The Chaperon Bride

by Nicola Cornick

  The leader on the horse raised his voice above the sound of the wind and the flames.

  ‘This tollgate has no right to be here, does it?’

  The crowd roared its defiance. ‘No!’

  The leader turned his horse again as it skittered away from the flames. ‘What shall we do with it?’

  In reply, a man ran forward from the ragged crowd, swinging a sledgehammer. A ripple of a sigh ran through the mob as the hammer made first contact with the wood, then a shout rang out and the men were all in there, hacking, trampling, reducing the pretty little gate to a pile of matchsticks ready for the burning. Someone thrust a torch forward and the makeshift bonfire leapt into life. A cheer rang out.

  The mob was on the loose now, wild, unpredictable and masterless. As the flames jumped high in the wind they illuminated the road and the bulk of the carriage some fifty yards distant. A shout went up and the crowd rushed forward.

  Annis gave a little, terrified squeak. She had the shelter of the hedge and a rough stone wall, and she had the dubious protection of the pistol, but they were scant comfort if the mob were looking for scapegoats. By the light of the flames she saw Barney jump clear of the carriage and drew in a short breath of relief. She took a step back, stumbled down a small bank and felt herself pitch over and over in the hay, stopping with the wind knocked out of her.

  She was in a small hollow beneath the bank and above her head the riot roared past. Someone slithered down the slope and almost stepped on her, and Annis struggled up, raising the pistol.

  A hard hand closed about her wrist and a voice she knew well said, ‘At least you remembered to bring it on this occasion.’

  The relief was intense. Adam’s arms went about her and Annis clung to him and all she could say was, ‘Thank God you are here,’ over and over, until she finally turned her face into his chest and all was quiet.

  ‘Annis? Annis, are you hurt?’

  It was minutes rather than hours later, and there was a note of urgency in Adam’s voice. Annis raised her head a little and blinked. The pressure of his arms about her eased slightly.

  ‘No. I do not believe I am hurt.’ Annis moved and stretched. She felt bruised and a little stiff, but otherwise uninjured.

  ‘I must get you away from here,’ Adam said. He pulled her to her feet. ‘They will not harm us, but it is not good to linger.’

  ‘Will not harm us?’ Annis’ voice rose incredulously. ‘Adam, did you not see what was happening? That was a riot! These men are dangerous!’

  ‘I know, love. All the same, I do not believe that we are in danger. The Washburn Men do not hurt their own.’

  Annis started to brush the hay from her skirts. ‘I wish I could share your confidence. And are we their own? I do not like the sound of that.’

  ‘Most certainly we are. Anyone Washburn born and bred…’ Adam let the sentence hang. ‘All the same, we should not wait around. They are looking for another target. Come along.’

  His hand slid down her arm, tightening about her wrist as he drew her behind him along the line of the wall, away from the road. The firelight flickered behind the hedge and the cries of the rioters faded on the wind. They walked quickly and he was sure-footed in the dark. Annis felt the waves of shock and relief flow over her. As ever, Adam’s presence was comforting. Yet it was exciting as well. She was reminded of the time they had met in the garden, except this time the danger and the relief combined in a much headier brew. The feel of him beside her, the scent of him, turned her stomach into knots.

  After they had gone a little way Annis was obliged to stop to shake a stone out of her shoe. She leaned one hand against the wall for support and bent down carefully to remove her pumps. Her cloak caught of the rough edges of the wall and almost pulled her off balance and she reflected ruefully that she was hardly dressed for walking on the moors. They were high up here; she could see the fields falling away into the valley below and above them crouched the dark edge of the hills. The stars were out but there was no moon, and the summer breeze nevertheless had a cold cutting edge.

  ‘I have to hurry you—’

  There was an edge of urgency to Adam’s voice. He took the pump from her hand and bent down to slide it back onto her foot. For a second his hand was warm against the silkiness of her stocking and Annis almost fell over again. She heard him make a noise of mingled disgust and resignation.

  ‘You will not get more than a hundred yards in those shoes. This will slow us up.’

