afraid of him.”
My heart plunged into ice. “Isn’t Marius your friend?”
She bobbed her head, but her little forehead puckered and she whispered, “But I don’t like it when he wants to talk to me at night. He’s different then. He gets angry.”
He taps on the glass at night, I recalled. “Who is Marius?” I whispered.
A moment pulsed as I gazed into Henrietta’s face. In the pureness of her eyes, I could see the agony of indecision, of divided loyalties.
I pulled her away from the tree. “We must never come here again. Your father was right, it is dangerous. I wonder if he knows just how much so. Come, hurry.” I left unsaid the remainder of my thought: Before he comes back.
We fled that place with me all but dragging Henrietta behind me. We’d gone a short way when I saw a figure framed on a hilltop in the direction in which we were headed. With the low-hanging sun behind him, I could make out a man astride a horse. I thought it was Sebastian. Perhaps he’d come from the house to find us.
I fled toward him, our progress slowed by tiny Henrietta battling the hip-high grass. Finally I scooped her up and carriedher, running against the tangle of my skirts and the uneven ground. He saw us, and kicked his horse into a gallop down the hill. As the gap between us closed, I could see the tall, slender figure commanding a huge black beast was Valerian Fox. He reined in his horse directly in my path and peered down at me.
“Are you all right, Mrs. Andrews?” he demanded sharply. His dismount was fluid, controlled. Once he was on the ground, he reached for Henrietta. The act so surprised me, I surrendered her without question.
His eyes lifted and scanned the horizon behind me, his face as inscrutable as ever. “You are too far from the house. It is dangerous out here.” His gaze jerked abruptly to mine, and I had a clear, unwavering revelation—
He knows.
Then he drew his horse close and issued a curt order to the beast. It was either some kind of code or another language, but the horse bobbed its head and went stock-still.
“You will have to ride astride,” he said. “I’ll help you.”
I set my teeth edge to edge, grasped the pommel, and turned my mind away from the humiliating business of having Mr. Fox haul me astride. But the process was done quite handily, his strength proving astonishing for one without the excess of brawn. Astride the saddle, skirts bunched around my lap and the hem nearly to my knees, exposing my boots and a peek of stocking, I straightened tentatively, very uncertain at the unaccustomed height I found myself upon the back of his great horse. The gelding remained perfectly still. Fox handed Henrietta up to me, and she curled comfortably in my lap.
Taking the reins, Mr. Fox led us back to the house.
Chapter Six
I understand that is the second time you have come to some ill near that place,” Fox said. We were in the library, where he had asked me to meet him after seeing Henrietta to the nursery. I’d wished to duck into my room to freshen my appearance, and this thought, as soon as it occurred to me, struck me as strange indeed, considering the much more important things I had on my mind.
“What do you mean?”
He reached out and cradled my bandaged hand in his. There was sureness in the way he touched me, as if we weren’t strangers. As if we’d known one another a very long time. “You cut your hand out there.” His finger traced the line of the cuts,visible through the bandage by the seeping blood. I’d ripped them open carrying Henrietta.
My mouth opened, and I was about to ask him where he could have learned such a thing when it occurred to me that a man like him had numerous methods to gain intelligence.
I disengaged my hand with some difficulty. “Funny,” I tossed out with a smile, “but I’ve never been accident-prone before.”
He changed tack. “The child is unharmed?”
“She is fine. I appreciate your concern. And your help. Your
My heart plunged into ice. “Isn’t Marius your friend?”
She bobbed her head, but her little forehead puckered and she whispered, “But I don’t like it when he wants to talk to me at night. He’s different then. He gets angry.”
He taps on the glass at night, I recalled. “Who is Marius?” I whispered.
A moment pulsed as I gazed into Henrietta’s face. In the pureness of her eyes, I could see the agony of indecision, of divided loyalties.
I pulled her away from the tree. “We must never come here again. Your father was right, it is dangerous. I wonder if he knows just how much so. Come, hurry.” I left unsaid the remainder of my thought: Before he comes back.
We fled that place with me all but dragging Henrietta behind me. We’d gone a short way when I saw a figure framed on a hilltop in the direction in which we were headed. With the low-hanging sun behind him, I could make out a man astride a horse. I thought it was Sebastian. Perhaps he’d come from the house to find us.
I fled toward him, our progress slowed by tiny Henrietta battling the hip-high grass. Finally I scooped her up and carriedher, running against the tangle of my skirts and the uneven ground. He saw us, and kicked his horse into a gallop down the hill. As the gap between us closed, I could see the tall, slender figure commanding a huge black beast was Valerian Fox. He reined in his horse directly in my path and peered down at me.
“Are you all right, Mrs. Andrews?” he demanded sharply. His dismount was fluid, controlled. Once he was on the ground, he reached for Henrietta. The act so surprised me, I surrendered her without question.
His eyes lifted and scanned the horizon behind me, his face as inscrutable as ever. “You are too far from the house. It is dangerous out here.” His gaze jerked abruptly to mine, and I had a clear, unwavering revelation—
He knows.
Then he drew his horse close and issued a curt order to the beast. It was either some kind of code or another language, but the horse bobbed its head and went stock-still.
“You will have to ride astride,” he said. “I’ll help you.”
I set my teeth edge to edge, grasped the pommel, and turned my mind away from the humiliating business of having Mr. Fox haul me astride. But the process was done quite handily, his strength proving astonishing for one without the excess of brawn. Astride the saddle, skirts bunched around my lap and the hem nearly to my knees, exposing my boots and a peek of stocking, I straightened tentatively, very uncertain at the unaccustomed height I found myself upon the back of his great horse. The gelding remained perfectly still. Fox handed Henrietta up to me, and she curled comfortably in my lap.
Taking the reins, Mr. Fox led us back to the house.
Chapter Six
I understand that is the second time you have come to some ill near that place,” Fox said. We were in the library, where he had asked me to meet him after seeing Henrietta to the nursery. I’d wished to duck into my room to freshen my appearance, and this thought, as soon as it occurred to me, struck me as strange indeed, considering the much more important things I had on my mind.
“What do you mean?”
He reached out and cradled my bandaged hand in his. There was sureness in the way he touched me, as if we weren’t strangers. As if we’d known one another a very long time. “You cut your hand out there.” His finger traced the line of the cuts,visible through the bandage by the seeping blood. I’d ripped them open carrying Henrietta.
My mouth opened, and I was about to ask him where he could have learned such a thing when it occurred to me that a man like him had numerous methods to gain intelligence.
I disengaged my hand with some difficulty. “Funny,” I tossed out with a smile, “but I’ve never been accident-prone before.”
He changed tack. “The child is unharmed?”
“She is fine. I appreciate your concern. And your help. Your
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