The Earl with the Secret Past

by Janice Preston

  She ripped off her spencer and held it to her nose and mouth, her eyes darting all around the dim interior of the barn. She could see further, down here at floor level, and she could see a man, lying on his side. Unmoving.

  ‘Adam?’

  A pathetic, choking sob, muffled by her jacket. She crawled to the huddled figure, grabbed its shoulder and heaved with all her might until it toppled over on to its back. He groaned and his arm flailed.

  Oh, thank God!

  Sobs of relief swelled her chest and choked her throat, but there was no time for emotion. If they were to get out of the barn, she must rouse Adam. Somehow. A glance overhead confirmed the flames had not yet reached the roof beams, but it was surely only a matter of time.

  She shook Adam. He groaned again, his eyes screwed shut. She put her lips to his ear.

  ‘Adam.’ She fought to keep her voice steady and low, but the tremor was there nevertheless. ‘It’s Kitty. You have to help me. I can’t move you by myself.’ She slipped her hand behind his head, feeling the sticky warmth of blood. ‘Adam.’ It was an effort not to scream at him...shriek at him to wake up...but she needed him to come back to her, not to retreat back into oblivion, driven away by shrill pleas that would serve no purpose. ‘Come. You can do this. Adam... I love you. I cannot bear to lose you again.’

  A sob broke free. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him. ‘Please...’

  She was sure he was coming around. His breathing was erratic, his forehead puckered and his eyes were still screwed shut. If he were unconscious, surely all his muscles would be limp? She didn’t really know, but she took them as good signs. She twisted to look at the door. So near. When she again glanced up at the roof a thrill of fear leapt through her as she spied flames licking along the heavy beams.

  She scrambled to her feet. She grabbed Adam’s hands, stretching his arms over his head, straight out behind him. She leaned back and pulled with all her might. He didn’t budge. Worse, he snatched his hands from hers and she was powerless to stop him. But that must mean he had some idea of what was happening to him.

  ‘Adam Monroe!’ she bellowed at him before bending double as she was seized by a paroxysm of coughing. She dropped again to her knees by his head. ‘Fire! Fire! Fire!’

  He stirred, mumbling.

  ‘Move, Adam. Fire! You have to move because, as God is my witness, I will not leave you. If you choose to stay here and burn, then I will burn right alongside you.’ She cradled his face and lowered her mouth to his, kissing him. ‘I love you, Adam. Help me. We can only do this together.’

  One eye slitted open and his hand went to his head. ‘Hurts,’ he whispered.

  She shook him again. ‘It will be better soon. We have to get you—’

  Again, she was overtaken by a spasm of coughs, but she saw Adam’s other eye open and a look of horror suffuse his features as his gaze swept their surroundings. She put her lips to his ear.

  ‘Adam. If you do not help me, we will both die.’

  She didn’t waste her breath with more words. She shuffled around on her knees and thrust her arm behind his neck, straining to lift him into a sitting position. His groan was almost smothered by the crackle of flames. She glanced behind them again. The doors were still untouched by the fire, but for how much longer?

  ‘Adam! Stay awake! When I pull you must help me.’

  She scrambled to her feet and stood behind him, then stooped to push her hands under his armpits.

  ‘Bend your knees. When I pull you must dig your heels into the floor and push with your legs.’

  His head was still upright, so he was awake. She prayed he was aware enough to understand what she wanted him to do.

  ‘Now!’ She pulled back and could have sobbed when she saw him bend his knees up, just a little, and then straighten his legs, using his feet to shuffle himself backwards.

  ‘Again!’

  Little by little, they neared the door.

  ‘Hie! Is there anyone in there?’

  Her blood turned to ice, despite the heat that had slowly built inside the barn. The sweat trickling down her back raised gooseflesh and she shivered. Those men. Had they come back? She didn’t even have a clue what they looked like. Then an ominous, low roar grabbed her attention and, with horror, she saw the main roof beam engulfed in fire—the flames almost alive as they danced across the inner surface of the roof, greedy and gleeful as they hunted more fuel.