  ‘I was not dressing for a walk on the hills, my lord,’ Annis said, a little tartly. ‘If we could go back for the carriage—’

  ‘Impossible.’ Adam was short. ‘We will find your carriage again in the daylight—if we are lucky.’

  They started to move again, more slowly, more carefully. At one point Annis was obliged to accept Adam’s help over a wall and took the opportunity to lean against the rough-hewn edges for a rest. She was hopelessly out of breath.

  ‘Please…my lord…may we not rest just a little?’

  Adam gave an irritable sigh. ‘Very well. And you called me Adam just now. Does this mark a return to formality between us, my lady?’

  ‘I was very discomposed just now,’ Annis said. ‘I said the first thing that came into my head.’

  ‘I realise that.’ There was an odd note in Adam’s voice. ‘You seemed very pleased to see me.’

  ‘I was.’

  ‘You clung to me.’

  Annis drew in a sharp breath. She did not need to be reminded. It had been more than relief. It had felt right. ‘That is consistent with the fact that I was pleased to see you, my lord.’

  ‘Are you trying to imply that you would have embraced anyone who was fortunate enough to rescue you?’ Adam laughed. ‘I am sorry that I was obliged to grab you in the darkness for a second time, Annis. I suppose I should be grateful that this time you did no damage to me.’

  ‘Perhaps if you did not lurk about at night you would not run that risk.’ Annis paused, curious. Up until now she had had little time to think amidst the panic of flight. Now she had some questions. ‘Whatever are you doing here, my lord? Surely you are not mixed up in this riot?’

  ‘You think me a renegade and a criminal?’ Adam’s tone was amused. ‘You have a low opinion of me, my lady.’

  ‘You have not answered my question.’

  ‘No. What about you, Annis? Were you there with a purpose?’

  Annis frowned. ‘Certainly not. Do not be ridiculous. The penalty for burning a tollhouse is death.’

  ‘That is the penalty for being caught, certainly. But you have a grudge against Samuel Ingram—’

  ‘And so do you—’

  ‘So either of us could be suspects. It is not wise to travel after dark around here, Lady Wycherley. I thought that I had told you that before. We expected you at Eynhallow long before this.’

  Annis looked at him closely. She could not see him clearly in the darkness but she knew him well enough by now to read every nuance of his voice.

  ‘You are trying to distract me, Adam. I think that you had some purpose for being here tonight.’

  There was a sharp silence, then Adam laughed. ‘A shame that Pullen does not have you working on this case, Annis, or he would have solved it before now. How did you know that?’

  ‘I am not sure,’ Annis said cautiously. ‘Something in your voice, I think. And when you first found me you came down the bank, from the direction of the road. That was why I wondered if you had been with the rioters all along. You came from the same direction as they did.’

  ‘I was not a part of the riot.’

  Annis paused. ‘I believe you. But…You came to warn them, didn’t you? You knew that the yeomanry were to be called out and you came to warn them that they were in danger.’

  She saw Adam grin. ‘How I wish you had not guessed that, Annis! Now you know far more than is good for you.’

  Annis drew a deep breath. ‘Then it is true?’

  ‘It is true. Ned knew
what was planned for tonight. When we were in town earlier, we heard that Ingram had called out the yeomanry. We were…anxious…that the men should not run straight into a trap. Many of them are known to us and can only do themselves and their families harm if they are caught, condemned, transported or hanged.’

  Annis studied him closely. ‘Then Mr Ingram was not so far from the truth. You may not be the rebel leader, but you have aided and abetted the rioters. Perhaps you even know the identity of their leader.’

  Adam shook his head. ‘It does not work like that. That is the beauty of their system. Because all the men are masked and messages are passed purely by word of mouth, no one knows who else is involved. I must admit to a certain curiosity, though. I would like to know the identity of the mysterious rebel leader, the man who rides a horse so conveniently like mine that I may end up hanging for him!’

  Annis frowned. ‘Did you see him tonight?’

  ‘Of course. As did you, I imagine. Who do you think it is?’

