The high tide was still rolling in…or perhaps it was starting to roll out by now.He did not know and did not care.
All that mattered was finding Tulip alive.
“Oh, no.Lord, save her.”He ran from the garden up to the terrace for a better view of the distant marshes.He was desperately looking for any sign of movement when a breathless Carver rushed to his side.
“Your Grace!The magistrate and his constables are here.So is the doctor, but I’m the one who told him about Mrs.Granger.Ernfield never went into town.”
“Because he’s here and he now has Tulip,” Alex said, his heart pounding through his ears as he pointed toward the water.
The constables now joined them and all of them had eyes on the salt marshes.
“This isn’t working,” Alex muttered, now almost in a panic, for every second was precious and he feared they would run out of time to save Tulip.“Mr.Carver gather the workers and have them bring the boats and their rescue equipment.We’re going to spread out and search every inch of those marshes.I’m certain Ernfield has taken her there.”
“Blessed saints!”Carver appeared genuinely alarmed.
“Spread the word to the staff to be on the lookout for him,” Alex said, continuing to bark orders in all haste.“Have the grooms search the stables and stop him from leaving.Tell them to grab him and bind him tightly, if they see him.Same for the household staff.They are to use extreme caution around him, and the house must be searched from top to bottom.Have them work in pairs for their own safety.Rescuing my wife is the priority.If they find her, they are to get her safely away, even if it means letting Ernfield escape.”
“We’ll track him down if he does give your staff the slip,” one of the constables assured him.
Alex nodded, but he wasn’t really assured because Ernfield was a madman and dangerous.“He must have taken her into the marshes.It is the only place that makes sense.But I still want every inch of Thornwycke searched.”
“There!”One of the constables suddenly cried out.“I see something moving in the reeds!”
Alex tore down the terrace steps, through the garden and into the marshes in the direction the constable had pointed.The constables and others now followed him, but he wasn’t looking back to know who else was with him.
Tulip was his only concern.
He spotted Ernfield dragging something toward the water that was ebbing and flowing all around him.
Tulip.
Was she still alive?
She did not appear to be struggling as Ernfield pulled her deeper into the water, but this probably meant she was unconscious.
Alex refused to believe she was dead.
She couldn’t be.
Love would never be so cruel.
He withdrew his pistol, ready to take a killing shot to stop Ernfield from dragging her any further out, when the echo of a hunting rifle resounded behind him.“What the…?”
Ernfield staggered backward and blood began to spurt from his chest.
Alex ran toward Ernfield, not caring who had taken the shot or that his deranged head butler had now tumbled into the water.His only concern was to get to Tulip before she drowned, for she was face down in the water and not moving as the tidal waves crashed over her.
Was she alive?
She has to be.
He could not lose her.
Why hadn’t he told her that he loved her?
The water was up to his knees as the next wave rolled in, but all he could think of was getting to Tulip and hoisting her out of these shallow waters before the tide dragged her further out where the water would be above her head.
A wave crashed over her, but he managed to grab her just as its ebbing force was about to pull her out to the sea.“Tulip!”
