Miss Dorset took her turn to nod. ‘I feel desperately sorry for Hazel. Her mother is determined that she hold out for someone higher born than Mr Anglesey, even though anyone with eyes in their head can see that they are desperately in love. Hazel wants to please everyone and finds it hard to stand up to her mother, as I’m sure you can imagine. Anyway, I saw no harm in her and Mr Anglesey snatching a half-hour alone together in order to hatch their plans. Had I known that Lady Melody intended to confront me, I might have reconsidered. But there again, I don’t suppose she would have lowered herself to apologise in front of everyone.’ She allowed a reflective pause. ‘It’s funny, but I got the impression that she’s lonely and in need of a friend.’ She sighed. ‘Well, it certainly won’t be me, not now.’
‘She would drive you demented with her selfish demands.’
‘Very likely. Anyway, I had to lead her away from the cabin, in case she realised where Hazel had got to, and with whom. Fortunately, she only thinks of herself so…’ She paused and looked up at him through damp eyes, her hair rippling down her shoulders in a disorderly waterfall. Brin gave in to temptation, picked up a strand and ran it repeatedly through his fingers. ‘I’m babbling, aren’t I? I always babble when I’m angry or upset. I suppose you want to know what happened.’
‘If you feel up to reliving the terror.’
She closed her eyes and swallowed. ‘Someone on the estate has been watching me today,’ she said.
‘You?’ He blinked at her. ‘Are you sure?’
‘At first I was not. I took an early walk this morning. I intended to go as far as the estuary, but I thought I caught a glimpse of someone in the woods watching me, and reconsidered. I don’t know why I thought he was watching me, or why I allowed his presence to alter my plans. Some sixth sense, I suppose.’
‘Whatever the reason, I am very glad that you did.’
She sent him a wary look. ‘You believe me?’
‘Why would you make such a thing up?’
‘Thank you.’ She let out a long breath. ‘I don’t scare easily, which makes my withdrawal that much harder to explain. I mean, it could have been one of your keepers, or someone else with legitimate business. I called out, asking who was there. No one responded, but if it had been one of your servants, surely he would have revealed himself? I think that must be why common sense prevailed. I thought perhaps I had imagined seeing an actual man. It could just as easily have been a large animal or a poacher brave enough to venture onto your estate in daylight. But then I saw him for a second time, wearing a blue coat and knew I hadn’t imagined it. He was stalking my progress through the trees, keeping pace with me. I was frightened so turned back to the house. Once I got to the gardens, I felt safer but by then I had decided against going as far as the estuary alone.’
‘You must show me where you saw him, and I will have someone check for signs.’
‘Thank you for believing me, but will you be able to tell?’
‘Almost certainly. Men break branches, leave footprints. The ground is soft after all the rain so he won’t have been able to cover his tracks, even if he bothered to try.’
‘Of course. I didn’t think of that. But the thing is, I saw him again on our way to the picnic.’
Brin sat a little straighter and leaned towards her, keen to learn all she could tell him about the intruder with murderous intentions. ‘You and Lady Hazel? She saw him too?’
Miss Dorset bit her lip. ‘Unfortunately not. By the time I’d pointed out where I thought I had seen him, he’d disappeared. But I saw that flash of blue again, I know I did!’ she cried passionately. ‘I am not given to fits of imagination, your grace. He was definitely there, watching me again, and it sent a shiver down my spine.’
He took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. ‘I can well imagine.’
‘Anyway, I put it from my mind and came here with Hazel so that she could keep her assignation with her Mr Anglesey. I suppose I should be grateful that Lady Melody came after me, otherwise…’ She shuddered.
‘Shush, it’s all right, Farrah.’ Her name slipped as naturally from his lips as his arm did around her shoulders. ‘You’re safe now and I won’t let anyone hurt you.’
Her lower lip quivered, and he allowed her a moment to regain her composure, thinking that he really ought to remove his arm. And he definitely would, but only when he was absolutely sure that the shock had worn off. That was the thing about shock; it was a tricky character since no one ever quite knew how a victim would react. He couldn’t have her swooning. That wouldn’t do at all.
