Chapter Nine

‘Start at the beginning if you please, Augustus. And explain to me slowly and carefully exactly why my daughter is not in the carriage with you.' While the Earl's voice was entirely devoid of emotion, there was a small tick in his right jaw that did not bode well at all. Indeed, the Reverend very much feared that underneath the icy exterior, his son-in-law was visualising him roasting slowly over hot coals.

Swallowing, Augustus Shackleford started the story from the moment they left Tewkesbury. As soon as he mentioned the name of the American man he suspected was behind the kidnapping attempt, Christian lost all semblance of calm. ‘You're sure that was the man's name?' he shot back savagely.

The Reverend nodded. ‘He even told me how to spell it.' Abruptly, the Earl swore softly then groaned, his face ashen.

‘Do you know this man, Christian?' Chastity asked, unable to hide the fear in her voice at the sight of her husband's look of horror. He nodded and climbed back to his feet.

‘I take it you won't say no to a brandy, Augustus?' He didn't wait for a response but went straight to the decanter on the sideboard.

‘Could you pour one for Agnes and me?' Chastity added to his back after a quick glance towards the wilting matron.

After handing everyone a glass, the Earl pulled the servants' bell before picking up his own brandy and knocking it back in one fiery gulp. Then pouring himself another, he returned to his chair. As he sat down, there was a knock at the door, and seconds later, the housekeeper entered. She took one look at the sober faces around the room and shut the door behind her.

‘Mrs. Scott, would you ask Joseph to ready the carriage with fresh horses and bring it round to the front within the hour? Have him rouse John and Thomas with my apologies if they are already abed. Unfortunately, I will need their services again.

‘Has something happened, my lord?

Christian sighed. ‘Mercedes is missing,' he answered shortly, ignoring her small gasp and holding his hand out to forestall further questions. ‘I'm afraid I know very little more than that at this point in time, Mrs. Scott, but your help – and your discretion - would be very much appreciated.'

The housekeeper nodded, giving a quick bend of her head. ‘I'll speak with Joseph immediately, my lord.'

As she went back through the door, Christian turned back to the Reverend. ‘Pray continue, Augustus. Once you've told me everything, I will give you the bare facts about Oliver Reinhardt.'

It took another fifteen minutes for Reverend Shackleford to provide the full story as he knew it. ‘Perhaps I was wrong not to accept this Harding's assistance in the first place,' he finished. ‘Mercy certainly thought so – that's why she took matters into her own hands.' He indicated the note, now lying innocuously on the table.

Gripping her husband's hand, Chastity shook her head. ‘Much as it surprises me to be saying this, I really don't think you can blame yourself, Father. You did what you thought was best.' She looked over at Christian who nodded reluctantly.

‘Mercy may be pragmatic, but she's also headstrong when she gets a notion into her head.' He grimaced. ‘Tossing blame around benefits nobody. What matters now is to get Mercedes back. You are sure this Harding will not harm her? You do not believe him to be in league with Reinhardt?'

‘I believe him to be an honourable man,' the Reverend answered vehemently. ‘He will keep her safe.'

‘And he had a dog,' Agnes added unexpectedly. ‘Pretty little thing and well looked after. Flossy took to them both.' She shrugged as though such canine approval was more than enough reason to trust the man. Perhaps it was. Christian relaxed visibly. Appropriately, the subject of her conversation chose that moment to emit a loud snore from her place by the fire.

‘Now then, about this deuced blackguard, Reinhardt?' The Reverend stared at the Earl expectantly.

‘He was – is I suppose - a professional gambler from Boston. He's a vicious bastard with the morals of an alley cat. He's also insane.' He paused and rubbed at his brow before adding, ‘and I have reason to believe he killed Mercy's mother.'

Chastity gasped in shock, and Christian took her hand, raising it to his lips. ‘Forgive me, my love. I never spoke to you about him as I never imagined for one second that he'd follow me across the Atlantic. In truth, I thought him dead - it's been fourteen years since I last laid eyes on him. He took a deep breath and shook his head. ‘We haven't the time now, but I swear that once I return with Mercy, I will tell you everything I know about him.'

‘You can enlighten me in the carriage,' the Reverend interjected bluntly.

‘Absolutely not, Augustus. I must insist you stay here. You've already had an arduous journey, and forgive me for saying it, but you're no spring chicken.'

The clergyman gave a rude snort. ‘Poppycock. And anyway, you need me since I'm the only one who can recognise Reinhardt as he is now.'

