Page 16 of No Ordinary Lady

“No! You cannot leave the estate now,” Mama cried. “You only just arrived.”

“I’ve no choice, I’m afraid.”

“But what about the marriage? You can’t just walk away without telling us more about that,” Granny cried out, halting him in his tracks.

“That discussion will have to wait upon my return,” he warned.

He never expected Granny to approve of his decision to tie the knot. And Mama had been harping on the subject in her own way for years now. Sly remarks when anyone she favored became unavailable were the usual with her.

They would each have a great deal to say, later and in private, he assumed. Granny had always talked of him making a love match, but it was too late for that. He was impatient and could not wait forever for love to land in his lap. Mutual respect would have to do.

“You cannot leave,” Mother ordered, as if he was still a boy who must obey.

“I am.”

“We are expecting our nearest neighbors to join us for the afternoon and dinner,” she warned. “It will be rude if they see you running away again before you even speak to them.”

Daniel gulped. Their nearest neighbor was Amy and her father, Mr. Wilson.

It seems fate was going to deliver his future bride to him earlier than he’d ever hoped for. And Mother was right, he couldn’t possibly leave before he spoke to them. He put his finger in his pocket, hoping the ring would magically reappear so his proposal could occur as smoothly as he’d originally intended.

But it was not to be—the ring, or any proposal without it, either. He would have to slip away at first light tomorrow for his pursuit of his pretty little criminal and hope he would not be too late to catch up with her, and her so-called friends.

Chapter Five

Gravel crunched under Marian’s weary feet as she cautiously approached an impressive manor house just as the sun was setting. Glad to finally have arrived at her destination, she stopped a moment to consider what might happen next if it was the right place.

She wanted to be certain that her handsome gentleman friend had arrived home safe and sound, for if he had, he was surely safe from further harm, with so many servants likely to be employed about the estate.

But to find out, she’d have to knock on the carved-oak front door first.

She winced as it occurred to her that he could be quite angry by now. Marian could have easily returned his ring last night to his waistcoat pocket, and not been caught. But had been perplexed to find it on her finger when she’d first woken in his abandoned bed that morning.

She could not keep the ring. It was too valuable for her to sell without guilt, and much too pretty to just let anyone else have it. So, there had been only one thing to do—return the ring and hope he accepted her story of finding it lying forgotten in his room at the inn. The alternative was admitting she had stolen it from him in her sleep—which she could hardly believe herself.

Marian studied the splendid manor house with its golden-yellow stone and many sunlit windows and felt a pang of unease grow inside her. When she’d started out, it had seemed so simple. From his speech and manners, she’d not imagined the young man had come from real wealth like this. But this was a rich man’s home, and rich men became suspicious and angry when their possessions were misplaced.

But if he was distrustful of her, at least returning the ring might appease him. She’d come this far, and she was no shrinking violet. She would return the ring to him, or perhaps leave it with a trusted servant if he wouldn’t grant her an audience. And then she’d head back to the road, find somewhere to rest for the night before she continued on her way tomorrow somehow.

The money Danny had left her beside the bed would still take her far away from here, and anywhere Uncle Crossman might search for her.

Crossman and the rest would not look for her here. He avoided wealthy landowners' properties like this and favored large market towns where no one knew them. It was easier to get lost in the crowds, he’d said. But he knew she knew that. And he had already said he would head in the opposite direction of this estate, as well, which might have made it the perfect hiding place if circumstances were different.

It was getting late, the sunlight was fading, so she rapped on the front door with the knocker and stood back with a smile plastered on her face. No one came immediately, and she wiggled the ring between her fingers while she waited impatiently. She was unusually nervous about seeing Danny again, and especially here. He hadn’t said goodbye at the inn, and had left the door unlocked. Marian hadn’t particular cared for that. The man had no sense of the danger she was in. The sooner she gave the ring back, and went on her way, the better.

No one came to answer her second knock, and then she heard laugher. Women twittering nearby. Marian looked from side to side.

All the windows had been sunlit when she’d first walked up to the front door, but now a single window was aglow with light from within.

Curious about the occupants of that room, Marian moved toward the light.

The first thing she saw was a man standing with his back to the door. By his height, build and the color of his wavy hair, it might be her handsome gentleman from the inn, but he was not alone.

Opposite him, with the most fatuous smile on her face, was a beautiful blonde woman, staring up at him. Beyond her, an older pair of ladies, and then what seemed to be an old servant, hovering behind them, holding a silver tray.

She heard Danny’s laugh. His voice and let out a sigh of relief. She’d found him.

Marian shrank back a little from the window though as they continued to talk amongst themselves. Although she listened hard, no one mentioned a wedding about to take place or revealed that one already had.