“He told me that I was repayment of a debt and that he had waited four years for me. H-he said he would hurt you and my aunt if I did not yield.”
“But you did not run this time. Instead, you came to me. Good girl.”
“I don’t want to be parted from you again. I realized that last night as I lay in my bed thinking about you. I could not bear it, Joseph.
“We will never be parted again, love. I promise.”
He eased back and held her before him, his eyes running over the features he now knew as well as his own. She was his now, to hold and protect, his to love.
“No!”
He heard a gunshot, and then Milly’s anguished cry. Suddenly fire burned through his shoulder.
“Joseph, don’t leave me!”
“Milly.” He tried to reach for her, but instead fell to the ground. His head connected with a stone, and then he knew nothing.
Joseph woke slowly. He was cold, and yet fire burned in his arm. Rolling over, he attempted to gather his wits.
“Milly!” With the return of his memory came ice-cold fear. He remembered her desperate cry for him, but he could do nothing but slump to the ground.
Dear God, where was she? Struggling to his feet, he braced himself on her mother’s grave. Someone was going to pay for this! Pay dearly, and with their life. He would not live without her again.
After inhaling several deep breaths, he felt his head clear. He touched the arm that burned, and his fingers came away sticky with blood.
“I will find her,” he whispered to Milly’s mother. Then he walked to the entrance, his legs suddenly steady. Monty was thankfully where he’d left him. He managed to climb on, using the wall, and then they were galloping along the streets he had ridden this morning.
The weak sun had risen higher, which told him the day was advancing toward midmorning. He believed Milly would be safe until he reached her, had to believe that the man responsible would not harm her after four years of waiting.
He could not ride after them, as he did not know where they’d gone, and was not foolish enough to do so in his condition, no matter how much the idea of delay chafed him.
“Stay strong, my love.”
Would she believe him dead? Had she tried to rouse him? Joseph could only imagine the terror that gripped her at leaving him.
“I’m going to kill you,” he rasped softly. “Kill you for her pain, and mine.”
He rode up to his front door, and dismounted. The fire in his shoulder merely spurred him on. He would have Milly in his arms by nightfall, Joseph vowed silently.
“Wake my brothers, and send word for Lord Thurston to come here at once. Send word to Bow Street to a Mr. Brown, and have him come as fast as he can. Tell him the situation is grave.”
“At once, my lord.” His butler’s eyes passed over him. “You are injured, Lord Ellsworth?”
“I am, but I have no time to call for a doctor. Have Mrs. Trotts brought to my rooms, and tell her I have been shot in the arm.”
Gilbert paled, but he rallied.
“I will see to it at once, my lord.”
“Lord Ellsworth, I must speak with you urgently.”
Turning on his heel, he watched the form of Mr. Spriggot appear through his front door. He had hired him on his return to London, to investigate the man who had forced Milly to run four years ago. He had wanted someone to pay for her pain and suffering.
“Follow me then, sir, as I have no time to stand still. Lady Millicent is in danger, and I must prepare to go to her.”
He walked to his rooms with the man on his heels. There, he found Nibbly.
“Clothes, Nibbly, and washing water. Mrs. Trotts is about to appear, as I have a bullet in my arm that needs tending.”
