The Elusive Earl

by Maddison Michaels

  Brianna’s grandfather had discovered his granddaughter was alive, and from that coat of arms, Daniel guessed he’d sent some of his royal guards to collect her. How they knew she would be traveling in this coach was a question he would have to ponder another time.

  Five Garendetta men he would have been able to handle with ease, but five trained soldiers were another thing entirely. He might be able to take on all of them—that was a definite possibility but not an inevitability. And he wasn’t prepared to gamble Brianna’s life on a possibility.

  Though the chance that they wished to harm her was probably negligible, he didn’t know that for certain just yet.

  The man who was clearly in charge of the group dismounted from his horse and walked over to the open carriage door.

  “My apologies for the rifles pointed at you both,” he began, his English crisp and precise. “But we did not know what threat would be present from inside.”

  “Perhaps, then, you should not have stopped our carriage,” Brianna spoke up.

  “We have been stopping all carriages, since receiving word that the woman we are searching for is traveling this route.”

  He looked past Daniel to where Brianna was sitting and stared at her for a long moment. He seemed to come to some decision, if the slight tilt of his head was any indication, and then he went down on one knee and bowed.

  “And it seems we have finally found her,” he announced. “Principessa, it is my deep honor. I am Alessandro D’Ignoto, captain of the guard for your grandfather, the beloved Prince Alberto of Cosenza. He has sent me to find you and return you to where you rightfully belong.”

  “Is he talking to me?” Bree whispered.

  Daniel could only nod.

  “Does ‘principessa’ mean ‘princess?’” she asked.

  “Sì,” the man confirmed with a grin.

  “I think you have the wrong carriage then, Captain,” Bree impressed upon the man, looking unusually embarrassed. “My name is Mis—ah, Lady Thornton.” She caught herself in time. “And this is my husband the Earl of Thornton.” She pointed to Daniel.

  “We had not heard you were married,” the captain replied. “But it matters little. What matters is we have found you at last. We all thought you had died as a baby with your parents.”

  “I’m very sorry, but I am not this Principessa you seem to think I am.”

  Daniel hadn’t told her the real truth of her heritage when he’d seen her this morning, assuming that she would be safer not knowing, at least until after they’d saved Travis. He’d obviously assumed wrong.

  “I have seen your mother’s beautiful picture hanging in the palace with my own eyes, nearly every day since I was ten years old,” the captain replied. “Apart from the blue of your gaze, you are the very image of her. I have found the Principessa, of that, I am confident.”

  “I’m sorry, but no, you have not. You have the wrong person.” Confusion lit her face as she stared at the captain and then over to Daniel. “You must tell him I’m not this Principessa he is speaking of.”

  For a rash moment, Daniel felt like agreeing with her and saying just that. Because he knew when he confirmed the information was true, it would mean that the irrepressible Miss Penderley would, for all intents and purposes, be out of his hair for good. Well, after they saved Travis, of course.

  And for once, he wasn’t certain he wanted her out of his hair.

  Not that he wanted to marry her.

  The sound of a pistol being fired in the air echoed around them. Daniel looked past the captain to see about a dozen men on horseback, maybe a few hundred feet away, riding toward them, guns at the ready. These men did not bear the Cosenza coat of arms.

  “The Garendetta! Protect the Principessa,” the captain roared to his men. He turned to Daniel. “Get her out of here.” He then raced over to his horse and vaulted onto the saddle and led his men charging toward the threat.

  Daniel looked up to the driver’s perch and cursed. The box was empty, the driver obviously not wanting to have anything to do with them now, knowing the Garendetta were chasing after them.

  “Get inside,” he yelled to Brianna as he vaulted onto the driver’s seat. He heard the door to the carriage slam. Leaning down, he grabbed the reins. The seat lurched as Brianna jumped up and sat next to him.

  “I told you to get inside the carriage.”

  “Just go!” she urged, gripping the edge of the driver’s seat tightly. “At least I can be your lookout up here.”

