Sorrow washed over Elinor, and she dashed away her tears. “I am afraid so. I only pray Everett survived. I shall never forgive myself if I am somehow the cause of Everett losing his life. There is no time to think of that now. We must get me out of here.”
“Can you get yourself out of that dress?” Brianne asked.
“I think so.” Elinor tugged at the ties running up the back.
“I shall go and fetch you some of the servants’ clothes.”
Relief flooded Elinor. “Please, be quick.”
Chapter 19
Michael crawled over a rocky hump toward Kerburghe Castle. “Hardwig,” he whispered.
Crouched behind a row of hedges and rocks, James and his men startled.
“Good Lord, Kerburghe, You’ve nearly caused me an apoplexy.” He looked around. “Where are the rest?”
“Looking for other ways into that pile of rocks.”
The castle’s towering walls and single gate complicated entry. Luckily, the overgrown grounds surrounding the fortress offered places for a man to hide and watch. Lookouts walked the battlements. If properly executed, an attack could succeed, but Michael had to work out the details.
James shook his head. “Built in the old style, it won’t be easy to get in without causing a commotion.”
Michael smiled. “That’s exactly what we need, Hardwig.”
“Pardon?”
“Did you happen to bring any explosives?”
James smiled. “No, but I’ll wager my eyes that Thomas Wheel has a bit tucked away somewhere. The man’s a fanatic when it comes to fire power.”
Michael shared a knowing smile with the inspector. Thomas loved his weapons and munitions. “I’ll go find him. When you hear the signal, rush the front gate. It should be clear for you. Roxton doesn’t have enough men to keep the front covered while the rear is being attacked.”
“Can I assume the signal will be obvious?”
“You won’t miss it, James.” Michael took one step, then turned back. “Be careful of the servants, James. They probably think Roxton is the duke. They have no idea what’s going on. These people are under my protection, even if they don’t know it yet.”
Hardwig edged closer to Michael. “I hate to bring this up, but the church bells rang a while ago. We may be too late. They may have married already.”
If Roxton had harmed his Elinor in any way, he would pay the price. “If that is the case, then the lady is about to become a widow. If that is a problem for you, Inspector, then you had better leave now.”
James narrowed his eyes and nodded. “We’ll move on your signal.”
* * * *
Brianne pinned the hem of the plain gray dress so Elinor could move without tripping.
“Where did you get this dress?” Elinor asked.
Shrugging, she said, “I borrowed it from Nel, the scullery maid. She won’t notice for some time, and my other dress would have been far too big for you. This one is just slightly long.”
“I shall make it up to Nel when this is over.” Elinor made a mental note. Lord, how she missed her list book.
Brianne leaned in and whispered, “You must take the back stairs down two flights. Then turn to your left and go all the way to the end of that hall. It’s dark, so be careful. You should not run into anyone down there at this time of day, but keep your face hidden just the same. No need to take a chance. When you reach the end, you will see stairs to your right. Go up one flight down that hall to the end, then you can take the stairs on the left all the way down to the kitchen garden.”
“I’ve got it.” Excitement and terror rocked Elinor. Making it out of the castle before Roxton found her was unlikely. If he did catch her, the consequence would be dire.
Pointing to the door, Brianne said, “When you step into the hallway, keep your head down. Those dolts he has guarding won’t notice it’s you and not me. Here, take this with you.” She handed Elinor a bundle of laundry, including the wedding gown she had bled and vomited on.
“This is the worst thing I’ve ever smelled.”
Brianne laughed and clapped her hands. “Good. It will keep them from investigating too closely.”
They went to the door. “I do not know how to thank you, Brianne.”
Blushing, Brianne smiled. “You’re not out of it yet, mi’lady.”
Someone pounded on the master chamber’s adjacent door. “Your grace,” Roxton called. “Your dear husband is about to make all your dreams come true.”
“Go.” Brianne pushed her toward the other door.
“What about you?”
“I will manage the pig.” Brianne lifted the candlestick off the hearth.
Elinor hugged her.
“Go, before it’s too late.” She kissed her cheek.
Elinor ran into the hall. She kept her faced tucked down so far that the sour smell in her arms made her gag.
The two guards paid her no mind.
Once in the dark, stale, servants’ corridor, she took a deep breath. At the first door, she knocked. Once assured no one was inside, she opened it and placed her laundry inside, silently apologizing to whomever the small room belonged to.
As she scurried down the two flights, she saw no one. In the long corridor, a young man carrying an armful of wood strode toward her.
She ducked her head down and pulled on her cap.
He hallooed, and she nodded and mumbled while hurrying past him. She resisted the urge to look back and see if he recognized her.
Elinor climbed up and down stairs and halls until the final stretch of her escape. The walls shook with a loud boom. She covered her ears. Bits of the castle crashed in on her. Covering her head with her arms, she tried to run, but tripped over the hem of her borrowed dress.
She lurched toward the ground. The stupid castle had waited hundreds of years in order to collapse on her head. Pain seared her arm and shoulder an instant before everything went black and silent.
