Page 41 of A Night of Forever
Then he tied her to the bed and gagged her. She was so tired that she didn’t care that the bindings cut into her flesh. The lieutenant would save her. She didn’t know how, but he would.
“I’m going to check the horse,” Dufort said when she was secure. “Don’t cause me any trouble, or I’ll make what’s left of your pretty face even worse.” And he left, locking the door behind him.
She tried to stay awake, but exhaustion stole into her body like an evil spirit, and her eyelids fluttered closed.
Seconds later, minutes, or hours later, the door opened. Careful fingers untied her bound wrists, and she was lifted from the bed into strong arms, and into the peaceful dark.
—
When Isobel woke she was in a soft bed under a warm quilt that smelled of fresh country air, and Lieutenant Colbert was smiling down at her.
“The lady doth awake,” he teased.
She started to return his smile, but stopped as stiffness in her cheek reminded her of her injury. “Thank you for rescuing me.” She blinked and looked round her. “Where am I?”
“You are back at the Merville barracks,” he said. “You could not be safer.”
She could…if Dufort was in custody. “And Dufort, the man I was with?”
His smile dimmed. “Slipped away, I’m afraid. He must have seen all the activity when my men and I freed you.”
She started to throw back the covers and stopped, suddenly realizing she appeared to be wearing only a man’s large shirt.
“I had one of the wives bathe and clean you up,” the lieutenant said. “The only clothing to hand happened to be one of my shirts.”
“Thank you,” she said. “Forgive me, Lieutenant, for I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but I have to leave as soon as possible, and if you will indulge me once more, I also need your help. Dufort is holding Lord Labourd prisoner. The others—the Libertine Scholars—have to be told, and we have to get to him before Dufort does, or Arend is a dead man.”
The lieutenant’s eyes sharpened. “Do you know where he is?”
She nodded. “In a coal mine just south of Durham. The real map is lost somewhere with my reticule, but if you give me some paper I’ll draw one from memory.”
The lieutenant gathered paper and ink and brought it to her. “I’ve already sent word to your stepmother, Lady Northumberland, and—”
“Oh no!” This time Isobel did not care about propriety. She threw back the covers. “Where are my clothes?”
“But my lady—”
“My stepmother is the person who is hunting the Libertine Scholars.” Isobel’s words tumbled out mixed with desperate panic. “She kidnapped me, and Lady Evangeline’s boy, Sealey. Dufort took me from the house where they were holding us when it came under attack. I hoped the attackers were the Libertine Scholars and that Sealey is safe. But it might not be so. I have to get word to them.”
The lieutenant swore under his breath. “I beg your pardon, my lady.” He ran a hand over his face. “I’ve really made a mess of this rescue.”
“Not from where I sit,” she said, and meant it. “Now if you could find me some clothes and a horse, I will—”
“No,” he said grimly, “you will not. You are not fit to travel. I had to stitch your cheek, and I’m concerned about infection. I cleaned the wound as well as I could, but…”
Isobel’s hand flew up to touch her cheek and encountered padding. In her haste to help Arend she hadn’t even considered her wound.
“His knuckles split the skin along your cheekbone,” Lieutenant Colbert said with gentle concern. “I’m afraid it will leave a scar, perhaps three inches long.”
“Three…” Isobel had never considered herself a vain woman. She was not a beauty, but she knew she was passably pretty and took pride in her appearance.
Now Arend was the only man she wanted to find her attractive. Would he think her repulsive? But then she remembered their engagement was a ruse, and that he had seduced her solely to discover her true allegiance. The wound in her cheek was nothing compared to the wound in her heart.
She swallowed hard and kept her voice soft. “There is not a lot I can do about my injury, but I can help Lord Labourd.”
“You are a very brave woman.”
She had to look away from the pity in Lieutenant Colbert’s eyes. From now on, would everyone look at her like that? She hoped not.
