Captain Jones's Temptation - Audrey Harrison Page 0,32

check the horses over. I don’t want to have to stop anytime soon, for they might have posted someone at the inns hereabout,” the coachman said, moving to the front of the carriage.

Esther took a steadying breath. She wanted to wait for Matthew, but Bell was right. The longer they delayed, the more at risk of discovery they were.

Thankfully, as Bell finished his checks and assured her there was no damage to the animals, she heard the sound of hooves, and the familiar figure of Matthew became visible in the moon-filled night.

When he stopped near the carriage, she approached him. “Have we been compromised?”

“No. There was only one person waiting there, and he won’t be a problem anymore,” Matthew said grimly.

“Oh.” Esther was sickened at the thought that at least one person had died, but she could not dwell on it. He had fired at them first, and if the carriage had turned they could all have been dead as a result of his actions. “When will they miss him? His absence will convince them we escaped, won’t it?”

“It will if they find him,” Matthew answered. “I have obviously not buried him, but I have managed to put him out of sight. It will take some time to find him. I hope they think he got sick of waiting and went to the nearest inn, rather than we killed him.”

“I see.” Esther tried not to think about the fact that a man was dead. He had tried to kill them. She would have to keep reminding herself of that. It was something she had faced once before, and it horrified her, bringing back memories that were normally firmly pushed aside. “I suppose we need to get going, then. Hopefully not quite as fast as we have been doing,” Esther said, about to climb into the carriage.

“Ah, Miss Hardy, I do not think I can continue the journey with you,” Matthew said, halting Esther’s progress.

“Why ever not?” Esther exclaimed.

“I’ve gone and got myself shot,” Matthew said, before tumbling off his horse in a dead faint.

Chapter 9

Esther was on the ground a second or two before the coachman. Lydia moved to the doorway of the carriage, her hand covering her mouth as if to stifle a scream.

Quickly crouching to Matthew, Esther checked he was breathing. Her heart pounded in her ears, but she had to concentrate. His life could depend on it. She let out her own breath in relief when she felt the ragged breaths he was taking, and she started to check his body for where he had been shot.

She felt underneath his greatcoat and withdrew her hand in horror. The light was dim, only the lanterns inside the carriage and the moonlight offering any illumination, but Esther’s hand was wet and sticky. She looked at Bell in horror.

Quickly lifting a lantern from the inside of the carriage, Bell returned and, bending down, moved the greatcoat’s folds to one side whilst he checked over the injury. “We need to stop the bleeding.”

Esther moved to the rear of the carriage and opened the fastenings on the portmanteau. She struggled until she managed to pull out a nightdress. She folded it tightly and handed it to Bell.

Once the material was in place, Bell looked at his mistress. “We need to move, Miss Hardy.”

“We aren’t leaving him here,” Esther said.

“It is too dangerous to return to the house, but he can’t travel to Hampshire. It is going to take us days.”

Lydia had stepped out of the carriage. “What are we to do, Esther?”

“I am not abandoning him when he has almost certainly saved our lives. We are going to change our route. You are right, Bell – we cannot travel to Hampshire. It is too far for him to travel in this state. Take us to Exeter.” Even saying the town’s name brought back memories that Esther did not care to recall, but it was the only solution.

“Are you sure?” Lydia asked, knowing some of what Esther would be considering in making her decision.

“Yes. I think I have to realise that my past is what it is,” Esther said with resignation. Turning to Bell, she gave the direction they were to travel in. “It will take us only a few hours to arrive there. And it will not matter that we shall arrive in the middle of the night.”

The three struggled to move Matthew into the body of the carriage. He moaned when being handled but remained mostly unresponsive. Isabella had clambered onto