‘Well, as I say, Lady Melody came to find me.’ It was Farrah who shifted her position, putting a little daylight between them and causing his arm to fall away from her shoulders. ‘We were deep in conversation. Or, more to the point, she was talking about her aspirations and I tried to give her some advice, when I could get a word in. Then I saw the man in the trees behind us. He looked straight at me.’ Her shuddering resumed. ‘I have never seen such a determined expression, such dead, emotionless eyes. He wanted me to see him, your grace.’
‘Brin. My friends call me Brin.’ He reclaimed her hands and ran his fingers gently down the length of hers.
‘He fully intended to kill me…Brin.’ She swallowed and her eyes flooded with fresh tears that she did not allow to fall. ‘I had seconds to react. All I could think to do was to push Lady Melody to the ground and fall on top of her. It would have worked but she fought like the devil, I couldn’t make her understand…’
She was becoming agitated again, so Brin pulled her into his arms, just as any gentleman would who found himself in that situation. He stroked her back with soothing sweeps of his hands and held her until the trembling subsided.
‘You acted with great presence of mind. The rogue couldn’t afford to linger, not with all of us so close at hand.’ He stared off into the distance, thinking the matter through. ‘He was desperate and foolhardy to try and get to you here, but at least he left his dagger behind, which means we have somewhere to start looking.’
‘But why?’ She turned luminous green eyes upon him, tears decorating her long lashes. ‘What possible reason could he have to—’
‘We will consider his purpose in due course. But first, tell me everything else that you can remember about the incident.’
‘Not very much. I saw the man lurch from the trees, over there.’
Brin snapped his fingers at Shadow and pointed in the direction he wanted the dog to take. ‘Go find!’
Shadow ran off, nose pressed to the ground.
‘I don’t suppose the man’s still here, but if he is Shadow will sniff him out. Now, continue with your account.’
‘There’s not much more to tell. Lady Melody crushed me and I couldn’t breathe. I heard her scream when he stabbed her instead of me. We were both wearing bronze pelisses and have the same coloured hair. In the confusion and with us rolling over one another, he struck the wrong woman.’
‘Or the right one. Perhaps she was his intended target.’
Farrah widened her remarkable eyes. ‘Then why follow me all day?’
‘We shall ask him when we find him. Anyway, you should be commended for your quick-thinking. If you had not acted in the way that you did then one of you could well be dead right now.’ He lowered his voice to a seductive drawl. ‘I am so very glad that you are still living.’
‘So am I.’ She straightened her shoulders and appeared to recover some of her fighting spirit. ‘I have a pressing need to discover who the man is and why he is so keen to see me dead.’
‘Then we are in accord. I take exception to trespassers on my land attempting to kill my guests.’ He squeezed her fingers. ‘Especially this particular guest.’
‘I wish you good fortune with your investigation.’ She withdrew her hand from his and stood. The sound of gunfire as the shoot resumed intruded upon the intimacy of the moment. ‘I shall undertake my own from Hampshire.’
‘Hampshire? What on earth can you hope to discover
there?’
‘It’s where I live. My family home. It occurs to me that anyone wanting to harm me could be doing so in order to distract my father from his business affairs. And believe me, if anything happened to me, he would be inconsolable. We are very close, and since Mama’s death he has depended upon me more and more.’
‘Your father is in France?’
She shrugged. ‘Even so, he has a secretary permanently in Hampshire who knows all his business. He might be able to cast some light on the situation without alerting Papa and worrying him unnecessarily.’
‘Hardly unnecessary when someone tried to kill you. Your father deserves to know. He will likely hold me to blame if you don’t tell him and it later comes to light.’
She smiled for the first time since the start of their conversation. ‘I do believe you are afraid of Papa,’ she said mischievously.
