Chapter Fifteen #2
She had to go to Parliament in search of Bram.
Surely he would have a few minutes for her between his appointments. She was not too prideful to sit outside his office and wait for him.
But as her carriage approached the Parliament building, the roads became clogged with traffic and no one was moving.
Her driver leaned down to address her. “M’lady, I think there must be something going on, because all the roads near Parliament are closed off.”
“Oh dear. Never mind, I’ll hop down and walk the short distance. Wait here for me, Cummings.”
“No, m’lady,” he said with urgency. “I do not think it is wise. What if there is trouble ahead? It isn’t safe for you.”
Miranda dismissed the possibility, for she could not see any unruly crowds. “Most likely it is a luncheon or other special event in honor of a visiting dignitary. These happen often enough. Wait here for me,” she insisted. “I won’t be long.”
The day was sunny and pleasant except for the slightly odorous breeze blowing off the Thames.
But she ignored the stench and walked apace toward the government building.
However, her heart sank when she rounded the corner and noticed a crowd of men who looked quite angry and were obviously protesting something.
They stood between her and the visitors’ entrance.
Mounted cavalry had taken positions between those men and the massive government doors.
“Oh, this is not good.” She was disappointed Cummings had turned out to be right. Although she was eager to see Solway, she knew it was too dangerous to proceed.
She had just decided to turn back when the angry group of men chose that moment to advance upon the soldiers. The soldiers pushed back with military force.
Miranda found herself suddenly swallowed up amid the chaos.
As the mounted soldiers pushed the rioters back, she was surrounded by a large group of men who were retreating in panic as shots rang out.
Soldiers had fired over their heads as a warning, but the protestors thought the shots were aimed at them and ran for their lives.
She tried to scramble out of the way, but one of those rioters suddenly grabbed her silver heart necklace and ripped it from around her neck. “Think ye’re such a fine lady,” he sneered. “I’ll show ye—”
“You bounder!” She punched him in the face and tried to grab back her necklace. But he held it up just out of her reach.
When he turned to run, she leaped onto his back and gave him a solid smack on the head. “Give it back to me!”
“Think ye’ll knock me out cold with yer lacy gloved hand?” He laughed and shoved her off him so hard, she tumbled awkwardly to the ground.
She’d lost Solway because of her foolish fears. There was no way on this green earth she was going to lose his necklace, too.
She wanted to pounce on that bounder again and pound him to dust, but she could not even move with the breath momentarily knocked out of her. And now her ribs were on fire. Men tripped over her, further bruising her already-inflamed ribs.
Everything was happening so fast.
She had just managed to roll to her knees when she saw a row of soldiers on their horses advancing.
Dear heaven.
They were coming straight for her.
She tried to rise, for she needed to get out of the way or be trampled. Pangs of pain radiated outward from her ribs to her limbs and left her immobile.
She screamed, hoping to gain the attention of the horsemen. But there was too much noise amid the chaos and no one could hear her.
Oh, why had she not run to safety when she’d had the chance? Instead, she’d stupidly gone after that bounder to take back her stolen necklace. Its only value was sentimental.
Still, it was priceless to her.
The ground vibrated from the impact of thundering hooves almost atop her.
She closed her eyes and prayed for salvation.
In that same moment, someone scooped her up and hauled her out of the way of the massive, charging beasts. “Och, Miranda,” came Solway’s familiar, resonant voice with its lovely brogue. “What in blazes are ye doing here? Ye might have been killed. Are ye daft to come here?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on to him with all her might.
How could she have been so stupid as to delay admitting the obvious? Even the Good Lord knew Solway was the answer to her prayers.
He was her salvation.
“I love you, Bram Lanark. I love you so much and will do so for all the days of my life and even after I take my last breath. Even that is not enough to express how much I love you.”
“Ye came all the way here to tell me that? Och, I already know this.” But he gave her a hug and then let out a deliciously feral growl. “Ye’re mine, Miranda. I knew we were destined the moment I set eyes on ye.”
Only a moment ago she had been quaking with fear and facing certain death.
She held on to him even tighter, knowing she would always be safe in his arms. This was exactly where she wanted to be.
Why had she been so foolish as to ever deny her love for this handsome Scot?
