Blackthorne's Bride (16 page)

The two of them had made it to the nearby village, which happened to be Stevenage, and Jack and Maddie crouched behind the local pub and posting house. It was still early, and many of the villagers were not yet about, but the smells of baked bread and frying ham and sausage made her stomach rumble—despite the unappetizing aromas coming from the horse.

"Are you certain he knows to meet us here?" Maddie asked for what might have been the fifth time that morning.

"He knows," Jack growled. He didn't look at her.

Maddie didn't blame him for being mad. He must think her daft after what she'd done to him this morning. But, jiminy, she'd told the man to hurry. Besides, why should she feel sorry for him? She was the one who'd had to exert all the self-control and end their tryst. The sun had come up. She'd turned back into Lady Madeleine. Lady Madeleine did not allow men to reach up her skirts—no matter how enjoyable it might be.

And it was enjoyable. Oh, Lord, it was enjoyable. First Jack had shown her that kissing didn't have to be boring or sloppy, and then ...

Well, the man was obviously blessed with many talents.

But now she had to think of poor Mr. Dover and Gretna Green, and escaping her father and Lord Bleven. Jack swore up and down that he and his brother had arranged to meet here, but so far she saw no sign of Lord Nicholas.

She hoped he hadn't wandered by any of the shops and been accosted by a merchant's daughter. The man seemed to invite trouble.

Behind her, one of the horses nickered and stomped its foot, and Maddie turned just in time to see Ashley and Lord Nicholas leading their horses into the small courtyard behind the posting house.

Thank goodness, Ashley was fully clothed again, and Maddie jumped up, ran to her, and hugged her. "I was so worried about you!"

"At least someone was," Ashley said, with a glare at Lord Nicholas.

"Don't start," he retorted, moving forward to shake his brother's hand. "Little harpy. Next time she exposes herself to half a dozen drooling men, I'll let them have her."

Blackthorne pulled his brother aside and the two began to speak quietly. But before Maddie could ask Ashley what had happened to her the night before, she spotted Mr. Dover. He trudged behind Ashley and Lord Nicholas, horseless and bedraggled, but alive.

Maddie released Ashley. "Mr. Dover, you made it." She had intended to embrace him as warmly as she had her friend, but when she approached him, she couldn't seem to make herself do it. Instead, she held out her hand and allowed him to kiss her fingers.

The formality between them reminded her that her dress was wrinkled and dirty, that she wore no gloves, and that she hadn't bathed. Poor Mr.

Dover. He must rue the day he ever agreed to run off with her. Not only was their elopement a fiasco, she looked like a street urchin.

And, while he had undoubtedly spent the night shivering cold and alone, she had slept in another man's warm arms. And this morning ...

Maddie bit her lip. Best not to think of that.

Feeling incredibly guilty, she was compelled to apologize. "Mr. Dover, let me express to you how sorry I am that this elopement has gone so terribly wrong. I am certain our bad fortune now is no omen to what the future brings."

Ashley, who was standing beside them, not bothering to even pretend she wasn't listening, snorted.

Maddie glared at her, then looked back at Mr. Dover. "I assure you that once we are married—"

"Maddie," Ashley interrupted, drawing her away. "I was so worried about you. How did you get away?"

Maddie gave Mr. Dover an apologetic look, then prepared to lecture Ashley. "After all of Bleven's men went chasing after you, it wasn't difficult. How could you put yourself in so much danger? I was terrified you'd be caught and—" She swallowed.

"Actually, I think exposing myself was the best idea I've had in a long time."

"Oh, Lord."

"You'd be surprised how easy it is to blend in when you're naked."

"Oh, good Lord."

Ashley smiled. "Lord Nicholas and I dove under a pile of leaves and Bleven's men all rode right by us. By the time they realized their error, I had my dress back on and we were long gone."

"But Mr. Dover? How did you find him?"