  He cracked the leather of the reins, and the horses bolted forward. He grudgingly had to admit she was right: she would be better placed to help him from here rather than shut inside.

  “Heeya!” He urged the horses faster, shouting at her over the sudden commotion of rapidly clopping horses and the hollering of men behind them. “Fine. Tell me what’s happening, then.” He didn’t dare move his eyes away from the road as he navigated the carriage down it.

  He felt the seat move when she twisted to look backwards.

  “The soldiers are attacking the group of men,” she yelled. “But they’re outnumbered over two to one.”

  Daniel kept spurring the horses faster. The ground was rough and uneven and certainly not made for a carriage traveling at speed, but they had to create some distance between the bandits and themselves.

  “I feel terrible for them.” Brianna clutched the seat to keep from tumbling off as they hit a particularly deep rut in the road. “They’re protecting me, thinking I’m someone that I’m not!”

  The carriage careened around a bend, and Daniel had to use his weight to counterbalance the turn.

  “There’s a lone rider catching up!” she called out, looking behind them.

  Daniel goaded the horses again, but the road was starting to wind up a hill, following the twists of the thunderous river beside it. There was no way they would outrun a single rider.

  “Can you shoot?” he yelled.

  “No, not really.”

  “Damn it,” he cursed, quickly assessing his options. “Take the reins.”

  “What?” She batted at the leather straps, clearly not happy with his idea. “I don’t know how to steer a carriage.”

  “Take them!” He grabbed her hand, forcing her to hold the reins. “Make sure they stay even, with the horses facing straight ahead. Occasionally, snap your wrist to urge them on. All right?”

  She took hold of the leather tightly, and warring with the dread crossing her face was an expression of determination.

  Daniel pulled out his pistol and turned around to face the rear. The man and his horse were gaining ground up the hill, and then, swiftly, another horse and rider came into view from behind the first. And without a uniform, the man had to be Garendetta, too. Bloody oath! Two to contend with.

  He tried to take aim on the first, but the carriage was jostling too much over the rough ground for his shot to be steady and hit his mark. He couldn’t waste any of the bullets in the chamber either, as he suspected each would count greatly.

  “Remember what I said,” he reminded Bree, as he pocketed the pistol in his waistband and climbed over the perch, onto the roof of the carriage.

  “What are you doing?” Brianna asked, the knuckles on her hand white from her vice-like hold on the reins.

  Without replying, Daniel focused on keeping his grip on the side railing along the top of the carriage as he traversed down the length of it. Both riders were nearly abreast of the carriage now, and one had drawn his pistol.

  The other yelled out to put the gun away, that they needed to take the girl alive.

  Some comfort, at least, that she wasn’t meant to be harmed, though Daniel had no intention of letting them take her. The man tucked his pistol away.

  Twisting to the right, Daniel reached across and ripped the side lantern from its hook and then crouched low.

  The first rider, who now had his pistol in his waistband, was adjacent to the carriage, whilst the second was close behind. The first man maneuve
red his legs until he was standing on the saddle, his horse not slowing its breakneck gallop.

  It was an impressive move.

  The man grinned in his direction before leaping from his horse toward the roof. Daniel rose up and swung the glass lantern at him while he was in midair. The glass smashed against the man’s chest, halting his momentum forward and redirecting it to the ground.

  The man hit the road with a very loud thud and then rolled until he was still.

  “Daniel, help!” Bree shouted. “He’s untying the horses.”

  Swiveling around, he saw the second rider was alongside the horse moorings and had loosened them to the point that the animals were only barely attached to the carriage.

  Daniel scrambled across the roof. The man had slowed his horse and was now grappling with Bree, trying to drag her clear of the carriage.

  A fury unlike any he’d ever felt ripped through him upon seeing the other man’s hands on Brianna. Without thinking, he launched himself off the roof and onto the attacking Garendetta astride his horse.

