Page 75 of A Duke for Adela
“No, I’m fine.” Her heart was in her throat so that her words came out in a harsh rasp. “Areyouall right?”
“Yes, fine.” He withdrew a pistol from the lip of his boot. “Stay here. Do not move. Do you hear me? You are to stay in the carriage.”
He was off her and hopping out before she could stop him. The horses were agitated and the poor driver was doing his best to calm them down. Two footmen usually rode at the back of the carriage, and they now went off with Ambrose in search of the perpetrator. She wasn’t certain what was going on, but did this incident have something to do with Runyon still being on the loose?
Was something more going on that Ambrose had not told her?
The carriage jerked back and forth, and she sensed the horses were about to bolt. Glass from the shattered window littered the carriage floor and the door stood wide open, swinging back and forth as the team shied and nervously stamped their hooves. Since the carriage was still rocking wildly and she feared the horses were going to take off at any moment, she decided to climb out and find Ambrose.
Would she not be safer with him?
She spotted him a short distance away, standing at an intersection and obviously searching for the perpetrator. The footmen were also standing a short distance away, having spread out to search down opposite streets.
Who other than her Royal Society nemesis could have hurled something through the carriage window?
She knew it for certain when that bounder suddenly emerged from behind a row of bushes and raised his arm. Yes, it was Runyon for certain, although he looked rather haggard. Was he going to throw another rock?
Adela raced toward him and leaped on the wretched man before he could get off his throw. She landed hard on the ground atop him, but he easily tossed her off and was about to strike her when Ambrose grabbed the fiend and sent him flying through the air. “You are a dead man, Runyon.”
Adela worried that his words rang too true, for Runyon howled and then landed with a hard thud on the ground. He now lay motionless in a crumpled heap in the middle of the road.
Was he dead?
He wasn’t moving.
To her relief, it was not long before the bounder began to moan and attempted to sit up.
She tried to get up as well, but everything hurt. The breath squeezed out of her when she rolled to her side and also tried to sit up. Pain shot through her temples and she could not focus her eyes.
She tried once again, but her head was still spinning. She yelped as another jolt of pain tore through her the moment she lifted to her knees. She must have scraped them and also twisted her wrist when hurling herself at Runyon.
“Oh, dear.” She sank back on the ground, her entire body uncooperative.
“Stay still.” Ambrose knelt beside her and took her in his arms with exquisite care. “I don’t know whether to throttle you or kiss you.”
“Kisses are preferred,” she said with a groan. “He was going to hit you with a rock. I had to stop him.”
“It wasn’t a rock. Blast it, Adela.” He sounded exasperated as he rose, lifting her securely in the cradle of his arms. “All you had to do was stay in the carriage as I told you. What is it you don’t understand about keeping out of trouble? Look at you now, you’re a bloody mess.”
“I couldn’t stay in there. The horses were frightened and I knew I would be crushed if the carriage toppled. How is that safer?”
“Runyon had a pistol in his hand and might have shot you.”
“A pistol?”
“Yes, and that is far more dangerous than the possibility of my carriage tipping over.” Ambrose hugged her to him and began to walk away with her in his arms.
“Wait! Are you going to tell me this and then just have us leave Runyon lying there? He must be turned over to the authorities.”
Ambrose turned around so that she could see Mr. Barrow and his associate, the man he had introduced as Mick the other day, holding onto Runyon and binding his hands to prevent him from squirming away.
The two Bow Street men kept him pinned to the ground, ignoring the wretch’s howls and threats. Ambrose’s two footmen were also beside the Bow Street men, assisting them in securing the bounder who was struggling fiercely to break free.
“Ambrose, will you tell me what all this was about?”
He sighed. “The magistrate’s men and the Bow Street runners had trouble finding Runyon last night, as I told you earlier. Mr. Barrow was concerned and thought he might attempt to approach you before escaping to the Continent. I did not think the man would be so stupid. Regretfully, Mr. Barrow was right.”
She rested her head against his shoulder to ease the throbbing in her temples. “What a fool. Well, if any good comes of it–”
