“Let’s try the inn first,” Niall said. But before they even got to the main doors, Niall reined in.
“Do you see her?” Ian asked.
“I see Sterling.” Niall pointed, and headed for the familiar horse, tethered to a post just outside the tavern door of the Cat & Mouse.
Before Niall could dismount, Brodie himself stepped out. “Aye, thought you’d be coming to collect the horse, my lord. Sterling is a fine one. Too fine to lose.”
“I’m collecting the horse and the woman. Send her out, will you?” Niall didn’t want to go inside, and see Heather among a host of other people. He could barely keep his temper in check as it was.
Brodie raised an eyebrow. “Wish I could, but your lady isn’t here.”
“She just rode Sterling into town and then continued on foot?”
“No, my lord. Thought she meant to come in here, for she rode Sterling into the side yard stables. But when I looked out to see what was keeping her, I saw her getting into a coach with a gentleman.”
Ian said, “She arranged for a ride? Where was she going?”
“Don’t know, sir. As I said, she never set foot inside the building, so I never spoke to her. Thought it was a bit odd, so I posted Sterling out by the street in case someone was looking.”
“Describe the gentleman,” Robert suggested.
“Oh, you know him, sir. That Englishman who stayed here along with Hayes and his man. Mr. Webb.”
* * * *
Heather didn’t know how far the carriage had gone since they left the village, and part of her suspected they were going in circles, or perhaps taking a circuitous path, because it seemed like a long time to be on narrow tracks instead of the wide main road that ran north-south.
“Where’s my uncle?” she asked, mostly to break the silence.
“Gone to London to parlay with some solicitors, I expect. He still thinks he can get that marriage dissolved, though God knows why he cares.”
Heather opened her mouth to say exactly why he cared, but then the words caught in her throat.He doesn’t know!The size of Heather’s inheritance had been kept from Webb, she realized. She almost wanted to laugh. How devious was her uncle? He handed her off to Webb, but he intended to keep the fortune for himself.
“Does he know you intended to kidnap me?” she asked instead.
Webb snorted. “Why do you think we all left that horrible inn in the middle of the morning? Cyril knew the Scots were watching us all. We outsmarted them, and it was damned easy.”
“Oh, so it didn’t have to do with losing at cards?”
“Who told you that?” he snapped, his eyes narrowing.
“The Scots who were watching you. How much did you lose?”
“Not as much as Cyril,” Webb replied.
Webb fell silent for a while, and Heather breathed a sigh of thanks. Perhaps the idiot would give up and let her out of the coach soon. Or simply relax his guard enough that Heather could jump out.
After several moments of tense quiet, broken only by the squeak of the wheels and the sound of horses’ hooves, Webb spoke again.
“We’re going to London too,” he said.
“This isn’t the road to London.”
“It’s the road to the harbor,” Webb said, distractedly. “I booked passage on a ship leaving at the tide-turn. We’ll be married by the ship’s captain along the way, and by the time we arrive, no one can catch up. The captain will offer proof to your family’s bank, and I’ll withdraw whatever funds you may have on the same day.”
“I’ll tell the captain I’m already married.”
“And I’ll tell him you’re insane. I’m paying for passage on the ship. Who do you think he’ll believe?”
