Dark Angel (56 page)

"Emily," Caroline whispered. The thought of her daughter, at the fringe of her consciousness through the whole of this dreadful afternoon, flooded to the fore. "Emily," she said aloud.

She looked up to find Adam's gaze upon her. He was breathing hard, the only sign of his disquiet. He reached for her hand and said sharply, "Farnwood. Where is she?"

Edward had been staring at his brother. He turned to Adam, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I'll take you." His voice was calm and decisive.

"Now," Adam said as Edward continued to stare at his brother. Adam glanced at Talbot. "He has no need to hurry."

Edward led them quickly through the shrubbery and onto a path which led into a small beech coppice. They wound their way through the trees, emerged onto a grassy slope, and plunged once more into trees. Oaks this time, their massive trunks extending arms that pointed haphazardly in all directions. The ground underfoot was slightly damp and muffled the sound of their walking. Once or twice Caroline stumbled over an unexpected tree root, but Adam kept her upright. Edward was going at a rapid pace, but it could not be fast enough.

"She's all right," Adam said, but his voice echoed her own apprehension.

"Yes, of course she is." Caroline did not believe it, despite all she had told herself during the long hours of waiting with Talbot for Adam to appear. Not after Salamanca, not after their abduction in Sherry's carriage, not after the horror of what had just happened on the lawn below the terrace.

Caroline knew she was irrational. Talbot had had no designs on Emily. Her abduction in Bunedo had not been Talbot's idea but an improvisation of the men he had sent to silence Jared's wife. He had not intended to abduct Emily today. She and Elena were encumbrances, to be kept out of the way until he had dealt with Adam. But the terrors of the past had merged with the nightmare of the present, and Caroline could not control the tight knot of fear under her breast.

A sharp report echoed through the ancient trees, dying into an unnatural silence. The faint rustling of animals in the underbrush stopped abruptly. The breath caught in Caroline's throat. Then she understood that the sound had been a shot and she ran in panic toward the sound, vaguely aware that Edward was running beside her. Adam, who had been the first to respond, was already out of sight.

They emerged into a clearing and saw a small house of gray stone, half hidden by trees and underbrush. The door was closed but one of the casement windows was ajar. Edward reached it before Caroline. He pushed the window open and leaned in. "Colborne?" Then, "Who the devil are you?"

Caroline elbowed her way in beside him. She was vaguely aware that Adam was in the room and Hawkins and Bob Colborne, but all her attention was on Emily, carried astride Elena's hip. Emily's face showed no trace of fear. "Mama!" she called.

Adam, who was already in the room, turned round and walked rapidly to the window, then lifted Caroline over the sill.

"Damn it, there's a door," Edward said, climbing in after her.

Caroline scarcely heard him. Elena came forward and gave Emily into her arms. Caroline tightened her hold on her daughter, whose arms were wrapped in a choking hold around her neck. "You were the longest time coming," Emily said.

"I know,
querida,
I know. It was long for me too."

Emily loosed her hold and looked her mother in the face. "Hawkins shot the bad man." Now free to look about the room, Caroline saw that Hawkins, a pistol dangling from each hand, was standing over Colborne. Colborne was on his knees, his left hand clasping his right arm which hung uselessly by his side. Blood seeped beneath his fingers, staining the sleeve of his coat. His breeches were spattered as well, and a large pool of blood had soaked into the carpet on which he knelt.

"It's not all his," Elena said to Caroline. Then, to the others, "Come, don't stand there like gawks. Someone help him to his feet. The bed is occupied, so you'll have to put him on the sofa. The carpet's ruined and a sofa won't matter much more."

Elena watched as Adam and Edward lifted Colborne and laid him on the sofa. "I'll get water and bandages," she said, but before she left the room she turned to Hawkins, grasped him by the shoulders, and kissed him firmly on the mouth. When she drew away she was frowning and there was no trace of passion on her face. "Men. They can't settle an argument without a gun. Give me those. You will not shoot anyone else today." Hawkins watched her with a bemused expression as she took the pistols from his unresisting hands and walked to a door in the wall facing the windows. "One is Colborne's," he called after her.

