Countess of Scandal

by Laurel McKee

  "I found some food," she said, diving into the bedchamber. She smiled at them, hoping they could not see her damp eyes, the grief she pushed down deep inside. But I Will stared at her closely, as if he could see something was amiss. He said nothing, though, and just took the potatoes and bottles from her arms. "Was it quiet downstairs yet?" "Not yet, but soon I think. We can leave after we eat, then. I think there's some fuel in the fireplace still."

  Chapter 28

  Eliza, held up a candle, leading Will and her mother and sisters down the stairs. The tiny flame barely cast enough light to show them the way through the house, which was pitch-dark now in the predawn gloom, but it had to be enough. They dared not wake the people sleeping inside, or especially anyone who might be lurking outside. They had to be very far away before anyone realized at all.

  But it was too late. As she pulled back the door latch, a voice called out, "What's this? Leaving, are you?"

  Eliza spun around to find the leader of the little rebel band, tousle-haired and bleary-eyed, standing in the dining room doorway. One of the women lurked behind him. The two of them might not be so very frightening, but the guns they held certainly were. There was little trace of the congenial companions of the night before.

  Without a word, Will swept Anna up into his arms. She drooped against him in a seeming feint, and he didn't even wince as her head hit his wounded shoulder. Katherine slid in front of them, her face written with a barely repressed panic Eliza feared might not be entirely feigned.

  "We have to find a doctor now, no time to waste!" Katherine said with a sob in her voice.

  The man's face softened, but the woman had no such sympathy. With an exclamation of disgust, she grabbed the pistol from his limp hand.

  "We'll go with you," she said, scowling at them. "There's bound to be a doctor at Rossmore, and we're supposed to meet up with the rest of our friends there anyway."

  "We're sure you must have... other things to look after now," Katherine answered. "We've put you to so much trouble."

  The woman gave her a bitter smile. "Tis no trouble, not for friends. Not for fellow Irishmen."

  Eliza exchanged a long glance at Will. Was this some sort of a trap? But, then, what choice did they have but to go along even if it was a trap? Their guns were hidden in her sack, and she couldn't risk a fight with her family so near anyway.

  We have to continue to play our roles, Will seemed to say. And hope we can get away from them soon.

  Eliza nodded and pulled back the heavy door. It was near daybreak now; the stars were fading overhead. Will laid Anna gently into the back of the waiting cart, which Will had prepared for them earlier, and she moaned to great effect

  "I just hope it's not too late," Katherine fretted, climbing up beside her and pulling Caroline with her.

  Will swung onto the seat, gathering up the reins as Eliza took her place beside him. The others tumbled out the door, looking as if they would relish a fight despite the restless night behind them. The waning moonlight glinted on the metal pikes they brandished

  "So we go with them to Rossmore?" Eliza whispered to Will. "What then?"

  "I'm sure they'll soon find other distractions in a town, and we can go our own way." He gave her a reassuring smile. "Think of it as a scenic detour."

  "I think I prefer the direct route " she muttered.

  Will smiled, setting the tired horses into motion. It was a slow progress as the sun crept up over the horizon, spreading burned-yellow light and burning away the cool night It would be another hot summer day.

  Their escort was quieter today, quarrelsome among themselves, but somehow that only made them more fearsome. What were they planning? What could possibly happen next on this surreal journey?

  There were few signs of life along the rutted, dusty road. Trees were cut down; stone walls enclosing fields chipped away, their rocks and mortar taken; grain crops unharvested and going to waste. There weren't even any cows grazing in those dry fields or smoke curling from distant chimneys. It was a deserted land, far too quiet for her peace of mind.

  Or for Will's, either, it seemed. His narrowed gaze was constantly moving, taking in every detail of their surroundings. His jaw tightened at every sound.

  Eliza longed to scream, to break the tension building inside of her however she could. Will seemed to know how she felt. As he flicked the reins, his hand brushed secretly against hers, a warm, reassuring touch. "Battle itself is never worse than waiting," he said. "We'll be rid of them soon and on our way to Dublin again."

