And then he was incredulous to hear a voice he had no trouble recognizing, despite the anger in it. “Howcouldyou just ignore his weapon like that?”
He didn’t answer that, demanded instead, “What the hell areyoudoing here?”
She didn’t answer either, still intent on her original question. In a furious tone, she said, “You could have been killed just then!”
Duncan realized then what was the cause of her anger and tried to shrug it off. “When you’ve a bleak-looking future, lass, the threat o’ danger just doesna hold the same meaning as it might when all is right wi’ your life.”
“Reckless, no matter how you put it,’ she pointed out stiffly.
He wasn’t going to argue the point. “You’ll be answering my question now.”
“Yes, certainly—if you’ve taken care of all of them,” she replied.
“All of who?”
“The poor wretches who broke in here and foolishly held Mavis and John captive all week. There were four of them in all.”
“I’ve only encountered three—
“Then we’ll lock ourselves in up here until you’re done. But do be careful. At least three of them had guns and—” She paused when a new pounding began, at the front door. “That will probably be Mickie, our coachman. Let him in. He’ll help you look for the last fellow. And John’s in the cellar. Please make sure he’s all right.”
He stood there for a moment after she disappeared back into the dark of the upper hall, still incredulous that she was there, even more incredulous at how bossy she’d just been. But then he smiled, remembering her angry upset over his wee brush with danger.
Forty-five
Upstairs, Sabrina returned to Mavis’s room and, feeling around the doorknob for a latch, which was easy to find, locked them in. She was still amazed that the door hadn’t been locked from without, as it had been when she’d been brought upstairs. She concluded that she’d annoyed those men so much with her chatter that they’d simply forgot to lock the door again after thrusting her into the room. If she’d known, she and Mavis could have vacated the house already and been away in the waiting coach out front. The authorities could have returned to release Mavis’s cousin. Not that it mattered now.
“We’ve been rescued,” she told Mavis. “Well, almost, or at least, in the process of being rescued, so we should stay here until all is secure.”
“By whom?”
“Duncan MacTavish.”
“But what’shedoing here?” Mavis asked.
“Looking for you, I don’t doubt. Actually, I believe Lord Neville has had people looking for you since you left Summers Glade, so your parents are aware that you’re not where they thought you to be.”
“Oh, bother, now I’m going to be in for it,’ Mavis groaned. “Whyever would Birmingdale be looking for me?—Unless, hmmm, never mind.”
“It’s all right,” Sabrina told her, realizing the direction her thoughts had just gone. “I know all about what you witnessed at Summers Glade the night you left.”
“You do?”
“Yes, Duncan told me.
“Well, I suppose that shouldn’t surprise me. You did seem to be very good friends with him.”
“Yes, friends,” Sabrina said in a voice that was starting to turn maudlin. She gave herself a mental shake. She was not going to let that “just friends” destroy her composure at a time like this. “But why did you leave the party so suddenly that night?”
“Why did you?”
Sabrina blinked. “Excuse me?”
“I saw you run off earlier in the evening, saw Duncan leave to follow you. I was hoping, I really was, that something would come of that, that he’d be asking you to marry him.” A sigh. “But I guess he just wanted to make sure you were all right, because not an hour later, there he was trysting with that witch, so they’d obviously made up. It was the last straw for me. Ophelia had won again. She gets anything and everything she wants.”
“It does seem that way, doesn’t it?” Sabrina agreed with a sigh of her own.
“The funny part was, I’d really thought the world was righting itself finally when Duncan broke that first engagement with her. She’d instigated it, but it really did backfire on her,andshe realized too late that he was a prime catch after all. Then to find out that it was only temporary, that she was going to get him after all—it was too much for me. Women like Ophelia win no matter what they do wrong. It just isn’t fair! And for her to win again, so soon after she tried to blacken my name and convince everyone that I’m a liar, which isn’t the least bit true, but . . . it brought me to tears. I had to leave, and quickly, before I made a fool of myself.”
