Page 116 of Miss Prim and the Duke of Wylde
“That dog of yours.”
“Ridley?” She couldn’t keep the eagerness from her voice. “Have you seen him?” She gripped his arm more tightly. “Do you know where he is?”
Grim-faced, Thomas met her eyes. “I arrived in time to meet Drago as he left for Melwin Place. He told me about the others watching over you and suggested how I could best help. Long story short, I was scouting through the forest to the south of the house when I heard whimpering. I found your pup in the cellar of an old ruined cottage. He must have gone investigating and fallen in. I would have got him out, but he’s injured, and he won’t let me anywhere near him. He’s bleeding and, from what I could see, might have broken a leg.”
“Oh Lord!” Meg put her fingers to her lips.
Thomas glanced searchingly around the lawns again. “As the plan doesn’t seem to have worked, I thought I should come and tell you.” He met Meg’s eyes. “Do you want to stay here longer? I could walk on to the stable—”
“No!” Using her grip on his sleeve, she towed him around. “To hell with the villain, whoever he is. If he arrives now, the others will see him, and Drago should be back soon anyway. We’ll have to come up with some other plan, but there’s only one Ridley. Please show me where he is immediately.”
“All right.” Thomas started walking quickly and pointed ahead. “We need to go into the forest and head southeast a little way.”
Releasing his arm, Meg nodded. She raised her skirts and hurried to keep up with his longer strides.
They rounded the front corner of the house and rapidly crossed the south lawn.
As they neared the trees, she said, “I know Drago told you not to come, but I’m glad you did.”
Somewhat stiffly, Thomas inclined his head. “I received his note, but…” His lips tightened. “I couldn’t not come.” He waved into the trees. “It’s this way.”
Meg nodded and hurried on beside him.
* * *
Meg followedThomas through the heavily shadowed woods. It was taking much longer than she’d thought to reach their destination.
Thomas glanced at her and, as if divining her thoughts, admitted, “It’s farther than I’d realized.”
She nodded, and they continued on their winding, twisting path through the thickening trees. Much of the estate surrounding Wylde Court was given over to forest, most of it quite old.
At last, Thomas pointed ahead, and between the tall trunks, she spotted a crumbling ruin that had once been a small cottage.
Originally, the cottage had stood in a clearing, but over the years, the forest had encroached, and now, only a few yards separated the encircling trees from the cottage’s lichen-covered walls.
Meg hurried forward. “Ridley?”
A volley of barking drew her around the side of the long-abandoned cottage to the mouth of its cellar. The door was flung back, revealing a set of stone steps covered in dust and debris stretching downward into the gloom.
Meg crouched and peered into the darkness shrouding the cellar. “Ridley?”
Bark! Yip! Bark!
He was definitely in there and, by the sounds of it, quite agitated.
“Wait,” she called. “I’m coming.”
She rose and carefully started down the steps. She had to work to keep her balance, testing each stone to make sure it was stable before trusting her weight to it.
Ridley continued to yip and bark, if anything growing more hysterical.
As Meg descended and her eyes adjusted to the prevailing gloom, she saw that, except for the roof formed by the well-aged, solid oak planks of the cottage’s floor, the entire cellar was faced with stone. This would once have been an excellent place for storing grains, fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Indeed, if the door was fixed and the detritus of the years cleared away, the cellar appeared sufficiently sound that it would be useable now.
Finally, she stepped onto the cellar’s stone floor.
“Careful,” Thomas warned, descending the steps just behind her. “There’s all sorts of rubbish strewn about.”
The only illumination came from the open doorway, and given they were deep in the forest, the light falling through was diffuse and did little to penetrate the dimness deeper in the cellar.
