“He must have other business to attend to.”
“I do,” said Orion as he walked past her and Giles and sat down to help himself to some of the food. “It is nothing that cannot wait, however.”
Catryn moved to sit facing him. “This is my battle. You do not even know who I am or if my story is true.”
“As it happens, I do know that the story you told me is true. I met a colleague on my way here and his brother is a solicitor in the firm that your brother-in-law has hired. Seems your brother-in-law is considered a very troublesome client.”
“Society is an annoyingly small word full of gossip,” she grumbled, hating the idea that everyone knew of her fight with Morris, even if he was the one considered the villain in the tale.
“It certainly is. You, I do not know, and I believe I neglected to properly introduce myself when I arrived. I am Sir Orion Wherlocke, the father of this boy you ran off with.”
“I truly did not know he was in the carriage.” She frowned at Giles. “And he made no sound, did not cry out at all.”
“I was curious about what you were about,” said Giles when both adults looked at him. “Knew you were no threat to me.”
“How could you be so certain of that?”
“I know things.”
Catryn wanted to ask what he meant by that but decided it was not what was important now. Her son had been with Morris for hours. She could only imagine how scared her little boy was. The only thing she needed to think about was how quickly she could get to him.
“I really must be going,” she said and began to stand up.
“Sit,” ordered Sir Orion.
She sat and then scowled at him, blaming him for her immediate obedience. Catryn knew that if she did not leave soon she would be accepting his offer of help. She did not wish to weaken and do so. The problem she faced was hers; it concerned her family, and her son. She should deal with it herself, and she knew this man was about to skillfully show her all the reasons she could not do so.
“There is very little daylight left,” she protested. “If you are concerned about your carriage . . .”
“Your father will compensate me,” he finished for her. “I am not offering to help you because I am bored or have nothing else to do. I am offering because someone has stolen your child, because the theft has to do with a man wanting everything that child holds a rightful claim to. Those are crimes I cannot ignore. My family is very firm on the need to protect children—primarily our own, but I believe any one of my family would be ready and eager to assist you. As Giles said, it is only honorable and right to do so.”
There was such a wry tone to his last words that Catryn had to smile. “And you always do as your son says?”
“Not at all. If I did, we would have an elephant in the back garden.”
“Oh dear.” She glanced at a grinning Giles and then laughed.
“Quite. No, in this he is utterly correct. A man has stolen your child, a man who covets all that belongs to the boy, and we both know how dangerous that is.” He nodded when she paled. “There is no proof that he means the boy harm, but even if he does not, he could gain guardianship of the boy and bleed your son’s inheritance dry.”
“He might try, but there are strict rules and . . .” Her words faded away when he and his son shook their heads.
“Rules can be circumvented. My cousin Penelope, now the Viscountess of Radmoor, nearly lost every penny of her inheritance through the machinations of her stepfather and then her stepsiblings. Her half brothers did, too. If this Morris gains control, and he may be able to do so now that he actually holds the child, he will steal all he can. Do not doubt that.”
She could not. It had been a worry from the first moment Morris had taken them to court. She knew that if Morris gained complete control of Alwyn, he would leave the boy with nothing. What should have been a blessing, a tidy inheritance so that Alwyn did not have to worry about his future, had become a curse.
“No, I do not doubt that,” she admitted softly.
“If Giles and I leave you to carry on by yourself, I foresee only disaster. Even if you caught up with Morris and could deal with him on your own, I sincerely doubt Morris is alone. Then there are all the other reasons women do not travel unattended by a male, family or servant. The least that could happen to you is that you would have my carriage taken from you and be left on foot.”
“I have a pistol.”
“Which means, if you know how to use it with any accuracy, you could take down one man. After that you must depend upon your own strength to fight off the others, and there would be others.” He nodded when she scowled at him. “You could be well-versed in fisticuffs, but you are still a small woman who could be, if not easily, at least eventually overpowered.”
“This could take days, you realize,” she said after a moment of silence that even she recognized as sulking.
Sir Orion shrugged as he packed up the remainder of the food. “I have nothing planned and nowhere to go. I must simply send a note to Penelope to let her know that Giles will arrive later and not today. I can do that when we stop for the night. And we will be stopping for the night,” he said firmly when she opened her mouth to argue that plan. “So will Morris. The chances of catching him today are very slim. As you said, this could take a few days.” He held out his hand.
With a sigh of resignation she took it and he helped her to her feet. “I should have come home earlier,” she muttered.
“Would that have made a difference?”
She sighed. “In truth, I doubt it. Morris stormed into the house and had a hired brute, as my father called him, with him. They fought with my father, knocked him about, and took Alwyn. I suspect they would have just knocked me about as well. Morris must have known it was the servants’ day off and that there would be no help from that quarter.”
“So you already knew he had hired ruffians with him when you set out after him all on your own.”
“He has my child.”
“Of course.” Sir Orion moved to hitch the team to the carriage.
