His teeth flashed with a gleaming smile. “It’s a gift. I’m going to comb the woods one more time. You’ll be all right here until I get back?” he said to Grey.
Without looking at Lord Gravenhurst, Grey nodded and waved him away. “Go. I won’t be foolish again.”
Lord Gravenhurst rose and disappeared into the woods before she addressed Grey. “Why have you bound Abby and me?”
He rocked off his haunches and loomed in front of her. “Because, my sweet, you tried to escape me while your friend tried to shoot me.”
Madelaine snapped her gaze to Abby, but Grey jerked her head back to him. “Not that friend, my consummate little actress.” His hands had come to her arms as he crouched in front of her.
She licked her dry, cracked lips. What Grey said made no sense. “I don’t know that man. He was a stranger to me.”
Grey reached into his coat and withdrew a paper. “And I suppose you don’t know what this is either?”
Her heart sank with recognition. “It’s not as it seems.”
“It never is, in my experience.” The loathing and pain in his voice sliced at her. “You lied to me. You said this was a goodbye letter from your father, yet this is the king’s paper. The very one your father was accused of stealing. So what’s not as it seems? Are you not a liar or is your father not a thief? Not a traitor? Or are you saying you’re not a traitor? A liar? An expert deceiver?”
She swallowed convulsively. She was a liar and now a traitor. “I lied to save my father. He stole that paper to protect England.” The words sounded foolish, but she pushed on. “The king’s going mad and Father wanted to get the paper to the prince, so he may have proof of the king’s unstable mind. Then the prince will be able to rule in the king’s stead.”
“Your father’s the mad one.” Grey shoved the paper back into his coat.
“Grey.” Desperation made her voice come out high and brittle. “You promised to help me.”
He jerked away from her and stood. “That was before your friend tried to kill me. I’d be stupid to deny your part now. You’re helping your father and whoever he’s working with try to kill the king’s men.”
Her mouth dropped open at his accusation. “I vow I’m not.”
“Don’t lie to me anymore, Madelaine.” His tone was savage and unrelenting as the hardest steel.
Anger flared in her chest. “You seem to know an awful lot for a mere equerry.” Without replying, he twisted and stomped into the woods. Hot tears coursed down her cheeks. She was all the things he accused her of, but what was he? Who was he? He was no mere equerry with all he knew. Doubt and betrayal gnawed at her. Had he used her simply to try to prove her father’s guilt? If so, it had worked beautifully.
“Madelaine?”
She shifted to face Abby.
“Tell me what’s going on.”
Not about to shout all her secrets, Madelaine scooted on her bottom across the ground. Once she was beside Abby, she took a deep breath. “My father was a spy for the king.”
Abby responded with a sharp intake of breath, followed by, “And?”
“And he has betrayed the king. Father thinks it’s for the good of the kingdom, but I don’t know.” She hung her head low. “I just don’t know,” she whispered. “Now I’m a traitor too. And Lord Grey thinks I’m helping Father and some other accomplice kill the king’s men.”
Abby nudged Madelaine’s shoulder with her own until Madelaine reluctantly looked up. “Did you know that man on the trail?” Abby asked, barely above a whisper.
“No.” Madelaine shook her head. “I swear I didn’t. And Father may be a traitor, but he’s no killer.”
“I know,” Abby soothed. “What are we going to do now?”
Madelaine shook her head but didn’t answer. Footsteps crunched through the woods toward them. Grey and Lord Gravenhurst appeared side by side. Grey bent down in front of her. “We will untie you to eat, drink and have a moment of privacy, but then you’ll be bound again so we can sleep. Understand?”
She nodded. She wasn’t about to argue and cause him to change his mind. He yanked her ropes off her wrists and ankles and pointed to a log. “Sit there. And don’t say a word.” She sniffed at his command but held her silence.
A few moments later Abby was dumped unceremoniously beside her. Madelaine opened her mouth to thank Grey, but he cut her off. “Don’t speak, Madelaine. I’ve my temper under control for the moment, but one wrong word from you might make me lose it, and I’ll not be responsible for what I do to you after that.”
