to what we have with both hands. I will not lose His Grace and he will not lose me.
Certainly not to a couple of ill-meaning miscreants.
As she sat there so close to the man she loved, she prayed hard that in the morning, it would all be over. The constable would find the Marquess and his father, and the vile perpetrators would be apprehended, and justice would be dealt for the death of Hanson and the others.
But things were rarely so simple.
Chapter 26
The attack on Lady Suzanna and Claire soon became known throughout the whole household and the lighthearted atmosphere from yesterday gave way to a tense, pervasive silence.
After news of the attack reached Trixie, she had been unable to sit still and as soon as she was dressed, she made way to her sister’s rooms before breakfast to check on her.
“Are you certain you are all right?” she asked for the fifth time, her luminous eyes trailing after her older sister without wavering, as if a single blink was all it took for her to lose her last remaining blood relation.
Claire, sensing that all was not well with her usually exuberant sister, sat beside her and cupped Trixie’s delicate face in her palms.
“I am well,” she reassured her younger sister. “Well and whole and here with you. I am not going anywhere.”
“Oh Claire!’ Trixie cried, launching herself into her older sister’s arms. “When they told me what you had been through, I could not sit still. How could you sit there when you have been jolted and nearly burned to death? You must be braver than I gave you credit for!”
Claire laughed and stroked her younger sister’s hair. “Well, we all know where the bravery in this family went. I could never do half the things you do, my dear.”
“Oh, mischief and all that!” the younger Rowley scoffed. “I would never be able to survive a burning carriage the way you and Lady Suzanna did.”