‘I doubt he's changed that much, and the fact that you arrived here in one piece likely means he was aware Mercy wasn't in the carriage and assuming he hasn't managed to track her down – and I'm praying to God he hasn't – then I'd expect him to be long gone. He knows I'll come for him.'

‘Well, he's come a deuced long way and gone to a lot of trouble to steal her from under your nose, so I doubt very much he'll give up quite so easily. I don't believe we've seen the last of him.'

Christian gritted his teeth, then nodded with a sigh. ‘I fear you're right.' For a second, he felt weighed down with despair. There was so much he hadn't yet revealed, but he wanted to speak with Chastity alone before sharing the information with her father and very likely others. Nicholas Sinclair would need to be informed, at the very least. He looked over at his wife and was heartened by the trust in her eyes. She knew there was much more to the story than he was revealing but trusted him to tell her when the time was right.

‘I will get Mrs. Biddle to prepare you both a small repast,' she declared climbing to her feet. ‘Then I'll go up to the children. I would prefer them not to know that their sister is missing.' She smiled at Christian as he stood up and took her into his arms.

‘Thank you,' he murmured hoarsely.

‘I will hold you to account when you return,' she returned firmly. ‘Please do not even think to whitewash this tale, Kit. I am not some delicate flower to be protected.'

‘Well, given that you actually climbed a tree into my bedroom in order to speak with me on only our second meeting, I think you use the word delicate far too loosely.' His voice was dry as he bent to kiss her.

‘Don't try and fudge it Christian Stanhope,' she ordered, leaning back to look up at him. ‘I will expect a full accounting.' She laid the palm of her hand on the side of his face, softening her words. ‘Bring her home to us.' Then, biting her lip to prevent sudden tears, Chastity made her way to the door before abruptly stopping and turning round.

‘I know you will not allow Christian to leave you behind, Father, but please don't do anything foolish.' She turned to Agnes. ‘I'll have Mrs. Scott bring us both a tray of supper, Stepmother. I'll be back down as soon as I can.'

‘Thunder an' turf, I wouldn't want to be in your shoes when you get back,' muttered the Reverend as the door closed decisively behind her.

***

To the Reverend's frustration, the Earl refused to divulge any further information about Oliver Reinhardt during their return journey to the Black Swan, and since the clergyman was in truth done to a cow's thumb, he soon fell asleep, propped up in the corner of the carriage, Flossy snuggled under his cassock.

Although Christian had sighed in exasperated aggrievement at his father-in-law's insistence in bringing the little dog along, the Reverend had dug in his heels, maintaining that Flossy had always provided invaluable assistance in the past and he had no reason to suppose she wouldn't be of use now. Especially if they needed help tracing where Harding had taken Mercy. ‘She's got the best nose I've ever known since Freddy, God rest his soul,' was his excuse.

Fortunately, by the time they got on the road, the snow had already begun to thaw and they made excellent time, arriving at the inn just after dawn. After ordering them both some breakfast, the Earl immediately began asking questions.

The Reverend was remembered from the day before and one of the first things the innkeeper told them was that another man had been asking about his party after they'd left. ‘Shifty lookin' cull, ‘e was. Weren't from these parts – ‘e ‘ad a funny way o' speakin.' He caught the Reverend's look of anxiety and added, ‘Don't you worry none, Revren, I'm as much in the bloody dark as you are, but even if I ‘ad seen summat, I wouldn't ‘ave told no bloody furrener anythin'.'

‘Do you know if any of your workers happened to see someone leave in the early hours of yesterday morning?'

‘I don't reckon, though Jed – ‘e works in the stable – said there was an ‘orse missin' when he went in. He din't realise the ‘orse wos gone at first since the bloke insisted on lookin' after the beast ‘imself.'

‘May we speak with him?' Christian asked, hope stirring.

‘I'll tell the missus to fetch ‘im.' The innkeeper hurried away, leaving the two men to their breakfast.

‘It has to be Harding,' the Reverend deduced. ‘He said he'd overheard Reinhardt's conversation while he was in the stable.'

‘Do you know why Harding was staying here if he lives only a couple of miles down the road?'

‘His horse had taken a stone to her shoe and the inn was closer, so he said.'

‘'Ere ‘e is, Milord.' The innkeeper had returned with a small man in tow.

