XIII
AN HOUR’S SEARCH REVEALED no sign of Rory on any of the trails they had taken before, so with reluctance Nell turned onto a path that led downhill toward a thick wood.
She knew the military encampment was located just the other side of the wood, and involuntarily, halfway down the hillside, she slowed her horse, casting a hesitant glance at Peter.
He stared back at her unencouragingly. With a small grimace she looked away, determined to find her niece.
But even as she moved to use her spur, a shout from behind gave her a pause, and glancing over her shoulder, Nell saw a horseman pounding down the hill at almost reckless speed.
Recognizing him at once, she gave a sigh of relief and drew rein.
“He looks like the very devil, he does,” Peter observed dispassionately, drawing in beside her.
Once Huntley realized they had seen him, he slowed the great stallion to a safer pace.
Nell, watching him, hoped he had only been concentrating on the terrain, and that that accounted for the deep furrow where his heavy brows came together, but when he glanced up again, she knew Peter was right.
Her sense of relief faded quickly, replaced by an unfamiliar shiver of fear.
She met his angry gaze steadily, however, when he pulled up near them.
He did not speak to her, but turned to Peter.
“Leave us. I shall see your mistress safely home.”
“Aye, m’lord.” Without so much as a look at Nell, Peter turned away, leaving her feeling slightly affronted. He was her servant, after all, and should not be so quick to obey another.
“My lord, you cannot simply send him off. What would—”
“What would people think, Nell? Is that what you were about to ask me?” His tone was such that she was glad he didn’t wait for a reply. “Do you dare to ask such a thing after careering off on a wild goose chase with only a groom for escort?”
“A wild goose chase?” Her eyes lit, and she forgot his anger for the moment. “Then she is safe? Where was she?”
He grimaced. “She was riding on the beach not half a mile from the men’s bathing area, skirts flying, hair streaming out behind her like a damned gypsy.”
“Merciful heavens!” Nell gasped. “Did anyone see her?”
“Only half a dozen or so of the men who accompanied his highness to the beach this afternoon,” he replied with a touch of sarcasm.
“That’s all. Thankfully, I doubt if anyone recognized her except for myself.
I had my curricle, so I simply left the bathing party and drove along the Marine Parade until I spotted her idiot groom waiting near the dunes by the new royal crescent.
I took his mount and went to fetch her.”
His words made it all seem very matter-of-fact, but Nell had an instant vision of what was no doubt a pounding chase.
And there was equally little doubt as to what Rory’s reaction must have been when he caught her.
On the other hand, if there had been a quarrel, it was no wonder he was in such a flaming temper now.
Nell gazed at him searchingly. His lips were drawn together in a thin line, and his eyes seemed to be sunk deeper than ever beneath the heavy brows. She swallowed carefully.
“I-I daresay you saw her safely home again, sir.”
“I did. And I don’t mind telling you, I said a few things to her that she won’t forget in a hurry.”
“Oh dear,” Nell said, frowning. “I wish it may have done some good, sir, for I expect she deserved every word. However, I—”
“She deserved a good thrashing,” he retorted, not one to understate matters, “While as for you, my girl—”
“Me!”
“Yes, you, and don’t look so wide-eyed,” he said grimly. “Why do you think I sent your groom away? I mean to say a few, things to you, Miss Lindale, that I am quite certain you would prefer to hear privately.”
“Well, I cannot think what you might wish to say, sir,” she replied, concentrating on the back of her horse’s arched neck as she turned him uphill. “Nor can I stop you from saying whatever you like. However, your horse should not be kept standing while we talk. Shall we start back?”
“We will ride to the elm grove at the top of the hill. By then Jack will be ready to rest for a few moments.”
“But we must get back to town, sir! Everyone will begin to wonder what has become of us.”
“Then they must wonder. I have a good deal to say, and I desire your full attention while I say it. You had no business to come up here by yourself, you know.”
“You have no authority over me, my lord,” Nell retorted.