Ashley scowled at poor Mr. Dover. Maddie thought he looked lost and forlorn this morning.
"He
stumbled upon us," Ashley said. "At quite an inopportune moment, too. Though I suppose it's for the best. Lord Nicholas is completely incorrigible."

Maddie narrowed her eyes. "Wait a moment. What kind of inopportune moment? Were you and Lord Nicholas—"

"All right, ladies!" Lord Nicholas interrupted. "We have a plan."

"Oh, no you don't," Ashley protested. "No more of your plans. In fact, no more of you." She turned to Maddie. "I propose only the four of us continue to Gretna Green. We can leave Lord Nicholas behind to create a diversion for anyone following us."

"Finally be rid of you? Capital idea," Lord Nicholas agreed. "Except, who's going to steal the carriage?"

"Pardon?" Maddie asked. "Steal what carriage?"

"The one that's going to take us to Gretna Green," Lord Nicholas answered. "The one I'm going to steal for us."

Maddie shook her head. Lord, this was her worst nightmare come true. After all the trouble he'd caused at the inn, she could not begin to imagine how much worse the turmoil over a carriage would be. Perhaps as much turmoil as publicly insulting a duke. "You cannot steal a carriage, Lord Nicholas."

He frowned. "Why not?"

Maddie tried to catch Jack's eye. Maybe she could force him to speak to his brother, or perhaps—if she looked the other way—to knock some sense into Lord Nicholas. But Jack merely blinked at her, scowled, and crossed his arms over his chest.

Maddie licked her lips. "Lord Nicholas, you cannot steal a carriage because theft is wrong. It's a sin."

"So is murder, but I didn't get the impression last night that Bleven's conscience was troubling him."

Maddie bit her lip. Bleven did have a reputation for heartless cruelty.

"And what about your own father?" the younger Martingale brother asked, crossing his arms. "If he finds us, do you think his actions will be tempered by thoughts about sin?"

Maddie glanced at Mr. Dover. It was true. Her father would likely shoot first and ask repentance later.

Maddie sighed. "Very well, but can we not buy a carriage? Regretfully, in the fray, I lost my reticule and all my money, but surely if the rest of you pool your resources—"

"We don't have the time to go carriage shopping," Blackthorne said, cutting her off. "We're in a hurry and we have at least two parties, and probably more, searching for us. To openly present ourselves in this town, or any other, is suicide."

Maddie bit her lip. He was right. They needed to be on their way quickly and anonymously. But, still, she couldn't believe larceny was the only way. "I understand completely, and yet I cannot condone theft. We must think of another way."

"It's no use," Ashley said finally. "You can't reason with her on something like this. She has her morals and her good deeds, and no one can disabuse her of their worth."

"Is that so?" Jack said, coming forward. "Are you telling me that Lady Madeleine never slips from what is good and proper? That her morality never falters?"

Maddie felt her mouth go dry. Oh, Lord. He was not going to tell everyone about what had happened this morning, was he? Because she had not been Lady Madeleine then—only, how did she explain that to all of them? How did she explain that to Mr. Dover? "Well, you see, sir, in the wee hours of the morning, I'm not Lady Madeleine. Well, I am Lady Madeleine, but ..."

It would never work.

Her gaze met Jack's, and he raised an eyebrow at her. His expression dared her to try and play Miss High and Mighty now. She knew there was a reason she didn't like midnight adventures. She got into far less trouble in the daylight.

"Fine!" she said, throwing her arms in the air. "Steal a carriage. I'll even help."

"Really?" Ashley said. "Perhaps we should be the ones to steal the carriage. Wouldn't that be fun!"

"Actually," Jack said, stepping forward. "That's not a bad idea."

To no one's surprise, in the end Maddie would not agree to steal a carriage. Jack wouldn't have allowed it anyway, but he liked to see her squirm. Preferably underneath him, but if he couldn't have that, then he would find some other way to affect her.

