“What?” Dev thundered. “Someone shot at you?”
“As you can see, I am fine.” Warwick glared at her this time. “I reached down to open the door to the carriage, and then as I swung down, Samantha had managed to free herself. She ran into me, and we fell.”
“I feel suddenly unwell,” Cam said, biting into his cake.
“And yet you can eat. Most people who feel unwell can’t,” Dev snapped.
“I’m growing and need constant nourishment.”
“The carriage took off, and we went back to the inn,” Samantha added. “Both unhurt.”
James pushed off the desk and paced, his face a mask of controlled anger.
“How many people were in the carriage? Did they say anything?” Rose asked.
“What did they look like?” Max demanded.
“I could not see them clearly, as I was struggling for release. But there were two, a man and a woman,” Samantha said. “Both wore masks. The woman spoke, the man did not. “They didn’t say anything other than they would shoot Warwick, as they knew he was on the roof. I could not allow that to happen. I kicked the man and punched the woman. Then the door opened, and I dived, but as Warwick was standing in the doorway, we both fell, with me landing on top of him.”
This time both Max and James cursed loudly.
“Thank God we taught you to fight, sweetheart,” Cam said.
Gus wrote furiously, getting everything down for his own benefit as Warwick was unlikely to forget any part of that day. Their family then questioned them both thoroughly, and they answered as best they could.
“Firstly,” James said as he came back to the desk and grabbed Warwick, hugging him hard. “Thank you for saving my sister.”
Warwick felt the silence that suddenly settled around the room. Releasing him, James hugged his sister next. Warwick looked at the faces before him. They had the same expression Dev and Cam had. Like they all shared a secret and he was not party to it.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing,” Rose said, quickly dropping her eyes. “I’m very happy you managed to rescue my sister.”
“Do you believe it a random incident?” Max asked. “Could they have known who Samantha was?”
“I did mention her name when we arrived for the night’s accommodations because we needed rooms immediately, and I thought the best way to achieve that was tell them who she was,” Warwick said.
“Of course, as you should have. My title can be useful upon occasion.”
“Rarely,” Cam said. “But yes, having a duke in one’s pocket is handy.”
“I live to serve you, of course.”
“Did you make any enemies in Ireland?” Nicholas asked.
“No, how could I? I spent my days painting or wandering hundreds of acres, isolated from pretty much everyone and everything. The only time we saw those not studying was when we went to the nearest town. Even then, there were not many people about,” Samantha said.
“What about visitors? Did Mr. Doyle have many?” Dev asked.
“No. Just supplies arriving and students coming and going.”
“And all the students were nice? No trouble there?” James asked.
She shook her head. “They were wonderful, and welcoming. We had a lovely time together.”
“Staff?” Cam asked. He then cracked the shell on a chestnut.
“Where did you get those?” Nicholas asked.
