“I know. Nick has not been so fortunate as I.”
“Nor I,” she said. “What happened after you left Nick in the study?”
“I mingled with the guests. It was deuced difficult to keep a watch. They were flitting here and there, leaving the ballroom for trysts in other parts of the house. Your father needed more assistance than just me. I stationed myself near the entrance to the ballroom at one point and my vigilance reaped results almost immediately. I saw a man dressed in rogue’s garb leave the gallery, brush past Henderson, and go outside.”
“That was me!”
“I didn’t know that at the time. If I had I would have stopped you and sent you to your room. I thought I was witnessing the guest whom your father suspected would meet with the French. You must admit your movements bore me out.”
“You followed me!”
“Naturally. First you went toward Dunnelly’s gate but when you got there you paused, looking around as if you thought you might be followed. When you thought yourself alone you circled around the south wing of the manor and went toward the summerhouse. I knew of the steps leading from the summerhouse to the beach and I assumed that is how you were going to arrive at your meeting place.”
Kenna’s eyes widened as she listened to the meaning Rhys had attached to her innocent movements of that night. In his place she would have been equally suspicious.
Rhys continued quietly. “I went back into the manor to tell Robert what I had seen but he was no longer in the ballroom. Yvonne was still there though, so I took her firmly in hand and led her straight to her room. After I left her I caught a glimpse of your father turning the corner to the south wing and I followed. When I arrived in the south corridor your father had disappeared and I had to open a number of doors before I discovered where he had gone. Did you never know about the passage?”
It seemed impossible that Kenna’s eyes could grow even rounder, but they did. “Passage?” she choked on her surprise. “What passage?”
“Well, there is a wonder,” said Rhys. “Amazing, considering the number of hours you used to spend exploring Dunnelly. The third bedchamber on the left has a wall with a false panel. It can be removed without much difficulty if one knows the trick of it. I didn’t then, of course, but Robert had been in too much of a hurry to secure the panel behind him so I was able to follow. There is a narrow spiral staircase which winds between Dunnelly’s walls. Far below me I could see the light Robert carried. You cannot know how many times I wish I had had the foresight to have brought such a light myself. Once Robert’s lantern vanished and I could not see my hand in front of my face. I found my way by keeping one arm in front of me and one on the wall.”
“Why didn’t you call to him to wait for you?”
“I did. Several times. If he heard he gave no sign of it. I kept to my path but my progress was slow and it was only when I reached the bottom of the stairs that I realized where the passage was leading me.”
“To the caves,” Kenna said on a breath of air. “I had always imagined there was a way, but…” her voice trailed off. “What then?”
“I kept walking until I reached a dead end, or so it appeared to me. It was a small chamber with no way out except by the way I came in. I thought I had taken a wrong turn and was about to retrace my steps when I heard voices on the other side of the chamber. If I had had a lantern of my own or had had the luck to stumble upon the one your father had snuffed and left behind mayhap I would have found the way out of the chamber. I had never experienced such helplessness as I knew then. All I could do was listen to the raised voices and nothing I heard was clear.” His voice deepened as the ache in his throat conveyed his pain at the memory. “Nothing. Until the shots echoed in the chamber.”
“Oh, Rhys.” She felt his pain as keenly as she felt her own. Without hesitation she went into his arms, offering and receiving comfort in the healing circle of his embrace.
Rhys’s chin rested against her soft red-gold hair. “I broke two knuckles beating uselessly on the face of that damn rock before a measure of sanity returned. By that time there were no more sounds coming from the chamber, but I would not let myself believe anything had happened to Robert. I forced myself to calm and waited interminable minutes for your father to return by the same method he exited. I did not know then that it would have been impossible, even if he were alive. After the stone has been rolled back the only exit from the chamber is by the beach. When Robert did not reappear and I could still find no way to reach the outer chamber I returned to the south wing. I was on my way to search for him when Yvonne stopped me in the corridor, asking if I had seen you. I confess I hadn’t much patience for her and would not have paid her any heed if she hadn’t finally blurted out that she thought you had gone to the masque after all—dressed as a highwayman.”
“And you knew—”
Rhys nodded. “I knew then it was you I had seen and wondered why I hadn’t guessed it before. Your stride, your profile, it was somehow familiar, yet I ignored the signs. I remember running for the caves, praying all the while you had only gone as far as the summerhouse, that you had not accidentally stumbled into the dangerous situation below. I caught sight of Victorine in the garden, in earnest conversation with your brother, the devil. I yelled to Nick to bring several servants, a lantern, and meet me at the cave entrance, then I went on. A quick search of the summerhouse revealed you were not there and, fearing the worst, I headed down to the beach. It was deserted. No ship was in sight, no boat, no sign of the men your father had argued with. Even the footprints had been obliterated. The tide was coming in and I waited for Nick as long as I dared, calling for you and Robert all the while. When Nick did not appear soon enough to suit me I entered the cave. You know what I found.”
She shuddered in his embrace, chilled by the memory. Her escape was more narrow than she had imagined.
Rhys’s hand slid soothingly along Kenna’s spine, warming her. “Your screams led me to you else I would have taken the wrong passage. When I finally reached you, you were unconscious. There was nothing I could do for your father, Kenna.”
“I know,” she said sadly. “He was already dead when I found him.”
“I carried you out and met Nicholas in the passage. The servants brought your father out. Nick wanted to take you from me, but—”
“You wouldn’t let him,” she said. “He told me that. That, and other things. Like how you stayed by my bedside nearly the entire two weeks I was unaware of my surroundings.” Kenna pulled back a little so she could see his face. “I was so miserable and hateful toward you then.” She would have apologized for her actions; it was there in her eyes. Rhys put a finger to her lips, stopping her.
“You were a child, Kenna. What you saw, or rather what you thought you saw, was more than anyone should see, child or no. I don’t blame you or think less of you. I cannot deny I was hurt by your accusations, but we are past that now, aren’t we?”
Her gaze was steady. “Yes, we are.”
“Then I hope you can understand that I accepted the Foreign Office’s most recent assignment because I knew I was going to Dunnelly anyway. I was there for you, Kenna. I agreed to keep a watch on Dunnelly’s coast, but frankly I did not expect any activity. Napoleon was safely away on Elba; peace between England and France seemed as if it would continue without disruption. But something must have roused the suspicions of my superiors because they were adamant that I go to Dunnelly.”
“Their suspicions were founded. You heard of plans for the escape.”
“I did. But I think that news was rather more than the Foreign Office anticipated, else they would have acted with more haste. The first night I was at Dunnelly I saw someone walking toward the summerhouse. In my mind there was only one reason that a person would go there in the middle of winter. I was with you that evening. Remember?”
“That was the night you practically threw me from your bedchamber.”
