“Don’t worry about it too much right now.”
“Yoo-hoo! Miss Proctor? I say, Miss Proctor.”
“Oh, no,” Ursula groaned and sighed deeply. “It’s that dreaded Sinnerton woman again.”
“Let’s go this way,” Trenton replied as he urged her to walk faster. “Don’t look back. She will only wave at you. If we keep our heads together we will look as though we are deep in conversation.”
“Oh dear,” she whispered when they reached the pedestrian gate at the end of the mile. She glanced back at his horse dubiously.
“I need to go this way,” Trenton told her and nodded to the considerably larger gate further down the road. “I will meet up with you down there. Just promise me that you won’t stop to talk to anyone. I will keep an eye on you.”
Desperate even for a few moments alone, Ursula nodded and hurried toward the gate. She didn’t slow her pace as she watched Trenton mount his horse and canter across the grass. They looked a powerful combination as they thundered across the open space and were thrilling just to watch. It was a little disappointing when they momentarily disappeared from sight and she found herself scouring the landscape for him returning.
She was so busy thinking about him that she wasn’t aware of the huge carriage lumbering toward her. It was only when someone shouted a warning to her that she snapped out of her daze and glanced over her shoulder.
The sight of the whites of the horses’ eyes as it thundered down on her was something she knew she would never forget. Her scream was instinctive as she stepped backward, and only just managed to jump out of the way as the carriage careered past without slowing down. A gentleman walking toward her shouted an insult and waved his cane after the coachman, but he didn’t even appear to have heard him because he didn’t look back. Nor did he slow his pace as he careered across the park and disappeared out of sight.
Trenton heard several people shout and swore loudly when a large, black carriage raced down the path a few feet away. His heart tightened painfully in his chest when he heard a woman scream and he knew, even without looking, that Ursula was in danger.
As the carriage passed, he caught a fleeting glimpse of the coachman. The resemblance to the man he had seen on the embankment on the day that Ursula had been attacked rang alarm bells in Trenton. He spun his horse around and raced toward the main gate, and swore with relief when he saw Ursula in conversation with an elderly gentleman. Assured that she was alright, he set off in pursuit of the reckless carriage.
As he raced through the park, he mentally apologised to Ursula for abandoning her, and hoped she had the good sense to remain where she was until he could get back to her. He wished now that he hadn’t sent the maid away, but there was nothing he could do about that now. It was more important that he identify the person responsible for what he suspected were now two attempts on Ursula’s life – three, if he counted the break-in at Adelaide’s house the other week.
Determined to catch his quarry, Trenton kicked his horse into a canter and gave chase.
“I am alright, thank you,” Ursula assured several gentlemen who gathered around her to make sure that she was alright. “No, really, I am fine.”
“Well, well; causing a commotion again are you, Miss Proctor? In the company of London’s most notorious rake as well,” Barbarella Somersby drawled in a silken voice that was ripe with malicious pleasure.
Ursula frowned at her for a moment, then realised she was focused on someone who was standing directly behind her. She whirled around and mentally groaned at the sight of Brampton now standing a few feet away.
Well, he isn’t the coachman then. Nor is Barbarella for that matter, Ursula thought as she scanned the area for Trenton.
“I am waiting for someone,” Ursula reported to nobody in particular.
“All alone?” Barbarella’s voice was scornful.
Ursula pierced her with a glare. “My maid will be along at any moment.”
“I would move if I were you,” Brampton drawled. “After all, a young lady standing around on street corners in London is asking for trouble.”
She would never acknowledge as much in front of Barbarella, but Brampton had a point. Rather than move though, she flicked him with a rather scornful look.
“I am not alone though. You are here.” She smiled to herself when neither Brampton nor Barbarella spoke for a moment. She did, however, catch the look that passed between them.
Barbarella looked at her own maid rather pointedly. “Well, seeing as I am properly chaperoned, I was going to take a walk in the park. Care to join me?”
“No, thank you,” Ursula replied crisply.
“I had better remain here and protect Miss Proctor while she waits for her - maid,” Brampton declared with an air of satisfaction. He knew her maid wasn’t coming and was clearly relishing being in a position to put her on the spot.
Ursula threw him a dark look. “I don’t need a protector, thank you. Trenton should be here in a moment.” She was starting to get worried. Had he fallen off his horse in the trees somewhere?
“Trenton now, is it?” Brampton scoffed.
Barbarella snickered and flicked a dismissive glance at Ursula.
“I should be careful if I were you. Calderhill’s intentions will be less than honourable,” Brampton warned her.