She clamped her mouth closed at his ominous words and then ate and drank without speaking. She was almost positive that he’d lied to her too, but blast the brutish man, without proof she dare not risk what he might do.
Madelaine awoke to darkness like she’d never seen. She blinked, confused about where she was. Grey’s voice floated to her. She froze as the memories flooded her and made her shake. Cold air licked her bare face and hands but something heavy covered her body, offering a little warmth. She ran her fingertips over the fine material and when she got to the hard buttons, she stilled, a lump forming in her throat. When had Grey covered her with his coat? The small gesture of kindness filled her with hope that perhaps he really did care about her, and made her cringe that she should care at all.
Immediately, she moved to sit up and realized she could. She glanced at her hands and feet. Grey or Lord Gravenhurst had untied her while she slept. But which man had taken pity on her? Her foolish heart wanted to think it was Grey.
Glancing around, she located Abby asleep on the other side of the clearing. Clever. Even if Madelaine wanted to escape, they knew she’d never leave Abby and to get to her friend, she’d have to cross right in front of Grey. She was as good as stuck, unless she wanted to add Abby to the list of people she had betrayed. If she couldn’t escape, then she planned to learn as much as she could. She strained to hear what the men were saying but only caught snatches of the conversation.
Inching her body along the dirt, she moved a bit closer and froze when Lord Gravenhurst stood. She squeezed her eyes shut and feigned sleep taking care to breathe deeply.
“So you didn’t recognize the man either?” Grey asked.
“No. The woods were thick where we were. The trees and underbrush blocked most light. But even in the shadow of darkness, I could tell his face was not right.”
“Yes.” Grey’s voice held a note of curiosity. “The outline of his jaw and cheek was a misshapen mess.”
“I’ll tell you one thing for sure,” Lord Gravenhurst said. “The man isn’t French. Whoever they’re working with, it’s not the French.”
Grey spoke like a man who knew all about the king’s spies. Her throat constricted as she waited for them to speak again.
“I got that much from his accent,” Grey replied. “Why the hell are you here?”
Madelaine slowly opened her eyes and stared into the dark. She wished she could see their faces.
“You’re damn lucky I am,” Lord Gravenhurst said. “If it wasn’t for me, you’d be dead.”
Grey scoffed. “By the time you came to help me, I already had the man on the run.”
“Ah, yes. He was running to get into better position to shoot you again.”
“Did my brother send you to check up on me and make sure I was doing my job?”
Madelaine dug her fingers into the dirt. Every word Grey spoke crushed her anew. He was a spy. He had to be. What was his job? Seduce and destroy? Her heart thumped heavily.
“I’ve lost contact with your brother,” Lord Gravenhurst said. “That’s why I came to you. To see if he’d changed his mind and followed you.”
“When did you lose contact?” Concern filled Grey’s tone.
“I sent a carrier pigeon to tell Ashdon my lead had come up empty, and when I got no response back as to what to do next, I went back to the castle and tower. He was neither place, so I thought he might have come to find you.”
“I have
n’t heard from him either. Maybe he’s waiting for me in Kew. I sent a message to him before I left the inn telling him I was going to Lancashire to get Madelaine and bring her to Kew to stand before the king.”
A cry threatened to escape her. She bit down on her cheek and pressed her face into the dirt with horror. He’d never intended to help her. He’d used her and lied to her. He was no better than she was. He was worse.
And to think guilt had been her constant companion since the moment she’d decided to help her father. A big part of that guilt had been because she was betraying Grey. Blast him. He’d never loved her. Her mind shrank away from the truth. She’d thought she’d met a man who really loved her for who she was, or had been, but it was a lie. Her breathing picked up speed, until fear of alerting the men that she was awake forced her to bite her lip. She bit hard until the blood came, and she was able to control her breathing once again.
“Shall I go with you to Kew?” Lord Gravenhurst asked.