  The impact nearly knocked them both to the ground, but they managed to stay on the horse. With a bellow of rage, Daniel launched a volley of punches into the man’s kidney area. Then, when the man’s hands loosened from the reins, Daniel grabbed the scruff of the man’s neck and flung him off the galloping animal.

  “Daniel!” He heard Bree scream once again.

  The carriage had rolled up ahead, now completely without horses and powered by the momentum of the wheels thundering down the sloping road.

  Daniel spurred his mount on faster, watching in disbelief as Brianna climbed from the driver’s seat and grasped the carriage’s rooftop railing. What the hell was she doing dangling from the side of the vehicle?

  He dug his heels into the horse’s sides, unable to peel his gaze from Bree’s death-defying antics.

  She shimmied over to the carriage door and kicked the door latch free before swinging her body into the vehicle’s interior.

  The woman was insane. Agile and magnificently athletic, but insane.

  The descent was growing steeper. His insides turned to ice when he saw the raging river at the very bottom of the hill, where the road curved to the left. The horseless carriage was headed straight for the water, with Brianna in it. And it was going much too fast for her to safely jump out of alone.

  Finally, he managed to come alongside the runaway vehicle. Brianna’s head appeared at the window, and she triumphantly held up the satchel. Which did not have the real journal inside, so he had no idea why she would risk her life for it. She slid its strap over her head and secured the satchel around her chest.

  “Ahead!” He pointed down the hill. “The river!”

  She turned and saw the body of wild water, her face leaching of color.

  “You’re going to have to jump,” he yelled as loud as he could.

  “I can’t!” She shook her head.

  Damn, why did she have to act terrified now?

  “You have to!” He held out his hand, while his other one kept the horse steady. “Please Brianna, grab my hand and jump.”

  She stared at the water, then at him, before she nodded her agreement.

  He urged his mount as close to the carriage as the beast would go and then reached out to her.

  Brianna extended her arm across the distance, but the carriage jolted harshly. With a shriek, she fell back inside.

  The river was fast approaching, the thunder of it deafening in its intensity. Without thinking, Daniel leapt from his horse straight through the carriage’s opening.

  Chapter Twelve

  Bree tried to stand as the carriage plunged down the hill, but then it jolted again, and she was forced onto her backside. She blinked when Daniel jumped through the opening, almost landing on top of her.

  Her heart leapt at the realization that he’d come after her.

  “Can you swim?” He pulled her against him.

  She could only nod as the carriage seemed to become airborne for a moment.

  “Good,” he shouted, pushing her out the door.

  Bree screamed in shock before plunging into the icy depths of the river. Suddenly, the water engulfed her, and it dragged her down, the current swirling around the layers of fabric surrounding her legs. She twisted her head frantically about in the inky depths but could see nothing. Tilting her chin, she looked up. Light.

  Kicking with all her might, she tried to swim upwards, but the depths of the river weren’t giving her up so easily. She could feel the water’s pull on the skirts of her gown, tugging her away from safety, as the swift currents carried her downstream. An edge of panic began to assail her. She clawed her hands through the water, fighting to pull herself upwards.

  Abruptly, she was grasped from behind and wrenched toward the surface. A moment later, the cool air hit her face, and greedily, her mouth opened and dragged in one gulping breath after the other. She coughed as she took in a bit of water, too.

  “Damn it, Brianna, this is no time to relax,” a gruff voice growled in her ear, as she became aware of one of Daniel’s strong arms encircling her from behind, helping hold her afloat.

  “Daniel!” The strength seemed to return to her limbs with the feel of his warmth against her. Suddenly, she wasn’t alone. “Thank goodness. I couldn’t get to the surface… My dress was too heavy with the water.”

  “Here, I managed to grab this from what’s left of the carriage.” He pushed a jagged plank of wood in front of her, which she gratefully latched onto, as the water continued carrying them downstream in a swirl of haste. Even with the buoyant piece of wood underneath her, she still felt the force of the river pulling her down.

  “Hold on, and keep treading water.”

