Page 49 of Black and Silver

The remainder of the afternoon was spent loading the carriage once more. That, of course, involved replacing the heavy statue in the trunk at the back of the carriage, which Lawrence and Silas accomplished together. Minerva remained in the warm cottage, her shawl hugged around her, shaking her head and wondering how the marble remnant of Lawrence’s past heartache could cause so much trouble in the present.

Once everything was loaded, they consumed the remainder of the food that the old woman had brought to him, packed up the last of the medicine she’d provided for Minnie which, somewhat miraculously, seemed to actually be doing some good, then as soon as dark fell, Lawrence and Minnie, with Clarence placed carefully beside her, seated themselves in the carriage.

“It is a small blessing that night falls so early at this time of year,” Minnie said, one hand on Clarence’s parietal bone, hoping that her efforts to make conversation as they jostled onto the road would help Lawrence to confess whatever troubled him. “Our escape will be better concealed this way.”

Lawrence merely hummed and nodded, then crossed his arms and frowned out the window.

Minnie was desperate to know what had dampened Lawrence’s previously jolly mood. She was not fool enough to think it was not about her. Owen was precisely the sort of man who would attempt to undermine her in order to capture her. She merely needed to discover the right opening to bring the truth from Lawrence without hurting or offending him in any way.

Nothing came to her, they rattled on for a good half hour in silence, but Lawrence said nothing and Minnie did not know what to say.

And then the carriage suddenly pulled to a stop as Silas called out, “Hold!” to the horses in a rather loud voice outside the carriage and above them. Minnie was puzzled as to why he would be so vocal with the horses until he continued with, “Lord Owen, what are you doing here in the road in the dark?”

Minnie sucked in a breath so precipitously that it would have left to a coughing fit if she did not employ all of her powers of control to silence it.

“Damnation,” Lawrence grumbled, shifting forward a bit and attempting to peer out the window. “He’s not alone, either,” he said. “I cannot see much, but he might have a parson of some sort with him.”

“No!” Minnie gasped, searching around, as if some means of escape might show itself to her. She knocked Clarence off the seat as she did.

Something did reveal itself, though it was not escape.

“Stand,” Lawrence ordered her, moving forward and grasping the edge of the seat upon which Minnie sat.

Minnie made a sound of confusion, but sensing that speed was of the essence, she did just that.

A second later, she gasped as Lawrence yanked the seat forward…and the cushion moved to reveal the seat itself was hollow.

“Get in,” Lawrence ordered calmly.

Minnie’s heart thundered in her chest, and she nearly laughed as she picked up her skirts and did exactly as she was told.

“I am not going to ask why this is here,” she said, stepping into the concealing space and crouching down, pulling her skirts in around her. “At this moment,” she added. “I should like a complete explanation later, however.”

The moment was too fraught for Lawrence to give her any reaction other than the thinnest of smiles as she hunkered down, making herself as small as possible. A moment later, he slid theseat back into place, leaving Minnie in complete darkness, but also fully hidden.

Her concealment was completed just in time. Lawrence shuffled a bit, then the carriage creaked slightly as he opened the door, then stepped down.

“What is the meaning of this?” Minnie heard him say from just outside the carriage.

“Where are you going, Lord Lawrence?” Owen asked, his voice coming nearer to the carriage. “It is too late for travelers to be out on the roads.”

“When and where I travel are no business of yours,” Lawrence said gruffly.

“They are when it means you are abducting my bride,” Owen said.

Minnie frowned at his audacity, then panicked a bit as her nose began to drip without her being able to do anything about it.

“How dare you?” Lawrence growled, still near to the carriage. “Lady Minerva’s remains lay moldering in that church, and you would accuse me of abduction?”

“Lady Minerva is no more dead than I am,” Owen snapped in reply. “I’ll prove it.”

Minnie gasped as the carriage door was wrenched open, then squeezed herself to be as small as possible, and to prevent any sneezing or coughing, as, she assumed, Owen looked into the carriage, expecting to find her.

Her heart nearly burst with fright when Owen called out, “Ha! What is the meaning of this?”

She was certain her hiding spot had been discovered, particularly since she heard shuffling very near her head. But instead of pulling the seat cushion aside to reveal her, Minnie heard a very slight scraping, then Owen’s voice from outside the carriage saying, “This wicked thing belongs to Lady Minerva.”

Minnie winced. Clarence. Lawrence must have put him back on the seat above her.

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