Historical Romance – The Best Of The Year. Кэрол Мортимер

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       Chapter Six

      ‘I think I shall go into the country,’ Madeline said on the morning of the third day after she’d fled from her husband’s house. ‘Last night, when I glanced down into the hall, I saw a gentleman I know—a friend of my husband’s. He glanced up, but whether he glimpsed me in the shadows I do not know. I think we should leave London before Lethbridge comes looking for me.’

      ‘We always knew we could not stay here for long,’ Sally agreed with an anxious look. ‘But where will you go, my lady?’

      ‘I pray you, do not call me my lady. It is best that you call me ma’am or by my name. We are friends after all.’

      ‘I shall call you ma’am,’ Sally said. ‘You will always be my lady in my heart. Where in the country shall we go?’

      ‘Are you sure that both of you wish to come with me?’

      ‘I shall not desert you, ma’am,’ Sally said, ‘and Thomas vows he will go wherever I lead.’

      ‘I have a friend in Cambridgeshire who will take me in for a while,’ Madeline said. ‘Hattie was my governess, but she left us to marry a gentleman farmer. She will allow me to stay until I can find a cottage of my own. Thomas must take a necklace and sell it for me to cover the costs of the journey.’

      ‘You will not sell your trinkets yet,’ Sally said. ‘Master Hobbis told Thomas that he would loan us a chaise and pair for the journey. Once we are safe, Thomas can leave us and return them and make his own way back. He has a horse stabled here and will need it in the country.’

      ‘I feel much obliged to you both. Thomas must thank his brother for me, but he has already done so much.’

      Madeline’s throat caught. She wished that she had found a way to bring more of her jewels with her, for she would like to reward her good friends and did not like to ask so much of them. However, she could not refuse their kindness and must seek a way to repay them in the future—surely there must be a way for her to be independent?

      She was determined not to be a burden to anyone for long. Hallam had promised to help her, but he had not answered her letter and she could not help being anxious. He’d spoken of calling her husband out—had he been injured himself? A terrible fear gripped her that he might be in pain or even dying.

      She could not make enquiries herself for fear of betraying her whereabouts, but Thomas must go again to Hallam’s lodgings and enquire after him. Madeline would not beg for his help and so would not send a second letter, but she needed to know that he was well and not in trouble.

      Accordingly, the former footman was dispatched with a pearl necklet she insisted on selling and instructed to make enquiries concerning Hallam’s health. While he was gone, Sally packed their few possessions and Mr Hobbis had them loaded on to the chaise ready for his return.

      Madeline spent the time at the window looking down into the yard, standing just behind the curtains to avoid being seen whilst on the look out for Thomas’s return or Hallam himself.

      * * *

      Two hours passed before she saw Thomas crossing the yard. He came upstairs to them immediately. He had sold the necklet for fifty guineas, which Madeline was pleased to have, but his news was not good. Hallam’s landlady had not seen him in three days and she had heard nothing of him since he went out the last evening.

      Madeline felt a surge of despair sweep through her, for she could only think that Hal had met her husband in a duel as he’d promised and been killed. Fighting the urge to scream and weep, she sank down into a chair, her hands to her face.

      ‘If he is dead, what have I to live for?’ she said, the tears she could not control trickling through her fingers. ‘I knew in my heart something was wrong, for he would have come to me when he had my letter.’ Unless he was angry with her, for sending him away with harsh words that night at the ball?

      If only that were so.

      She would rather he hated her than that he should be dead.

      Thomas frowned. ‘I heard a rumour of a duel, my lady...they say a man was killed by foul play, but I do not know the details. Would you have me ask my brother to make what enquiries he may? He has friends who will discover the truth, and when I return the chaise to him he may have more news for us.’

      ‘Thank you,’ Madeline said. ‘How good you and Sally and Mr Hobbis have been to me. Will you take some of these guineas for your brother?’

      ‘He would not accept your money, my lady. Jake has a big heart and he told me he would willingly do more for you.’ What he’d actually said was that he would like to break the count’s neck for treating a lady so ill, and since he was a big strong man with huge hands, given the chance he could do it.

      ‘Then I can only thank you all for your kindness. I do not know what I should have done without my friends.’

      Had she been forced to submit to the marquis, she thought she might very well have taken her own life. Her heart was aching, but she was determined to be brave and carry on, because her friends had done so much for her that she could not give in to her private misery.

      ‘We should leave, ma’am,’ Sally said. ‘Thomas, pray ask your brother to have the chaise made ready. We shall be more than two days on the road and we must seek out small quiet inns, otherwise the count will find it easy to follow us.’

      ‘Yes, we must be careful for all our sakes. It is not just I who would suffer if we were caught,’ Madeline said. Her friends had risked much for her sake and if Lethbridge caught up with them he would punish both Sally and Thomas, as well as forcing Madeline to return with him.

      ‘We’ll be on our way in a few minutes,’ Thomas promised. He patted his coat pocket. ‘Do not worry, ma’am, I am armed and I would die before I let that devil take either you or Sally.’

      * * *

      ‘You should stay in bed another day, sir,’ Dr Phelps said as he saw Hallam up and dressed. ‘We were lucky that the fever soon passed and your wound is healing well, but I would have preferred to see you rest a little longer.’

      ‘I thank you for my good health. Your wife has been an excellent nurse,’ Hallam said and offered his hand, which was firmly clasped. ‘Please render your bill to me at my lodgings as soon as possible. I am very much in your debt.’

      ‘Captain Mainwaring, who has called every day to see how you went on, has paid the bill. He would not disturb you for you were sleeping СКАЧАТЬ