She sent her perceptions deeper. “I don’t think so, but I feel there will be trouble in Calais. Serious trouble.” She thought more. “He hates Britain and passionately supports Bonaparte, but there’s also a personal element in what drives him.”
“He enjoys killing?” Cade suggested.
“Nothing that simple. But don’t take my word for any of this.” She opened her eyes and felt a different kind of startling awareness as she looked at Cade. She’d known him most of her life. She’d been instantly drawn to his desperate courage when her parents had first brought him home. He’d grown up to be tall, strong, and good-looking, but she was so used to him that she hadn’t reallyseenhim in years.
He really was a remarkably fine figure of a man—strong and intelligent and competent, not to mention strikingly handsome, with lurking humor in his eyes. She smiled to herself. Familiarity hadn’t bred contempt, but she had certainly been taking his appearance for granted.
His brows arched. “Have I just grown a second head?”
She shook her head. “No, it’s just that when I know people very well, they become so familiar to me that I don’t really think about what they look like. Then I’ll suddenly see them as if for the first time, and it’s rather startling. Doesn’t that happen to you?”
He chuckled. “No, I only see people in a regular sort of way.”
She wondered for perhaps the first time in her life how he saw her. With a shiver, she pulled her shawl around herself. “It’s getting chilly.”
Cade wrapped his arm around her shoulders again. He was always reliably warm.
“Time to go in,” he said. “Where are you sleeping tonight?”
“With the landlord’s daughter. She has a room with two beds and is used to accommodating female travelers as long as they aren’t too alarming. What about you?”
“I’m sharing a room with Hansen. I hope he doesn’t snore.”
She stood, covering a yawn. “He probably hopes the same of you. At least none of our party must sleep on straw in the stables.”
“I might head out there myself if Hansen snores loudly,” Cade said darkly. “I’ll be glad to get back to England. We should be there in a few more days if bad weather doesn’t hold up our channel crossing.”
“And if the French officials don’t prove difficult.” She frowned as they went inside. She had a strong feeling that they wouldn’t be home in a week. If not, she hoped it was just weather that would slow them down.
No. It wouldn’t be the weather.
CHAPTER5
The next day’s travel was long but uneventful. Tamsyn continued shadowing Cade’s mind so that their joined abilities could sense possible trouble. She had the itchy sense that the Scorpion was watching them, biding his time. Waiting for Calais, perhaps?
It was early evening when they stopped at another inn much like the one they’d stayed in the night before. Lord Whitworth climbed from the carriage, turning to help out first his wife, then Tamsyn. He smiled as she took his hand and stepped to the ground. “You’re having a rather boring journey, Lady Tamsyn.”
“That’s the way we like it!” she said with a chuckle as she stretched her tired muscles. Then she felt a sharp sense of danger and snapped her gaze toward the woodland on the other side of the road. In the trees was a flicker that looked like light reflecting on a metal barrel....
She threw herself at Lord Whitworth, knocking him to the ground as the rifle blasted, shattering the peaceful evening air. The bullet slammed into the side of the carriage above Tamsyn’s head.
As another shot was fired, Captain Hansen and two of his men who were still mounted kicked their horses into a gallop and headed, shouting, across the road toward the place in the trees where the shots had originated.
Cade moved equally fast, swinging his horse crossways into the line of fire between the shooter and Lord Whitworth. He vaulted from the saddle and caught Tamsyn’s hand, pulling her off the ambassador. His gaze burned into hers as he asked, “Are you all right, Tam?”
“I’m fine,” she assured him. Bruises didn’t count.
Cade turned to Whitworth and offered him a hand up. “Sir, were you injured?”
“No,” Whitworth said as he rose to his feet. “But look to my wife!”
Ignoring her bruises, Tamsyn did exactly that, guiding the shocked duchess behind the barrier of the carriage so they were out of the line of fire. “No one was hurt,” Tamsyn said as they entered the inn.
Once they were inside, the duchess folded into a chair in the entryway and buried her face in her hands. “I can’t wait to leave this damnable country!” she said in a shaking voice.
Tamsyn rested a comforting hand on the other woman’s shoulder. “You have every reason to be upset. But no one was hurt and the extra security precautions worked. You and the ambassador have very good protectors.”
“You’re sure my husband is all right?” the other woman said as she uncovered her face and looked toward the door.
