The carriage rolled to a stop and broke the intimacy between them. Isabella sat up straighter and strained to see out the window. “Where are we?”
“We should be just outside of London,” he said as he moved to open the door.
“And from here?” She let the remainder of her question trail away as she followed him down the steps.
Merrick quickly paid the driver then ushered her away from the main road.
“I hope you are up for a walk,” he said as he steered her farther into the trees.
She silently groaned but kept pace with him.
“We’ll parallel the road,” he said as he stepped over a fallen log.
“Where are we going?” she asked with growing impatience.
His refusal to answer her prior questioning about their destination made her voice sharper than she intended.
He stopped and turned around to face her. “We are going to a hunting lodge I know of. We are both badly in need of rest, and it is no longer safe for us in London. Once we have slept a few hours, we will then plot our next move.”
She absorbed his persistent use of “we”. It heartened her in a way she hadn’t felt in months. Made her feel like she wasn’t completely alone.
Recalling Kirk’s earlier chastisement, she voiced the question uppermost in her mind. “Why are you risking your life for me?”
“It is my duty,” he replied as though her question was absurd.
“And if it becomes your duty to kill me?” she asked softly.
His eyes flashed. “I will not entertain that the regent wishes you dead.”
Disappointment knifed cleanly through her. Her breath blew out in a fog before her. He hadn’t addressed her question.
“You’ve nothing to fear from me, Isabella,” he finally said as if realizing she needed some small amount of reassurance.
She looked deeply into his eyes once more. No trace of deception shadowed their depths. Just intensity and determination. Her heart chanted in a steady rhythm to trust this man. But fear seized her when she considered the possible consequences.
“I believe you,” she finally said. And God help her she did.
Satisfaction sparked in his eyes, the pupils flaring for a brief moment. Then he adopted a blander look and stared upward at the sky.
“We need to get moving. I want to be there before dark.”
She fell in behind him, and they continued through the wooded landscape. It began to rain again as they pressed forward. A few snowflakes floated gently through the spray of rain melting rapidly as they struck the ground.
She was more grateful than ever for Merrick’s attention to her needs. The warm boots were a welcome change to the ill-fitting shoes she had been forced to wear over the last weeks. She dug her hands deeper into the pockets of the coat and quickened her pace.
They walked in silence, stopping only when Merrick had to push heavy branches from their path. He caught her elbow and helped her over a small stream that obstructed their progress. Her boots splashed in the shallow water as she jumped from rock to rock.
“It’s not much farther,” Merrick said as he paused for her to catch up.
Isabella gazed up at the sinking sun. More snowflakes than rain fell now, attesting to the drop in temperature. A light smattering had collected on the ground, changing the color from brown to white. The idea of a fire and a warm bed infused badly needed energy into her feet, urging her forward at an increased speed.
He held a hand back to her as she drew abreast of him, and without thinking, she slipped her fingers into it. Warmth spread rapidly up her arm as his hand curled around hers.
“It’s just over the next hill,” he said, gesturing with his free hand. “Can you make it?”
“For a warm bed, I can fly,” she said with a crooked grin.
He smiled back at her, and suddenly she didn’t feel the numbing cold that surrounded them. A wave of heat rushed over her as if she stood directly in front of a fire. Her feet felt light, not at all like the blocks of stone she had forced in forward motion for the last several hours.