“No. Go to my parents’ home—that is…I mean Edward’s, now. If he’s not there, meet me at the tower. I suspect once the king speaks with Madelaine, that’s where he’ll send her. I’ll take her there and then we can either search together for my brother, or if we’ve heard from him, we’ll set out to find whoever it is they’re working with.”
“Do you think she’ll tell you?”
“I mean to try to get the information out of her.” Grey sounded tired and reluctant. Or maybe she just wished that was the way he sounded. She didn’t know what was real and what was false anymore.
“Seduction again, is it?” Lord Gravenhurst’s voice was with filled restrained laughter.
She couldn’t decide who disgusted her more—Lord Gravenhurst or Grey. Grey won since he’d broken her heart.
“Shut up,” Grey snapped. “And get going. I’m worried about Edward.”
“All right.” Shuffling feet alerted Madelaine that Lord Gravenhurst was indeed departing. Something was dragged across the dirt before whistling through the air and smacking with a thud against what sounded like flesh. Then a horse’s neigh filled the heavy air, followed by the clopping of horseshoes.
Madelaine stood and waited for Grey to face her. No point even trying to run. His outline was close in a sliver of moonlight. She’d never make it farther than to Abby before he caught her and tied her up again.
After what seemed an eternity, he wheeled around and stared. After a moment, he walked toward her, his boots crushing leaves and breaking twigs as he came near. He stopped before her, his scent flooding her, his heat invading her space. “How long have you been awake?”
A dam of hurt inside her broke. She pulled her hand back and slapped him. In a flash, he slid his hand around her neck. He flipped her onto her back with a thud. He loomed over her, the weight of his body crushing her, his heartbeat drilling into her chest.
“You never loved me,” she said on a half-broken sob.
He cupped her face and squeezed. “Don’t you dare say that.” His voice shook. “I loved you. I risked everything wanting to believe you. I would’ve broken my Goddamn vow to the king for you. Forsaken my honor and my family to protect you.” He released her chin and dragged her up by the arms. When they were both standing he shook her until her teeth rattled in her head. “I offered you my heart and you offer me lies.”
“You speak of lies!” She wrenched free, shaking from head to toe. “You lied to me, spy!” She flung the accusation at him, too hurt to say anything else.
A guttural cry came from him. He yanked her to him. He dove a hand into her hair and pulled her head back. “That’s right. I’m a spy. Now you know my secret. I work to serve our king while you work to bring him low.”
Despite her determination to stay brave, tears stung her eyes. “I work to save my father. That’s all I strive for.”
“And what of the man who tried to kill me? The same man who no doubt you and your father conspired with to help kill Lord Pearson. What was the plan? Kill all the king’s spies one by one, until there was none of us left to fight against your father’s plan to overthrow the king?”
Madelaine’s shoulders sagged with weariness. “I do not know the man who shot you.”
“Lies,” Grey spat with bitterness.
“I know nothing of any plan. All I know is my father believes the king is going mad, and he did what he thought best when he took the list the king made. Father intended to give it to no one but the prince, and only for the prince to use it for England’s good.”
“Since when is a son stealing a throne from a father good? Tell me, my sweet, what good can come of that?”
“I don’t know.” She pressed her fingers against her throbbing temples. She was so tired, too tired to fight, almost too tired to carry on. “I did what my father bid me. What choice do I have? He’s my father, and I owe him fidelity.”
Grey clamped a hand around her arm like a vise. “Not at the sake of your own integrity.”
She tried to wiggle her arm out of his grasp, but he held tight. His blunt words drove into her heart and stirred thoughts she’d had herself, but it wasn’t so simple. “He stood by me for years when my mother tore me down with cruel words and treatment.” She used her free hand to wipe away the inconvenient tears. “If it wasn’t for me, they’d have never had their last fight, and my mother would be alive. So you see, I owe him fidelity as my father and as payment for the wrong I’ve done.”
Grey released her arm at the same time he shoved her away. “Every time you speak, I wish my damned heart would stop speeding up for you, but it speeds and it speeds. Maybe only death will cure me of you.”
Her heart wrenched at the pain in his voice. She reached for him with an unsteady hand.