‘When it comes to gentlemen protecting their daughters’ interests then you can be sure that I am sensible enough to be very afraid. However, I would prefer it if you did not leave here, where I can keep you safe. Not that I have done a very good job of it so far, but now that I am aware you are in danger…’
‘That’s a very generous offer, your grace, but—’
‘Brin,’ he reminded her softly.
‘A very generous offer, Brin, but it will be impossible for me to stay. Everyone thinks I deliberately attacked Lady Melody. I cannot prove otherwise, and my presence will cast a pall over proceedings. No one will believe me if I attempt to explain something that I barely understand myself, and will not thank me if I disprove their theory that I am a jealous harpy fit only for Bedlam.’ She looked away from him. ‘No one wants me here.’
‘I want you here.’
She sent him a prolonged look and he would have given a great deal to know what thoughts were passing through her brain. ‘Thank you, but you don’t seem to understand. Everyone heard me put Lady Melody in her place, then it looked to all the world as though I had deliberately attacked her. They will think…the ladies will all think that we were brawling over…well, over you.’
He chuckled. ‘You are charming when you blush.’
‘Oh, do take this matter seriously!’ she cried impatiently.
‘I take it deadly seriously, which is why I cannot allow you to gallivant off to Hampshire alone and unprotected.’
‘I shall not be alone.’
‘You will be more alone there than you are here. Your father and brother are both in France.’
She sent him an arch look. ‘How could you possibly know that?’
‘Something that Lady Beardsley mentioned to my mother about your staying with her daughter until Christmas because all your family were away.’
‘Well, I cannot go back there and put Hazel in danger.’
‘Foolish child, you’re not going anywhere! Don’t make me forcibly restrain you. I know you didn’t attack Lady Melody and I suspect that in her heart of hearts she knows it too. She just can’t resist the opportunity to be the centre of attention and—’
‘And make me unpopular.’ Farrah nodded, absently stroking Shadow’s big head as the dog returned from his sortie into the woods and pushed it beneath her hand. ‘Yes, I can quite see that.’
‘I did not think you a coward,’ he said, deliberately inciting her fighting spirit. ‘To be afraid of a roomful of harmless women and their chatter. You disappoint me.’
‘Harmless?’ She rolled her eyes. ‘Men enjoy brawling, but women can injure just as effectively with their barbed tongues. And if that fails, they are not above dealing the cut direct.’
‘Rise above it, my sweet. You can be sure that you will have my support, and that of just about all the gentlemen here. Besides, there is every possibility that Lady Hazel or Anglesey caught a glimpse of your attacker from the windows of this cabin, which will corroborate your account.’
She waved the suggestion aside. ‘I very much doubt whether they had eyes for anyone other than each other, and even if they did happen to see something, they can hardly make that admission without revealing where they were at the time.’ She put up her chin. ‘I will not ruin my friend’s reputation in an effort to preserve my own.’
‘Highly commendable, but I’m not sure Anglesey deserves your consideration. He should have come to your assistance the moment he heard the ruckus. He was closer than any of us and there’s a good possibility that your assailant would have been caught if he’d tackled him when he had the chance.’
‘Or Mr Anglesey would have been fatally wounded. Hazel would never have forgiven me if that had happened.’
‘How can I make you understand that none of this is your fault?’ he asked, removing his hat and running his hand through his hair in exasperation. ‘Stay for the rest of the week and give me time to make some enquiries.’
She narrowed her eyes at him. ‘You have an idea who might have done this, don’t you?’
Brin was unsure if Farrah was aware that her father undertook delicate diplomatic missions for the government as it endeavoured to rebuild trading agreements with France following the end of the conflict with Napoleon. He could think of several influential people with compelling personal reasons to see those agreements fail before the ink was dry. Whether they would take such extreme measures in order to distract Dorset was another matter entirely, but he had the authority to ask searching questions in the right quarters and firmly intended to do so.
‘I have one or two ideas, but they are no more than that. I will share them with you, I promise, but only after I have looked into them.’
‘Very well,’ she said with patent reluctance after Brin had allowed a significant silence to build, giving her time to decide what she intended to do. Despite impressions he might have given to the contrary, he knew it would take a great deal of courage for her to face up to a roomful of females who all thought she had attacked Lady Melody. ‘I will stay, at least for a day or two.’
