Why not? she thought wildly. Why shouldn’t she make it difficult?
They forced her to her feet and held her up and she stumbled along between them, out into the darkness. She tried to see where she was, but there were only snatches of shapes and colors—a cottage and a faint light, the wrinkled face of an old woman pressed to the dirty windowpane. She opened her mouth to cry out, but the curtain fell back into place, and it was too late. Perhaps she’d imagined the face, perhaps she was losing her mind.
There was a coach waiting, and they pushed her into it and onto the seat. Then the door slammed, and she was alone. It seemed that John Little didn’t even want to ride inside with her now that she was damaged goods. After a moment the vehicle started to move, and as it traveled away from Richard, she began to lose all hope of seeing him again.
Chapter 39
Richard felt as if his head might come right off, but he couldn’t give in to the pain, he simply refused. Tina was out there somewhere in the hands of a killer, and he had to find her. He couldn’t face another loss like Anthony, and this time he wouldn’t get over it. He already understood that Tina’s death would be his destruction.
“How did he get inside?” he muttered, pushing away Evelyn’s hands as she tried to minister to him with warm water and bandages. “Why didn’t anyone see him?”
“You sent the outriders away,” she reminded him maliciously.
“But I set watches!” he shouted, and then groaned and wished he hadn’t.
“Richard!” Will, who’d already been outside searching, came pounding into the room. “Pardon, Mrs. Eversham,” he said to Evelyn. She gave him a little smile, and Richard saw she found his infatuation amusing and wanted to shout again.
“Get on with it, man.”
“One of the men on watch took a knock, too, but his head can’t be as hard as yours. He’s unconscious, and I’ve sent for the doctor.”
“Good.” So that was how he got in. He’d believed the men were up to the task, but clearly Sutton was too cunning for them. Richard wanted to rant and rave and blame himself for being distracted, but there was no point in that. He had work to do, and he must remain calm and in control.
“There’s more,” Will added with a triumphant grin. “A fellow from the nearby town saw Sutton go by—I didn’t ask him what he was doing out so late at night on your estate, but I suspect he’s been poaching. Anyway he must be a brave fellow because he didn’t pretend to be blind deaf and dumb, as they usually do when they’re caught. He said he recognized the wagon. It belongs to the timber merchant in the town, and he knows where the merchant lives. He’s waiting outside to take us there now.”
“Well done, Will.” Despite Evelyn’s tearful protests, Richard staggered to his feet and headed for the door.
“What about me?” she cried. “What if that man comes back, and I’m here all alone?”
“You’re not alone,” he retorted. “You have the entire household on guard.”
“Richard, please don’t leave me . . .”
“I don’t have time for your nonsense now, Evelyn,” he said, white-faced, swaying slightly from his head wound. “Tina is in grave danger, and I have to find her.”
And then he was gone.
“I’m going with Mr. Eversham,” Archie explained, glancing up at Maria as he quickly saddled his horse. All around them the grooms and stable boys were hurrying to help, eager to do anything they could for their master. Mr. Eversham, he had discovered since he arrived, was well loved. It was the hope of the staff of the manor that the universally loathed Evelyn would leave and Mr. Richard would marry and live here in her stead.
Maria had wrapped a thick wool
en shawl about her nightdress, but her dark hair was loose about her shoulders, shining with blue lights in the gloomy stable, and her eyes were big with worry.
“You must find Miss Tina,” she said. “If she were to be . . . I could not live a happy life without knowing she was safe, Archie.”
Archie nodded gravely. “I will do my best, Maria.”
Maria reached out and clasped his arm, leaning close so that her hair made a screen between them and the other men. “You do not understand,” she whispered. “My happiness—”
He almost shrugged her off. Suddenly he felt empty. He knew it was selfish, with Miss Tina missing and Mr. Eversham hurt and in despair, but Archie was in despair, too. He wanted this woman, he wanted to spend his life with her just as much as Mr. Eversham wanted to marry Tina.
“I know you are going home to Spain,” he began.
Maria cut him short. “No, that is not what I am doing, Archie. I have dreamed of home for so long that it no longer seems quite real. A child’s dream because I was a child when I left. I have made my choice. I want you, Archie. I want to stay here in England and marry you. That is what I want.”
He looked astonished at his good fortune, causing her to give a muffled laugh and reach to stroke his cheek.
“But our happiness could not be complete, if Miss Tina . . .” she said, her eyes delving into his.