Rayne, however, was not heading toward his coach, Madeline realized. Instead, he guided her beyond the field’s edge into a copse of elms, out of sight of his coach and servants.
Only then did he release her arm and turn on her, flinging her veil up over the rim of her bonnet so he could see her face.
“What in hell’s name do you mean showing up on a dueling field?” he said through gritted teeth.
“What in hell’s name do you mean dueling in the first place?” she retorted, determined to hold her own in any verbal battle with Rayne.
His eyes only darkened as he glowered at her. “You were worried I would shoot Ackerby, weren’t you.” It was not a question.
“Certainly I was worried! I didn’t want you to suffer the consequences if you succeeded in killing a peer.”
If she hoped to soothe his anger with a rational argument, Rayne wasn’t listening. “Why are you so damned determined to champion Ackerby?” he demanded.
“I am not championing him!” Madeline exclaimed, before forcing herself to take a calming breath. Shouting at Rayne was getting her nowhere, so she tried a milder approach.
“Instead of railing at me, my lord, you should be thanking me for saving you from scandal. And from your grandmother’s wrath as well. What would Lady Haviland say if you broke your promise to marry because you were languishing in prison or worse?”
“My grandmother has nothing to do with this!”
“Well, I think you should have considered her sensibilities before you went haring off challenging Ackerby to pistols at dawn!”
Rayne was still scrutinizing her, his eyes furiously intent on her. “I want to know why you are so set on protecting Ackerby,” he repeated.
“I am not, I assure you.”
“Then why did you write to him yesterday?”
Startled by the abrupt question, Madeline stared at Rayne, wondering how he had possibly found out about her letter. A moment later it struck her.
“Did you commission Simpkin to spy on me?” she asked, her tone incredulous. “I cannot believe it!”
“I asked him to watch out for you in case Ackerby returned, and he thought your communication worrisome enough to report to me.”
Madeline clenched her teeth, fuming now herself. Of course Simpkin would be more loyal to Rayne than to her—a fact she would do well to remember in future. But it would be folly to reveal Ackerby’s scheme t
o blackmail her into becoming his mistress. There was no telling what Rayne would do.
Therefore she shaded her answer when she muttered, “I wrote Ackerby to beg him to withdraw from the duel, since I doubted you would withdraw your challenge.”
That part was absolutely true, and her lie of omission was justified, to Madeline’s mind.
“And your brother? Why did you write to him at the same time?”
Madeline hesitated only an instant before remembering that she had a perfectly good excuse for writing her brother. “I wanted to send him the money Freddie gave me as a reward. Gerard needs the funds just now.” Another justifiable omission, she told herself.
When Rayne’s fierceness didn’t abate, Madeline forcibly swallowed her ire and said in a more earnest voice, “I was afraid for you, Rayne, not Ackerby—although I could cheerfully contemplate your demise just now.”
She held her breath, hoping her reply would mollify him enough to make him see reason. When his taut expression seemed to relax the slightest degree, relief surged through Madeline. She did not like lying to Rayne, and she would have been hard-pressed to hedge further if he had grilled her about either letter.
“You are without a doubt the most stubborn female I have ever encountered,” he finally remarked, yet much of the heat had gone out of his tone.
Madeline smiled faintly. “And you are the most stubborn man. I told you yesterday I did not need rescuing, but you would not heed a word I said.”
She could swear that Rayne’s lips twitched. “You have refused to heed me a dozen times over, sweetheart, need I remind you? It is difficult to protect you when you purposely put yourself in danger.”
Madeline allowed her smile to widen a little. “You protected me quite well yesterday, knocking Ackerby down into the rosebushes, but there was certainly no need to call him out.”
“I beg to differ.”