She pasted what she prayed was an understanding smile on her face. “I can see why you would have been reluctant to tell me you helped drag my father to the tower. I would have felt the same way had the situations been reversed.”
“I’m glad you understand.” He held his arm out to her. “We need to get going. I don’t like traveling in the dark, but I don’t think we have time to wait for daybreak.”
She hesitated before taking his arm. “Will you recommend Abby to your aunt?” She didn’t want to drag Abby into this mess, but leaving her here alone would be worse.
“I vow my aunt will give Abby a position, no matter what.”
No matter what?Madelaine’s lips trembled as she tried to offer a gracious smile. Did he mean no matter if I’m lying to you, or if I’ll betray you and see you hung beside your father? She didn’t like this game she was being forced to play. If Grey didn’t love her, she would be heartbroken. And if he did, she would also be heartbroken when he realized she had betrayed him. There was no way to win. And no way out. At this point, she just prayed she could keep herself and her father alive.
After Grey secured the horses to Madelaine’s father’s carriage, they left for Kew. Madelaine wanted to spill her heart out to Abby and see if she had any other ideas, but Abby prevented that scenario when she insisted on riding on the driver’s bench with Grey. Grey refused to let anyone drive the carriage but him. Stupid man. They’d end up dead with him at the reins. Red streaked the whites of his eyes and he yawned every few minutes. He had to be exhausted. Abby obviously could see it as well or she wouldn’t have insisted on riding beside him. Maybe Abby thought she could grab the reins if he fell asleep?
There was no point in arguing. All three of them were stubborn people, and they could stand around all day fighting about who should drive and who should sleep and never get anywhere. There was not a minute to waste if she was going to save her father. Madelaine resigned herself to talk to Abby later and then climbed into the carriage and settled herself on the soft cushion. She stared out of the window into the passing darkness as the carriage bumped along the road at a fast-paced clip. Was Grey eager to get her to Kew to help her or was everything that he’d told her a lie?
Dear God! If she and Greyhadmarried, and he was a spy, she would have been unknowingly married to a spy, just as her mother had been. The idea of almost living her mother’s same fate made her gulp. She didn’t want a life of secrets and lies that led to anger and unhappiness. All she’d ever wanted was to be accepted and loved for who she really was. She’d thought she’d found that with Grey.
A warm trail of tears slid down her face. She brushed them away impatiently. She had no time for tears or a broken heart. Later, once her father was released, she’d attend to her heart. Methodically, she thought of and discarded ways to escape Grey. It would be easier now that Abby was with her. Between the two of them, they should be able to overcome him if they could get their hands on his pistol. When he slept, possibly?
She leaned her head against the side of the carriage as despair overwhelmed her, constricting her throat and her heart. When she’d given her heart to Grey she’d never imagined ending up here. Maybe it was her due penance. Punishment for contributing to the problems between her parents that had driven them apart. She squeezed her eyes shut wanting to sleep for a while and forget everything. The rocking of the carriage calmed her like a drug and after a bit, her body grew heavy and her mind began to drift.
Madelaine awoke when her head smacked against the side of the carriage. When the vehicle jerked hard to the left, she gripped her seat to avoid flying out of it then attempted to move toward the window. What was happening? She was halfway across the seat when the carriage hit a bump forcing her to cling to the cushion. Outside, a loud noise boomed through the air. Was that a pistol being fired? Her heart took off in a gallop that matched the pace of the horses.
The carriage slowed and came to a shuddering stop. Momentum threw her off the seat and to her knees. Pain sliced into her bones and vibrated up the length of her body. Before she could rise, the door whipped open, and a strong hand gripped her arm. Grey pulled her out of the carriage and plopped her onto her feet. Her skin tingled with fear. When she didn’t see Abby, Madelaine scanned the perimeter of the forest. “Where is she?”
Grey pointed toward the dense woods. “I sent her that way. Someone’s been following us.” Behind them in the pitch-black dark the hard clopping of horses’ hooves rang in the mostly silent woods, then suddenly stopped.
“Damn it.” Grey glanced behind him into the darkness. “Follow Abby,” he whispered. “And keep running until you reach Cheshire if I don’t catch up with you. It’s close. Go to the King’s Inn and ask for Charlie.”
Grey suddenly ducked and yanked Madelaine to the ground with him. She hit the dirt with a thud, the hard, unforgiving ground knocking the air out of her lungs. Bright stars shone in her eyes and a dull ache exploded across her temples.
“We’re being shot at,” Grey hissed, dragging her belly-first through the dry leaves over hard ground.
“I got that,” she murmured. Another shot exploded, the sound making her instinctively cover her head with her free hand.
“Help me,” Grey demanded. She pushed with her feet against the dirt to slide toward the tree she made out in the darkness. The pistol exploded again, the noise of the shot amplified by the increasing nearness. A scream wrenched from her throat as bark from the tree beside her hit her in the right cheek. A sharp sting slashed across her skin followed immediately by warm, sticky blood.
“Goddamn it,” Grey growled. “I’ll kill whoever’s trying to kill us.”
“Perfectly reasonable.” She wiped at her cheek while pushing with her feet and shimmying over the dirt and rough roots of the tree to take shelter behind the large trunk. Just as they settled behind the trunk, Grey slammed his hand over her head and pressed her face, mouth first, into the dirt. For a moment panic clawed at her throat. He was going to suffocate her. Wait. She sniffed. She could breathe. She took a ragged breath and pushed his hand away. “Grey?”
“Stay down.” She didn’t need to be told twice. Bullets flew nearby, the loud pop of each shot resounding in her ears. The smell of smoke filled the air. She jumped at the cocking click of Grey’s pistol. His hand settled briefly on her back as if to calm her. “It’s too late for you to run. I’m sorry.”
The anguish that filled his voice made her heart jerk but there was no time to respond. She locked her gaze on a lone figure emerging on the path in a sliver of moonlight. Blazes. She couldn’t see his face. He came a step closer, and she clutched at the ground. He had two pistols aimed directly at them.
Grey scrambled to his knees, raised his own pistol and fired.
The man disappeared off the trail leaving only the harrowing sound of a deranged cackle. Madelaine breathed in as all the sounds of the forest crashed around her sensitive ears. Twigs snapped, animals scampered, and somewhere to the right of them a terrible voice rose out of the dark shadows.
“You’ll die tonight, Lord Grey.”
She trembled.
“Who are you?” Grey demanded as he worked to reload his pistol.
“I’m the man who is going to destroy you.”
Madelaine’s breath caught in her throat. Instinctively, she grasped the back of Grey’s coat. He pushed her away, the hard bark from the tree scraping her legs through the thin material of her dress. He moved directly in front of her. “Let the lady go. She’s innocent.”
“Innocent?” the man called back. “No one’s innocent, young lord. Best for you to understand that right now. If you’ve turned your back on the fair Lady Madelaine, I suggest you turn round. The biggest threat always comes from those you trust most.”
