Mary And The Marquis. Janice Preston

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СКАЧАТЬ now since she had ridden.

      Once mounted, the grey perked up and moved forward in response to the squeeze of her calves. Mary relaxed. He would be fine.

      ‘Hi! Stop, thief!’

      The sudden shout made her jump and the horse shied sideways and lurched into a canter, almost unseating Mary. Heart pounding, both from the shout and from the effort of controlling the horse, Mary pulled up the grey and looked over her shoulder, back across the clearing. Beyond its edge, and barely visible in the gloom, a man staggered from amongst the trees, halting a few paces shy of the track. He grabbed on to a tree, leaning heavily against it.

      ‘Get back...here with...’ His words slurred and faltered. His head drooped.

      Heart in mouth, Mary urged the gelding towards the man. She wondered what he would do—if this was his horse, he must be a gentleman and, as Mary well knew, the richer the man the less forgiving he was likely to be towards someone who took what was his, no matter how great their need.

      She halted by the man. His head lifted as if with a great effort, his eyes locking with Mary’s. Even in the dusky light of late afternoon, she could make out his features, which stood in stark contrast to his ashen skin. His face was all hard planes and angles, with dark, dark eyes under scowling brows and messy, midnight-black hair.

      He’s very handsome. The thought came unbidden and Mary was shocked she would notice such a thing when she was in such a dire predicament. After all, this man now held the power of life and death in his hands. Were he to choose to turn her over to the authorities, she could be imprisoned, or transported, or even—and she quaked at the thought—hanged as a horse thief. She swallowed hard, controlling her fear. She must be at her most persuasive. She had the children to think of.

      He reached out and curled long fingers around the rein.

      ‘What...do...?’ His voice tailed away.

      His fingers slackened on the rein and he slumped heavily to the woodland floor.

      ‘Sir?’

      Leaning down from the saddle, Mary tried to make out further details. His clothing confirmed him as a gentleman, but it was too murky to see much more.

      She could, however, smell the alcohol, even from this distance. Her nose wrinkled as she recalled his slurred words. A gentleman, in his cups. Memories of her father and his abusive ways when under the influence of drink awakened. She must get the children away before the gentleman came round.

      There was no point in waiting, she persuaded herself. He could sleep off the effects of the alcohol here in the woods and, when he awoke, the walk back to wherever he had come from would do him good.

      ‘Come on, lad, walk on,’ she said to the reluctant gelding, as she reined him away from the slumped figure and urged him on.

      When they reached the children, Mary slid from the horse and hoisted Toby up to the saddle. It was a struggle. Toby, at five years old, was a sturdy little chap, but he took a pragmatic approach to life and, instead of making a fuss, he made every effort to help and scrambled on to the saddle. Emily began to wail and Mary hastened to pick her up and lift her in front of Toby. She put her cloak back on, retied her bundle, then positioned the gelding alongside the fallen tree and climbed on to it to help her to mount behind Toby.

      She glanced back across the clearing, but could see no sign of the man. He was, presumably, still sleeping off the drink. She manoeuvred the grey on to the track leading from the clearing. No further shout sounded and Mary’s tension eased a fraction. When they found a farm, or a village, she would release the horse and walk in with the children. No one would ever know she had ‘borrowed’ him. Like both her father and also her late husband she had no doubt the ‘gentleman’ would be unable to remember anything that had transpired that afternoon.

      ‘Try to sit still, Toby,’ she cautioned, as he squirmed in front of her, reaching to touch the horse’s neck.

      ‘I’m patting the horse to tell him he’s being good, Mama.’

      ‘He is, isn’t he?’

      ‘Mama? Look.’ Toby held up his hand, showing fingers discoloured with a dark stain.

      Mary took his hand and put her finger on the stain. It came away wet and sticky. She brought it closer to her eyes, but couldn’t make out the colour. However, it smelled and felt suspiciously like...

      ‘Toby! Are you hurt? Are you bleeding? Where did this come from?’

      ‘Not me, silly Mama. The horse, I think he’s hurt.’ His voice wobbled.

      ‘But...he can’t be. I would have seen if there was blood on his neck.’ A knot of dread formed in her stomach. If it wasn’t Toby and it wasn’t the horse, then it must be...

      She reined in. What if he was hurt? Drunk or not, she couldn’t leave an injured man lying in the woods all night. Muttering unladylike curses, she turned the grey. Immediately, his ears pricked up and his stride lengthened. To Mary’s chagrin, they covered the distance back to the clearing in half the time.

      ‘You old fraud,’ she grumbled to the horse as she slid down from the saddle by the same fallen tree.

      She tied the horse to a sapling. Injured or not, if the drunkard proved a threat they must be able to get away. Again, she went through the process of untying her bundle and spreading her cloak for the children to sit on. A breeze had sprung up, penetrating her thin woollen dress, and she shivered as she lifted the children down and sat them on the cloak, pulling the edges up around them once again.

      ‘Don’t move,’ she whispered, ‘and stay quiet. It’s very important you don’t make a sound. Do you understand?’

      Both children nodded. Toby wrapped his arms around his little sister, who gazed up at Mary, her eyes huge in her face. Mary closed her eyes as the responsibilities weighing on her threatened to overwhelm her. Her stomach clenched, twisting into sick knots. What would happen to them all? She gritted her teeth and gave herself a mental shake. She forced a smile for the children as she stooped to plant a kiss on each of them.

      ‘I won’t be long,’ she said.

      Cautiously, she approached the track where she had left the man.

      ‘You...you...came...’ The voice rasped out from the shadows.

      Mary gasped. The man had roused from his stupor and now sat facing the track, his back propped against a tree. She shot a quick glance over her shoulder to where she had left the children, but they—and the horse—were safely out of sight. Warily, she picked her way towards the man, who watched her from under dark brows, his glittering eyes visible even in the gloom.

      ‘Th...thank you. Shot...’ His breaths were harsh and laboured.

      ‘Shot? Oh, my goodness!’ Mary forgot all caution and hurried to the man’s side. ‘Then it was your blood. Where are you injured?’ She knelt by him.

      ‘Shoulder...leg...careless...’ He shifted and indicated his left shoulder.

      ‘What happened? Who shot you? Was it an accident?’ Mary glanced over her shoulder, at the surrounding woods. What if whoever had shot him was still out there?

      He shook his СКАЧАТЬ