"I don't care whose they are, they are too dangerous for you to play with."

"Elena." Adam's voice stopped her. "Who is in the bed?"

"Lord Sheriton," Elena said as she disappeared into the other room.

Emily pointed to the white-faced man who had collapsed on the sofa, his hand still clutching his bloody arm. "He shot him."

"Sherry!" Caroline's voice was sharp with dismay.

"In the bedroom, Mama." Emily wiggled out of Caroline's arms and ran to the door through which Elena had disappeared.

"Stay with Colborne," Adam told Hawkins. He followed Caroline and Emily to the other room, nearly colliding with Elena as she emerged through the door carrying a basin and an armful of what appeared to be torn sheets.

"Lord Sheriton's going to need a doctor," Elena said as she stepped aside to let him pass. "I'll take care of this one. I don't think the wound is serious."

Sherry was sprawled on his back, his eyes closed, his arms lying limp by his side. His shirt had been cut away to the skin, and his chest was covered by a massive bandage which showed a faint tinge of blood at its center. Caroline lifted up his hand and felt for his pulse. To her unpracticed fingers it felt slow and unsteady. She felt his forehead. It was clammy and faintly filmed with sweat. His skin was unnaturally pale. The skin of his chest was paler still, the gold hairs standing out against the skin in sharp relief.

Caroline looked up. "Adam?"

"I'll get a doctor."

Emily had climbed onto the bed, bouncing as she settled by the unconscious man. "We bandaged him, Mama. Like you did in Acquera." She looked up at Adam. "You looked white, too. But you got better."

"So I did." Adam smiled. "I'm glad you were here to take care of him."

"Elena took care of him." Emily frowned. "Mostly. I helped."

"You did very well, Emily," Caroline said. "But now Sherry needs to have a doctor look at his wound." She turned to Adam. "I want to stay with him."

"Of course. Caro—" Adam hesitated. "I'm sorry."

He felt responsible, Caroline realized, as did she. It had been Adam's idea to ask Sherry to drive them to Sussex, but it had been her involvement in the effort to expose Talbot that had led Adam to do it.

Caroline squeezed Adam's hand and followed him into the sitting room. Elena and Hawkins were on their knees beside Colborne. Colborne's sleeve had been cut away, and Elena was wiping the blood from his arm. "Looks like a flesh wound," Hawkins said, glancing at Adam. "It doesn't seem to have hit the bone."

"Lord Sheriton is worse." Elena did not pause in her ministrations.

Hawkins took a bloody cloth from her hand and passed her a clean one. "Elena says Sheriton took it in the chest."

Edward was intent on sweeping up the shattered windowpane and the remnants of the large Chinese vase that had stood on the table beneath it. "Farnwood," Adam said, "we'll need a doctor. Where can I find one?"

Edward looked at the hearth broom as though the simple act of sweeping was all that had held the horror at bay. Then he set down the broom and said with sudden decision, "I'll send my coachman for him. And we'll have to inform the magistrate."

Colborne turned his head sharply. "Magistrate?"

"Colonel Rawley is dead, Colborne." Adam walked to the sofa and looked down at the man whose face showed both fear and cunning. "He was shot by Lord Granby. We'll need your story of these events. I wouldn't advise running away. You'll come out of it well enough."

Colborne blenched but said nothing.

Edward was leaving the room. Adam called after him. "Farnwood. I'm coming with you."

No one spoke after the two men left. Caroline returned to the bedroom and shut the door behind her. Emily was still sitting on the bed, singing softly to Sherry about three cows and a horse.

Hawkins and Elena were left alone with their patient. Hawkins left Elena to deal with Colborne's wound and began to crawl about the floor, searching for the object that would make their task easier. A moment later he sat up in triumph. "Found it."

"The bullet?"

Hawkins grinned. "It went right through. The wound should be clean."

"This isn't," Elena said, indicating the bloody basin. "Bring me some fresh water." When Hawkins returned she was holding a wad of cloth round Colborne's arm. "It won't stop bleeding," she complained.

