Major Ellis spoke next, low and cold. “Someone knew the road.”
“I had men on that road,” Rothburne snapped.
“And yet Bell has disappeared…”
Anna looked at Mrs. Pembroke. The older woman didn’t turn her way, but something in her shoulders eased. The message had not gone to the British. It reached someone, that or Nathaniel carried it himself.
Anna’s heart, traitorous little thing that it was, leapt toward the possibility before her pride could stop it.
Suddenly Nathaniel’s voice sounded in the hall. “Captain, the east road was clear when I passed.”
Anna froze. Mrs. Pembroke opened the door a fraction wider.
“You were seen near the lower field,” Ellis said with an accusatory tone.
Nathaniel’s reply was calm. “I took the cart path after delivering the order. The main road was crowded with your men. I assumed you preferred I return with haste.”
“You assumed.”
“I often do when not given specific directions.”
Rothburne swore. “Bell is gone, and Reed was seen off the road.”
“Enough!” Captain Whitby snapped. “Reed has carried my orders faithfully for months.”
“Then perhaps that is the problem,” Ellis said. “He’s faithful to whom?”
Anna’s hand went to her throat.
Mrs. Pembroke opened the door before Anna could stop her. “Gentlemen, if you intend to conduct accusations in my hallway, kindly do so at a volume that doesn’t rattle the ears of everyone in the house.”
Every man in the hall turned.
Nathaniel stood near the front door, coat spattered with mud, hair wind-tossed, one cheek marked by a thin scratch. His face revealed nothing. But his eyes found Anna behind Mrs. Pembroke.
He’d not betrayed her. The knowledge struck with such force she almost stumbled. Anger followed just as quickly. He’d made her believe he had.
Captain Whitby looked exasperated. “Mrs. Pembroke, this is not the time.”
She shoved her way into the midst of them. “It never is, and yet you are always here.”
Major Ellis’s gaze moved from Mrs. Pembroke to Anna. “Why is she there?”
Mrs. Pembroke glanced behind her as if surprised to find Anna standing in her own house. “Because I requested her assistance.”
“With what?”
Mrs. Pembroke frowned at him. “My temper, Major. It has been sorely tried.”
Nathaniel’s mouth tightened as though he wished to smile and knew better.
Anna wanted to slap him, or ask if he was hurt, or… or… run into his arms. A hand to her chest, she did none of those things, which she considered admirable.
Ellis stepped toward Anna. “I would speak with the maid.”
Nathaniel moved only enough to draw attention. “Major, if Bell was taken before the transfer, the men who did it had to know the route before I left the harbor post.”
Ellis stopped.