  Annis was silent. ‘I do not know.’ Even she could hear the hesitation in her tone. ‘It could be you, for all your protestations of innocence. I did not see the two of you at the same time!’

  Adam laughed. ‘Please keep that theory to yourself. Do you suspect any other candidates?’

  Annis hesitated again. ‘I saw several horses stabled at Starbeck when I was there last. One was a bay with a white flash. That is all I know.’

  ‘At Starbeck…’ Adam sounded thoughtful. ‘That is interesting…’

  Annis clutched his arm. ‘It could be a mere coincidence.’

  Adam’s laugh was cynical. ‘I doubt it. You see how easy it is to become involved, Annis. Already you are keeping information quiet, protecting someone. Tom Shepard…Your cousin Charles…It could be either of them!’

  The shock hit Annis hard. ‘Charles? You think that Charles might be the leader of the rioters? No, that is impossible! Besides, you said yourself that he is hated here. As well suspect your brother Edward!’

  Adam laughed. ‘Ned has a different role to play.’

  Annis stared. ‘I did not expect to find you excusing violence, my lord.’

  Adam’s voice hardened. ‘Generally speaking, I do not, but Ingram has caused nothing but hunger, misery and death through his cruelty. He sowed the wind and now he is reaping the whirlwind.’

  He pulled her to her feet again and with a sigh Annis complied, pulling her tattered cloak about her. Adam looked behind them. ‘Come into the shelter of the wood,’ he said abruptly. ‘They are burning the coach.’

  Annis pressed a hand to her mouth. ‘But Barney—the coachman! I saw him jump down, but if he has come to any harm I shall never forgive myself.’

  ‘If he has any sense he will have run away before they arrived. I will send to look for him as soon as it is safe.’ Adam urged her onwards, down a bank and into the wood. ‘Besides, they will not hurt him. They are rioters, not murderers, and their argument is with Ingram, not with one of their own.’

  Annis took several more steps, then stopped again. ‘The horses! Surely they will not have harmed the horses!’

  This time Adam laughed. ‘Certainly not, my lady! These are countrymen. In a fire they would save the horses first.’

  Annis sighed. They were walking along a path through the trees now and once again Adam seemed sure of his way. The bracken crackled underfoot and, every so often, thorns would catch at the trailing edges of Annis’ cloak. She ruefully reflected that it would be fit for nothing in the morning. The trees grew close here, arching overhead, providing a dense canopy through which the starlight barely penetrated.

  ‘We are almost safe at Eynhallow now,’ Adam said, in an undertone. He turned to Annis and pulled her close. ‘There is something I wanted to ask you, Annis. When you clung to me before—’

  Annis shivered. ‘Pray do not remind me, my lord. It was most improper of me.’

  ‘Would you also say that it was improper for your body to soften against me so sweetly, as it did then—and as it is doing now?’

  There was a silence beneath the trees, but for the rustle of some night creature scuttering through the undergrowth. Annis could not think of a single, helpful prevarication.

  ‘You smell of honey and apricots and wood smoke and your skin is smoother than velvet…’ Adam’s tone was conversational, as though the air between them was not hot with the sparks of a different fire. His fingers moved from her wrist to touch the back of her hand in a light caress. ‘I have been thinking about you ever since we parted this morning, Annis. In fact, I seem to spend the majority of my time thinking about you these days.’

  Annis’s breath caught in her throat. ‘I do not believe that you should say such things to me, sir.’

  ‘No? We are betrothed.’

  ‘That may be so, but this is not the time or the place.’ She cast a glance over the hill at the tollhouse fire, burning lower now. The rioters had gone and the night was still.

  Adam’s hand came up to cup her chin, the thumb stroking along the line of her jaw. ‘You do not find danger an aphrodisiac, Annis?’ His voice was a little rough. ‘You do not feel the excitement like a fever in the blood?’

  ‘I have never done so before.’

  ‘And now?’

