“Roy,” Lenora cut in. Her voice was shaking, and terror spotted her vision, but what could she do? What could any of them do? “Was she telling the truth? You have a child you’re providing for?”
“Yes, Miss. Little Olivia. Eight years old.”
“Then you have to keep your position,” Lenora said. “You can’t risk it on my account. I won’t allow you to do that. Do as Lady Katherine says. I’ll be all right.”
“Begging your pardon, Miss, but Roy’s right,” John said. “I did steal some food for you, but it’s not enough to keep a dog alive for more than a few days. And there are wild animals out there.”
“If I stay here, they won’t let me live,” Lenora said. “If I go to town, they’re likely to find me again. Maybe leaving is the best chance I have.”
John sighed. “Maybe it is at that.”
“All right,” Roy said. “I don’t like it. But I suppose it’s what we’ve got to do.”
Lenora nodded. If nothing else, she knew that she wouldn’t be harmed by either of her escorts during her journey. That was enough for right now.
Still, when the door was closed, when Roy was mounted on the driver’s seat of the carriage and they had begun to move, Lenora couldn’t keep a few tears from spilling down her cheeks. How could this have happened? How could everything have gone so wrong?
Her life had never been a charmed one. Lenora knew that. If she was being honest with herself, she could admit that she had been dealt a bad hand. She was blind in one eye. She was a person of low class and low means. These were difficult obstacles.
But she had also, in many ways, been uncommonly fortunate, hadn’t she?
She had been lucky to grow up at Brackhill Manor, surrounded by luxury and elegance. She had been lucky to live in a home where she had been able to see the finest things in the world. Beautiful gowns. Delectable meals. And sometimes, when she was very lucky, she had even been allowed to partake.
She had been given an education. That was something most people of her class and status would never experience. She knew so much more about the world than most servants she had met.
She could read—not just bulletins, but real books. She could carry on intelligent conversations.
That was probably why people like the Marquess of Galdhor found her worth talking to.
And wasn’t that another stroke of fortune that had come her way? She had met a charming, handsome man. And even though the game had been short lived, even though it had cost her everything, for a while she had been able to pretend that there was something real between the two of them.
Now all the good fortune had been yanked from her life, taken away forever.
From now on I must make my own luck.
* * *
Once again, Lenora drifted in and out of sleep.
Once again, she lost track of time.
She dreamed that she was young, no more than twelve years old, and that the Duke was standing over her, looking down and smiling. “What are you reading?” he asked.
She showed him. It was a book she had found in his library, a book she had been unsure whether or not she could borrow. “Is it okay?”
“I told you that you could always feel free to borrow books from the library,” he said kindly. “This one is very good. It’s about an adventure at sea.”
“I’d like to see the sea someday,” she said, feeling bold. It was the kind of confession she could never make to the Duchess or Lady Katherine. The Duchess would scold her for impertinence, and Lady Katherine would mock her without mercy.
But the Duke smiled. “Perhaps one day you will,” he said. “Work hard, Lenora. Continue with your studies. Remain curious about the world. And someday, I’ll make sure you see the sea. That’s a promise.”
Even in the dream, she was sad.
Even as a child, she had known that that promise was unlikely to be kept.
But it was a wonderful feeling to have someone who wanted to do her a kindness, even if it would never really come to pass.
She awoke at one point to find that the sun was up. Although it was just barely peeking over the horizon, it was enough to frighten her. They must have been traveling for hours already. And she had been asleep. How would she ever find her way back?
Not that she wanted to go back to the manor. But what if she decided her best chance was to go back to town? It might be the only way to ensure her survival, after all. But she didn’t even know in which direction they were heading.
John, still seated across from her, was asleep, his head drooping against the side of the carriage. She sighed. Did he have a family he was providing for as well? Was that why he had been so willing to follow Lady Katherine’s orders and to sell Lenora out?
She didn’t know. She supposed she wouldn’t have blamed him if that was the case, not any more than she blamed Roy for his betrayal. But it was strange to realize that she knew so little about these men who had been constant figures in her life.
They would go back to Brackhill Manor when this was all over. They would go back to serving the Duke. And when he was told whatever Lady Katherine ultimately decided to tell him about where Lenora had gone, they would have to lie.
They would spend the rest of their lives lying.
It was scant consolation to her, but at least it was something. Lenora knew how it felt to tell a lie, to guard a secret you could never reveal. Even with a close friend, you could never quite relax if you were party to a deception.
