A Scandalous Adventure

by Lillian Marek

  All she knew was that she had to help Max. She had to save him. If she could not do that, nothing else in her entire life was of any importance.

  They had been traveling for nearly two hours—two endless hours—when Emil pulled to a halt. Another wider trail crossed the one they were following. He looked down, frowning.

  She pulled up next to Josef. “Are you sure he knows the way?”

  Without taking his eyes from Emil, Josef nodded. “Yes. He has been taking us on an old way that is shorter. Rough, but it cut many miles off our trip. He is looking now to see if any have been here before us.”

  Emil made a satisfied noise and looked up. “The count passed on the main path, not long ago. We will follow him now.”

  “No worry,” Josef assured her with a proud smile. “Emil knows. He is my grandson.”

  Susannah followed obediently, praying that Emil did indeed know what he was talking about. She was none too certain of that herself, but at this point, what choice did she have? At least they were moving more quickly now. The path was wider and, without trees pressing in on all sides, it was brighter too. She trotted behind the two men with Lev at her side, thinking that they really should go faster. Max might not be far ahead of them, but he still was ahead of them and riding into an ambush.

  Emil pulled up suddenly and raised a hand. Josef stopped as well, so perforce she had to halt too. She started to ask why, but Emil said, “Do you hear?”

  She looked at him in annoyance. “I don’t hear anything.”

  “No birds, no animals moving about.” He nodded, frowning. “We must hurry.”

  The two men kicked their horses into a gallop, and Susannah followed. Moments later, they heard a shot, followed by shouts.

  Too late, too late. Fear was a hard rock in her stomach.

  The noise ahead continued. That must mean that he was alive, mustn’t it? A cry of pain, but a high-pitched voice. Not Max. Good, she thought viciously.

  Josef shouted something, and Lev went charging ahead, a huge, spectral creature moving silently.

  The dog was just ahead of them when they burst into a clearing, where two men were bent over a third. Without a sound, Lev leaped on the closer one. The man’s cry was cut off abruptly when he thudded into the ground.

  When the second man saw them, he pulled out a wicked-looking knife, but an arrow struck his chest. He stared at it as if amazed before he fell to the ground.

  It was all over very quickly. While Emil and Josef collected the attackers, Susannah flew to Max. He was collapsed on the ground, his head and his jacket bloody. She felt his head around the bleeding wound very gently, but there seemed to be no broken bone. With trembling fingers she pulled his jacket apart and off his shoulder. No wound, there was no wound. It was not his blood.

  But he was unconscious. From the blow on his head? The cut had not seemed that serious. He groaned slightly when she lifted him, and there was a smell. She sniffed. It was familiar.

  Then she saw the bottle, spilling its drug into the ground. Of course. It was the smell of that stuff her intruder had carried, the stuff she was carrying herself in the bottle in her pocket. If she had needed evidence that all these events were connected, she had it now.

  She sat back on her heels. That’s right. They used that stuff on Max because they hadn’t planned to kill him. They had intended to capture him. She shook her head to clear it. The smell was making her dizzy too. Well, their plan had been disrupted. Right now, she needed to take care of Max.

  She pulled him away from the spill as best she could, fearing that it could be dangerous for him to keep breathing the stuff in. It was making her light-headed just being near it. She knelt beside him, laying his head in her lap, and gently brushed the hair from his face. With a sigh, he turned his cheek into her hand, almost as if he knew she was there.

  Josef appeared at her side and stared down at Max, a puzzled frown on his face.

  “I don’t think he is wounded,” she said. “I think they used that drug on him.” She inclined her head to indicate the bottle.

  He nodded, still frowning. “There were four of them. My lord laid out two of them.” He shook his head. “Only four. I would have thought…”

  Emil appeared beside them, leading a horse. “The count’s horse,” he said, gesturing at a cut across the forelegs.

  “Ah,” said Josef. “That explains it. But stupid, if they wanted him alive. He could have broken his neck.”

