Page 134 of A Troublesome Circumstance

“You should never have followed her,” Broderick growled. “You will die for it.”

Jude lifted both hands. “It doesn’t have to end this way.”

Broderick’s hand tightened on the pistol. “It does. Josephine is mine.”

Josephine pushed up from the ground, her eyes blazing. “I will never be yours.”

Before Broderick could react, she grabbed a fallen branch—thick, heavy—and swung with all her strength.

It cracked against Broderick’s skull.

He dropped instantly, crumpling to the leaves below.

Jude stared, breathless, then rushed to Josephine as Broderick lay unconscious. “Josie—are you all right?”

“I will live,” she replied, even as blood trailed down her cheek in a stark, horrifying line.

Jude’s entire body went rigid. Rage knifed through him so sharply he struggled to breathe. “Broderick will pay for what he’s done to you,” he said, his voice low and trembling with fury. “I swear it.”

She squeezed his hand. “Let’s go home.”

Her fingers felt so small in his. Fragile. He held on as though she might vanish again if he loosened his grip for a single heartbeat.

After he retrieved the pistols from the ground, Jude tucked them securely into the waistband of his trousers. He grabbed the rope and bound Broderick’s wrists before walking back through the trees, keeping one step ahead of her, shielding her from branches and roots as though the woods were a threat. He kept glancing at her—at her torn gown, the dried leaves tangled in her hair, the bruise forming along her cheekbone. Relief surged through him with every step she took behind him, alive and breathing.

He wanted to tell her everything—that he loved her, that losing her would have destroyed him, that he could not, would not, imagine a future without her. But the words lodged in his throat, too heavy, too raw.

Once they stepped out from the shadows of the trees, a cry rose from the courtyard. Josie’s maid broke into a run.

“My lady—you are bleeding!”

“Am I?” Josie asked faintly, lifting her fingers to her cheek as though noticing it for the first time.

Jude didn’t release her hand. He doubted he ever would. “Let’s get you cleaned up,” he said softly. “And then we’ll depart for Town.”

A tall, barrel-chested man with a narrow mustache approached them, tugging off his cap. “My lord. I’m the constable of this village. I understand the young lady was abducted.”

“That is correct,” Jude said, his voice tight. “The man responsible is unconscious in the woods.”

The constable’s brows lifted. “Unconscious? I see.” He cleared his throat. “Could you show me the exact location, my lord?”

“I will⁠—”

“Josephine!”

The shout cut across the courtyard.

Lord Leroy emerged from the crowd, breaking free from Rupert’s grip.

Josephine immediately stiffened, her hand tightening painfully in Jude’s.

Her uncle rushed closer. “My dear girl—thank heavens⁠—”

Jude stepped squarely in front of Josephine, blocking his path. “Do not touch her. You have lost that right.”

Lord Leroy’s steps faltered. “But—I am her uncle,” he stammered.

Josephine moved to stand at Jude’s side, her chin lifted. “You let him take me,” she said, her voice shaking with outrage and disbelief.