  She had no choice. ‘Help!’ It was barely a croak. She took the two steps to the door and thrust her arm out, waving frantically. She could have gone outside, but she would not leave Adam. The air was fresher there, however, and she filled her lungs, which just made her cough even more. She crouched down, waiting for the fit to pass. Then tried again. ‘Help!’ This time, it emerged as a shriek. She waved again, then returned to Adam, who was again flat on his back.

  ‘Push with your feet or, heaven help me, I will never speak to you ever again,’ she growled into his ear.

  He moaned, but he did as she demanded, and they continued to inch towards the door.

  Then everything happened with a whoosh. Literally. As the doors were flung open, the fire leapt with life, the walls all around the barn alive with flames. Strong hands grabbed Adam, and Kitty found herself swung up into the arms of someone who ran out of the barn, cradling her. Dazed, she stared over his shoulder at the burning barn and she winced as, with a loud crack, the roof caved in. Tears leaked from her eyes. She raised them to her rescuer’s face.

  Grenville Trewin.

  She gasped and the energy she had lacked a moment ago now surged through her. She struggled.

  ‘You! Let go of me! Put me down!’

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  ‘Steady, Lady Fenton. You are safe. Stop struggling or I’ll drop you. We need to get you away from the barn.’

  Pain racked Kitty’s chest, her lungs burning and throat burning as she was seized by another bout of coughing. That surge of energy had drained away, leaving her limp and close to tears. Mr Trewin carried her from the yard and then lowered her to a grass verge, a rough stone wall at her back. In front of her was the track that led to that abandoned cottage and on that track stood a carriage. Fear flooded her. They’d come back to make sure Adam was dead.

  ‘Where’s Adam?’

  ‘Safe. Tolly has him.’

  ‘But you...’

  She put her hand to her chest, pressing, incapable of more words. Her breathing was shallow and fast, but she willed herself not to pass out. Not until she knew for certain Adam was safe. Mr Trewin went to the carriage and rummaged about inside, emerging with a water canteen such as soldiers carry.

  ‘Here. Drink this.’ Mr Trewin held the flask to her lips. ‘Lucky I always carry water,’ he said. ‘A result of all my years on campaign...water can mean the difference between life and death.’

  Water had never tasted so sweet. Kitty gulped it and promptly brought it back up.

  ‘Sorry.’

  ‘Do not worry about it. Just sip this time.’

  She did.

  ‘Better?’

  She nodded.

  ‘Shout if you need anything. I’ll not be long.’

  Mr Trewin stood up and walked away. Kitty grabbed the opportunity to look around. She could see Adam, lying on the ground, through the legs of men clustered around him. She frowned. Where had they come from? What was Grenville Trewin doing here? He was supposed to be in London, as was Tolly, who she could see barking orders at men who had formed a line between the barn and a well. She ought to object...she ought to warn somebody that Mr Trewin had tried to kill Adam...she ought to...

  Her roving gaze stilled at the carriage that Grenville Trewin had, without doubt, arrived in, as it had the Kelridge crest upon the door. It looked...big. Her eyes travelled slowly to the horses. Four, not two. Black, not brown.

 
; Tears welled again, this time of relief.

  * * *

  This time, when Adam woke up, his brain felt...clearer. More normal. He was able to string thoughts together to make some sense. He was only vaguely aware of other times he had surfaced...people tending to him. Urging him to drink. His eyelids so heavy...

  But, this time...his thoughts froze. Kitty. His nightmare...she had been there right alongside him. Burning...

  Gritting his teeth, he levered himself up on his elbows.

  ‘Adam.’

  She was there, cool hand on his forehead. Smiling. He flopped back to his pillow, and pain shafted through him. He raised his hand to his head and fingered the bandages. His eyes sought hers. Grey. Brimming with love. That hope he’d felt when he rode to meet her...

  ‘Masked,’ he muttered.

  ‘Don’t worry about that now. It is all under control. Your uncle—’

  ‘Not uncle. Voices...’

  ‘No, it was not your uncle,’ she soothed. ‘But he has everything under control. We’ll talk about it when you feel a bit better. Sleep for now.’