  Susannah had no idea what they were talking about, and her confusion obviously showed in her face, because Josef gave her an understanding look.

  “They put a cord across the path to trip his horse. It’s an old trick to bring down a rider, who is always thrown. But it’s dangerous.”

  “No way to know how badly the rider will be hurt,” said Emil, scowling in the direction of the captured men.

  “But it explains why there were only four of them,” said Josef. “I would not send so few to take down Count von Staufer.” He sounded affronted, as if odds of four to one were an insult.

  She nodded, looking down at the unconscious count. “I do not think he will awaken quickly.”

  “No,” agreed Josef. “What should we do?”

  That was not a question she had expected. Why was Josef asking her? When she looked up, she saw that Emil was also looking at her for instruction. Were they mad? They could not possibly expect her to know what to do now. But they obviously expected precisely that. Turning back to stare at Max’s unconscious form, she chewed her lip as she thought furiously.

  “We cannot wait here for him to recover consciousness. There is no way to know how long that will take.” She spoke slowly and was relieved to see the two men nodding agreement. “And then there are the attackers. Are they dead?”

  “Only the one Emil shot.” Josef sounded regretful. “The others still live. Should we…?”

  Good heavens! She was accustomed to giving orders to servants, but she was not going to give an order like that. “No, but…” She had an idea. “Are they going to be expected somewhere?”

  Josef shrugged. “I will go and ask.” He strolled over to the spot where Lev kept guard over the men.

  She could not make out what was being said. The voices were indistinguishable mutters. Then there was a growl, followed by a shriek—of fear, not pain, she thought.

  Emil smiled. “They will tell Josef. No worry.”

  She looked down at Max, cradled in her lap. No, she was not worried. Lev was welcome to nip off as many pieces of them as necessary to persuade them to tell what they knew. They deserved it.

  It did not take long. Josef came back with a contemptuous look on his face. “They have no loyalty, no courage, these pigs. All my Lev needs to do is bare his teeth and they begin to babble.”

  “But what did they say?” She did not really care whether or not they were cowards. She only wanted to know what their plans had been.

  “They were to keep the count prisoner in a gamekeeper’s hut until they received word to take him to Krassau. Beyond that, they say they know nothing.”

  Susannah nodded. “Good. Then if they are not left here, no one will know they did not succeed. Can you hide them so they cannot escape and will not be found?”

  Emil smiled. It was a confident smile, though not a particularly nice one. “Oh yes. I can do that. Is easy.”

  She had a momentary qualm, suspecting that she would rather not know what Emil was planning. Then she remembered what had been planned for Max, and her qualms vanished. “And we need a safe place for Captain Staufer. It may take a while for him to awaken.”

  At that, Josef and Emil conferred, but she could not follow the discussion. They seemed to come to some desirable conclusion, because they were both smiling when they turned back to her.

  “We are not far from the count’s lands. I know a small hunter’s ca
mp near here. The count will be safe there,” Josef said.

  That seemed likely to be a good refuge. “But how can we get him there?” she asked. “He cannot sit on a horse by himself, and none of us is strong enough to hold him.”

  “The cart,” said Emil.

  “They would not have been able to carry him either,” said Josef with a satisfied smile, “so they brought a cart. It will do as well for a rescue as for a capture.”

  Really, she thought, Josef had a very strange sense of humor. However, a cart would be necessary, so she nodded.

  In short order, all was arranged. Josef drove the cart with Susannah supporting Max in the back. Lev stretched out beside Max, helping to keep him warm. Their horses, including Max’s wounded one, were tied behind. Emil took care of the other horses, riding his own and leading the others with their burdens of bound villains.

  Some misgivings prodded at Susannah as she watched Emil and his prisoners ride off. “Where will he take them?”

  Josef smiled slightly, a smile that made her glad he was on her side. “No need to worry. He will manage.”