‘Thank you,’ he said on a heavy sigh.
‘But I have a few conditions of my own.’
He laughed. ‘Why does that not surprise me?’
‘I want to be involved in your investigations. I want to know what’s going on and help wherever I can.’
‘Agreed,’ he said, his smile widening as he offered her his arm. ‘Now, come along. I’ll take you back to the house and we will make a start.’
Chapter Eight
Farrah had any number of reasons to feel lightheaded, not all of which were directly attributable to her lucky escape from the madman who seemed determined to kill her. Her legs were reluctant to carry her weight and she appreciated the support of Brin’s arm. At least he had believed her account. She blushed when she considered how it must have looked to everyone else when they entered that clearing and saw her pinned beneath an hysterical Lady Melody as the pair of them rolled around in the mud like animals fighting over scraps. The episode had left Farrah battered and bruised, muddy and dishevelled, acutely embarrassed—but very much alive.
And fighting mad.
Whoever did this must have a pretty compelling reason to take such a huge gamble, she thought as she and Brin slowly retraced the path that she had earlier negotiated with Hazel. Shadow stuck to their heels, occasionally darting off into the trees when an enticing smell required investigation.
‘This is the spot where I saw the man,’ she said, recognizing the especially large oak tree with branches almost to the ground behind which her attacker had hidden himself.
‘Wait here.’
Brin clicked his fingers to Shadow and the two of them disappeared behind the tree.
‘There’s definitely been someone there, and recently,’ Brin said when he returned. ‘There are distinct footprints in the soft ground and a track that I think will lead directly to where the attack took place. He must have followed it and waited for an opportunity. Damned risky, but there you have it. I will have people do a thorough search later, but of more immediate concern is returning you safely to the
house.’
‘But the man…Surely you need to—’
‘He will be long gone.’ Brin took her elbow and propelled her forward. ‘You need to rest and make sure that you haven’t sustained any injuries.’
‘I certainly will not be joining the other ladies for tea,’ she said with a wry smile. ‘In fact, I would be happy to postpone facing them indefinitely.’
‘You will have to come down this evening, otherwise there will be little I can say to protect you. Innocent people do not hide themselves away.’ He gave a mirthless chuckle. ‘Despite her supposedly life-threatening injury, you can be sure that Lady Melody will show herself and garner as much sympathy as possible.’
‘It is your sympathy she craves.’
He snorted. ‘Then she will be disappointed. The dagger barely pierced her skin and the cut had stopped bleeding when I picked her up. Anyway, by the time you come down I shall have made sure that my mother knows you saved Lady Melody’s life.’
‘I admire your optimism.’ Farrah allowed herself a distracted smile. ‘She had taken against me before this happened, and will not thank you for championing my cause.’
Brin chuckled. ‘You don’t allow sufficient credit for my championing abilities.’
‘Oh, do take this seriously!’
His smile faded. ‘Believe me, my sweet, I take this episode exceedingly seriously.’
They reached the side door to the house, which was opened to them by Walker before Brin could turn the handle.
‘Your grace. Miss Dorset. I trust you are not badly injured.’
Farrah was unsurprised that the butler already knew of the attack, and gratified that he didn’t appear to hold her responsible for it.
‘Thank you, Walker. I have had a fright, there’s no denying it, but I am relatively unharmed.’
‘Miss Dorset requires a bath, Walker. Make the arrangements and have her maid sent up to her.’ Brin bowed over Farrah’s hand. ‘Until this evening,’ he said.
‘Thank you.’
The words sounded inadequate given that he had just gone out on a limb for her, accepting her word for it that someone had gone to the trouble of following her here and then attempted to kill her. It seemed implausible and if the situation had been reversed, she was unsure if she would have taken his word for such an unlikely scenario. Farrah felt uncharacteristically tongue-tied, unsure how to express her gratitude or reinforce her determination to help him get to the bottom of things.
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