As carefully as he could, he returned her to her sidesaddle. Not knowing where she was injured made his insides knot, but in order to assess her, he must see her safely indoors. Lord knew where their pursuer had gone, but Leo couldn’t take the risk of a surprise attack.
“Are you well enough to ride, Juliana?” he asked softly.
She nodded with a grimace. “I believe so, yes.”
Her complexion was wan, and her lips tight. She was clearly suffering, but he could do nothing for her now, most particularly in their perilous environment. With only a slight hesitation—and a great desire to see her away from potential harm—Leo gave her knee a gentle squeeze and returned to his own gelding.
His attention divided between Juliana following along behind him and his suspicions of every shape or shadow that they passed, Leo walked his mount further into the darkness. At some point during their flight in the forest, night had fallen, though he didn’t expect it was very late into the eve.
Gradually, the copse of trees grew less dense, until they were riding in an open field. The wind grew steadily colder, and Leo’s thighs and back burned with overuse.
He no longer knew in which direction the road lay; he only knew that he must find a safe dwelling. With every trot his mount took, Leo scanned their surroundings in search of light.
As the next hour wore on, the fear in his heart mingled sickeningly with the churning guilt in his gut. He’d used Juliana ill. The best that he could hope for would be to see her safely into her brother’s protection, and bid her farewell. Lord knew that spending more time in the company of the Murderous Marquess was the very last thing that she needed, particularly when he evidently could not keep her safe. He’d failed abysmally.
They crested a hill, and Leo scanned the landscape, his sunken spirits already expecting the worst. But then, he spotted it.
“There!” he said, looking at Juliana over his shoulder as he gestured toward a grand estate in the distance.
She shook her head with a cringe of pain, her complexion growing increasingly ashen. “No. That is a home, Leo. Why d—”
“I’m certain they will offer help if we—”
“No,” she said more firmly, her eyes wide and pleading. “We can return to the road and ride to the nearest inn. Surely there is one not far. I do not wish to importune this—”
“Juliana,” Leonard said gravely. “You have been injured. Our horses require food, water, and rest, and we are both chilled to the bone. I will do whatever it takes to find you safely situated this evening.”And maybe then I will prove to us both that I can provide protection.
* * *
Damn Leo and his gallantry,Juliana thought bitterly.
Her gaze slipped past him to the grand estate beyond. It was the very last place she wished to be. She wouldn’t—couldn’t—take Leo there.
Biting at her frigid bottom lip, Juliana thought quickly. If he insisted on this location, then perhaps she could control the circumstance. “The family’s knowledge of our presence could put them in danger from our pursuer. It would be best if they maintained their innocence in truth if questioned.” She bit once more at her bottom lip, hating that she was capitulating. “I would suggest that we conceal ourselves in the stables. In a building that large, I imagine that there are empty stalls and an abundance of sustenance and supplies.”
As a matter of fact, she knew precisely where a bag of apples hung, delivered daily from the trees in the neighbouring estate’s small conservatory. It would not be enough to fully satisfy their hunger, but they would not starve, and that would have to be enough.
She shifted tenderly on the saddle, her legs long since gone numb and her bottom and back screaming in pain.
Leo looked grim, his blond brows drawn down in a frown. “I do not care for—”
Juliana lunged for the proverbial kill. “Look at us, Leo. Do you truly believe that they will allow us admittance? I, a woman in dirty, rumpled, ill-fitting attire, and…you? How would you introduce yourself? You know full well that neither of us would inspire their pity. We would be fortunate if they did not summon the magistrate directly.”
That stopped him, and Juliana hid a grimace at the harshness of what she’d done.Falsehood after falsehood. For shame, Juliana, her conscience whispered.
It was the first time that she’d mentioned the impact of his title since she’d learned of it that morning. It felt wrong to abuse his feelings in such a way.
“The stables,” she prompted again.
His lips pursed, causing his beard to bunch. “Very well.”
They walked their mounts down the gentle slope in silence. The estate was blissfully still, with only a few windows of flickering light in the main building.
Reaching the stables, they dismounted—or ratherattemptedto. Juliana’s muscles had long since seized, which had her toppling to the snow-covered earth at her mount’s feet with a hardoof. Leo moved stiffly to her side, silently helping her to her feet. Her body cried out in fresh waves of pain, but she managed to stand. The bitter movement was both awful and reviving.
Together, they snuck their horses in through the—wonderfully silent—rear doors. The scent of horseflesh, leather, and hay filled her senses, and Juliana nearly wept with homesickness.
“Here,” she whispered, limping her way through the darkness to some unused stalls.
