Rutledge’s men all gaped at him like he was a fecking lunatic while the household staff appeared torn between astonishment and reluctant respect. It was about time.
“Mrs. Davies!”
“Yes, Mr. MacKintosh?” The housekeeper grasped her robe tight around the neck and hurried after him as he tramped down the hall. “Wayward chit? She would box your ears.”
“Wi’ any luck, she’s far from earshot by now.”
“Is she safe, then?”
“For now,” he grated out. “We have to make certain she stays that way.”
“From your lips to God’s ears, Mr. MacKintosh.”
* * *
A quarter hour later, Connor rode on horseback down the south avenue with Albert close behind. The duke’s men had been paired off with Piper’s loyal servants under the pretense of their familiarity with the grounds. Spotting Tom and Auld Barney in the crowd, he’d told them to pass the word that they were to be grossly cooperative and give the grounds a thorough scrubbing while circumventing the gamekeeper’s cottage and the southerly expanse of road Connor traveled now.
Their initial rendezvous point came into sight and he kicked his horse into a gallop. The stone arch bridge crossing the River Thame marked the intersection from the Grange to other country estates farther afield. A mile to the east, it connected to the Aylesbury Road that led south to the village.
The swaying branches of a willow on the bank of the river fell like a curtain. That was where they were to have met his brothers. Even from a distance, he could see there was no one hiding within.
They’d made good their getaway. Connor breathed a sigh of relief. He’d feared Temple would decide to wait on him to join them. Or Piper would insist upon it, stubborn lass.
Whatever they’d said or done to gain her agreement to put distance between her and the Grange, he was thankful for it.
“Where to now?” Albert asked.
“On to Aylesbury.”
They set out at a moderate pace so as to not attract undue attention should someone spot them racing along the road.
A few minutes later, the sun speared its first bright rays through the trees. Albert raised a hand to shield his eyes and cleared his throat. “’Tis glad I am—we all are—that you came around, sir. I appreciate you seeing to it that I was spared the whip.”
Connor waved off the recognition. “Any reasonable man would have done the same. Rutledge’s actions border on the unhinged.”
The groom nodded. “And that’s another reason we are all grateful for you. You can protect her from a man like him as we cannot.”
“Save yer thanks until we ken she’s safe.”
With luck, they would know that soon enough. It was a short four-mile ride into the village. The train station stood on the south side of town. They were to have boarded the morning train to Leighton Buzzard ten miles away and make the transfer to the northbound London and Birmingham Railway Line there.
There was no traffic on the road, not that Connor expected any. The early hour was not an issue. The weather was fine and would be put to the best use by most everyone in the vicinity to continue the harvest. It was where he would have been had Rutledge not appeared. It was where the workers of Dinton Grange should have been, rather than participating in their mock search for Piper.
Thus, it surprised him to see the silhouette of horses against the rising sun on the road ahead. Tilting the brim of his hat down, he squinted to make out the animals. A pair rather than a quartet.
Not Piper then. Connor cursed under this breath. He’d hoped to catch up with them before reaching the village.
A moment later, he realized the horses were riderless. Motionless on the road. A man crouched nearby, a shock of auburn hair reflecting in the morning sun. Heart in his throat, Connor swore a blue streak and kicked his horse into a sprint.
A second figure lay prone on the ground.
Chapter 29
Mother has returned to Dinton Grange in search of me. I don’t know what I would do without the people of the Grange. They risk their very welfare for me.
~ from the diary of Piper Brudenall, June 1893
“We need to leave before the sun comes up, my lady,” Temple argued. “Connor will catch up.”