Catryn was surprised that there was no note of condescension or mockery in his words. The man simply accepted that she had no choice, that the fact that Morris had her child was explanation enough for her risky behavior. It could be that he told the truth when he expressed his whole family’s belief in the need to protect children.
Her next thought was that she was about to ride around the countryside with a man who was not her kin, fiancé, or husband. Racing over the roads, driving a carriage, and traveling unattended had been bad enough. Traveling with a very handsome single gentleman would truly cause a lot of gossip. If anyone they knew saw them, her name would be blackened within society in mere days.
She hastily pushed aside that thought as she watched him hitch his mount to the rear of the carriage. If it happened, it happened, and she would accept the consequences of her actions. Alwyn was in danger. Whatever it cost her to get him home and safe again was worth it. The fact that they were trying to save her son would be enough to keep her closest friends at her side, she hoped.
When Sir Orion held out his hand to help her into the carriage, she took it and nearly yanked it back a heartbeat later. Neither of them was wearing gloves, having removed them to eat. The first time their skin had touched as he had helped her stand, her mind had been so preoccupied she had barely noticed the brief brush of his skin against hers. This time her whole body responded to it. That had never happened to her before and it unsettled her, but she forced her mind back to the problem of hunting for Morris and getting her son back.
“Should I not ride up on the box?” she asked, hesitating to get into the carriage.
“If you think the sight of you racing down the road driving a carriage with all that bright hair flying about your face was enough to cause talk, then just consider what talk will ensue if you are seen riding up there with me as we race down the road.”
Catryn got into the carriage. He was right
. Again. It was very annoying. Giles sat across from her and smiled. At least someone is enjoying the adventure, she mused. The boy’s insistence that he and his father help her save Alwyn did surprise her a little.
“You truly believe this is what you and your father should do?” she asked as the carriage began to move.
“I do,” Giles replied. “Your son is just a wee lad and has not had the rough life I have had. I have skills. Had to learn them, aye? He has none. He is very scared, I am thinking, and it is only right that we men ride to help him.”
“It might not be so simple. We have to find Morris first.”
“Oh, my father can do that. Finding people and things is one thing he is very, very good at.”
There was no point in arguing about that, so Catryn looked out the window. Her whole body was weary and ached right down to the bone. It was nice to have someone else driving the carriage, but she swore she would not allow herself to depend upon Sir Orion too much. She had depended on her husband, only to find out within months that there was little in the man anyone could depend upon. She had depended on her grandfather and father, and that had not turned out well, either, although her father had had the excuse of being lost in his own grief for a while. For now, however, she would savor the rest from driving the carriage and pray that they found her son soon.
Chapter Four
The rapidly encroaching dark settled Orion’s uncertainty about stopping or continuing on just a little farther. He comforted himself with the knowledge that the man he was pursuing could not continue for much longer, either. There was no doubt in his mind that he would find the man, no matter where Morris tried to hide, but he would rather not have to leave the country to accomplish it.
Yet again he wondered what would be the right thing to do when he found Morris. The man would have guards, servants, or some hired brutes with him. Orion had just himself, a little redheaded lady, and a boy of eight. That did not make for good odds.
As the carriage crested a small rise, he saw lights and knew they were drawing close to a village. It had been a long time since he had traveled this way, but he was confident that this village had a comfortable inn. A good meal and a clean bed would be welcome. Sharing that bed with a lush little redhead would be even more so, but Orion pushed aside that temptation. Lady Catryn Gryffin de Warrenne was not some adventurous widow. Not only was she trying to get her stolen child back but she reeked of innocence and was most certainly a complete romantic at heart. Giving in to the temptation to bed her, even for one glorious night, could get him entangled in something he had long avoided: a relationship that was not the simple, enjoyable giving and taking of pleasure.
No, Lady Catryn was not a woman a man got sweaty with, kissed on the cheek in the morning, and then walked away from. Since that was the way he planned to live his life, Orion knew he had to keep his hands off her. He just wished his body agreed with his decision. It might be time to reach out to a few of his kin. Not only could they help him find Morris and save the boy, but they would act as a bulwark between him and the woman his body craved so badly.
The innyard was busy but not so busy that Orion feared he would find there was no room available for them. It was a large inn, rooms added as the traffic to and from London had increased over the years. The man who had built it had chosen his spot well, halfway between London and Portsmouth. He leapt from the box as soon as a tall, strapping young man wearing the inn’s colors grabbed control of the team. Orion quickly sent a small lad into the inn to make certain he could have two rooms for the night and a private place to enjoy a meal. He hoped he would not have to argue with Lady Catryn about stopping, and reached for the handle on the carriage door.
Catryn blinked, slowly waking up when the carriage stopped. Giles grinned at her and then laughed softly when his stomach loudly protested its emptiness. She leaned toward the carriage door to open it, only to have it opened for her and find herself staring into Sir Orion’s face.
