“I understood enough.”
“Did you?” the older woman drawled.
Anna spun to her. “He frightened me. Put his hand on me, took the message and spoke to me as though I was nothing. And then he sent me back like a scolded child!”
Mrs. Pembroke’s gaze softened a notch. “Ah.”
Anna stood ram rod straight. “Do not say ah.”
“I shall say what I please in my own morning room.”
Anna pressed her lips together, but it did nothing to stop the hurt rising inside her.
Mrs. Pembroke moved to the tea tray and lifted the pot. “Sit before you fall, dear.”
She eyed a chair. “I do not want tea.”
“I did not ask what you wanted,” Mrs. Pembroke shook the teapot.
Anna sat because arguing required strength she didn’t have.
Mrs. Pembroke poured two cups, set one near Anna, and left it there. “If Mr. Reed wished to hand you to the British, he could have done so in the lane.”
Anna stared at the cup. Okay, she was right on that score. She picked up the teacup.
“If he wished to expose the message, he could have let the soldiers search you. If he wished to curry favor with Major Ellis, he could have dragged you by the arm into the front hall and announced that Mrs. Pembroke’s maid was carrying intelligence.”
She looked up. “He may still do that.”
“Yes. People may do all manner of foolish and wicked things. That is why one observes what they have already done before deciding what they are likely to do next.”
Anna hated how sensible that sounded. She also hated that some part of her clung to it. “He hurt me,” she said before she could stop herself.
Mrs. Pembroke gave her a flat look.
Anna glanced down quickly, heat flooding her face. “I mean, he frightened me.”
“No,” Mrs. Pembroke said quietly. “You meant what you said.”
Anna gripped the teacup so tightly it was a wonder it didn’t crack. “He had no right.”
“No, dear. He did not.” The woman’s’ gentleness nearly undid her.
A shout sounded from the front of the house, and both women went still.
Another voice answered. Then boots struck the hall at a hurried pace.
Mrs. Pembroke set down her cup. “Stay here.”
Anna gasped. “I am not a child.”
“No. Children are often more obedient.” She crossed to the door and opened it just enough to listen. Anna rose despite the order and moved closer.
Captain Whitby’s voice carried from the hall. “Escaped?”
Lieutenant Rothburne answered, furious. “Taken before the transfer. Three men down, one wagon overturned, and Bell gone.”
Anna’s breath caught. Mrs. Pembroke’s hand tightened on the door.