“We’ll just see about that.”
Silence fell between them, although Nell wanted very much to tell him to his head that he could just keep his tongue between his teeth.
She had no wish whatever to hear what he had to say to her, for she knew only too well that she had acted rashly in letting her anxiety over Rory’s well-being make her forget about her own.
It had seemed such a simple matter merely to ride up here, find her, and take her home again.
And Peter had seemed sufficient escort for such a purpose.
It was not until the possibility had arisen that she might have to be separated from Peter that she had recognized any difficulties, but they had been brought home to her in full force then.
When she had seen Huntley riding down the hill toward them, she had felt as though a full cavalry regiment was coming to her aid.
Though she had seen his anger and had briefly thought it aimed at her, once he had begun speaking of Rory’s escapade, she had assumed his temper was the result of that and nothing else.
Now, it appeared that there was a good deal more to the matter than that.
They reached the grove of trees, and Huntley dismounted, dropping Jack’s rein to the ground, men turning to help Nell from the saddle.
“Truly, my lord, there is little to be served by stopping here. We must—”
“You are coming out of that saddle,” he said, favoring her with a stern glare. “It would be wise for you to cooperate.”
She returned the glare. “Very well, sir. I can see that you are quite determined upon this course.”
He grasped her around the waist and lifted her easily from the saddle.
When he released her, it was only to replace his hands upon her shoulders, and Nell feared from his grim expression that he meant to shake her.
That is, she suspected the little shiver that raced up her spine must be one of fear, but even as the thought occurred, she knew she was not afraid of him.
Whatever he might do, whatever he might choose to say to her, she was certain he meant her no harm.
She stared up at him, waiting for whatever would come next, and when he simply released her and turned away, she felt a wave of disappointment that startled her.
Before she had time to examine the extraordinary feeling, he turned back.
She watched him, interested to note that his teeth seemed to be clenched.
Certainly, his hands had curled into fists.
“Damn it, Nell,” he said softly, his voice obviously under rigid control. “You must know how stupidly you behaved today.”
“I was worried about Rory,” she said, amazed that her own voice seemed so steady. “If I didn’t stop to think properly, surely, under the circumstances, no one can blame me.”
“The devil they can’t!” he snapped, his quick temper not eased in the slightest by her studied calmness. “One idiotic action can scarcely excuse another. You had no business to go haring off like that, and you know it. What would your father say to all of this?”
“Since he is in no position to say anything—”
“Don’t quibble, damn it! I’m having enough difficulty to keep from shaking you, or worse.”
“Very well, sir!” she replied in the same tone, placing her hands on her hips.
“Eight years ago my father would have said very much what you are saying now, but that was eight years ago when I was a girl like Rory. And I promise you, sir, I had planned a number of such things to say to her when I found her. But Clarissa, Crossways, and you as well, Philip, chose to make me responsible for her. And since she is my responsibility, when she disappeared, I came to find her. It is unfortunate, perhaps, that it did not occur to me she might ride anywhere but here—”
“It was damned foolhardy not to consider other possibilities!” he declared, unimpressed.
“But it was even more foolish of you to go in search of her without so much as informing anyone other than a housemaid of your purpose. Before you can accept responsibility for Aurora’s behavior, you must learn to act responsibly yourself, Nell.
Your actions today indicate that you have not grown much wiser than the green girl I met eight years ago. ”
She opened her mouth, but the words she meant to utter stuck painfully in her throat.
Having accepted the fact of his anger, she had expected that he might say things she would as lief not hear, but she had not expected anything he said to hurt her.
And his last words had hurt. Her throat closed up even more, and the tightness seemed to creep up the side of her face and behind her eyes.
She felt her chin tremble and realized with some astonishment that she was on the verge of tears.
Her hands, placed as they were on her hips, felt suddenly ridiculous.
I must look like a fishwife, she thought bitterly.
But she seemed unable to move them. She could only stand there, staring at Huntley, fighting back the stupid tears.