They’ll spend the rest of their time in the Duke’s service on pins and needles, she thought. They’ll never be able to breathe in without worrying that they’ll be caught. They’ll always feel ill at ease. All of them. Roy and John, of course, but also Lady Katherine and the Duchess.
Lenora hoped that Lady Katherine would be haunted by her lies.
She hoped that Lady Katherine would come to dread speaking to her father because their conversations would be so fraught with dread.
It was a lot to ask for. But Lenora hoped for it all the same.
When I think of her, she decided, I’ll imagine her frightened and anxious, unable to tell anyone the truth of what happened to me. I’ll imagine her hemmed in by lies at every turn.
The only person, other than herself, who Lenora truly felt badly for was the Duke.
He was a good man. He had always been kind to her, always generous. He had kept her in his home and protected her as best he could against a wife and a daughter who despised her. He had arranged for her to be educated. And he always treated his servants—all of them—with kindness.
It was difficult to think of what he would face now. A wife and daughter who would undermine him, who would lie to him.
If he caught them, Lenora knew, if he discovered their deception, his relationship with his family would be forever marred.
But if he didn’t catch them in their lies, that would mean that Lady Katherine had gotten the best of the Duke, and that was painful to think about.
It doesn’t matter, she told herself firmly. Whatever happens at Brackhill now, it’s none of my concern. I must think only of myself.
After all, nobody else is going to think of me.
Chapter 14
Lenora was awakened by the carriage suddenly jerking to a stop.
She pitched forward rather violently, spilling from the seat and landing on her knees on the floor of the conveyance. John didn’t bother extending a hand to help her up—he was leaning toward the window, peering out into the darkness.
It’s dark again, Lenora realized. We’ve been driving for a full day. How far would they have come in that time? The carriage hadn’t exactly been moving quickly, but still, any pace in a carriage was faster than she would be able to travel on foot. That meant she was a full day’s walk from town.
Was there any hope at all of getting back?
Did she even want to get back?
Lenora had meant what she’d said to Roy before. Going back to town might not be safe for her. She wo
uldn’t be surprised if Lady Katherine had put out word that she might show up there.
She could do that without even altering her story to the Duke, Lenora thought. She could say that I ran away. She could ask the townspeople to report on me if they saw me. And then what? If she tried to go to town, she could be dragged back to Brackhill Manor, and Lady Katherine could do this all over again.
But it had been nice to have the option in her mind. Now she didn’t know if going back the way she had come would even be possible.
How much food did John bring for me? she wondered. How far will I be able to travel before I run out? Maybe it’s best if I go on in the same direction we’ve been driving and hope I come across another town. She had no idea what she would find if she did that, but it was possible, wasn’t it, that there was another village in this direction?
And if not a town, there must surely be a farm. Something. Somewhere I can get something to eat.
She got up off the floor of the carriage and returned to her seat. John had turned around and was facing her now, but he made no move to help her. She opened her mouth, intending to ask him why they had stopped—
His hand clapped over her mouth. He shook his head. “Quiet,” he murmured.
Alarm surged through her. She had been sure that John and Roy wouldn’t harm her. Had she been wrong in her assessment? She struggled against his grip.
He tightened his arm around her. “Stay still,” he said quietly. “There are men out there. I think they may be bandits.”
Bandits! Of course, Lenora had never encountered real bandits before. Bandits stopped carriages on the side of the road to plunder, or else sometimes they visited private homes. They never came to Brackhill Manor. The idea was absurd.
But she could see that John was right. There were several dark shapes moving around outside the carriage, and she could hear voices talking. “What’s in there?” one of them asked.
“Nothing,” Roy said. Lenora was impressed. He sounded very composed, much more so than she would have expected. “I’m returning the carriage to My Lord. Two of my fellow servants are inside. I’m sure they are asleep.”
John held up a finger, warning Lenora not to speak, but it was unnecessary. She could hardly breathe, she was so afraid. What would happen when the bandits looked inside?
Roy was probably trying to forestall that very event. He had described two servants—he had not mentioned that one of them was a maid. He knew, as Lenora knew, that if the bandits realized he was transporting a woman, they would want to see her.
And if they were particularly bad men, they might carry her off.
She knew what kinds of things happened to women who were carried off by bandits. She shuddered. Suddenly, starving to death in the wilderness seemed like a merciful option. Don’t let them look, she begged silently. Let them believe we have nothing to offer and walk away.
“Get down from there,” an unfamiliar voice said, and the carriage began to shake and rattle around as Roy climbed down from his perch. “Now step over here. What are you wearing? Any gems, any silver or gold?”
“Nothing,” Roy said. “I told you, I’m nothing but a servant. I don’t have anything like that.”