“There’s more, so much more I must tell you,” she insisted, still holding on to him with all her might as he carried her to relative safety against the building’s wall.
However, they were not out of danger yet.
The angry crowd and soldiers were still fighting around them, so there was no going forward to the Parliament entrance or backward to the street where she had left her carriage just yet.
“Bram, I’m so sorry I was mean to you in front of my friends. ”
“Ye weren’t mean to me, love. Ye weren’t ready, that’s all,” he said, all the while keeping his gaze on the fighting going on in front of them.
He shielded her from a retreating protester, pushing the man away when he tried to punch Solway for no reason other than he was dressed as a gentleman.
But Bram was a Scot and no gentleman. He landed a blow that left the man reeling.
A soldier grabbed the scoundrel and dragged him off.
“Bram! Look out!”
Two more men tried to jump atop him.
“Bollocks,” he grumbled, and set her securely behind him before taking on those ruffians.
More punches were thrown, mostly by Bram, who quickly dispatched his attackers with a few forcefully accurate jabs. His lip was bloodied by the time he’d knocked those men out.
Miranda gaped as those scoundrels were taken by the collar and dragged away by the Parliament guards.
As the rioters were pushed back a safe distance, Bram reached for her hand. “I think it is safe to head inside now.”
“No! Not yet.” She fell to her knees and began to scour the area for her lost necklace, which she knew had fallen from the thief’s hands during the melee.
Bram knelt beside her, his regard quizzical as he watched her crawl on her knees on the ground. “What in blazes are ye doing?”
“One of those ruffians tried to steal my necklace.” She bent her head slightly so he could see the welt on her neck. “I tried to stop him, but he grabbed it and ran away. Then one of the soldiers grabbed him and I saw him drop the necklace. It must still be here.”
“By all that’s holy… Ye were going to risk yer life for a trinket purchased at a market?”
She frowned at him. “It was the necklace you gave me. Of course I was going to try to stop him.”
Bram raked a hand through his hair. “I dinna care if it was the Crown Jewels he was stealing. Yer life is more important than a thousand gems. Certainly more important than that necklace. I’ll buy ye all the silver hearts ye desire, if it means that much to ye.”
“I only wanted the one. That one. It was special.”
“Ye are surely daft, Miranda.” He took her back into his arms and carried her toward the building entrance, shielding her from the few stray rioters still being chased by the soldiers.
“I thought I was seeing things when I peered out my window and saw ye on that thief’s back, smacking him about the head.
Och, no. It couldn’t be, I said to myself.
I rubbed my eyes, but ye were still before me, and then he pushed ye off him. ”
“I know. I was there. You needn’t repeat what happened blow by blow.”
He groaned. “Dinna chide me. Ye’re the one who needs to have her ears boxed. What were ye thinking? Ye could have been killed.”
“Well, I wasn’t. You came to my rescue. Your lip is bleeding, Bram.”
“I dinna care. I need to get ye safely out of here.”
“Oh, this is all my fault. I’m so sorry. Do you hate me now? I cannot seem to do anything right.”
He sighed. “Of course I dinna hate ye. Nor was this yer fault. Ye couldn’t have known a riot would break out. Or that one of those knaves would try to steal yer necklace.”
“But you only ran out here to save me and got attacked for it because of me.”
“No’ yer fault either. Ye didna throw those punches at me. Besides, I’m fine.”
He hurried toward the nearest entrance as gunfire, roars, and screams resounded in the distance.
“Och, lass, I’ll take ye to my office and then we’ll finish this conversation.”
It took them another minute to be admitted inside, for there was a line of frantic people wanting admission.
However, one of the soldiers standing guard recognized Bram and waved him forward.
“Go straight in, Your Grace. It isn’t safe yet, and you had better remain inside until we disperse the last of the crowd and restore calm. ”
Once inside, Bram would not allow her to walk on her own. She felt so foolish being carried in his arms in the halls of Parliament.
“Dinna be stubborn,” he said with another delicious growl. “My heart’s still pounding and I am no’ ready to let ye go. I know that bounder hurt ye when he pushed ye down.”
“It did hurt a little, but I am perfectly fine now. Let me down and I’ll prove it to you.”
“No, lass. Ye’re staying in my arms.”
He ignored her protests and shrugged off the curious stares of others they passed in the hall.