He looked like a man who had just spent many an hour on a horse and then more time driving a carriage. Dust coated his fine clothes and his black hair was badly windblown. A few trickles of sweat had left trails through the light coating of dust on his face. Despite all of that, he was still the most handsome man she had ever seen. It annoyed her, for she was certain she looked as if she had been dragged through a hedgerow backward.
“Why have we stopped?” she asked as he helped her out of the carriage.
“If you look about you might notice that night has arrived,” he replied, easily catching Giles as the boy flung himself out of the carriage and then setting the boy on his feet.
“But Morris . . .”
“Cannot drive through the night any more than we can. I told you that before we left that clearing.”
That was a truth she could not deny, even though she desperately wished she could. Some would travel the road no matter what the conditions, changing horses as they needed them, but she could not see Morris doing that. He liked his comforts far too much. Long hours spent in a carriage were not what anyone would call comfort. He also lacked the coin for such a thing and he certainly would not trust his precious horses into the long-term care of some stable boy at an inn. From what little she had ferreted out concerning Morris’s financial state, Catryn was not sure that he had the money needed to spend many nights at an inn, either.
“I am also tired, hungry, and in need of a good wash,” he said as he collected her bags, shoved them into her arms, and then got a small one of his own from beneath the carriage seat. “And it does not matter how the man travels or where he goes. I will find him.”
Before she could argue with that arrogant statement, he was striding toward the inn, Giles at his side. Catryn hurried to keep pace with him. Giles had told her that his father could find anyone and anything, but she had thought that was just a boy’s bragging about his sire. It appeared that Sir Orion also believed it. It was an odd thing for a man to boast about.
Once inside the inn, Catryn was impressed by Sir Orion’s ability to get people to do his bidding. He gave orders in a way that made them sound more like requests. People obeyed without hesitation or argument, just as she had back at the clearing when he had told her to sit. They were all in their rooms with a hearty meal being readied for them before she even had time to consider what she might want to eat.
She frowned as she quickly shed her travel-worn clothing, washed up, and donned a fresh gown. The man was obviously accustomed to being obeyed. Considering his excellent skills at command, that was no surprise, but Catryn was going to have to remind him that she was a grown woman, a widow, and a mother. She was more than capable of making up her own mind. The first thing she intended to do was request that a bath be readied for her so that she could have a long soak in hot water after her meal. The second was to make certain Sir Orion understood that she could pay her own way. She might have need of a man to rescue her son, an admission that still irked her, but she did not need one to lead her about like some helpless child.
Her husband had tried that, she thought as she made her way down to the private parlor where she, Sir Orion, and Giles would dine. Old resentments she thought she had conquered rose up and she struggled against the anger they brought with them. Sir Orion did not deserve being stung by that bitterness.
She paused to request her bath, asking that her travel clothes be cleaned as well, and paid for it, which further soothed her rising temper. When she entered the parlor she found Giles and Sir Orion seated at a table before a warm fire, slathering butter on large hunks of bread. They immediately rose and Sir Orion held a chair out for her.
“My apologies,” she said as she sat down and they retook their seats. “I tried to be quick.”
“You were remarkably quick,” said Orion as he served her some bread and nudged a small crock of butter toward her. “I told the maid not to bring the rest of the food in until she saw you come downstairs. Did not wish it to sit there tempting us and getting cold until
you arrived.”
She started to ask why he would think she would take so long that their meal would grow cold when the maid and two young boys brought in the food and drink. Catryn was tempted to have some of the wine but chose cider instead, for she wanted to be certain she woke in the morning with a clear head. As the scent of roasted chicken and a nice array of potatoes and vegetables hit her nose, it made her all too aware of just how hungry she was. Catryn knew she was about to break one of the rules ladies were all taught to follow. She was not going to eat sparingly.
And was that not a silly thing to be concerned about, she thought and nearly laughed. She was at an inn and was traveling with a man who was no relation to her and not her husband. Even a widow would raise eyebrows by doing so. It did not matter that the man she was with had his son with him, either. Anyone who recognized her, unless they were the closest, dearest of friends, would be utterly scandalized. How much she ate was the least of her concerns.
“I want you to tell me everything you can about your brother-in-law,” Orion said.
“What good will that do?” she asked. “You already know what he has done and why.”
“Everything can be useful. It will help me judge what route he may take, what decisions he might make along the way, and perhaps even what sort of place he would stop at.”
“Well, he is much like a spoiled child, to tell the truth. He wants what he wants when he wants it but has never had the character to even stick to the fight needed to get it. It is why I was so surprised that he would keep at us in the courts. That was very unlike him. It would have been much more like him to try and destroy something that had been left to Alwyn, such as trying to burn the manor house down or the like.”
“Despite the fact that he wants it?”
“That would not occur to him until he calmed down. And even then, he would find satisfaction in the fact that, since he could not have it, now neither could Alwyn. As I said, much like a spoiled child.”
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