‘I’m about to fall off my horse, Mr Linton. Could you make up your mind?’
I squeezed his hand. That was the only answer he needed. Extending his healthy arm, he slipped it around my shoulder, and I felt a surge of warmth inside me. He was trusting me. He hadn’t asked anyone else for this. He hadn’t even asked Karim. He’d asked me. I wouldn’t disappoint him. I would show him that I could—
That was the moment when he put his weight on me.
‘Mmmph! Grrx!’
How shall I put it…Love can be a heavy burden.
‘Lillian? Are you all right?’
‘Oh yes,’ I wheezed. ‘Just peachy.’
Bloody stinking hell! How did he manage to get so heavy? If it had been any other man, I’d have said ‘sweets and meats’, but after several years in his employ, it was my firm belief that Mr Rikkard Ambrose subsisted on water and the smell of bank notes. I was just about to open my mouth and hint that maybe, just maybe, he was a little bit too heavy after all, when Mr Ambrose’s fingers touched my cheek.
‘Thank you, my little ifrit.’
My lips snapped shut. My spine straightened. Heavy? Who had said anything about heavy? I could do this. Ha! I could do this for two hours straight!
Just then, I heard a noise up ahead. Instantly, my eyes snapped to the spot in question and saw a giant figure on horseback break out of the forest and gallop towards the inn. I’d recognize that beard and headgear anywhere.
‘It’s time!’ I whispered.
Mr Ambrose’s arm tightened around my shoulder, and I felt warmth well up inside me once more. Sure, the warmth came from a two-ton furnace squashing me to death, but so what? It was a loving furnace that was relying on me.
A stable hand came out of the inn’s stable as he heard the horse approach. When he saw the figure of Karim ride up at full gallop, he nearly toppled over onto his butt. I had to work hard to suppress a grin.
‘Miss Linton…what’s happening?’
My head snapped to the side. Mr Ambrose was referring to me as ‘Miss’? He really had to be seriously injured! Staring at him, I saw a single drop of sweat run down his forehead. Crap! He never sweated. Never!
‘Miss Linton? I asked you a question.’
Quickly, I glanced back towards the inn. Karim had picked up the stable hand and put him back on his feet. He seemed to be questioning the young man, who was too sensible and scared to object. The stable hand gestured up at the inn. Karim nodded, handed the servant his horse, and strode towards the door.
‘He’s going in. And…he’s inside now. It looks like the governor-general really is here.’
‘Good.’
Good? Not adequate? Holy moly, I had to get him to a doctor straight away! Was the wound infected? Had the infection already reached his brain?
But before I could start to worry too much, my eye was drawn back to the inn. A familiar mountainous figure passed one of the upper windows. And…yes! There was another man. Much slimmer, with the roasted look of a pale aristocrat who had spent a little too much time in the hot sun of India. Even from this distance, I thought I saw a muscle in Karim’s jaw twitch. Then, slowly, as if his back had rusted, he sank into a bow. Extending his hand, he handed the governor-general some slim object.
‘What is that thing Karim is giving him?’
‘A…letter,’ Mr Ambrose wheezed. Wheezed. Mr Ambrose. ‘A letter with…the official seal of the East India Company.’
I stared at him. ‘How on earth did you get your hand on an official seal of the East India Company?’
‘I didn’t. Karim has one.’
The words hung heavy in the air. Karim? But he…he couldn’t have been…He couldn’t…?
No. It was impossible.
Wasn’t it?
‘Don’t.’