  Just how he would manage was what worried her, but she pushed that worry to the side while she concentrated on Max. He was so pale. She tried to tell herself it was nothing more than a deep sleep that held him in thrall, but he was so pale and so cold. She wrapped her thick green cloak around him and pulled one of the blankets that cushioned them over him. It was a horse blanket, and smelled like one, but it would provide some warmth as the day chilled with the setting sun.

  She held Max cradled in her arms to cushion him as the cart bumped along another narrow trail, jolted by ruts and roots and stones. Her fear was tinged with anger, and her jaw clenched. Had the Herzlos twins been within reach, she would cheerfully have dismembered them—and that loathsome Angriffer as well. She would not allow them to harm Max. Not now. Not ever.

  It was dark by the time Josef pulled the cart to a halt beside a low timber building. Telling her to wait, he went inside to light a lamp. With the door open, they could at least see what they were doing. Together they pulled Max to the edge of the cart so that Josef could carry him by the shoulders while Susannah took his legs.

  “Not a man to take lightly, eh?” Josef grinned at her.

  She glared at him instead of answering. How could he be so cheerful?

  The building seemed to consist of a large room that served as both kitchen and sitting room with several smaller rooms opening off it. A huge fireplace, a simple wooden table and chairs, and a few comfortable chairs served as the furnishings for the main room. They carried Max into one of the smaller rooms, which was almost filled by a large bed but also had a fireplace. While Josef started a fire, Susannah found a stream outside and filled a bucket with water. She set it beside the fire to warm, then they managed to pull off Max’s boots and remove his jacket and shirt.

  When Josef went off to take care of the horses and cart, Susannah took a basin of warm water and began to wash the blood and grime from Max. None of the cuts and scrapes seemed serious, and he did not seem to have any broken bones. At least, she hoped he did not. She had no idea how to tell if any of his ribs were cracked. He would suffer enough from the bruises tomorrow. When she had finished, she pulled up the thick quilt to cover him.

  An arm snaked out to pull her down beside him.

  “Suse,” he murmured.

  She tried to get up, but his arm held her fast, and she did not want to hurt him. He was injured, and she was trying to care for him, but that hardly meant she could lie in bed with him. It would be utterly scandalous. Unthinkable. She couldn’t possibly…

  After a moment’s consideration, she stopped struggling. They were hiding in a hunters’ shelter in the middle of a forest. Who would even know? And it was important to keep invalids warm. Everyone knew that. She tugged the quilt up to cover her as well, rested her arm across his chest, and closed her eyes. She was too tired to do anything else. How could this be wrong? It felt so right.

  Twenty-eight

  Stuttgart

  It would be difficult to say which one looked more exhausted, Lord Penworth or his wife. They sat in matching horsehair armchairs in the lounge of the Royal Hotel in Stuttgart. Lady Penworth had taken one look around the gloomy, over-furnished room that was apparently the best the hotel had to offer and had retreated downstairs to recuperate from that day’s travel. The lounge was also gloomy, but at least it did not make her feel as if the walls were falling in on her.

  Leaning her head back, eyes closed, she said, “I had not realized how difficult travel can be when people are not tumbling all over themselves to be helpful. When there are constant delays, so many frustrations.”

  Lord Penworth glanced about, but the only other traveler in the lounge was a hearty burgher being presented with a stein of beer by a young waiter. They were too far away to overhear, even assuming they understood English. “I’m sorry, my love. It’s just that since we don’t know what is happening in Sigmaringen, what the situation is, why on earth they are incognito—it seemed wiser to travel anonymously. At least, without mentioning the title.”

  “I do realize that, and you are quite right, my dear. It is just that it seems strange to be plain Mrs. Tremaine after all these years. And it is doubtless good for me to be reminded what life is like for the rest of the world. Under other circumstances, I would be enjoying the adventure.” She shifted slightly in her chair and winced. “Perhaps I should rather say, twenty years ago I would have enjoyed the adventure.”