‘I din't see ‘im leave, yer lordship, an' yest'day we wos that busy, I din't notice the ‘orse wos gone until nigh on sunset since the cove had insisted on lookin' after the animal ‘imself. Asked fer a poultice an' some stew as I remember. Ugly fella ‘e wos – the bloke, not the ‘orse…' He paused to chuckle at his own joke, but seeing their serious faces, gave a small cough and hurriedly continued. ‘Wore a scarf round ‘is face nearly all the time, but I saw ‘im pull it down fer a few seconds and ‘e ‘ad a scar right down the side of ‘is face.'

‘Do you know who he was?' the Earl asked urgently.

‘I'd never seen ‘im before, but when I told Dilly about it last night – it wos me night off an' me an' Dilly are courtin – she reckoned it sounded like the fella wot lives in Carlinfud ‘all.' He gave another pause and fiddled with his cap before adding, ‘You know what, Milord, all this talkin' ‘as me throat right parched…' and looking at the Earl expectantly.

Sighing, Christian ordered a tankard of ale be brought to their table. ‘Pray continue,' he demanded in a tone no one in their right mind would argue with.

The ostler gave a small bow. ‘Thank you kindly yer lordship, that's right kind of you.' He caught sight of the Earl's narrowed eyes, and hurriedly got back to his tale. ‘As I wos sayin. This fella, he lives in a big old ‘ouse about two miles from ‘ere. Keeps ‘imself to ‘imself on account of ‘is ‘orrible scar. I reckon ‘e must ‘ave took a sword to ‘is face durin' the war.

‘Did you tell any of this to the man who was asking questions yesterday?' the Earl quizzed him.

Jed shook his head. ‘Don't ‘old wi' furreners, ‘an anyway, I din't remember ‘til I told Dilly yest'day evenin'.'

‘So, his house is called … Carlingford … Hall? And you say it's a couple of miles from here?'

The small man nodded. ‘As the crow flies, I'd say. If you wos takin' a carriage, you'd ‘ave to go all the way to the crossroads, then turn left. The track to the ‘ouse is about a mile down that road. I'll warn you though, you'll not get a carriage the size o' yours down there easy, an' I don't reckon the fella wot lives there is over fond o' visitors.'

Christian nodded his thanks and handed the ostler a shilling. ‘Thank you, Milord, this'll go towards our weddin'. Dilly's right keen to tie the knot as soon as possible.' Christian fought a smile at the young man's glum face. Clearly, Jed wasn't in quite such a hurry to get leg shackled.

***

Nate was still sitting at the kitchen table as the sun came up, though he took no note of the glorious artist's palette of orange and gold splashed across the sky. All he could see in his mind's eye was Mercedes Stanhope's face.

And he knew without doubt that allowing her into his life was the biggest mistake he'd ever made in the whole of his sorry existence. He should have found some other way of helping her. Anything but bring her here, into this house .

He put his head down into his hands in anguish. How could he have known that simply seeing her sitting across from him, conversing with her would make him want .

After the long-ago humiliation with Genevieve, he'd been so bloody careful. Kept himself to himself - focused entirely on his army career. Being so far away from England had suited him perfectly. And then came Waterloo and he didn't have to guard his heart anymore. Who the hell would want someone who looked like a monster out of some dark fable?

His reaction to Mercy had taken him completely by surprise. He'd thought himself immune to a pretty face, but it wasn't just her face, lovely as it was – it was everything about her. And in the deepest corner of his heart where he kept the dreams he barely even acknowledged to himself - she was exactly as he imagined his wife would look.

A low whine had him lifting his head up to see Ruby staring at him anxiously. He shook his head to clear it. What the bloody hell was he doing to himself? Climbing restlessly to his feet, he told himself that his reaction was simply because she was the first female with whom he'd shared an actual conversation since … in truth he couldn't remember when. He whistled for Ruby and headed towards the door. Mercedes would be gone by the end of the day and out of his life forever. Dreaming about things that could never be, was not how he'd made it this far. Focusing on the here and now, putting one foot in front of the other – that was how he'd survived the loneliness.

The problem was, he'd opened Pandora's box and glimpsed the one thing he wanted more than anything else, and now he had no idea how to shut it again.

Thrusting the treacherous thoughts out of his head, he stepped outside and breathed in the crisp, cold air, directing his footsteps round to the front of the house. But before he had the chance to step off the path towards the distant trees, Ruby began barking. Seconds later, a carriage appeared round the bend in the drive.