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That was the masked highwayman at the masquerade, the old friend who did not come to the wedding of that morning’s post. Madelyn was running off with him—why? So that Jack had grounds for a divorce?
The cold in his gut was turning into hot anger with himself now.
I never meant to do harm...
His instinct to believe her had been right, but he had been too clumsy in telling her, reassuring her. He was not normally tactless or maladroit, but it seemed that love had tied his tongue into knots and turned his brain to porridge.
‘When did they leave?’
That provoked much head-scratching and thought. ‘Must have been just after eleven, sir, ’cos Vicar came in to see Jem Slater, the ostler, who’s in bed powerful sick and he came hurrying down when the clock struck, saying he’d be late for seeing someone about a christening. And the lady and gent came out just after that.’
‘Well done.’ Jack managed to find a smile and a crown piece. ‘What was the carriage and did you see which way they went?’
‘Chaise and four. Lunnon road, sir.’ The boy shrugged. ‘Most everyone goes that way.’ He caught the coin one-handed. ‘Thank you kindly. Do I take the trap back?’
‘You do, soon as you are able.’ Jack was already heading out of the yard and he set Altair on the road back to the Mote at a canter. He needed ready money and his pistols. He was gambling on Madelyn heading back to Kent and the castle. If he was wrong he might lose her in London, but instinct told him that she wanted the high walls and the moat around her. She was wounded and she was going to where she felt safe. Was she trying to give him the appearance of grounds for a divorce, or was she with Turner as his lover? Jack told himself to have faith in her.
And if she wants nothing more to do with you? the nagging voice in the back of his mind asked.
Then I swallow my pride, tell her how much I love her, give her a reason to come back. Try to remember all the right words I have been rehearsing all morning.
* * *
‘We are not going fast enough,’ Madelyn fretted when she asked Richard for the time yet again and he replied patiently that it was seven o’clock.
‘If we order more speed, firstly the postilions will assume we are eloping, and secondly, now it is dark, we could have an accident,’ Richard said with an aggravating calm that made her want to scream. The fact that he was perfectly correct was no consolation at all. ‘We will be in London in another hour and a half, I would estimate.’
How long would it take for Jack to realise that she had gone? He would be out all day. She had told Harper that she expected to take luncheon at the inn so the staff would not be anxious and she had tossed a small portmanteau with a few changes of linen, toiletries and her hairbrush out of the window, so there was no reason anyone wo
uld suspect that she had gone anywhere except the local villages. With good fortune it would not occur to the staff to wonder where she was until late afternoon and then the assumption would be that the trap had a broken wheel or the pony had gone lame.
‘It might be morning before Jack sets out after me,’ she said out loud, for comfort.
‘Even if not, we are hours ahead,’ Richard said. ‘But I would wager he knows where you are going and will drive straight to Castle Beaupierre. He could be there by late tomorrow, perhaps earlier. What will you do if we have not got to the bottom of this by then?’
‘Raise the drawbridge,’ Madelyn said grimly. ‘It cost enough to repair the mechanism, it might as well be used at least once for the purpose for which it was originally intended.’
* * *
It was a journey of over ninety miles and took them twelve hours with regular changes and fleeting stops for refreshment. At just past nine in the morning the chaise clattered over the drawbridge and into Castle Beaupierre and a puzzled groom and stable boys ran out to meet them.
‘Mistress! My lady, I should say. We were not expecting you—welcome home.’ Roger, the head groom, was beaming at her.
‘It is good to be here. See the postilions have refreshment, Roger. I will send Carlton down to pay them. Is Mr Lansing in the castle?’
‘Yes, my lady.’
‘Close the gates, if you please. No one is to leave except these men with the chaise when they are ready. Once they have gone, raise the drawbridge and secure the mechanism. No one is to enter or leave without my permission.’
‘Yes, my lady. A siege, is it?’ Judging by his grin the idea appealed.
‘Merely testing out the security,’ Madelyn said, trying to look relaxed and amused as Carlton, the butler, hurried down the steps from the main doors. He looked as though she had interrupted him at his breakfast, judging by the way he was tugging his coat straight.
‘My lady, welcome home.’
‘Thank you, Carlton. This is Mr Turner, my financial adviser. We have just dropped by to bring Mr Lansing up to date with various matters. Please will you pay off the postilions. Once they have gone I have ordered the drawbridge raised. No one is to enter or leave.’
Carlton took that with rather more sangfroid than Roger. ‘Certainly, my lady. Shall I serve breakfast, my lady?’