* * * *
The explosion opened up a large hole in the back side of the castle. Michael and Middleton raced through and up the stairs toward the central keep. The others rushed to the outer walls to deal with the guards patrolling up there.
Even in the chaos, Michael noted the castle was outdated and damp.
To the right of the first landing, a man roared. A guard as tall as the doorframe raced toward them.
Michael threw the giant over the railing.
“Not exactly subtle,” Middleton said.
Michael shrugged. “I am a soldier. To let a man of that size get the better of you, for even an instant, could be fatal.”
Middleton looked over the railing. “I suppose that is true. What now?”
Feminine screams echoed down against the stone walls.
They bolted down an adjoining hallway.
The screaming woman was behind the first door. Middleton tried the knob, but it was locked.
“Keep trying.” Michael rushed down the hall.
“Where are you going?” Middleton rammed his shoulder against the door, but it did not give.
Silently, Michael slipped through a door down the hall.
“Open the door this instant! I demand you open this door!” Middleton shouted, pounding on the door.
It was a good distraction.
Michael slipped into a dressing room, then ran and burst through the door on the opposite side.
Roxton seemed to be wrestling with a writhing curtain.
“Get your filthy hands off of her!” Michael shouted.
A writing desk and chair had been overturned near the window. On the other side of the room, another chair lay in ruins. Near the bed, the side table was shattered. Glass shards and liquid littered the floor. The bedding was tossed in every direction, and the curtains had been ripped from around the bed.
Against the far wall, the screaming woman was using the drapes to shield herself from Roxton, who was bare-assed and
groping at his prey like a swine going after a full troth. A leg kicked out from the cloth and caught the pig in the chin. His bulbous head snapped back, and he cried out.
Michael grabbed a handful of red hair and propelled Roxton across the room.
Middleton appeared in dressing room door just in time to see Roxton crash to the floor in a heap.
Roxton shook his head and blinked. Then he smiled. “Rollins, you are interrupting our wedding night. You will have to call another time. My wife and I are not receiving guests at this delicate point in our marriage.”
Michael lifted Roxton with one hand and punched him in the stomach with the other. Then he tossed the pretend duke across the room.
Roxton landed in front of the windows, curled into a ball holding his bloody face and crying. “Guards? Where are my guards?”
Michael turned toward the bed. “Elinor?”
The fabric mound whimpered.
“Elinor, it’s all right now. I am here.”
Still no response.
“It’s Michael, my love.”
A freckle-faced red-haired girl peeked out and her eyes widened. “You’re real. My lady told the truth. Are you the real Kerburghe?”
Baffled, he pulled her from the drapes. “Where is Lady Elinor?”
From the corner, Roxton screamed for his guards.
The girl wept loudly.
Battle chaos bubbled up from the floors below.
“Kerburghe, she is just a girl. Please put her down. You will get nothing from scaring the child.” Middleton put his hand on Michael’s shoulder.
He set the girl down. “Who are you?”
She erupted into a fresh bout of hysterics.
Michael threw his hands up and turned away. He considered beating Roxton some more. It wouldn’t help the situation, but it would most definitely make him feel better. Rolling his eyes, he turned to Middleton. “Perhaps it would be best if you spoke to the girl.”
Middleton gave a half smile, picked up the unbroken chair from the floor, and placed it in the middle of the room. “Please sit down and tell me your name, miss.”
The girl sat, but she had her hands over her eyes. “I am Brianne. I am the maid.”
He knelt in front of her. “Where is the Lady Elinor, Brianne?”
“She made a run for it. I was to distract his grace while she tried to escape.”
“I’ll kill you, you little bitch.” Roxton hauled himself up and rushed toward the girl.
Brianne’s piercing scream filled the room.
Michael picked up a piece of the broken chair and whacked Roxton on the back of the head.
He landed with a thump and did not move.
“Is he dead?” The girl hugged herself and rocked back and forth.
Michael examined Roxton. “No. Unfortunately, he lives still.”
Turning back to the girl, Middleton asked, “How was the lady to escape, Brianne?”
Now that Roxton was silent and Michael leaned against the wall, Brianne spewed forth the entire plan of escape. She told the two men the entire route that she had explained to her lady, ending with the small servant’s door at the back of the house.
Michael asked, “How long ago was that?”
The girl wrinkled her nose. “Not long, your grace. She left here just before that one came in and attacked me.”
“The explosion.” Michael’s heart stopped. What had he done?
“Go,” Middleton commanded. “I will take Roxton down with the rest, then I will follow.”
Michael was out the door before Preston had finished his sentence.
Chapter 20
Dust filled Elinor’s lungs, and she coughed herself back into consciousness. Sprawled in a pile of dust and rubble, she eased up, pushing away pieces of rock and mortar. Considering she’d thought the entire castle had fallen on her head, it was nice to wake up at all.
Her arms, legs, and head all seemed to be in the proper place. Tentatively, she touched the side of her head where a substantial bump had formed. She winced, then brushed her hair out of her face. She had little pain and only bruises and scrapes.