  Annis was trembling. It would be easy—and wise—to deny it, but there was something about this man…

  ‘I admit that something attracts me—’

  His mouth took hers with unerring accuracy and without gentleness. Her lips parted instantly under the pressure. He was demanding, overpowering, and the shock and the excitement hit Annis in one irresistible blow. The blazing heat of his body, the sheer intimacy of his caresses…Annis swayed and his arms went about her tightly. When she pulled away a little, overwhelmed, one of his hands came up to cup her head, tangling in her wind-blown hair, tilting her face up to his so that he could explore her mouth again at will.

  Eventually he had to let her go, for neither of them could breathe.

  ‘If I had done that the night we first met—’

  Annis’s breath caught at the raw undertone to his voice. ‘I would have run away from you.’

  ‘Do you want to run now?’

  ‘There is nowhere to run to.’

  Some of the tension eased between them. She heard him laugh. ‘That is true. You will just have to trust me then. Damnation. That puts certain obligations on me.’

  ‘Such as?’

  ‘Such as not to seduce you.’

  ‘What, out here?’ Annis could not keep the incredulity out of her voice. Here, in the woods, with the smoke on the air and the touch of the breeze on her skin…She shook violently at the thought.

  ‘Yes, here. I will show you one day.’

  This kiss was gentle, heavy with promise. It still stole her breath. Annis sighed. She knew marriage to be a stifling trap for a woman and yet this sweet seduction told her otherwise. And tonight she did not want to be sensible.

  She raised a hand and traced the lines of his face. In her mind’s eye she could see his features: the thick, dark hair, the straight brows, the hard planes of his face. His cheek was a little rough. She rubbed it enquiringly.

  ‘Annis, you are treading on dangerous ground.’ Adam’s voice was husky, his fingers hard about her wrist as he restrained her marauding hand. Annis drew back a little.

  ‘I am sorry. I was curious.’

  Adam turned his mouth into the palm of her hand. ‘About what, Annis?’

  ‘About what it felt like—what you felt like. I have…so little experience.’

  She felt him smile against her skin. ‘Is that so? Yet it is not physical intimacy that you are afraid of, is it, Annis?’

  Annis stood on tiptoe to run her fingers into the tousled softness of his hair. ‘No, I suppose not. I am behaving very badly, I know. I am not sure why. It has not happened to me before and it feels a little like drinking too much wine.’

  Adam laughed. ‘I cannot imagine you doing that either, Ann
is.’

  ‘No, indeed.’

  ‘Chaperons do not become tipsy.’

  ‘Nor do they kiss strange gentleman in the woods at night. I cannot think what has become of me since I met you.’

  His arms about her were as warm and reassuring as they were demanding. His breath tickled her ear. ‘I am a bad influence on you. Plus tonight it is the effect of the release of tension. It weakens one’s inhibitions and the darkness does the rest.’

  ‘Yes, there is something unreal about this.’ Annis pressed closer to him. ‘There is something anonymous about the dark.’

  Adam’s arms tightened about her. ‘You imply that I could be anyone? I am not flattered by that thought, Annis.’

  Annis laughed, but part of her felt sad. ‘I only meant that everything will seem different in the morning.’

  ‘I know. I shall want to speak of wedding arrangements and you will have that hunted look in your eye that tells me you are afraid to proceed…’ His lips brushed the line of her cheek, sending quivers of sensation along her nerves. ‘What are you afraid of, Annis?’

  Annis almost told him, but drew back at the last moment. ‘I do not want to speak of it tonight,’ she said in a small voice. ‘It will spoil things.’

  ‘Very well.’ Adam sounded patient, almost indifferent. ‘We may leave that until the morrow as well.’

  Annis thought that he meant to let her go then, but instead he tightened his grip. The whole, hard length of him was pressed against her and a shiver went down her spine at the sense of delightful helplessness it engendered. She was accustomed to fending for herself. She was not accustomed to feeling so powerless, nor was she expecting it to be so enjoyable.

  His mouth engulfed hers, provoking a heated pleasure. The kiss deepened, his tongue exploring, the feel and the taste of him filling her senses. He felt frighteningly familiar and deliciously tempting. Annis slid her arms about his neck and kissed him back.