Return of the Runaway by Sarah Mallory

Author:Sarah Mallory
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2016-05-01T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

‘Wolfgang!’ Cassie exclaimed. ‘But how—? What—?’

Raoul cut short her stammering questions with a wave of one hand.

‘I suggest we move away from here. Those rogues might well return.’

‘I agree,’ said Wolfgang. ‘My horse is hidden in the trees. I will collect him and we will ride on. There is an inn about half a mile ahead, we can talk there.’

He walked off, leaving Cassie to stare after him.

‘Let me help you to mount.’

Raoul’s words took a few moments to penetrate her bemused state, but at last she allowed him to throw her up into the saddle.

‘So he claims to be your cousin,’ said Raoul. ‘Do you recognise him?’

‘No, of course not. He fled England nearly ten years ago.’

‘Fled?’

‘Yes. He was accused of killing his wife and stealing her jewels.’

‘And did he?’

A tiny crease furrowed Cassie’s brow.

‘I do not know,’ she said slowly. ‘Why would he run away, if he is innocent?’

Raoul was tempted to remind her that he was doing just that, but at that moment the man calling himself Wolfgang Arrandale trotted up on a glossy black hunter and instead Raoul turned to appraise horse and rider.

‘I’d wager that beast is no hired hack.’

‘No.’ The man leaned forward to pat the glossy neck. ‘Satan is my own. We have been through many adventures together.’

Cassie brought her mare alongside the black.

‘Is that how you live, Cousin, as a soldier of fortune?’

Cousin. Raoul’s brows rose a little. So she had decided to accept that he was who he claimed to be.

Arrandale gave a little shrug and said indifferently, ‘Something like that. Shall we go?’

Raoul scrambled up into his saddle and trotted after the others. There was no doubt that Arrandale’s intervention was timely, for the situation had been looking decidedly ugly, but Raoul could not help wishing it had been a chance stranger who had come to their aid. He might then have accepted their thanks and gone on his way. The fact that the fellow was Cassie’s cousin could not be coincidence. If he was Wolfgang Arrandale. After all they only had his word for it.

He watched Cassie turn her head to look up at her companion and felt something twist in his gut. Something suspiciously like jealousy. He dragged his eyes away and glowered at his horse’s ears.

‘Do not be ridiculous,’ he muttered savagely to the hapless animal. ‘If the fellow is her cousin and he has come looking for her, then your job is done. He can take care of her’.

But as they clattered into the cobbled yard of the inn Raoul realised with a jolt that he did not wish to consign Lady Cassandra to anyone’s care.

* * *

‘So, Cousin, what are you doing here?’

Cassandra could hardly wait until the landlord had left them at their table before she put the question.

‘I have been following you.’

‘So I was not imagining it.’ She threw a triumphant glance at Raoul. ‘I thought I saw something in the woods last night.’

‘Yes, it was careless of me to get so close.

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