The Marquess Who Loved Me - By Sara Ramsey Page 0,35
and over again in the dark corners of her mind.
“Are you sure you aren’t hurt, my lady?” Lucia asked.
“Of course. We won, didn’t we?”
Lucia grabbed her shoulders, shaking her lightly, just enough that they both felt how her knees were locked. “You need to sit down, my lady,” she said firmly. “Let me…”
If she said anything else, Ellie didn’t hear it. Her nausea subsided, but something black rushed to overtake it, and she slid swiftly into the void.
CHAPTER TWELVE
She awoke to pain burrowing relentlessly into her chest. It felt like someone digging into her breastbone in an attempt to steal her heart. She was struggling before she could open her eyes, trying to move away, trying to protest with something other than an incoherent moan.
Her movement stopped the torment. “I’m sorry, Ellie my love,” Nick said. “But you must wake up.”
She opened her eyes. He knelt on the floor of the carriage — the smaller carriage she had taken to London, not the larger one she had returned in — bending over her with a look that was half worried and half furious, his knuckles still grazing her ribs.
The pain was already fading, but the memory wasn’t. “What did you do to me?”
“Chafed your breastbone. You aren’t the type to carry a vinaigrette, it seems. But for awakening someone, it’s more effective than rubbing your wrists.”
Where had he learned that? She shook her head, trying to focus. “What is the urgency? Are we still in danger?”
Nick’s lips were a grim line as he shook his head. “I doubt your attacker is still within five leagues of us. Marcus and I were only twenty minutes behind you, but we’ve no way of knowing where to look for him.”
She tried to sit up, but his hands held her down. “Wait a moment. You may be sick.”
“Where are Lucia and Marcus?” she asked.
“Lucia refused to ride, but we’re less than two miles from Folkestone via the footpaths that cut across the country. She and Marcus are walking back.”
“And you let them? Is that safe?”
Nick frowned. “From what Lucia told us, I expect so. I sent my batman with them — Trower was in the army for over a decade, and he can take care of them. But we must decide, before we reach Folkestone, what we plan to say to your guests. I could have decided without you, but…”
“What is there to decide?” she asked, cutting him off. “We must tell the proper authorities. They will want to know there’s a dangerous highwayman in the neighborhood.”
“What if he’s not a highwayman?”
She remembered her own doubts — but how could Nick know of them? “Why would you guess that?”
“What did you see?”
“Before or after he murdered his lackey?”
Nick brushed a piece of hair away from her mouth. “Before. I’ll deal with the after.”
“He was too well-dressed for a highwayman. He spoke like a gentleman, although that could be an act. The dead one called him ‘sir.’ And he didn’t seem to want our property — he asked who was in the carriage, not what we had.”
“Did they say who they expected?”
Ellie shook her head. “They expected a man, though they didn’t mention a name. They told the driver he wasn’t the man they wanted to kill.”
Nick’s thumb had been caressing her temple, but he stopped at those words. “You are sure they said they intended to kill someone?”
“I believe so. It was all so fast, but I’m nearly positive of that. Perhaps the driver remembers.”
“He is following with your coach. I will question him when we return. Better to do it now, before the details turn hazy.”
Ellie tried again to sit up. This time he let her, but he didn’t reclaim his seat.
She looked down into his eyes, suddenly curious. “What do you know of investigations?” she asked. “Isn’t this a job for the magistrate?”
He didn’t respond. He didn’t look away — his gaze was as unwavering as ever. But there was darkness there she’d never seen before.
Finally, he said, “I know this was not a random act, if what you remember is true. What I don’t know is who is behind it. And that means I don’t know whether we can trust the local authorities to investigate properly without making a hash of things.”
“Why? The local magistrate is capable enough to bring the man to justice if he can be found. He should hang for what he’s done, even if killing his partner might have been good for humanity.”