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“I should start from the beginning,” Amberwood replied as he took the seat opposite. “Miss Highbridge concocted a rather silly scheme to run away before you could marry her. Sophie and I didn’t know about it until we came for a surprise visit this morning and caught her loading up her carriage with belongings.”
Sebastian looked at him, dumbfounded. “She tried to run away from me?”
“Who could blame her? Considering those cruel accusations you made. Why in the world would you think such awful things of her?”
“You would if you knew what the great secret she was being blackmailed for was.”
“And what proof do you have that she knew?”
“She kept me from pulling out,” he replied bluntly.
Amberwood coughed, a tiny blush tinging his cheeks before he gathered himself. “Perhaps she didn’t know any better? Besides, if she wanted to trap you so desperately, then why run away when her prize is within reach?”
Why indeed? An uncomfortable pit built in his stomach. Perhaps his paranoia had gotten the better of him. But then that would mean he’d injured her, had hurt the woman he loved abominably. He swallowed. “Go on, then.”
“Sophie wasn’t able to convince her to call off the plan, and I certainly wasn’t going to manhandle the woman when she is in such a delicate condition. We could only watch helplessly as she and her maid took off. Thank God the axel had broken only a ways down the street, and I was able to get them out in time before the horses ran wild.”
“The axel broke?” Horror surged through him at the thought of the pair being in the middle of nowhere during such an accident.
Amberwood nodded solemnly. “The carriage tipped over and the coachmen was flung from his seat. Only seconds after I’d rescued Miss Highbridge and Miss White, the horses took off and dragged the wreck a good half a mile down the road before calming down.”
Kitty could have died, would have died if not for Amberwood’s presence. She’d have been a corpse in the middle of the countryside right now, and none of them would have known it.
“Again, she is alright aside from some bruises, but that isn’t the worst part.”
“I fail to see how this could get any worse,” he replied, voice brittle.
“Well, as luck would have it, Barrow had been in the neighborhood for some ungodly reason and had walked by the scene. He claims the coach was likely tampered with.”
**
“Do stop fussing over me, Sophie, I am quite alright,” Kitty grumbled as the marchioness all but shoved a warm cup of tea into her hands.
“If you were truly fine, then you wouldn’t have all but begged my husband to get Ashford down here to see you,” Sophie replied with a scoff, tucking a blanket tighter around Kitty’s legs. “Especially considering that you were trying to flee from the man all but a few hours ago.”
“Yes, well, that was before someone tried to have me killed.” She shuddered at the thought of what could have happened had the carriage gotten farther than London. She could still remember the horrid crack of the axel and the terrifying tumble they took, her life flashing before her eyes and her mind certain that she would die in that moment. The relief she felt at being rescued and the fact that no one had been killed was short lived, once Arthur Barrow, who had apparently been in the neighborhood, had taken one probing glance at the crash and declared it an assassination attempt. In that moment she knew, no matter how badly her relationship with Sebastian had been shattered, she needed the duke by her side to keep her safe. In the darkest recesses of her mind, she could also admit that the sentiment had far more to do with her desire for his stable presence and self-assured manner rather than any more pragmatic reasons.
“You should not be so dismissive. Even without these nefarious villains about, whatever were you thinking to try and run away without saying anything, Kitty?”
“I couldn’t marry him,” she replied, gazing sadly down at her cup, “not with the way things stood between us.” As the day of her nuptials drew ever closure and with no better plan for how to resolve things, Kitty had panicked and decided to flee with Mary. Where, she had no idea, only needing to get away from the suffocating mess of her life. Having had time to think about things, however, Kitty knew it had been a foolish, impulsive idea.
“I fear that may partially be my fault,” an apologetic Arthur Barrow said from the doorway of the parlor.
“Mr. Barrow,” Kitty said brightly. “After all this fuss, I completely forgot about your presence. Please accept my apologies.”
Barrow waved his hand. “It is no bother. Your servants set me up with a lunch tray in the library while the doctor was seeing you. Happy to hear everything is as it should be.”
“Your presence today has been most appreciated. Without you, I might be sitting here, completely vulnerable and without the slightest idea that an attempt had been made on my life.”
“Do you think this has something to do with the blackmailer, Mr. Barrow?” Sophie asked.
The man nodded solemnly. “I suspect that to be the case. I worry that me and Ashford sniffing around might have caused someone to panic. Why they would try to kill their only source of money, I have no idea, but the timing aligns too well to be coincidence. Thank goodness I was already on my way to call on you.”
“Was the blackmail why you came to call? You said something about Ashford’s anger at me being your fault. He seems convinced that I’ve been hiding something and have trapped him to maintain my security.”
“Yes. I’m afraid I helped him come to that dreadful conclusion. It just seemed impossible that you wouldn’t have known, considering how close you are to Mary White.”
And there it was again, that random mentioning of Mary. She remembered Ashford expressly forbidding the maid to come with her upon their marriage, even accusing the woman of helping Kitty come up with the supposed plot. Currently, the woman was resting in her room, having suffered a mild blow to the head. “If someone could tell me what in the world is going on, I would greatly appreciate it.” She said irritably, tired of the mystery.