  Perhaps they would—but then what would happen? She smiled at Will, trying to hide her worries, and twisted around to check on her sisters. Katherine held Anna's head on her lap, slowly smoothing back her daughter's golden hair as Caroline stared out at the countryside.

  Eliza felt a protective rush of emotion and a strange sense of pride. They were strong, her mother and sisters, far stronger than she had given them credit for. She would never underestimate her family again.

  Will drew the cart to a halt at the crest of a hill, and Eliza turned to face forward again. The town of Rossmore lay just ahead, but it was not the sleepy village she remembered. It was now surrounded by a hastily built, rough wooden wall and a shallow trench. Soldiers guarded the closed gates, far more of them than a place like Rossmore surely required.

  "What do you think is happening there?" Eliza asked. "I would have thought it would be half-deserted, like all the other towns, not fortified like an armed camp."

  "I have no idea," Will answered, frowning as he took in the heavily armed guards, the walls. "It seems the government is preparing to take back County Kildare."

  "From here?"

  "We're very near the county border. Where better to store their weapons and gather troops." He slammed his fist down on the seat. "Damn it, Eliza, we never should have come here!"

  "You could not have known. This must have happened very fast"

  "I should have known. We should have kept to our plan to avoid towns."

  "We hardly had a choice." Eliza glanced back over her shoulder to see their rebel escorts scrambling up the hill on foot They could not yet have seen the walls and the soldiers, but they looked grimly determined to find a fight, one way or another. Perhaps that had been their intention to come to Rossmore in the first place, not to "meet up with friends."

  But it was all too late. They came over the crest of the hill, glimpsing the armies at last—and the soldiers saw them, too. With a blast of warning trumpets and a great shout, they poured out of the gates and the guardhouse, charging over the ditch and up the slope of the hill. The rebels, taken by surprise, charged back with a gathering roar.

  Will pushed Eliza off the cart seat. "Run, now!" he yelled, reaching for his gun. The horses whinnied in panic, pawing the dust as if they, too, wanted to flee.

  Katherine jumped down, pulling Anna and Caroline with her. Will took shelter behind the cart, bracing his forearm on the splintered wood rail to focus his pistol. He did not yet fire, though, just watched to see which way the action would go, covering their retreat even as he placed himself in the forefront of battle.

  Eliza longed with all her might to stay there with him, to fight with him, but she had to mink of her family and get them away first There was no place to take cover on the bare hillside, no sheltering woods.

  "We have to hide in the barley fields we passed earlier," she cried, urging them toward the unharvested stretch of dried grain in the distance. This might give them some disguise. They took off running, but it was too far, too late. The two forces clashed in a deafening roar of shouts and screams, the metallic ring of pikes and swords, the blast of guns firing. People fell and were crushed underfoot, but she could not tell who. It was massive confusion, smoke and dust and noise.

  They were surrounded and could not run.

  "Get down!" Eliza shouted over the chaos, pushing her mother under the cart. The three women crawled beneath its meager shelter, Katherine covering her daughters with her own
slender body.

  Eliza drew out her pistol, ducking low as she ran back to Will's side. He didn't even glance at her, but, just as they had at the bridge, they automatically moved in unison. He handed her his spent gun, taking hers as she reloaded.

  Much to her surprise, her hands were steady, her mind clear. The taut worry of waiting faded with danger and purpose. She had to survive, to save Will and her family— and then find a way to send word to the United leaders about the new fortifications at Rossmore.

  If she could stay alive. That was the crucial point at the moment Surrounded by the roar of bullets and a thick, acrid cloud of smoke, survival was a bit doubtful.

  "You have to tell them who you are!" she shouted to Will.

  He exchanged guns with her again. Their shot was getting perilously low. "It hardly seems the time to say, "Wait a moment, I'm a British officer!'"

  "After, then."

  "We have to make sure there is an after."

  One of the rebels, the one infatuated with Anna, suddenly lurched out of the smoky fog, his face half torn away. He collapsed, dead, just beyond the cart, and Caroline cried out Will knelt and snatched up the gun from his dead hand standing and firing again in one smooth motion.