He pulled back as if her touch was poison and stared at her. “I welcome an early death if that’s my only release from you.” He spun on his heel, his shoulders hunching forward. “No more talking to me unless I ask you a direct question. You’re an excellent actress, and I no longer wish to be a gullible fool.” He pivoted toward her. “Now wake your friend. We’re leaving for Kew.”
Unnerved by the fierce anger vibrating in Grey’s voice, Madelaine rushed over to Abby. She kneeled down to shake her, but Abby was already awake. “No need. Your voices woke me.”
Madelaine pressed her hands to her cheeks, an embarrassed flush heating her. “How much did you hear?” she whispered.
“Nearly every word, I suspect. Enough to know he still loves you and enough to know you are a fool. Your father is not the bloody saint you’ve built in your mind.”
“No plotting,” Grey thundered and stormed toward them. Before Madelaine could utter a protest, he shoved her onto the front seat of the carriage and within seconds he deposited Abby into the carriage.
He took the seat beside Madelaine and clicked his tongue at the horses. As they started to move, the sun crested over the trees and shone the first rays of light down upon them. The first thing Madelaine noticed was that Grey held the reins so tight his knuckles were white. She turned her gaze to his face where the muscle in his jaw ticked steadily. She didn’t know what to say, but she felt she had to say something for her deception, though he’d deceived her as well. “Grey, I—”
“Not. A. Word,” he said, cutting her off. “One word and I’ll pull over and stuff my handkerchief in your mouth and bind it closed. Understand?”
She nodded and clamped her mouth shut.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
A chant ran through Grey’s mind as he drove the horses and gripped the reins so hard the leather bit into his skin through his gloves. Damn. Damn. Damn. He kept the litany going, afraid if he stopped the doubt would creep in again. Doubt about Madelaine’s guilt would make him weak. Doubt about her part in this disaster would make him break. Doubt that he could take her to the tower knowing it would mean her death would make him let her go.
Damn. Damn. Damn. If he focused on the chant and the steady, fast clop of the horses’ hooves, he could keep hi
s uncertainty away. His ploy worked for the better part of three hours, but then she fell asleep and slumped against him, soft, trusting and beautiful. Her flowery smell invaded first his nose, then his mind and finally his heart. He stared alternately between the road and her beautiful lips. Then the road and the long, slender slope of her neck. Road and black eyelashes against creamy skin.
Blast! He jerked the reins hard to the right as he almost drove them off the road. Madelaine moaned and stirred beside him, but she did not wake. No indeed. She snuggled into him, and then she flopped onto her side, her head landing in his lap and her slender fingers curling around his thigh. A sigh escaped her.
He tensed every muscle. Longing and need shot through him. He’d never allowed himself to need anyone after he’d failed to gain his father’s love, and then Madelaine had come along. She’d stolen his heart with her uniqueness and her goodness. Anger stirred. What goodness? It was a lie.
Or was it?
Was she merely a pawn in her father’s game? When he recalled her kisses, the way she looked naked, and the love he thought they’d shared, he wanted to believe in her. What would doubt do? Give her a fighting chance to escape? Would she abandon her father if she saw the king and understood what was at stake?
She moved again, her hair falling like a thick blanket over her face to hide it. He resisted the twitching urge to push the tresses behind her ears. Pain tore him apart from the inside out. Maybe this pain was his punishment.
He’d given a vow to the king and then he’d turned around and been prepared to abandon his vow. What sort of man was he? Grey laughed bitterly. He’d set out to prove himself worthy of his father’s trust and he’d proven just the opposite. Old, familiar self-pity poured through him, but he ruthlessly reined it in.
“Grey,” Madelaine whimpered in her sleep.
“Hell.” He was too weak to deny himself one more touch. Reaching down, he stroked her hair, then gently pushed it away from her face. Even scratched and dirty she was beautiful. No chant would help him now. Thoughts pounded him from every direction. He glanced down at her again. This was the last time he would allow himself to touch her. “You break my heart,” he whispered and then looked up to drive them toward Kew.
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