Bound by Duty. Diane Gaston

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       Chapter Two

      Marc Glenville cursed the rain.

      Why there must be a downpour while he was on horseback on his way to London was beyond him. Unless the gods of weather somehow caught his mood.

      Returning to London was never a joy.

      But there was nothing else for him to do. His business in Scotland was complete.

      His horse faltered and his head dipped. A stream of water trickled down his back.

      Business in Scotland. Ha!

      That was the fiction he told his parents and would tell anyone else who questioned his whereabouts these last long months, but it was not the truth.

      He’d been to France. Paris and the countryside, mixing with Bonapartists and others discontented with returning Louis XVIII to the throne, keeping an ear tuned to whether discontent was apt to erupt in insurrection.

      All for king and country.

      Unrest was not widespread. The French, like the British, were fatigued with war. Mark had made his reports. No more would be asked of him.

      It was time to face more personal matters.

      Time to face again the fact that his brother would never again grin at him from across the dinner table and his best friend would never again come to call. When he was pretending to be Monsieur Renard, citoyen ordinaire of France, he could almost forget that Lucien, his brother, had been gone for four years and Charles, not quite three. Whenever he returned, though, he half-expected to see them walk through the door when he was home.

      Grief shot through him like a bolt of lightning.

      Foolish Lucien. Reckless Charles. They’d died so needlessly.

      Marc willed his emotions to cool, lifting his face to the rain that was already chilling his bones. Best to keep emotions in control. When deep in espionage, it could save his life; back in London, it might save his sanity.

      Good God. Was the near-freezing rain begetting gloomy thoughts as well as soaking him to the bone? Concentrate on the road and on his poor horse. Slogging through muddy, rut-filled roads was a battle, even for the sturdy fellow.

      The stallion blew out a breath.

      ‘Hard going, eh, Apollo?’ Marc patted the horse’s neck.

      He’d hoped to reach Peterborough by nightfall, but that was not in the cards in this weather. He’d be lucky to make the next village, whatever that was, and hope its inn had a room with a clean bed.

      The rain had forced him off the main route and he and Apollo were inching their way through any roads that remained passable.

      The delay did not bother him overmuch. No one was expecting him. He’d not informed his parents he was coming to town. Let it be a surprise.

      Marc dreaded the family visit, always, but it was time to take his place as heir, now that duty did not call him elsewhere. He’d call upon Doria Caldwell, Charles’s sister, and make official what had been implied between them since Charles was killed. He owed that much to Charles.

      Besides, the Caldwell family, now consisting only of her and her father, was so ordinary and respectable—and rational—he would relish being a part of it.

      Lightning flashed through the sky and thunder boomed. Was he now to be struck by real lightning, instead of being struck figuratively?

      He must be near a village; he’d been riding long enough. Gazing up ahead, he hoped to see rooftops in the distance or a road sign or any indication that shelter might be near, but the rain formed a grey curtain that obscured all but a few feet in front of him. What’s more, the curtain seemed to move with him, keeping him engulfed in the gloom and making his eyelids grow heavy.

      Lightning flashed again and he thought he’d seen someone in the road. He peered harder until through the curtain of rain a figure took form. It was a woman on foot, not yet hearing his horse coming up from behind.

      ‘Halloo, there!’ he called out. ‘Halloo!’

      The woman, shrouded in a dark cloak, turned and waved her hands for him to stop.

      As if any gentleman could pass by.

      He rode up to her and dismounted. ‘Madam, where are you bound? May I offer some assistance?’

      She looked up at him. She was a young woman, pretty enough, though her face was stiff with anxiety and exhaustion. ‘I want to go to Tinmore Hall.’ It seemed an effort for her to speak.

      ‘Point the way,’ he responded. ‘I’ll carry you on my horse.’

      She shook her head. ‘No use. Floods. Floods everywhere. Cannot get there. Cannot get to the village.’ Her voice shook from the cold.

      He extended a hand. ‘Come. I’ll lift you on to my horse.’ Her cloak was as wet as if it had been pulled from a laundry bath. Her hat had lost any shape at all. Worse, her lips were blue. ‘We’ll find a place to get you dry.’

      She nodded, but there was no expression in her pale eyes.

      She handed him a sodden parcel which he stuffed in one of his saddlebags. He lifted her on to Apollo and mounted behind her. ‘Are you comfortable? Do you feel secure?’

      She nodded again and shivered from the cold.