  She had to tamp down the panic that threatened to engulf her as his hand moved away from around her waist. Bree gripped the wood tighter, but then she felt his hands at her collar, and without warning, a great ripping noise sounded above the river’s roar as he tore open the laces at the back of her dress.

  His hands quickly found purchase, one back around her waist and the other on the wooden plank.

  “I’ve got you. Now, pull your arms out of the sleeves,” Daniel said into her ear. “And then push your dress down.”

  If she wasn’t already freezing from the chill water, she would be burning in mortification once again. However, when one’s life was at risk, certain proprieties had to be put aside. Clenching her teeth against the chattering that had begun to sound like a percussion drill reverberating in her skull, Bree wriggled her arms free from the wet material. Not only was the soaked fabric hindering her in her efforts, but floating down the river, with Daniel at her back and a plank of wood at her front, was not conducive to undressing either.

  Finally, she shrugged out of the garment and wiggled free of the gown, the greedy currents swallowing the dress into their inky depths. Bree latched back onto the plank and took some more deep breaths as Daniel’s arms fastened more firmly around her.

  All of a sudden, she felt like laughing. Here she was floating down a river, soaking wet, dressed only in her chemise, drawers, and corset, being held afloat by a gentleman and a plank of wood—a situation she would never have imagined possible, even for her. Goodness, she’d never been in such a state of undress in front of a man ever before.

  “I’m going to let the current take us a bit farther along, but then I’m going to need you to swim sideways to the edge,” he told her. “You should be able to do that now, without your cumbersome gown impeding you. All right?”

  She nodded, and she felt his lips press a kiss against the side of her head.

  “That’s my girl,” he said.

  For a brief moment, his cool lips sent a wisp of warmth through her, but then her teeth began chattering again due to the iciness of the water. They were being drawn swiftly downstream, and Brianna doubted for a moment whether she would be strong enough to swim across the mighty strength of the current.

  “It will be
all right,” Daniel reassured her, seemingly having picked up on her unspoken doubts. “It’s easier to swim across the current than against it. When I say go, I want you to start swimming as hard as you can, to the right bank of the riverbed. Do you understand?”

  “Yes,” she replied, taking in a fortifying breath.

  The river pushed and pulled them down its windy current.

  “Go!”

  His hands quickly moved to the back of her waist, and he shoved her to the right, propelling her toward the bank and detaching from her completely.

  She frantically began kicking her legs and dragged her arms over her shoulders as she laboriously battled through the water, which seemed determined to keep her in its clutches.

  Focusing on the bank of grass in the distance, Bree kept edging herself closer to it, fighting as her arms and legs got heavier and heavier.

  But finally, the water became shallower, and her knee scraped the rock bed beneath. With one last burst of power, she spurred her body forward until she could no longer swim but had to stand. She stumbled through the ankle-deep water and collapsed onto the grass, which grew thick and lush like a welcoming, velvet-green cushion alongside the water’s edge.

  Her heart was still pounding, its staccato reverberating all the way to her toes. She dragged in several lungfuls of air and then turned onto her back. The blue sky above was teeming with soft white clouds and looked so peaceful, Bree felt like closing her eyes and basking in the sun.

  Daniel! With a start she sat bolt upright and scanned the river bank. Relief unlike any she’d ever known coursed through her when she saw him drag himself out of the water, slightly downriver from where she was.

  She stumbled up and ran over to him, launching herself into his arms.

  He lifted her up and engulfed her in a bear hug, burying his head in the crook of her neck as water pooled from their drenched clothing onto the ground beneath.

  They stood like that, embracing but not speaking, for Brianna wasn’t sure how long. The warmth of his body seeped through the thin layer of her undergarments, a welcome comfort against the cold. Oh my goodness, she was hugging him wearing nothing but her underclothes? Her embarrassment knew no bounds. She didn’t let go, however, and whether it was to delay her moment of mortification or because she was enjoying being close to him, she couldn’t say.