captor had ridden was standing a short distance away, tied to a ring in the wall and still saddled. Voices came from one of the loose boxes and the chaise could be seen through an archway. Susannah crept across and untied the horse and then, leading him swiftly to the mounting block, she hitched her skirts up high and scrambled into the saddle. She turned the black and headed for the gateway and was galloping across the park, making for the lodge gates they had driven through a short time earlier, when a shout from behind told her she had been seen.
Grimly she crouched low in the saddle and urged the horse to his maximum effort. He was tired and reluctant to be taken away from his stable, but she drove him on, and when she had passed through the lodge gates, risked a glance behind, to see several figures running about near the stable yard gateway.
They had passed through no large village where she might seek help, so she rode for some woods she could see across the large strip field. She had almost reached the shelter of the trees when a shout from behind informed her she was being followed. Twist and dodge amongst the trees as she could, she could not shake off her pursuer and for some miles she rode on, the black gallantly responding to her commands, until she rounded the corner of the small spinney, to see that she had been cut off. Coming straight for her, only a few yards away, was Lord Chalford.
Desperately Susannah dragged the pistol out of the pocket of her cloak and pointed it at him.
‘I know it is loaded, and I shall fire if you come closer, my lord!’ she announced.
Lord Chalford laughed, amused.
‘Don’t be foolish, my dear. I’ll not harm you, I swear. You’ve no cause to fear me. Let us talk over what I can offer you.’
He rode closer, clearly determined to ignore her warning, and she pursed her lips and fired. The bullet hit him in the upper arm and she saw the look of astonishment in his eyes before the chestnut he was riding reared in fright and, as Lord Chalford’s attention had been distracted, threw him to the ground before turning and bolting back the way he had come, while Lord Chalford struck the ground heavily and lay unmoving.
Chapter Four
Aghast, Susannah stared at the man lying supine on the ground. Then, terrified she might have killed him, she threw herself from the black’s saddle and dragging him after her ran across the few yards separating her from Lord Chalford. The wound in his arm was bleeding, though sluggishly, and he was still breathing. It seemed likely he had struck his head on falling, and there was little she could do until he regained his senses.
She hitched the black’s reins over the branch of a nearby tree, then took off her cloak and rolled it up to cushion Lord Chalford’s head more comfortably. Looking at the wound in his arm, she saw that the bullet had passed right through the sleeve and the fleshy part of the upper arm, causing little more damage than a graze. She loosened his cravat and eased it from his neck, then fashioned it into a bandage to bind tightly about his arm. It was impossible for her on her own to remove his coat and she had to hope that the makeshift bandage would help to stop the bleeding until she could find assistance.
That was the next problem and she bent her mind to it, trying to think how far back it had been since she had seen a road. She had been concentrating so exclusively on the need to escape from this man that all she could recall was crossing a deeply rutted lane and rejecting it for her own use after thinking it was more dangerous for a galloping horse than the open fields. It had not looked much used and would probably lead nowhere helpful if she did go back to investigate it. Probably she would do better to go on and she was just deciding to do that when the black whinnied and an answering whinny came from some distance away, behind the trees that formed the spinney.
Hastily Susannah rose to her feet and ran
Grimly she crouched low in the saddle and urged the horse to his maximum effort. He was tired and reluctant to be taken away from his stable, but she drove him on, and when she had passed through the lodge gates, risked a glance behind, to see several figures running about near the stable yard gateway.
They had passed through no large village where she might seek help, so she rode for some woods she could see across the large strip field. She had almost reached the shelter of the trees when a shout from behind informed her she was being followed. Twist and dodge amongst the trees as she could, she could not shake off her pursuer and for some miles she rode on, the black gallantly responding to her commands, until she rounded the corner of the small spinney, to see that she had been cut off. Coming straight for her, only a few yards away, was Lord Chalford.
Desperately Susannah dragged the pistol out of the pocket of her cloak and pointed it at him.
‘I know it is loaded, and I shall fire if you come closer, my lord!’ she announced.
Lord Chalford laughed, amused.
‘Don’t be foolish, my dear. I’ll not harm you, I swear. You’ve no cause to fear me. Let us talk over what I can offer you.’
He rode closer, clearly determined to ignore her warning, and she pursed her lips and fired. The bullet hit him in the upper arm and she saw the look of astonishment in his eyes before the chestnut he was riding reared in fright and, as Lord Chalford’s attention had been distracted, threw him to the ground before turning and bolting back the way he had come, while Lord Chalford struck the ground heavily and lay unmoving.
Chapter Four
Aghast, Susannah stared at the man lying supine on the ground. Then, terrified she might have killed him, she threw herself from the black’s saddle and dragging him after her ran across the few yards separating her from Lord Chalford. The wound in his arm was bleeding, though sluggishly, and he was still breathing. It seemed likely he had struck his head on falling, and there was little she could do until he regained his senses.
She hitched the black’s reins over the branch of a nearby tree, then took off her cloak and rolled it up to cushion Lord Chalford’s head more comfortably. Looking at the wound in his arm, she saw that the bullet had passed right through the sleeve and the fleshy part of the upper arm, causing little more damage than a graze. She loosened his cravat and eased it from his neck, then fashioned it into a bandage to bind tightly about his arm. It was impossible for her on her own to remove his coat and she had to hope that the makeshift bandage would help to stop the bleeding until she could find assistance.
That was the next problem and she bent her mind to it, trying to think how far back it had been since she had seen a road. She had been concentrating so exclusively on the need to escape from this man that all she could recall was crossing a deeply rutted lane and rejecting it for her own use after thinking it was more dangerous for a galloping horse than the open fields. It had not looked much used and would probably lead nowhere helpful if she did go back to investigate it. Probably she would do better to go on and she was just deciding to do that when the black whinnied and an answering whinny came from some distance away, behind the trees that formed the spinney.
Hastily Susannah rose to her feet and ran
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