  Her husband looked at her with a smile. “I’m sure that twenty years from now, when someone offers you an adventure, you will be off in a minute.”

  “And you will be with me!” She returned his smile, but then it faded. “It’s not the discomfort. It’s the worry.”

  He nodded. “Elinor and Harry know where we are. They will send a telegram if they hear anything.”

  “And since there has been no telegram, they haven’t heard anything.” She completed the thought with a sigh. “Are we likely to reach Nymburg tomorrow?”

  He shook his head. “Probably not. We can take a train as far as Tübingen, but then we will have to hire a carriage for the rest of the trip.”

  “Damnation!” she burst out. “Does that benighted country not even have a railway?”

  “It does, but unfortunately there is only one train a week, and that will run four days from now. It will have to be a carriage.”

  “Augusta must have been out of her mind to take the girls to such a preposterous, backwards, uncivilized place. I am going to drag them all home the instant I lay my hands on them.”

  Twenty-nine

  Max awoke in the pale light of dawn. His head ached, his shoulder ached, his back ached. Everything ached, and his stomach felt uncertain, but at the same time he was comfortably warm and…and something else. He could smell roses. No, he could smell roses and thorns. He managed to force his eyes to open.

  Yes. Roses and thorns. Susannah was lying beside him, her head on his chest, his arm around her. He smiled contentedly and closed his eyes again.

  His eyes snapped open.

  Susannah was lying beside him?

  He looked around in the dim light. Where the devil were they? Rude wooden walls, plain curtains on a small window, a cabin of some sort. It looked vaguely familiar. He had been here before, though he couldn’t think when.

  But Susannah? What could she be doing in a place like this? He had left her safe in the castle. No matter how angry the prince was, he would never have simply thrown the women out. Not Conrad. That was unthinkable.

  What had happened? He remembered setting out for Krassau, but this was not Krassau. He knew Krassau. It might be rough and crude, but it had walls of stone, not wood.

  And wherever he was, Susannah should not be here. She should be safe in the castle where he had left her.

 
She should be safe. Not here, wherever “here” was.

  Grimly, he eased himself out of the bed without waking her and got to his feet. He almost fell back when a large, white beast rose beside him and waited. Lev. The dog was still protecting her. Max gave a sigh of relief and nodded his approval. That, at least, was as it should be.

  The dog returned to his position, guarding the bed and its sleeper. Leaning a hand against the rough wall—he was feeling a bit shaky—Max made his way out of the room.

  He found himself in a larger room of what looked like a hunters’ camp. Rough, but comfortable, with antlers decorating the walls. A man wrapped in quilts was sleeping across the door. Josef? Max leaned over, holding on to the wall to keep his balance, and gave the man a shake. Yes, it was Josef, who growled before finally opening his eyes.

  Once he looked up, Josef was immediately awake. “Count! You are all right then?”

  “As you see.” Max was somewhat comforted to see his servant here, but not comforted enough to relax. He was far too confused and worried for that. “What the devil is going on here? Where are we? And what is Lady Susannah doing here?”

  Josef smiled. “Ah, she is a fine lady, that one. A warrior. It was she who saved you.”

  “Saved me? From what?” Max demanded.

  And so Josef told him the whole tale—Angriffer’s plot, Lady Susannah’s spying on the Herzlos twins, the ambush and the rescue. Max had to sit down when he realized that Lady Susannah—his Suse—had been risking her neck. This was impossible. It could not be allowed.

  “How could you let her endanger herself like that?” he demanded furiously. “She was supposed to be safe in the castle. How could you let her go with you?”

  “Ach, you should have seen her. A Valkyrie she was. How could we stop her?” The old man shrugged. “And why would we try?”

  “Because she should be kept safe, that’s why!”

  Max shook his head in confusion. She had raced off to protect him? No, it was for him to protect her! What madness was this? Everything was topsy-turvy.