  She brushed his forehead with warm, soft lips and Adam closed his eyes, calmed by her presence. Her words echoed in his memory: I love you. I cannot bear to lose you again. He forced one eye open and sought her beloved face.

  ‘D’ye really love me?’

  Cool fingers caressed his cheek. ‘I do.’

  Now he could sleep.

  * * *

  Kitty was still there when he woke again. She helped him to sit up and to drink some water.

  ‘There is someone to see you,’ she said and Adam’s gaze moved past her to the end of the bed.

  ‘Tolly.’ His voice still rasped in his throat and he sipped more water. ‘You here?’

  Tolly moved around the bed, to the opposite side from Kitty.

  ‘I am,’ he said. ‘And happy you are on the way to recovery.’

  Adam frowned as hazy images jostled each other in his head, his recollection of the day before still muddled. He only had a vague memory of what happened after a masked man had tackled him from his horse and he’d been knocked out by a blow to the head. But he did remember Kitty’s sweet voice in his ear telling him she loved him and threatening to stay there and burn with him if he did not help her get him out of the barn. And his own pathetic efforts to help—pushing with legs as weak as a baby’s.

  Horror filled him at what she had risked. For him. He reached out, groping for her hand, and gripped it when she put it in his.

  ‘Ye put yourself in danger, Kitty. Ye saved me. How can I ever thank ye?’

  Kitty shook her head as she perched on the edge of the mattress. ‘It was Tolly who saved you, not I. He saved us both.’

  ‘You are far too modest, my lady,’ said Tolly. ‘Adam...believe me when I say that without Lady Fenton, you would not be here now. Had you been further from the door when we arrived, we would not have had time to get either of you out. She’d managed to coax you to move until you were both right by the door, even though you were barely conscious. My father grabbed Her Ladyship and I managed to drag you clear just before the roof collapsed.’

  Adam raised Kitty’s hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to her soft, sweet-smelling skin. ‘Thank ye.’ Her warm smile enveloped him. He tore his gaze from hers to focus on Tolly. ‘How did you and my uncle come to be at the barn? I thought you were gone to Brighton.’

  ‘We hadn’t left London when we heard the news you’d been shot.’ Tolly looked grim. ‘Father worried one of us might be thought responsible, so we came straight home.’

  ‘Who told you about the shooting?’

  ‘It was Lord Datchworth,’ Kitty said. ‘You haven’t met him, of course, but he is Lady Datchworth’s son.’

  ‘And how did Datchworth know?’

  Kitty huffed a laugh. ‘Robert did, if you remember. He met Lord Datchworth on the London road after making his enquiries at the tollgates.’

  ‘Ah. Yes. That.’ Adam felt his face burn. ‘Sorry, Tolly...but we had to be sure it couldn’t be either my uncle or you.’

  Tolly shrugged. ‘I’d have done the same. We were the most likely suspects, I can see that.’

  ‘Anyway,’ Kitty continued, ‘Robert asked His Lordship if he’d noticed any increase in poaching and told him about you being shot so, when he met Tolly in town, he told him.’

  ‘And we headed for home right away,’ Tolly said. ‘And, as we passed the cottage, we saw the smoke. We might not have thought much of it, but I’d noticed a horse tethered to a gate we’d just passed and so we decided to investigate. And, of course, as the smoke rose higher, it was visible from the village, so other helpers soon arrived.’

  ‘And ye got us both out in time.’ This time, Adam reached for Tolly’s hand and gripped it. Hard. ‘I canna thank you enough. You and my uncle.’

  ‘Nor I,’ said Kitty.

  ‘So...did ye find out who attacked me? And why?’

  ‘Oh, yes. We found out almost immediately,’ said Tolly. ‘It was Carter and Eddings.’

  Adam sat bolt upright. ‘Carter? The steward?’

  ‘Yep. And we caught them red-handed, thanks to Lady Fenton here,’ said Tolly. ‘If she hadn’t remembered the details of the carriage, and the pair that drew it, I’m not sure we’d have found the evidence we needed to implicate them.’

