He went to her, took her hand and touched her hair. He couldn’t resist the impulse to reassure himself she was really there. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. Please sit down. I’m so sorry we worried you.”
“Worried? Me?” He took a breath. “Whatever makes you think that? I awoke to find you gone, but my horse was still there. So the first question I had to deal with was how did you leave? Did you walk? And then I get here to find you’d not arrived. So if you walked, had you fallen? Been abducted? Run away? Were you lying bleeding and helpless in a ditch somewhere?” He sucked in air. “God, no I wasn’t worried. I was bloodyfrantic, woman.”
“Um…” She blinked at him. “Sorry?”
“Grrrr…”
“Do stop, Reid.” Brent sighed. “They’re quite well. I want to know what happened every bit as much as you, and if you would please stop acting like a cross between an ass and your mother, perhaps we’ll hear the story.”
So with a narrow-eyed stare at Brent, Reid sat down next to Prudence. “Very well. Now what on earth happened?”
“I got a bit lost.” She grimaced. “I thought I knew the road back to the Inn, but I took a wrong turn somewhere, and then there was Emmeline, looking cold and miserable…”
Prudence began the tale, ably assisted by Emmeline who added details that Pru had missed.
Reid couldn’t help noticing how much Emmeline had changed since meeting Brent. Overnight she’d gone from being a nitwit to a charming young woman. She was obviously devoted to him and Brent? Completely besotted.
The story continued and he knew a frown was forming between his brows. “I don’t know any Hecate Ridlington. And if she’d arrived anywhere near here, the whole village would have known about it.”
“That’s what I thought too. But she was there…a large-ish cottage, nice little garden, or at least what I could see of it that wasn’t buried in snow, and some lovely and elegant furnishings.” Prudence shrugged. “I can only assume she prefers privacy, and if it’s the Hecate Ridlington I’m thinking of, I am not surprised.”
Emmeline looked at Prudence. “What do you know of her? You said you’d met, if I remember correctly.”
“Well, we were at the same event in London,” answered Pru. “I don’t think we were introduced, but it was around the time she became…let’s just say she was talked about quite a bit.”
“Why?” Brent looked intrigued. “I can’t remember hearing about her, although I think I’ve met a Baron Ridlington. Would they be related?”
“Yes, I think so.” Prudence scraped her memories of that time, pushing aside the less pleasant ones to focus on finding the information she knew had to be in her mind somewhere. “There are a lot of Ridlingtons, I heard. All children of Baron Ridlington. But Lady Hecate came to everyone’s attention when she attempted to elope with Dancey Miller-James.”
“Urgh.” Brent made a face. “Loathsome bounder.”
“Probably. I wouldn’t know,” said Prudence. “But whatever the situation, it came to a bad end. The carriage overturned and Miller-James was crushed to death. Hecate was seriously injured and not expected to survive, but then she recovered to everyone’s astonishment. Left her with a limp though.”
“Wasn’t there something about her not being found near the wreck? I believe I heard odd stories about an injured woman walking for several miles…” Brent frowned in thought.
“Gossip.” Pru snorted. “Nothing more, nothing less. A woman injured that badly certainly isn’t going to walk away on her own.”
“So this tea she gave you both…” Reid had a lot of questions, but this was top of his list.
“Yes, it was herbal. She said it was sage, I think.” Emmeline thought about it. “It tasted quite nice. I believe there was honey in it too.” She turned to Brent. “And the scones? Oh my goodness. The best I’ve ever had.”
He smiled. “Now I know you like scones. We have so much to learn about each other, Emmeline darling.”
Reid was about to make a somewhat sarcastic comment when a shoe thudded into his shin and made him gasp. Prudence shot him a very pointed look and a quick shake of her head.
“You already know me far too well,” he grinned.
“Yes,” she admitted. “Yes, I think I do. And that scares me.”
He opened his mouth, but she silenced him with a hand on his arm. “Not now. Later.”
He had no choice. “Very well. Later.”
The conversation continued, although the ladies had imparted just about every detail they could recall about their sojourn with Hecate Ridlington.
Eventually it was decided that they would enjoy a belated luncheon and then take the Inn’s carriage for a run past where Prudence believed Hecate’s house had been located.
