For the next half an hour they exchanged desultory conversation about their respective homes, their past, and their families. It was difficult for Beatrice because it stirred up so many memories that she would have preferred remained hidden. However, as soon as she had told him about her rather nondescript childhood, turned on its head by the abrupt death of both of her parents from influenza; she started to feel a little better about the past. She had no idea if it was down to the fact that she had talked about it, but her childhood suddenly didn’t seem to hurt so much. As she spoke, she felt as though she was talking about someone else’s life. It was a little odd really, although not entirely unwelcome.
In contrast, Ben’s childhood had been filled with a large family of extended relatives who were still scattered all over the country. If he needed any of them, they were close enough to contact relatively easily. However, they lived far enough away to enable him to live his own life without their interference, and that was just the way he liked it.
She, on the other hand, really had nobody other than Maud. Although she had asked her uncle several times about her own extended family, Matthew had informed her rather vaguely that there were some somewhere, only he couldn’t remember where. When she had pushed him for more information, he had mumbled something about finding the details before he had disappeared into the study. Unfortunately, he then appeared to have promptly forgotten all about their conversation.
As a result, she still didn’t know if he had just been trying to pacify her, or had honestly forgotten, or just didn’t want to tell her that there was nobody other than the two of them.
“Watch out!” She screamed suddenly when a huge black carriage suddenly appeared in the lane beside them.
Ben swore loudly and tried to pull back on the horse’s reins. Unfortunately, the horse was spooked by the huge black beast thundering past so closely, and began to fight the restriction of the reins in a desperate attempt to break free.
Ben threw Beatrice a dark look. “Hang on to something.” His warning was cut short when the horse suddenly yanked his head down and began to charge after the large black carriage, which was now barrelling swiftly down the road in front of them.
“Jesus,” he snarled and began to saw on the reins in an attempt to force their horse to stop.
“Ben, what do I do?” Beatrice cried. She threw a wild glance at the hedgerow as it rushed past in a horrifying whirl, and tightened her hold on the seat beneath them.
At the speed they were travelling, the carriage could tip over and they would almost certainly die. She began to pray.
“Brace yourself,” he bit out when the carriage in front of them tipped onto two wheels as it sped around the corner and disappeared from sight.
“Ben!”
As they reached the end of the road, the horse tried to head in the same direction as the black carriage, but Ben was determined, and braced himself as he drew back on the opposite rein. Confused, yet equally determined to get its own way, the horse danced around as it fought for supremacy. It trotted, then tried to break into a canter, but couldn’t get its head free so it could surge forward as it wanted to. Thankfully, it was enough to slow them down. Although they were going faster than Ben wanted, they were at least able to make it around the corner in one piece.
With no sign of the other carriage ahead of them, the horse reluctantly settled into a brisk trot.
“I daren’t stop the carriage right now, Beatrice. With how spooked he is, he could bolt before I get you down. I don’t want him running off without us.”
“It’s alright,” Beatrice gasped. Her heart pounded so heavily that she could hear very little else. “At least if he continues to trot, he will wear himself out eventually.”
“Keep an eye out behind us, darling. I want to make sure that the driver doesn’t circle around somewhere to try that again.”
“What do we do if he comes back?” She gasped. “That was the carriage from the other day.”
He glanced at her. “Do you think that it is the same one that tried to run you down?”
Beatrice nodded but didn’t know if he saw her because he had turned his attention back to the road before them. “I am positive it was the same black carriage.”
“Did you see the driver?”
She shook her head. “No, did you?”
“No. He was wearing black from head to foot and had a cap on his head that hid his features.”
“It is definitely a man,” Beatrice whispered quietly.
“I cannot conceive of any woman who would be strong enough to control a horse and carriage at that speed.”
Beatrice frowned at the road ahead and thought about Caroline Smethwick’s carriage. She had used her large, black, nondescript carriage to travel around the country lanes at night while she tried to gather information on the clairvoyants who had fleeced her elderly aunt out of most of her wealth.
While she didn’t suspect that Caroline Smethwick had anything to do with the attempts on her life, she wondered how many other people used nondescript black carriages to conduct their criminal activities.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Beatrice continued to glance back at the road behind them while they made their way through the country lanes toward home. Thankfully, there was no sign of the ca
rriage. It was a relief when they finally turned back onto the lane that would take them to Tipton Hollow. With that in mind, she sat back in the seat with a sigh of relief and looked at Ben.