  ‘I was petrified when your uncle carried me out of the barn,’ Kitty said, ‘and I was convinced that he and Tolly were the masked men I’d seen for, otherwise, why were they there when they were meant to be in London? And they had a carriage...but when I calmed down a little, I realised the carriage was bigger than the one I’d seen earlier, and it was drawn by a team, not a pair. So, I soon realised your uncle and Tolly hadn’t been involved and so I told them all I knew. Your uncle suspected right away that the brown pair of horses I’d seen were Kelridge horses.’

  ‘We went to the stables immediately,’ Tolly continued, ‘and sure enough, there were the horses, which had clearly been worked. One of the grooms confirmed that Carter and Eddings had taken the small carriage out and had only recently returned.’

  Adam shook his head, aghast to discover Carter’s villainy. ‘Where does Eddings fit in?’

  ‘He is the brother of Carter’s wife,’ said Tolly. ‘It transpires that Carter has been stealing from the estate for years by falsifying the accounts. The abduction was a last desperate attempt to stop you uncovering the truth. All three of them have been benefitting from the extra money Carter swindled and Eddings helped by reporting livestock deaths and thefts that never actually happened. Father is mortified he never noticed what was going on and that he allowed Carter such freedom in keeping the estate books. He thought he could trust him.’

  ‘I had found some irregularities in the record books,’ said Adam, ‘but I had not even begun to imagine that anyone was deliberately falsifying the entries. Poor Uncle Grenville. But I can hardly blame him...he really does have no head for figures. At first, I thought he was deliberately trying to confuse me when he answered my questions so inconsistently, but I believe he genuinely does mix numbers up. No wonder he left the bookkeeping to Carter.’

  ‘That is true,’ Tolly said. ‘He has always been the same...absolutely no head for numbers. But he does have his uses...he was so furious about all this that he...er...persuaded Carter to admit to everything before the constable came to arrest him.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Kitty. ‘He admitted it was he who shot at you that day at Fenton Hall. He had ridden over to deliver Tolly’s letter—choosing to do so himself in case he saw an opportunity to kill you...’ her voice hitched and she swallowed before continuing ‘...and then, when his shot failed, he returned to Kelridge Place, taking the letter with him, knowing you might be suspicious if he turned up that same afternoon.’

  ‘So...’ Adam frowned. ‘Was that story
about the poachers and the three sheep even true?’

  ‘No. He concocted it to divert us all from believing someone was targeting you. And he succeeded.’ Kitty stroked Adam’s hand.

  ‘He got the idea of killing you after your horse threw you when you first arrived at Kelridge Place,’ said Tolly.

  ‘So that incident was not down to him?’

  ‘No.’

  Adam shook his head again. ‘Well, at least they are safely locked up now and can do no more harm. I guess I shall have to start looking for a new steward.’

  ‘Not right away, though, Coz,’ said Tolly. ‘You look done in. I’ll leave you in peace.’

  He squeezed Adam’s shoulder and left the room. Adam leaned his head back and closed his eyes. What a sorry tale... He forced his eyes open and looked at Kitty, clad in a soft green gown, drinking in her lush curves and her beautiful face with her clear grey eyes and pink, full lips. How he loved her...

  ‘Here,’ she whispered, ‘allow me to help you lie down.’

  With her help he wriggled down into the bed. She adjusted his pillows and pulled the covers up as exhaustion rolled over him and his eyelids drooped.

  ‘Kitty...we need to talk...’ It took great effort to get his words out.

  ‘Hush.’ Kitty soothed his forehead. ‘Sleep now. I will still be here when you wake and we will talk then.’

  * * *

  The next time Adam roused it was morning and she was still there, in the chair by his bed, her eyes closed, her long dark lashes a crescent on her cheeks. Her chest rose and fell gently as she breathed peacefully. He watched her silently, all the while taking stock of how he felt after his ordeal. He was pleased to find his headache had all but gone, his throat no longer felt scratchy when he swallowed and his mind felt as sharp as before.

  Adam’s heart swelled with contentment. All was right with his world.

  Well. Nearly all.

  ‘Kitty.’

  Her eyes snapped open, as though she had not been sleeping, merely resting. She reached out to feel his forehead and smiled. A smile so full of love his pulse raced and his spirits dance with joy.