  Distracted Eliza did not see the soldier come around behind them until she heard Anna scream. She whirled around to see that a burly man in a red coat, his face blackened by the smoke like a devil, had caught Anna by the leg, dragging her out from under the cart She kicked and flailed Katherine and Caroline screaming, but to no avail. It was obvious that battle lust was upon him, giving him a superhuman strength, and he shoved the women away without breaking his hold on Anna. Katherine fell hard against the wheel, striking her head

  The rebel's woman suddenly leaped on Will's back, knocking him to the ground Her blade arced down toward him, but he rolled over and held her off. It was obvious he was quite distracted even as he won control of the skirmish. Eliza whirled back toward Anna, leveling her gun at the attacker even as she prayed the overheated firearm wouldn't explode in her hand

  The soldier had Anna pinned to the dirt, ripping at her skirt until her leg was completely bare as she screamed and writhed She flailed around so much, Eliza could not get a clear shot without the risk of killing her sister instead

  It felt like terrifying hours passed, but surely it was only seconds. Anna blindly grabbed a dagger from the man's belt, a swift move he didn't even notice as be loosened his breeches and tried to drive himself into her. She stabbed at him wildly, until at last she sank the blade deep into his shoulder.

  He reared up with a shout, a movement that gave Anna the leverage to pull the dagger free and plunge it in again, three stabs to his chest He collapsed on top of her, his blood pouring out onto her torn dress, her body.

  "Get him off! Get him off!" she screamed hysterically. Eliza leaped forward to grab the man's thick arm, tugging at it ineffectually. He was enormously heavy.

  Catherine, who had a large bruise on her forehead from falling against the wheel, snatched up his other arm, and together they finally pushed him aside. Anna lay on the ground, her legs sprawled, her gown bloodstained as she stared at them with wild eyes. She still clutched the dagger.

  If the man wasn't already dead, Eliza would have happily killed and scalped him herself. She had never hated anyone more in her life.

  "Anna, darling, it's done," Katherine murmured softly, leaning over her daughter. "He is dead; he can't hurt you now. Can you give me the dagger?"

  Anna shook her head frantically. Behind them, the cacophony of battle was fading. Soon the fighting would cease, and the soldiers would take stock. They could not find Anna with the bloody knife, the dead redcoat They couldn't find her at all Surely they would kill her in the blind fury of war—but first they would finish what the dastardly dead man started.

  "Anna, please, give it to me," Katherine coaxed. But Anna was sunk too deep in terror.

  Caroline crawled from under the cart, kneeling down by her sister. Calmly, she reached out and smacked Anna across the cheek. "Give Mama the knife. He can't hurt us now, thanks to you, but the others can if we don't get away now"

  Something in Caroline's brisk voice got to Anna, breaking through the haze of fear. She dropped the knife as if burned and leaped to her feet She caught a glimpse of her bloodstained hand, but Caroline grabbed it, holding on to her tightly.

  "Forget him now, Anna," Caroline said firmly. "He was an animal who deserved to die. We have to try and get away."

  Eliza glanced back at Will.

  "Yes, go now, Eliza!" he shouted. "1"I1 cover your retreat"

  "Will, come with us!"

  "I can't, not yet Don't worry—I'm an officer, remember? Go!"

  Eliza nodded, trying desperately to tell him with one last look what she could never say. I love you. Stay alive. Come back to me.

  She grabbed Anna's arm, running with her family as fast as she could away from the waning battle. They didn't stop until they had climbed over the crumbling wall into that barley field, burrowing into the sun-scented earth below the swaying, dried-out stalks.

  She could still hear the fighting, but it was muffled, muted, like in a nightmare. She held on to her sisters, keeping them down as the hot sun beat on their heads. The smell of powder, smoke, and blood was duck in her throat

  "I murdered someone," Anna whispered, as if coming to some sudden, horrifying, life-changing realization.

  Eliza couldn't bear that pain in her sister's voice. She never wanted this, not for lighthearted, sweet Anna. She raised her head to look into Anna's cloudy blue eyes. "You had no choice at all. You had to save yourself, save all of us. You were very brave."

