If the Earl Only Knew (The Daring Marriages) by Amanda Forester

Author:Amanda Forester [Forester, Amanda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2016-07-04T21:00:00+00:00

Twenty

“Kate?” A startled Wynbrook dropped the book from his hand.

Kate aborted her attack, lost her footing, and fell right into his arms.

“What has happened?” asked Wynbrook.

“Robert has been taken. Quick! There is no time to lose,” she panted.

“Good heavens, Kate. Are you all right? My word, are you bound?”

Kate realized that though she held her knife with both hands, her wrists were still bound. “They have Robert in a coach. They grabbed me first to hold me for ransom. Robert caught up with them and managed to push me out of the carriage, but he was shot, and somewhere there is a man who is following me. We must catch them. We must catch them now!”

“Hold still, let me free you.” John grabbed the knife from her hands and cut through the bonds on her wrists. She rubbed her wrists, which were raw from the effort of trying to loose them herself. He picked up the book and dropped it and the knife into one of his greatcoat pockets.

“The man, we must get him.” She turned and would have run from the clearing except for a strong hand on her shoulder that held her fast.

“My goodness, Kate, you are bloodied and bruised. Let me help you.”

Kate’s legs buckled under the slight pressure and she collapsed into his arms. “But, Robert… The man…”

“I will see to it.” He carried her to the clearing, and for just a moment, she rested her head against his shoulder. Despite all that was happening, he had a certain confident calm about him that made her feel things would somehow be set to rights. She took a deep breath to revive herself and motioned for Wynbrook to put her down. This was no time to lose her nerve. Taking a careful look around, she could see nothing but the Wynbrook coach being readied to go.

“Come, we must go after them.” Kate ran for the coach with Wynbrook at her side. “I left them stopped down the road. If we hurry, we might overtake them.”

“Where is the coachman?” Wynbrook asked the stable lad who was holding the heads of the horses, their breath visible in the crisp cold.

“Gone in for a pint,” replied the lad.

“No time!” Kate urged.

“I’ll take this for a spell,” Wynbrook said to the baffled stable hand as he took the reins.

The stable lad shrugged. “Your coach, m’lord.”

“You stay here,” Wynbrook directed Kate, climbing up to the coachman’s seat.

“You don’t even know which coach you are looking for without me,” said Kate, climbing up after him.

Wynbrook sighed through gritted teeth and slapped the reins to get the horses moving. They rolled out of the yard and onto the road.

“John?” cried Tristan, emerging from the inn. “John! Kate! Where are you going?”

“Trouble with Robert. Must run!” cried John and urged the horses to gallop down the road.

“Trouble? What trouble?” called Tristan, but there was no time to stop and explain.

“I don’t know how long they stopped. Might still be waiting,” said Kate, rubbing her elbow where it ached from her fall.

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