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Nick waved him away. “No, I can make it fine on my own.”
“Very well.” Jack turned to leave but Nick grabbed his arm and he stopped, looking over his shoulder.
“Just find her.”
Jack nodded once at his master before he turned and ran out the door. Nick dropped to his knees and prayed.
* * *
Time passed slowly as Nick paced before the parlor windows, which had a clear shot of the front drive. He stopped occasionally to scan the road before resuming his pacing, shaking his head and trying not to consider the darkness outside or the hours since Jack had sped off to join in the search. Where could she be?
Nick was utterly miserable. He hadn’t known Giulia for long. It couldn’t have been too much over a month. Maybe six weeks. How had he grown to care so much? He was riddled with anxiety at the fear of history repeating itself. A missing person, a horse returned without its rider…this was how the evening had gone when he had been shot. Or so he had been told.
There were far too many similarities between that horrible night, and this evening for Nick to feel at ease.
He plopped down in a chair and pinched the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut. He should be out there. He should be searching with the others. He was a man of action, and all of this sitting around and waiting was not good for his anxiety. What could possibly have happened? If only he had been more diligent in discovering the man who had shot him, perhaps this could have been prevented and Giulia would be home and safe and not out in the world somewhere, possibly hurt or…or worse.
He swallowed hard and shot to his feet. The blood drained from his head in the movement, causing him to waver. He lowered himself back onto the chair and waited for the black spots that littered the edges of his vision to disappear.
A deep breath and firm grips on the arms of the chair helped to slow his heart rate. There was no sense in jumping to conclusions. Giulia could have just as easily fallen from her horse, or even gotten down for one reason or another, and then lost the steed. Perhaps she had lost her horse, and then taken off in the wrong direction, thinking she was going toward Halstead but heading the opposite way instead. She could easily be lost. Not hurt, just lost. That would explain why it was taking so blasted long for the men to find her.
“Ugh!” Nick yelled. He was going to drive himself crazy with all of this conjecture.
A light bobbed in the distance, reflecting on the window and Nick shot up to examine it. It appeared to be a lantern coming down the road. More lights came around the lane bend, following closely behind the first lantern, lighting the path more fully and revealing men on horses. The search party was returning.
Nick ran to the front door, throwing it open as the group neared the drawbridge. He scanned the horses until he found what he was looking for and relief flowed through his veins like a warm bath, filling his body and sheltering him in peace.
She was alive.
Giulia sat sideways behind Robert on his oversized black steed, her tiny arms holding on to his round waist. She was not smiling, but aside from that she appeared to be unhurt. He approached and went to lift his arms to pull her down when his hurt arm snagged halfway up, sending shooting pains down his chest. Cursing, he rubbed his shoulder.
Dr. Mason approached, reaching up for her and pulling her from Robert’s horse, his hands lingering around her waist. Resentment filled Nick’s body as he stepped back to make room for Robert to alight and watched Mason lead Giulia toward the house with an arm around her shoulders.
“She is unhurt?” Nick murmured to Robert as the older man tossed his reins to a groom and they fell in step behind Giulia and Mason.
“Yes,” the earl replied.
“Where was she found?”
“On the Green’s property line, just much farther south. She was nearly to the main road.”
Nick waited for more information as they followed Giulia across the drawbridge, but Robert was not forthcoming. He pulled on Robert’s sleeve, forcing the earl to stop and spin, and growl.
“What happened?” Nick asked.
Robert looked away into the darkness which had swallowed his land, his gaze sweeping the horizon before speaking. “We don’t know. She was heading back to the lane so she would not get lost trying to find Halstead and a loud bang scared the horse. She lost control.”
“A bang?” Nick could feel his temperature cool as fear rippled down his neck.
“A gunshot. She did not say as much, but it was obvious based on her description.”
It was Nick’s turn to look away. He would never forgive himself if this was the same scum who had targeted him.
“It is not your fault, Nick,” Robert said with uncharacteristic softness. “She is well, anyway.”
“Did she fall from the horse?”
“Yes, but as I said, she is unhurt.” Robert scrubbed a hand over his face. “She is skilled on horseback, and apparently was taught how to fall.”