“Whose servant are you?” one of the bandits asked. “To whom do you answer?”
“My Lord is His Grace the Duke of Brackhill,” Roy answered.
“But Brackhill Manor is back in that direction,” a bandit said. “You told us you were returning the carriage to your Lord, but from the looks of things, you’re heading away from the manor. Why did you lie?”
Roy didn’t answer.
“He’s stealing,” one of the voices said. “That has to be it. Is that right, footman?” The voice came closer, and Lenora imagined its owner leaning toward Roy. “Did you steal something from His Grace? Is that what’s really in the carriage? Stolen goods?”
“Certainly not,” Roy said. “I would never steal from His Grace.”
“I don’t know why you expect us to believe that,” one of the bandits said. “You’ve already demonstrated a willingness to lie. You’ve lied to us about where you’re taking this carriage, rather than just admit the truth. I’ll give you one more chance, how’s that? Where are you really going?”
“I’m on private business for the Duke of Brackhill,” Roy said stubbornly. “It has nothing to do with you, and nothing to do with your gang. Molest us no further. Allow me and my fellow servants to go about our business. Otherwise, it will come to blows.”
“Blows!” A burst of laughter. Lenora tried to count the voices she heard, but it was too difficult; they were all blending together and wrapping over one another. She couldn’t tell how many bandits were out there. She guessed maybe three or four, but it could have been more than that.
“You don’t want to fight us,” one of them said to Roy. “It won’t end well for you. You’re badly outnumbered, even if you do have two more men in the carriage.”
“Wake them up,” someone suggested. “Roust them out. If it’s a fight he wants, it’s a fight he’ll get.”
Lenora’s skin prickled. They had referred to her and John as two more men, but as soon as they saw her, they would know that they’d misjudged that situation. And everything would change for the worse.
John leaned over. His fingers brushed the handle of the carriage door that led away from the voices in the road.
Lenora watched him. What was he doing?
He gripped the handle and turned it slowly. The door cracked open. She could see stars and a field of wheat.
John pointed to her, then out the door and into the field.
Terrified, Lenora shook her head. He wanted her to run, but she couldn’t. What if she was seen? What if she was pursued?
Go, he mouthed urgently.
Summoning all her strength and courage, Lenora climbed to her feet and crept toward the door, trying not to rock the carriage with her movements. John steadied her.
Thank you, she mouthed back to him.
He nodded.
She slipped out the carriage door and into the cold darkness of the waiting night.
Immediately, the carriage door through which she’d exited was pulled closed. Thanking John internally, she crouched low and ran toward the wheat field. Her only chance of keeping away from these bandits was to lose herself amid the crop. She retreated into the wheat and stared out at the road, waiting to see what would happen next.
Roy stood in the middle of the road. One of the bandits held a knife to his throat. Lenora inhaled sharply. She had been angry about what had been done to her, but she didn’t want Roy killed.
She saw three more men moving around the perimeter of the carriage. As she watched, one of them circled to stand in front of the door through which Lenora had just left. If she’d waited a minute longer to make her escape, she would have run right into him.
Terrified, she crouched lower in the wheat.
What do I do? Do I just have to wait this out? Do I hide here and hope they leave without seeing me? It seemed almost foolishly optimistic, and yet what else could she do? Emerging from the wheat and trying to take on the bandits alongside John and Roy would only end in horror and death for her. She couldn’t hope to fight them.
But I shouldn’t have run away, she thought. It was cowardly of me to run and to leave Roy and John to their fates with these men, wasn’t it?
No. That wasn’t true. Roy and John simply didn’t have as much to fear as she did. The bandits would ransack their carriage, looking for riches, and they would discover there weren’t any. Then, most likely, they would move on.
They wouldn’t harm Roy or John. There would be no point in doing so.
“If they stole from the Duke,” one of the bandits was saying. “We might get a reward for returning the stolen property. We should take a look.”
“We’re just going to give it back?” another man asked.
“Maybe not all of it,” the first man said. “Maybe we’ll give some of it back.”<
br />
“And what happens when the Duke asks for what’s missing?”
“We’ll just say we don’t know anything about it. We’ll say we found these men with the things we’re returning. Maybe they already sold whatever’s missing. We don’t know, right?”
Lenora could practically hear the smile spreading over the second bandit’s face. “They could have sold it,” he agreed. “That could have happened.”
“Check the carriage,” one of the men said. “Let’s see what he’s got in there.”
Lenora flattened herself against the ground.
A Game 0f Chess With The Marquess (Historical Regency Romance) Page 18