  "When I felt his hand on my ... I was so angry. I couldn't see anything. I just had to...."

  "Hush now," Katherine murmured. "Eliza is right— there was nothing else you could do. It's all right now; you will see."

  The four of them lay there in the dirt for what seemed like a very long time to Eliza. The sun started to sink again, and the air grew mercifully cooler. A silence settled over the land.

  But where was Will? Had he been killed or captured?

  Eliza's worry threatened to tip over into panic, but there was no time for wild fear or desperate thoughts. Anna had done what she had to do; Eliza had to do the same.

  "We need to leave as soon as it gets dark," she said quietly. "We can start toward Dublin."

  "I need a fresh gown," Anna said. "I can hardly wander about the countryside looking like Lady Macbeth."

  Eliza glanced down at her to see that her sister was still pale, but her eyes were clearer, her shaking ceased. That was a good sign, surely.

  "I have clothes in the cart," Katherine said. "But..."

  But who knew where the cart—and Will—were now.

  "I will go look soon," said Eliza. But in the end, she didn't have to go searching. Will found them.

  The sunset had turned the barley around them pink and orange when they heard soft footsteps in the dirt. Eliza sat up straight, drawing out her gun again in case it was the soldiers come to find them. Then she saw the gleam of his golden hair, and her arm fell back to her side. Her heart pounded in sudden relief.

  He looked dirty and tired, his coat gone and his shirt torn, but he was alive. Alive and whole and beautiful.

  In front of her family, Eliza jumped up and ran to him, throwing her arms around him to hold him close. She buried her face in the crook of his neck, inhaling deeply of the warm, precious life of him.

  His arms came around her, too, just holding her there for a long moment.

  "We were going to leave as soon as it's dark," she said, drawing back to examine his shoulder beneath the blood-streaked shirt. The stitches held firm.

  "I think we should go now" he answered. "I left the cart on the road. One of the horses is dead, but the other should get us as for as Dublin."

  "And the soldiers?"

  He gave her a bitter little smile. "I did as you said—I told them who I
am. I told them I had been on my way to rejoin my regiment when I was captured by the rebels. The Rossmore soldiers heroically rescued me."

  "And they believed you?"

  "I can be persuasive enough when I try."

  Oh, Eliza knew that all too well.

  "But they should not see you or your family here, especially Anna," he said "We need to leave now."

  Eliza nodded. On to Dublin—and whatever they might find there.

  Chapter 29

  Halt! Let me see your pass." The soldier strode out of the guardhouse, his weapon at the ready as Will drew up the cart They had reached Dublin at last, all of them in one piece. Sanctuary was just beyond those walls. Eliza swept an exhausted, longing glance over their dark stone ramparts, at the curious faces that stared down at them, and she felt the burn of irritation that anyone would block them now.

  She was tired to her very core, dirty and hungry, and worried about her mother and sisters. Anna had said scarcely a word since the battle in the woods, just staring off into the distance. They needed food and sleep, not guards leveling guns at them and demanding passes!

  Her shoulders stiffened, but before she could say anything, Will laid a warning hand on her arm. He looked just as tired as the rest of them, his eyes lined with purple shadows, but he sat up military-straight and swept the cap from his head to focus the full force of his bright blue gaze on the man.

  "I am Major William Denton," Will said sternly, drawing a paper from inside his coat They must have given it to him in Rossmore, for the rest of them certainly had no passes. "And I am escorting the Countess of Killinan and her daughters to safety. They are most eager to reach home."

  The guard hesitated, his glance sweeping over Katherine's dignified mien, Anna's pale, pretty face. He gave the papers a quick glance. "I'm sure that's all in order, Major. We've had many families fleeing into Dublin these last days. But we have to make sure they aren't the rebels. Hard to tell now."

  Will gave him a terse nod, urging the exhausted horse forward. Eliza leaned against his shoulder, suddenly aware of just how very tense she had been. She had been balanced on a sharp edge of fear ever since they left Killinan, never entirely sure they would reach Dublin at all Even now, as they rolled slowly along the familiar streets, she could hardly believe it.