The village was large and bustling, and Nick had no problem stealing a carriage with four fresh horses. And so, an hour after their party had met behind the posting house, the five of them were once again on the road to Gretna Green.

Nick offered to drive first, and Jack let him, with the condition that he ride in the coach box as well. Nick might want to put as much distance between himself and Ashley Brittany as possible, but that didn't mean that he would spend this whole trip locked in the carriage with two women and the whiny Mr. Dover.

And he wanted a chance to speak to Nick alone. He had planned to tell his brother what the Black Duke had said in the clearing. Nick needed to know that Bleven could have been involved in what happened in that alley all those years ago. But now that he had the opportunity, Jack found that he couldn't speak. It had been his fault, not Nick's. So this knowledge would be his burden as well.

He was quiet until they had covered enough distance without pursuit so as to feel relatively safe. Then he said, "According to our professor, the next town of interest is Biggleswade. Dover estimates that we're approximately eight hours and fourteen minutes behind schedule reaching it."

"Good God!" Nick said, shaking his head. "Say it ain't true."

Jack smiled. His brother could actually be tolerable at times. And sarcasm ran in the family.

"Oh, it's true, all right, but I'm more worried about Lord Castleigh or Sir Gareth catching up to us than I am maintaining a schedule."

"You're not safe until you have a ring on Miss Brittany's finger," Nick said. "And good luck with that."

Jack snorted. "She threatening not to marry me?"

"Oh no." Nick gave him a sidelong look. "She's threatening
to
marry you."

Jack was quiet for a moment. No point trying to avoid fate. He had to marry her if he was ever to return to London and his life there. It was probably about time he married anyway. His father had passed away three years ago, and the family needed an heir. Ashley Brittany would make as good a wife as any. He knew her family, knew her brothers well, and though they were all mad as bulls with bees stinging their rumps, they were a good family. Good ancestry, good finances, good people.

Not the kind of people one wanted to anger. The men in the family could hold a grudge that outlasted world empires. And so he would marry Ashley, and everyone would have what they wanted.

Well, almost everyone.

No,
Jack corrected.
Everyone.
He didn't want Lady Madeleine. He'd been through all that last night. No matter what happened, he wasn't going to marry her. It would have been a disaster anyway. She'd drive him mad with all her Good Samaritan deeds, and he'd drive her mad ... well, he could think of a number of ways to drive her mad.

Ashley Brittany was safe. She didn't make his tailcoat feel too tight around his chest or make his blood pound in his head. Marry her, and he risked nothing.

She was pretty, spoiled, and wouldn't complicate his life with any unwanted emotions. Marrying her was simple.

Jack glanced at his brother again.

Or was it?

"What happened last night with you and Miss Brittany? You went after her, found her—still naked, I presume—and ... ?"

"Dover discovered us, and we all got some rest."

"And that's it?"

Nick glanced at him. "She's your fiance, Jack. You think I don't respect that?"

"You're a pretty good thief." Jack indicated the stolen carriage.

Nick laughed. "And would you have cared if I'd stolen something that was yours? Something to do with Miss Brittany?"

Jack didn't answer.
Would
he have cared? Aside from the general feeling of propriety any man had toward his wife-to-be, did he care what Ashley Brittany did? He tried to imagine her in Nick's arms, tried to imagine his brother kissing her, touching her, and felt nothing other than general annoyance.

But when he turned his thoughts to Maddie and Mr. Dover, Maddie and any man, anger exploded inside him. He was furious just thinking of Dover and Maddie inside the carriage together at the moment.

And that was why he was up here. Because he wasn't going to tolerate any bloody feelings creeping up on him. He was going to watch her marry Dover, and he was going to keep out of the way and allow it to happen. And though he didn't anticipate any more opportunities like last night had afforded the two of them, he was not going to touch her again.

No matter how much his fingers ached to feel her skin or his mouth longed to slant over her rosy lips and delve inside her sweetness, he would not do it.