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“I came because someone tried to sneak into my house and stab me,” Anthony replied grimly. He was still looking at Elijah’s cousin, clearly distracted by her mere presence, even though she was not looking at him. Neither was she disturbed by the bloodstains from Josie’s hands, which had transferred onto her dress.
“All of you…” Evie murmured, then tightened her grip on Josie. “Someone needs to check on Mary and Lily. Now!” Her voice snapped out like a whip, distress and fear dripping from every word. She looked down at her uncle, clearly torn.
“Why—” Before Anthony could argue with her, Elijah cut him off.
“She’s right… Go! Anthony, you run to Hartford House. Nathan—”
Now it was Josie’s turn to interrupt.
“Lily left this morning, back to Derbyshire.”
“I know the way,” Nathan said, nodding in understanding, and turned on his heel. Though he had a myriad of questions about and for Evie Stuart, those could wait. Mary, Josie, and Lily had been up to their delicate necks, trying to hunt down the traitor, thanks to Evie, as had Anthony and Nathan.
The real question was whether Lily had left town when she had to throw off suspicion while her friends were attacked or if it was mere coincidence. Nathan hurried, not acknowledging the doctor as the man rushed by with the footman who had gone to fetch him. Behind him, Anthony was hot on his heels.
How far did the danger reach?
ChapterThree
Lily
Pressed far too close to the man behind her for comfort, Lily gritted her teeth. The horse was running at a full-out gallop. Her mind was racing ahead of them, going along the route, trying to guess where they would stop. Unfortunately, they did not pass anyone, though surely that would change soon as the day went on. Someone had to come from the other direction, even if most would travel away from London.
Unfortunately, almost as soon as she had that thought, the highwayman slowed the horse. Should she try to shove him off? As if he sensed her thoughts, his arm clamped more tightly around her, and Lily tensed.
“Don’t even think about it.” Menace threaded his words.
Lily pushed down the panic that welled beneath her breast. As a young lady, a debutante, in particular, she was used to being underestimated. Of course, the only man she’d met that did not do so this Season was a blasted highwayman.
They turned off the road on a path into the woods she probably would have missed if she’d been in the carriage. She had never noticed it before. It certainly was not large enough for a carriage, though it was clear horses traveled it occasionally.
But how often?
It was a defined path but not well-worn.
Most likely to some kind of shelter… somewhere he can keep me. Unless he means to kill me in the woods, but then why would he not have done so already?
Killing her back in the carriage would have been far easier. Hemustbe doing this for a ransom. The thought was soothing in that it did not put her in any immediate danger, yet Lily had no intention of sitting around waiting for a ransom to be paid. Especially since her reputation would be thoroughly ruined by the time it was.
She did not know if she wanted to be married, but if she decided to marry, she did not want any hindrance to the process. Ruination would shrink the pool of suitors she had to choose from—and going by her Season in London, that pool was already depressing enough.
The best thing for her would be to escape as quickly as possible.
Through the trees, she saw the outline of a small cottage. Moving closer, it was rather ramshackle, though sturdy looking. The highwayman slowed the horse, and Lily’s heart raced, pounding so hard, she was sure he must feel it.
They drew to a halt in front of the cottage, and she finally made her move, jerking her head back the way Evie had taught her. The highwayman cried out in pain and outrage as the back of her head banged against his chin. Sadly, she was too short to hit his nose, which would have been far more effective. Lily did it again, ignoring the pain in her head, but this time it didn’t work as well.
Rather than loosening his hold, he tightened it while trying to dodge, and the movements knocked both of them off balance. Lily cried out, and the horse neighed loudly, unhappy with their antics, and reared up. Both she and the highwayman fell from the horse.
Half tangled in his body, she was unable to hold out her hands to soften her fall, and her head glanced off a stone as she hit the ground, knocking her unconscious. The last thing she heard as she fell into darkness was the highwayman’s curses, accompanied by the horse’s unhappy whinnies.
* * *
Nathan
Traffic was halted on the road, and Nathan felt an unhappy clench in his chest as he rode closer. The prickle on the back of his neck was growing stronger with every passing minute.
“Please, you cannot just stand around. You have tohelp!” The anguished plea rose high and shrill, causing an unhappy mutter to stir from the people around the distraught woman, a maid by the looks of her.
