Harlequin Historical June 2020--Box Set 1 of 2 by Annie Burrows

Author:Annie Burrows
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

She hadn’t slept a single wink, so it wasn’t hard rousing herself before dawn to dress and creep from the house. By the time the clock showed half past five James had not called for her and she had to assume he wasn’t going to. Perhaps he had forgotten after the excitement of the night before or perhaps he was trying to stop her from attending the duel by making it harder for her to get there.

She felt guilty about creeping out unaccompanied, but she knew she had to be there. The night before she had written a short note to her mother, explaining she had woken early and gone out for a ride and now she folded this note in half and left it on the little table in the hallway before slipping out through the kitchen to the side passage and to the front of the house that way. Outside, Richard, the young boy her parents employed to run errands and help in the kitchens, was waiting with her horse. She’d asked him yesterday to fetch her horse from the stables where he was kept while they resided in London and have him saddled and waiting for her so she could make a speedy exit. Now all she needed to do was find her way to Hampstead Heath in the dark.

She’d ridden out that way before and knew it would take about an hour with the streets more or less empty and no obstructions. Hampstead Heath was huge in area, but she had discussed the matter with Henrietta, who despite her young years seemed to have much more practical experience than Caroline, and she’d directed her to a spot on the southern edge of the Heath that was popular for duels.

She’d only been riding for five minutes when there was a shout behind her. Caroline felt her heart begin to thump in her chest as she turned and looked, wondering if she should just spur her horse into a gallop to outrun any danger.

Emerging out of the darkness on horseback was a figure clad in an elegant riding habit and hat, her posture perfect and a wide grin on her face.

‘You look as though you’ve seen a ghost,’ Henrietta said.

‘What are you doing?’ Caroline couldn’t believe her cousin was out here in the street before dawn.

‘Accompanying you.’

‘You can’t.’

‘Of course I can. Mother doesn’t rise until at least ten and I’ve bribed my maid to inform her I went for an early stroll with you when she does emerge. Now we’re just two young women out for a civilised ride, nothing scandalous about it, rather than you skulking through the darkness on your own.’

‘I wasn’t skulking.’ Caroline said, unable to take her eyes off Henrietta. ‘Who are you?’ she murmured. She loved her cousin—despite the six-year difference in their age they had grown close over the last few months—but Caroline was beginning to realise that there were hidden depths to Henrietta. She wasn’t like most eighteen-year-olds, at least not the superficial personas they let the others see at social occasions.

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