“Nash,” she cried out as she struggled to sit up.
After closing the door, he rushed to her and took her in his arms.
“I can’t believe…you are actually here,” she said, sobbing.
“Shh, my love,” he whispered. “I do not know how or why, but thankfully, nobody has seen me.” He fumbled with the ropes at her wrists.
“Nash, your uncle is expecting you. He might even know you’re here.”
“Then we must leave quickly.”
When the ropes came free, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. “Thank you for coming.”
He smiled. “I love you, Maxey. My life will not be complete unless you are in it.”
The tears she’d thought were gone returned. She nodded, too choked up to say anything.
He released her to untie her feet, and then he pulled her off the bed. “We must hurry. I know you do not like the water, but that is our only way of escaping. We will have to swim to shore.”
She sniffed. “I shall do it because you’re with me.”
He pulled the door open slowly, then poked his head out just as he’d done before he entered. He looked back at her and nodded. “I think we can go.”
Taking careful steps, she followed Nash, keeping her hand in his. They made it a few feet before loud footsteps pounded on the floor, growing louder by the second. Nash mumbled something, then pulled her back into the storage room, closing the door softly.
“What are we going to do?” she asked.
He glanced around the room before cupping her face in his large hands. “My love, we must stay here a bit longer. Go lie on the bed and pretend to be tied up. I will hide behind one of the barrels.”
The footsteps grew louder, and her heart hammered in a faster rhythm. She nodded and hurried to the bed, gathering the ropes to hide them before curling in the same position Matthew had left her.
Nash blew her a kiss before he ducked behind a barrel. She breathed slower, trying to steady herself. She couldn’t let their unknown visitor know something was amiss—unless Matthew already knew Nash was here.
Chapter Twenty
Nash kept himselfstill as he peeked between two barrels. Panic filled him, and he tried to regulate his fast breathing.
His fearsome uncle entered, his large frame filling the doorway. Matthew’s eyes moved from Maxey and slowly scanned the room. Nash held his breath, silently praying his uncle would not see him.
When Matthew shut the door and walked toward Maxey, Nash curled his fingers around the butt of his pistol. If Matthew laid one finger on her, Nash wouldn’t hesitate to shoot.
“My pretty Miss Littleton,” Matthew said as he neared her bed. “I must admit, I’m very disappointed in your lover. For reasons I cannot explain, he has not come to rescue you, and so you must sail with us to an island I own, and we shall wait for him there.”
Maxey lifted her chin in defiance. “Didn’t I tell you he wouldn’t come?”
Matthew chuckled and folded his arms across his middle. “Oh, my nephew will come, but we must sail as soon as possible, and so cannot wait for him to arrive.”
She shook her head. “It’s a wasted effort, I tell you. His freedom means more to him than I do.”
Nash’s chest clenched. He hoped Maxey didn’t mean that.
Matthew pulled the chair away from the small table, closer to her bed, and sat. Leaning forward, he linked his fingers across his knees. “I would have thought that as well, but Peter has been telling me very interesting facts about the nephew I never really knew. It surprises me that he has a weakness for a certain little governess.”
“I still don’t understand why you can’t accept your fate. The Wentworth title does not belong to you. It never did. Besides, don’t you have more power and money now than if you were titled?”
He shook his head. “Indeed, you don’t understand at all. You see, the Wentworth estate has secrets even Nash doesn’t know about.”
Nash narrowed his eyes and strained to hear his uncle’s every word. Secrets? Very interesting.