"You know what they say about the British." Hawkins turned to Colborne. "Right, soldier? In the field you'd wrap it with a napkin and go straight back to the guns."

"Damn you," Colborne said, but there was no malice in his voice.

"I aimed for your arm. I didn't want to hurt you, but I don't like guns pointed at me. Not with women and children about."

"The colonel didn't know they'd be coming with Mrs. Rawley. He told me to keep them out of the way."

Hawkins grinned. "And you followed orders, like a good soldier. Can't say I blame you for it. Can't say anyone else will either, though you deserve more than you'll get. Think I'll keep your gun till this is settled." The wound was cleansed now as best they could. Hawkins took some folded pads from Elena and bound Colborne's arm, then contrived a sling to make its weight easier to bear. "There, that will have to do till the doctor arrives. Can I get you anything?"

"Water."

Elena nodded, got to her feet in one swift movement, and left the room.

"I can't trust you, mate, can I?" Hawkins said to the wounded man.

Colborne gave a harsh laugh. "Where would I go? Who would I run to?"

Hawkins got to his feet. "Yes. Still and all... I'm watching you, remember that."

Elena returned with a glass of water which Colborne drank greedily. "Tastes bad," he said.

"It's losing all that blood," she said calmly. Then she gestured to Hawkins to follow her into the entrance hall. "What did you put in that glass?" he asked.

"I found some laudanum."

"Wicked woman."

"Hawkins." Elena drew Hawkins out of sight of the open door. "You keep me always with my soul in my shoes."

"Here," said Hawkins, taking her by the waist, "I'm not the one who got shot."

She pulled away, a frown marring the lovely oval of her face. "Not this time, no. But always there are the guns and the knives and the killing. I don't want to live with that, Hawkins. But I must. Only you must be careful, more careful than you have ever been in your life, or our baby will have no father."

Hawkins was not sure he had heard her aright. No father? He stared at her with dawning wonder. Then he reached out a hand, slowly, tentatively, and placed it on her belly. "Our baby? Here?" It could not be true. She was as taut and flat as ever.

Elena clasped his hand and held it firmly against her. "Stupid man. It does not show yet."

Her face glowed, as bright as her hair. Hawkins felt a great outpouring of love for this golden woman before him. He wanted to enclose her with his love, to take her into himself, to hold her against the ravages of eternity, and he did not dare move. "Then you
will
marry me?"

Elena smiled. "I did not say that."

"But—"

"But Caroline is marrying her Adam, whom she loves to distraction though she fears it is not wise. And I must marry my Hawkins because when I am with him I am not wise at all. He is my despair and he makes me delirious with joy."

"I never thought you'd admit it," Hawkins said as Elena came into his arms. He held her tight against him, breathing in the heady perfume of her skin. "The devil take you, woman. You will be my undoing."

"Oh, my Hawkins, then I must sew you up again."

A sharp sound brought them out of their embrace and sent them racing back into the sitting room. Colborne was sitting up, his head supported by his good arm. He looked up, trying to focus his eyes on Elena. "You witch." His voice was slurred. "I knew the water was bad."

Hawkins went forward and retrieved the glass, which had fallen to the floor. "Time to sleep," he said, lifting Colborne's legs back onto the sofa. When Colborne's breathing deepened and his eyes closed, Hawkins looked up at Elena. "He'll do. Now let's have a look at Sheriton."

"There's nothing more we can do for him," Elena said, her voice not hiding her worry.

"Well, then. Let's find Emily. I want to tell her you're making me an honest man."

Adam and Edward entered the big house in silence to be greeted by a greater silence inside. Edward made for the salon where they had found Talbot with Caroline and Adam. When he reached the door he hesitated, then shook his head. The windows in the salon looked onto the terrace. The terrace led to the clearing where Talbot's body must still lie. "They'll be in the library," he said with sudden decision and walked across the hall to a room that stood at the front of the house, out of sight of the grisly spectacle of his brother growing cold on the unyielding ground.