slippered foot and, hopping on her other, placed it into the metal stirrup hanging down. Ignoring as best she could the fact that she was exposing far too much of her stockinged legs, she gripped the saddle horn and heaved herself onto the saddle.
Landing on her belly, the result of her efforts was far too reminiscent of being carried atop Mr. Spencer’s shoulder less than ten minutes before.
Only this time, rather than gaping at Mr. Spencer’s bottom, she was staring at the side of the horse’s stomach, one leg dangling off the horse’s tail end, and her other foot trapped at an awkward angle in the metal stirrup.
The sounds of fists slamming against flesh and resulting grunts coming from behind her did nothing to mollify her panic.
“Come here, Archimedes.” Culpepper’s shoes appeared in her vision. From this perspective, the padding in his calves was quite apparent.
Tabetha arched her back at the same time she attempted to slide her leg around to sit up, but Culpepper pushed down on her back. “Stay right there, My Lady.”
How had she not realized he was such a menace? She closed her eyes and winced as the cat scrambled away from the duke, digging his claws into her… bum!
“Come back here, my precious pet.” Culpepper was all but smothering her now, his torso and waist pressing her face into the side of the horse while he grasped for poor Archimedes.
Poor Archimedes, indeed! She grimaced again. The more Culpepper tugged at the cat, the deeper the cat’s claws dug into her flesh. All the while, the horse was becoming agitated beneath her.
If she didn’t do something, if somebody didn’t do something, this was going to end quite poorly.
Before she could come up with any sort of inspired plan, Culpepper flew off of her and sprawled on the ground. Archimedes scrambled back to her shoulder, and she was straddling the horse with Mr. Spencer’s body fit snugly against her from behind.
“Hiya!”
The horse leapt into motion at her rider’s command just as Tabetha risked a glance backward, bemused at their unlikely escape. One of Culpepper’s servants was assisting the duke to his feet, but the two henchmen writhed on the ground—one of them, bloodied, holding his jaw, and the other, clutching at his groin.
Had she foreseen any of this happening, she admitted to herself, she believed she might have settled for an earl instead.
“You should have handed over the damn cat,” Stone growled, his jaw stinging and one eye already swelling closed.
“Try telling that to the cat! Archie was having none of it,” she grumbled in front of him. “Besides. It was a good idea, you have to admit. If it wasn’t, you wouldn’t have gone along with it.”
“You didn’t allow me a choice in the matter.” He’d been willing to argue with Culpepper, or Tabetha, but not both of them at the same time. Or perhaps he needn’t have argued with either of them. “Maybe I should have just let him have both of you.”
He didn’t mean it. Well, not where the cat was concerned, but there was no way in hell he would have simply handed Lady Tabetha over. Even if she was the most frustrating, spoiled, infuriating debutante in all of England.
He tugged her closer to him, uncomfortable with how close Culpepper had come to claiming her.
He’d foolishly underestimated Culpepper’s desperation, thinking it was merely common courtesy to inform the man that his fiancée hadn’t been kidnapped by highwaymen or carried away by a wild animal. He’d thought to put the duke’s mind at ease knowing she’d merely changed her mind. And he’d hoped the duke would be as motivated as anyone to keep news of the aborted elopement from becoming London’s latest scandal.
He’d thought wrong.
“What should we do now?” She didn’t sound nearly as defiant as she had a minute ago.
Stone smoothed her hair, which, like the person it was attached to, seemed set on annoying him.
“We’ll take a room in town.”
“But won’t he come after us?”
“He won’t try anything while there are witnesses about.” Culpepper would wait to attack until they were alone again. The key was to not give the blighter a chance.
A plan, simple though it was, was taking shape in his mind. “We’ll get food, some rest, and hunker down. I’ve no doubt that by now, your brother is headed in this direction. Likely, Blackheart has sent a band of his men as well. Doubtless, they’ll show up within three or four days.”