Two Lady Scoundrels and a Duke - Tessa Candle Page 0,21

had ever really known Foxleigh. Perhaps he might be swayed by Marie’s great drama of blighted passion.

She doubted it, but she no longer had the heart to watch this exchange. Her stomach sickened and her feet felt like lead, but she shuffled away down the path, gradually growing frantic and beginning to run. She feared she might become hysterical any moment.

Think of something else. She began mentally planning her escape. It was a matter of days until she would have to leave the dwelling. There was nothing to be done about that. Fox’s sense of obligation and honour would make him stay and try to persuade her to wed him, and Marie would therefore always be lurking in the background. With all the people tramping about, there would be no practicable way for her to carry out her highwayman scheme without getting caught. Katherine would have to leave soon enough. She might as well do it now.

What of her darling French hens? A mad resolve gripped her. She would not leave them. An old hat box should be large enough for them. She would stuff them onto the sled. What of Dog? Dog! She lurched to a stop, turning in momentary panic. But he came to a stop beside her, smiling as though there was something to smile about. “Oh!” She hissed out a relieved sigh. “Thought I had left you behind.” She patted him and he licked her hand. At least she had Dog. What had she ever done to deserve this faithful friend? She looked to the heavens, panting to catch her breath.

An object in the branches of one of the trees caught her eye. A pear. The crop had not been very big this year, and she had eaten all that she could reach, but a few remained on the higher branches. This variety required a frost before they got tasty. Katherine squinted. There were more. She could count at least five. They might be soft now, but they would at least be edible. Dog would not be interested, but it would be something to feed the hens on the way. On the way where? She would sort that out later. There was no time for doubts or delay.

“You can stand watch, Dog. Bark if anyone is coming.” Of course he would not bark. He was a blood hound and would bray like a donkey for all the countryside to hear. But he walked a ways back on the path and lay down at its edge, so he either understood or was planning to take a nap.

The cold air chilled her legs as she tucked up her skirts into her apron and began to climb.

Chapter 14 And a Duke in a Pear Tree

Foxleigh wished he were not still so maddeningly weak and slow. He leaned against a tree and waited for the latest wave of dizziness to pass. After a few deep breaths, he hurried on as quickly as he could manage. The spells were not as bad as they had been, but the last thing he needed was the embarrassment and inconvenience of fainting and bumping his head. But what if he were not in time, and Katherine escaped before he could catch her?

Up ahead he caught sight of Dog lying at the roadside. That was odd. The hound sprang up and began howl-barking.

“Hello lad!” Foxleigh approached and petted Dog, who rubbed his head against Foxleigh’s leg, stared at him intently, then walked up the path, suddenly halting and sitting down. His nose pointed into the trees.

Foxleigh hastened to the spot. “All right, Dog? Where is your mistress?”

“Where is yours?” came a slightly muffled but unmistakably acerbic reply.

Foxleigh peered up into the branches and spied a great entanglement of skirts and locks of raven black hair. “She is not my mistress. But she is back there, somewhere, still throwing a fit, I assume. Or perhaps she has stopped, now that she has no audience.” He admired the view of Kat’s beautifully shaped legs and the perfect orbs of her buttocks, the contours of which were plainly visible through the threadbare sheaf of her underskirt, which clung heroically to its charge, defending the last shreds of her modesty. He chuckled.

“Stop snickering, you idiot. This is not humorous in the least, and it is your ruddy fault!”

“My fault? How so?” He was now openly laughing.

“If you had not come here to persecute me with that dreadful woman in tow, I would not be forced to flee, and…” Her