Page 37 of Presenting Miss Letitia (Once a Wallflower 1)

“Perhaps there’s a gate somewhere,” she said when he came back, alarmed by the thought of him pushing and pulling her over it.

“At this rate, they’ll be onto us before we find it.” His grim voice made her gasp.

He drew her into the darker shadows caused by a fir tree. “Sit there and don’t utter a sound. I’ll go farther afield. See if I can find a way through.”

She hated him leaving her, but knew she’d hold him back were she to come. Annoyed with herself, she sank down onto the cold hard ground again, a branch of the fir sticking into her arms. “Be careful,” she whispered. But he had gone.

As Brandon sprinted along beside the wall, a yell came from somewhere in the park. The men were hunting them and closing in. Given enough time, they might lose heart and leave, but not before they’d made a thorough search for them in daylight. He and Letty could not be here then. The wind must have blown the storm out over the Channel, for the sky had turned a milky grey as dawn approached. Concerned for her, he was about to go back when he came to a wooden gate in the wall. It was bolted but not padlocked. “Perfect,” he murmured, and swiftly retraced his steps. As he ran through the deep shadows cast by the shrubbery, it all looked the same, making it hard to work out where he’d left her. He was forced to slow to a walk, not daring to call out to her.

Suddenly, the clip clop of a horse’s hooves was almost upon him. Brandon plunged into the bushes. One of them was checking the boundary wall. He prayed Letty would stay put. She might be impulsive on occasion, but he trusted her, she was smart. Fancy launching that cannon ball into the room and setting the men against each other. What a good spy she would make.

The horse whickered as it passed so close to him, it brushed the branches near his arm. He held his breath. A few meters farther on, the rider dismounted, his boots hitting the ground. Brandon heard the screech of the gate opening, and a moment later, the bang as he closed it. Brandon abandoned his hiding place and crept back to where he reasoned he’d left Letty. Forced to take a chance, he whispered her name.

“I’m here,” came the quiet reply.

Greatly relieved, he stepped into the shadows. Letty’s hand found his shoulder, and she whispered near his ear. “One of the men just rode past me.”

He breathed in her hair’s sweet scent. “I’ve found a gate. We have very little time before it grows light. We’ll have to take a chance that he’s ridden farther on.”

“I can walk. My ankle feels better.”

He didn’t believe it but gripped her arm. “Let’s move on.”

There was no sign of the horseman as they followed the wall. At the gate, Brandon eased back the bolt and shoved it open. The loud shriek of rusty hinges would have been heard for miles. Cries went up and a thud of hooves shook the ground too close for comfort. He pushed her through the gate. “Go! Turn left and keep moving as fast as you can!”

“What about you? Aren’t you coming?”

“In a minute, I’ll catch you up.”

“I don’t like to…”

“For heaven’s sake, Letty. I need you to go.”

Without another word, she left him, limping down the lane close to the wall.

Brandon waited for the rider, praying the man didn’t have a gun. But even if he did, he was unlikely to use it for fear of bringing the land guard who covered the inland areas while the excisemen dealt with the coast.

He barely had time to whirl around when the horse was almost on top of him.

“Got you, Cartwright!”

Brandon was glad it was Elford. He was too well bred to be a ruthless killer, and completely untrained in the arts.

Elford angled the horse to wedge him against the wall and brought his whip down painfully on Brandon’s shoulder.

As the nervous horse shifted, Brandon grabbed the whip and pulled sharply, unseating Elford who crashed to the ground. The horse tossed its head and whinnied, backing away, then turned and galloped off.

With a cry of rage, Elford bounced to his feet and swivelled to face Brandon, holding up his fists. He bellowed for the others. An answering shout told Brandon they were only minutes away. With no time for the sort of fisticuffs Elford had been taught at Jackson’s boxing salon, he stepped in and dealt the man a sharp blow to his throat. He went down without a murmur.

Brandon barreled his way through the gate and set out full pelt in pursuit of Letty.

He found her around a bend in the road. She hadn’t gone far, she was limping badly.

“Step up on that rock and lean against my back,” he said. “Faster that way.”

Without a murmur of protest, she perched on the stone and pulled up her dress to reveal stocking tops and blue satin bows and a flash of rounded pale thigh. He turned from the beguiling sight and bent, allowing her to place her hands around his neck. Holding her legs against his waist, he set off at a good pace toward Hythe.

“This was how my father used to carry me,” she said somewhat breathlessly in his ear.

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