Her voice was surprisingly strong.
And the vise about Nicholas’s chest released, and he could, at last, breathe. He did, deeply, and found Nigel halting beside him, his gaze on Adriana.
“I finally remembered who she is.” Brows arching, Nigel glanced at Nicholas. “Miss Flibbertigibbet. Really, Nicholas? That’s who you’ve finally decided to wed?”
Nicholas debated questioning how Nigel had guessed how he felt, then decided against it and, instead, pointed to The Barbarian; the huge stallion had shifted closer to Adriana and was clearly keeping an eye on her. “Regardless of ownership, that horse considers himself hers.”
Nigel looked at The Barbarian, then nodded. “Good point.”
Having opened her eyes, Adriana grasped Viola’s proffered hand and allowed Viola and Sally to help her sit up. Her color was returning, and judging by the questions she immediately posed, her wits were already back.
Reassured, Nicholas turned to regard Wisthorpe and Kirkwood, who were standing together a few paces away with the grooms and stablemen keeping a close eye on the pair.
Following his gaze, Nigel tipped his head their way. “What do you want to do with them?”
“We have the horse back, and it seems Adriana wasn’t hurt.” The latter realization allowed Nicholas to think again. He could already foresee several pitfalls if they didn’t resolve the situation in the correct manner.
He glanced at the group around Adriana and, with a tip of his head, summoned Phillip. When Adriana’s half brother joined him and Nigel, his voice low, Nicholas explained, “We need to decide how to handle this.” He bent an uncompromisingly warning look on Wisthorpe and Kirkwood; both looked thoroughly uncomfortable but too unsure of themselves to make a move.
Nicholas met Phillip’s eyes, then glanced at Nigel. “For several excellent reasons, it would be best for all concerned if nothing about this affair becomes widely known.”
Chief amongst those reasons was the existence of Phillip’s letters to Viola prior to her husband’s violent demise, let alone Phillip consequently becoming a horse thief. That Miss Flibbertigibbet had been involved in chasing halfway up England after a stolen horse was also not a story the ton needed to hear. Assuming that Nigel knew no details of the blackmail and Phillip’s actions, Nicholas was hoping that the excuse of protecting Adriana would prove sufficient to gain Nigel’s support.
To Nicholas’s considerable relief, Nigel grimaced and said, “I agree. The Devenishes would infinitely prefer that the news that we were, however unwittingly, drawn into the sale of a stolen Thoroughbred never becomes public. Aside from all else, we don’t want to seem like a gullible bunch.” Nigel looked at Nicholas. “You know the sort of approaches we’d get.”
Nicholas nodded, then caught Phillip’s eye and arched his brows.
His lips thin, Phillip fractionally inclined his head. “Despite their actions, both Kirkwood and Wisthorpe are gentlemen, and both, it seems, wish to better their standing in our world. Given their scheme has come to naught, I suspect they won’t be any more eager than us to bruit the details to said world.”
Nigel huffed. “That would hardly recommend them to those they are hoping to impress.”
Nicholas nodded. “Exactly.”
Dickie joined them. “Addie seems entirely recovered and is being her usual bossy self.” His happy grin gave everyone to understand that he viewed the latter happening with relief. He looked from one to the other. “So what are you plotting?”
“How best to punish Kirkwood and Wisthorpe without punishing ourselves in the process,” Nigel replied.
“I believe I have an unquestionable right to be involved in that endeavor.” Adriana arrived with Viola, and the pair joined the group.
Addie inserted herself between Nicholas and Devenish and leaned—just slightly—against Nicholas, using him as a prop as unobtrusively as she could. Although her head had steadied, it still ached, and her bones felt rattled, the connections a trifle wobbly. She’d fallen off horses often enough to recognize the signs and feel confident they would soon pass. But they had to deal with Kirkwood and Wisthorpe now. They couldn’t put that off.
She eyed the pair, who were whispering to each other. “Might I suggest that we interview them and make sure they fully comprehend exactly where they stand?”
“I also think,” Viola said, her tone determined, “that we should make sure we have the entire story straight. I, for one, am not at all sure just who, of the two of them, was the instigator here.”
“An excellent notion.” Devenish turned to regard the pair. “It would be prudent of us to be certain on that point.” He exchanged a look with Nicholas. “It’s always good to know your potential enemies.”
Nicholas nodded, and as a group, they went to confront the errant pair.
Addie moved with Nicholas, grateful when she felt his arm slide supportively around her.
They halted in an arc, trapping Kirkwood and Wisthorpe against the churchyard’s waist-high wall.
Addie opened the proceedings. “First, allow me to say, on behalf of the Sommervilles, that your roles in this drama will not be forgotten.” She let her gaze rest first on Kirkwood then even more weightily on Wisthorpe. “Not tomorrow. Not ever.”
“Speaking of your roles,” Viola said, “please enlighten us as to which of you thought that stealing private correspondence from me to blackmail Lord Sommerville into delivering the horse to Kirkwood was a reasonable idea.”
Her tone made both men squirm.
