Violet glanced back out the opposite window to gauge how soon the driver would return when she noted that he was squatted behind a bush.
With a smile, she determined that she certainly had time, then reached for the handle on the door and slowly pushed it open, watching Eardly for signs that he was waking. All he did was mumble then continue his snoring, so she slowly stepped out of the conveyance and gently shut the carriage door behind her before sprinting across the road. Even from here she could almost hear the grating snores of the viscount. The driver had probably heard him as well and knew that he could stop without disturbing the gentleman, which had worked in her favor.
However, she mustn’t tarry as the driver could come back at any moment and discover her. Therefore, Violet rushed into the woods, scrunched herself down behind bushes, and waited. Should she go farther and keep running until she was far away, or should she watch to make certain they left and that Eardly didn’t wake.
Her heart pounded with indecision. She’d lose precious time in her escape if she waited to see if he drove off or not, but if she ran before she knew for certain that the driver would continue on, she’d wonder if they were hunting her.
The driver returned and launched himself back onto the seat without even a glance into the carriage, then set the horses back on the road to Gretna Green.
Violet blew out a breath and stepped to emerge back onto the road to walk in the direction of home then changed her mind. Eardly could wake at any moment and notice her gone. There was no doubt that he’d order the driver to turn the carriage around to search for her, so Violet decided to stay within the woods and walk deeper in, but not so far that she’d not be able to hear a carriage approach. And when the woods thinned, and she no longer had shelter…she’d decide on a course of action then.
However, after not even an hour of picking her way through the brush, she heard a carriage approach from the opposite direction and ducked behind a tree in fear that Eardly had awakened and was looking for her.
“Do you see her?” Eardly yelled out the opened window.
“Not yet, Lord Eardly,” the driver called as he drove the carriage slowly along the tree line.
“You bloody fool! This is your fault and when we return home, you are being let go without reference.”
“Yes, Lord Eardly.” Odd, the driver didn’t seem all that worried at the prospect of being unemployed.
“Who is that?”
Violet’s heart nearly stopped. Had she been spotted?
“It’s a curricle, Lord Eardly. I cannot make out the driver.”
A curricle!
“What the blazes is a curricle doing out here?” Eardly demanded.
“You’d need to ask the driver, sir.”
Violet nearly snorted at the response. Perhaps the driver was happy to be let go.
“Ah, it’s Lord Ferrard, I believe.”
She could swear her heart skipped for a moment as relief shot through her being. If she believed in luck or providence, Violet would consider that it had turned in her favor to have decided to escape near the time Lord Ferrard would pass this way on his return to Sussex.
Violet edged closer to the road, keeping out of sight. She needed to see that it was Ferrard for herself to be certain. It wouldn’t do to rush out and reveal herself if the driver of the curricle turned out to be a stranger unwilling to offer assistance.
Chapter 28
Emory slowedthe bays as he noted the carriage moving slowly in the opposite direction, the driver scanning the woods as if he were looking for something…or someone. As he drew closer, he noted the black lacquer of the carriage and knew that it could only be Eardly, or so he hoped.
He pulled the curricle before the carriage to keep it from moving forward.
“What’s the meaning of this?” Eardly demanded as he exited the carriage.
Setting eyes on the viscount sent Emory into a rage the likes of which he’d never experienced, and he jumped from the conveyance and stormed forward, ready to do bodily harm.
“Don’t go near him,” Violet called, and Emory turned to find her pushing her way through the brush.
Relief shot through him at seeing her safe.
“Why not?” Had she gone with him willingly? Surely that was not the case.
“Eardly may be suffering from the measles, and I’d not have you infected.”