Not twenty feet beyond where Elinor had lain unconscious, the passage had collapsed, leaving the hallway exposed to the outside. It was a miracle that she was alive and uninjured. Crawling to her right, she used the wall to steady herself as she tried to stand.
Far in the distance, voices raised.
Footsteps clattered down the stairs behind her.
Her heart banged loudly in her chest, and her head throbbed. How she yearned to lay down on her soft bed at home and cry until the tears would no longer come. One of those tears escape down her cheek, and she dashed it away. “No time for that now.” The possibility of winding up back in Roxton’s bed pushed Elinor beyond her normal limits.
When she steadied herself on all fours, rough stone cut into the soft skin of her hands. Thankful for Brianne’s sturdy boots, she climbed over jagged pieces of rock. She made it outside with a few more bruises.
Clean air was a relief, but the open courtyard and garden left her nowhere to hide. A wall stood thirty yards away, but she knew she couldn’t make that run unseen.
She picked up a good-sized rock and rushed behind the edge of the exposed wall.
Shuffling and footfall sounded on the other side of the rocks.
With all her might, she raised the stone above her head, her arms shaking with effort.
A dark head came into view. Without a thought, she hurled herself forward with the rock, intent on cracking the man’s skull.
He dropped to the ground and rolled forward, knocking her to the ground. The stone tumbled harmlessly away.
Elinor screamed as her shoulder hit the ground.
He leaped on top of her.
She screamed louder and thrashed her head, kicking her legs.
“Elinor!”
One of her hands slipped from his grip, and she lashed out with her nails, cutting deep scratches in his neck.
He took a firmer hold of her arms. “Elinor, it’s me, Michael. You’re safe.”
She stopped thrashing and looked up. It took several seconds to recognize that it was indeed Michael who held her. It was Michael she’d nearly killed with a rock. “Michael?”
“I am here.” He released her hands.
She slapped him soundly across his face.
He stared down at her with all the sweetness and love they shared shining in his eyes.
“You are too late. I am married to a monster.” The hysteria she’d been holding back tumbled out in large tears and wracking sobs.
Michael rolled to one side, pulled her into his lap, and held her tight. “Don’t worry. We will take care of whatever Roxton has done.”
“I am truly ruined now.” An entire year of planning and disappointment swallowed her up.
Cradling her in his arms like a child, he rocked her and kissed her forehead. “I love you, Elinor. Everything will be fine, I promise.”
She stiffened and pulled away far enough she could look at his face. “You make promises too easily, Michael.”
He released his grip on her and stared with wide eyes.
She leaped from his lap.
His face was a mixture of confusion and sadness but most of all, he looked tired. His normally tanned skin was pale and sickly. His bright eyes were ringed red with dark circles underneath. Sitting on the ground amongst the rubble, he almost looked fragile.
“Are you ill?” She was torn between worry and exhaustion. She needed him to be the strong one.
Finally, he got up off the ground. He took a step closer, but she backed away an equal distance. He did not pursue. “I am just tired.”
“Everett.” She’d forgotten. She must have hit her head harder than she thought. She grabbed Michael’s arms.
He crushed her to him. Her ribs ached, but not enough to break the contact. Desperate to be near him, she clung tightly.
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br /> “He was alive when I left Marlton. I spoke to him, but he was very weak.”
Utter sorrow engulfed her. “He’s just a boy. He tried to save me, but he’s just a boy. You have been through so much. I’ll bet you have not slept, and here I am being churlish.”
He eased her away and lifted her chin. “I think, my love, you have been put through quite an ordeal yourself, and it is all because of me. I shall not censure you for being put out.” His voice filled with humor. “After all, you were kidnapped and forced to marry against your will.”
Where was her brain? “The priest.”
“What priest?” Michael’s face filled with confusion.
“The one who married me, of course. He’s locked in the dungeon. My God, I hope the dungeon did not collapse as well. He can attest to the wrongness of the entire marriage. He knows that I did not wish to marry that…that…mongrel. He was there when I vomited. He will testify, or whatever it is one must do to dissolve a marriage.”
“A priest. I suppose we’ll have to go to the pope.” Michael shook his head. “Come, love, we’ll find the others and the priest, then we can head for England.”
* * * *
When they stopped at an inn, it was midnight. Elinor fought to keep her eyes open. The tavern was a blur. She vaguely remembered Michael paying a large man with a bald head and an apron for several rooms, including one for the priest. She did not see Roxton again and worried where he had gotten to.
She remembered the weightless feeling of being lifted into Michael’s arms and carried upstairs. He gently kissed her forehead and left her sitting on the edge of the bed.
She must have dosed off, because some time later, a bath appeared in the middle of the room, and two maids helped her out of Brianne’s dirty but serviceable dress and into the tub. They scrubbed her for an eternity before putting a soft shift over her head and tucking her into bed.
When her eyes opened again, the candle flickered. She scanned the small, clean room. The sky outside was still black and the tub was gone, as were the two women. She had no idea how long she had slept, or even if it was the same night. Her dress was nowhere to be seen, which was concerning, but she slipped back to sleep.
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