He didn’t listen for his brother’s reply, and urged the horse toward the road heading away from the estate. He prayed he could catch up. Trying to find her if he lost her now would be quite troublesome, only because he had never been to Lord Talbot’s small estate. However, he was certain someone would give him directions if he asked.
Leaning forward, he kicked the horse’s belly, urging the animal faster. Hopefully, Adrian would locate the owner of the horse and apologize for Collin’s taking the animal without asking. But right now, he only cared about one thing.
Up ahead, he spotted the coach, so he slowed the horse. He didn’t want to alert her that he was following, and nor did he want to stop her coach just to talk. Instead, he would wait until she stopped wherever she was staying. He doubted she lived around here, but he was certain that she rented a room at an inn. Or perhaps she had relatives or friends who were in this area.
His thoughts shifted back to when he first met Cassandra, and he scrambled to remember the moment he could have been to blame for ruining her life. She married a wealthy marquess, so why had she acted as though she was forced? Most women Collin knew would have loved to have the life of a marchioness.
But most women weren’t Cassandra.
He had discovered that about the woman the very day they met. Although he admitted to being judgmental at first, looking down on her because of her impoverished family, she had been nothing but kind…in her stubborn way. Soon, he realized his mistake in thinking so poorly of her, because she was the first woman to touch his heart.
Another hour passed quickly, and Collin continued to follow the coach at a distance. His thoughts were still jumbled, and he didn’t know what to say to her when he finally got her alone. At least he wouldn’t be as tongue-tied as he’d been at Adrian’s wedding, but her surprise shocked him nearly speechless.
The weather turned cooler, and thick gray clouds filled the sky. The light wind from earlier today had picked up speed. A storm was brewing, he could feel it in his bones. Dust blew across the road, hindering his vision. He prayed the coach would reach its destination before the sky opened and dumped rain on him, since he had no heavy garment to protect him from the chill.
Finally, the fancy coach turned toward an estate—one he recognized. This had been Lloyd’s first estate before the man inherited the marquess title. Lloyd hadn’t liked being so far from civilization, and so he had purchased a larger estate closer to Birmingham. At first, he had considered the estate in Leicestershire to be his country estate, but when his gaming and womanizing had become the center of his life, he stayed closer to Birmingham.
Frowning, Collin shook his head. He still couldn’t believe his friend was dead. And to think, if Collin had stayed home instead of traveling the world, he would have known about Lloyd’s accident…and about the widow’s deep hatred toward him.
As he entered the estate grounds, he slowed his horse. He didn’t want her to see him just yet. The element of surprise would be the best way to handle this, just as when she had stunned him into silence earlier today.
The coach stopped in front of the manor, and the footman jumped off the seat of the coach and hurried around to the vehicle’s door. Collin guided the horse into a group of trees and brought the animal to a stop. Watching closely, he waited for Cassandra to exit the coach while the wind whipped around him, making him wish he had brought his thick, fur-lined cape.
Finally, the blue and silver of her gown captured his attention. Her silky wheat-golden hair hung in ringlets, resting on her shoulders. She was as stunning now as she had beenwhen he first saw her at the ball he and Lloyd had attended in Bath.
Sighing heavily, he frowned. How he wished he could return to that time when he first started falling in love with her. He would handle things completely differently. For one, he wouldn’t have allowed Lloyd to marry her, even if it was the proper thing to do. Collin’s heart had suffered all this time because he hadn’t been more forthright with his feelings for her and stood up to his cousin.
The rustling of bushes from behind him pulled his focus away from Cassandra. Although the wind was blowing hard, the sound he heard wasn’t from the storm that was nearly upon them. He glanced over his shoulder just in time to see a thick tree limb swinging toward his face. The object connected with his head in a loud thump. Pain lanced through him like a sharp knife, blocking his ears and making his vision unclear. He lost his grip on the reins and fell off the horse. His body hit the ground, but the pain in his head overrode anything else.
Cursing under his breath, Collin tried to rise to his feet, but he was having difficulty even kneeling. Through his dizzy vision, he saw the dark blue suit coat and matching breeches of the man who had hit him. Not only that, but Collin noticed a thinning bald spot on the back of his head. But he knew for a certainty that the man was a servant.
Releasing a shout of anger, Collin struggled against the pain and how darkness tried to take over his vision and mind, trying to jump on the imbecile, but the man was quicker. Collin’s body succumbed to weakness. A warm, sticky substance slid down the side of his face where the limb had connected to his head. He didn’t need to touch it to know that blood coated his skin and hair.
Panic welled inside him. A blow to the head could kill a man. He needed to stop the bleeding. Unfortunately, his weak bodywouldn’t cooperate with his mind as he tried to loosen his cravat in hopes of wrapping the garment around his head to control the flow of blood.
In a state of helplessness, he dropped back to the ground, his face turned to one side. Slowly, his vision faded while he watched his attacker run away. Darkness filled his eyes and he struggled to keep his eyes open. He prayed this was not the end of his life. There was so much that needed to be resolved, especially with Cassandra. He said a silent prayer that God would keep him alive.
*
Cassandra’s mind wasstill in turmoil from her visit with Collin as she slowly climbed the porch steps heading up toward the two-story manor. Now that she had gotten her frustration for the way her life had turned out off her chest, she waited for the moment of peace. So why wasn’t it happening yet? She had waited so long to feel the relief of confronting Collin about his wrongdoings that she wouldn’t know what to do with her time now, since she planned on finally putting him out of her mind forever.
Suddenly, off in the distance, she heard a man’s painful shout. She stopped and turned toward the coach. Both the driver and footman stood near the vehicle, peering toward the glade of trees on her property.
“What is going on?” she asked, lifting her voice above the howling wind.
“My lady,” Bentley said, pointing in the direction of their gazes. “I just noticed a servant running away as if the devil nipped at his heels.”
Cassandra had always been a curious woman, and today was no different. Of course, because she had heard someone in pain, she knew they must investigate.
She headed back down the steps and toward the group of trees. The driver and footman keeping up with her hurried pace. It didn’t take long to see the gray material of the man’s clothes, and his wheat-blond hair.
Her mind stumbled and she sucked in a breath. There was only one man who had hair like that, the only man whose memory popped into her head whenever she saw that color. But it couldn’t behim.
Bentley and Riddle ran ahead of her, reaching the man lying still on the ground before she could. She slowed her steps until she recognized the wide shoulders and muscular body of the man she had wanted to forget.
“My lady,” Bentley said, staring at her. “He has been seriously injured.”
Standing frozen, she ran her gaze over Collin’s unconscious body, but especially the blood pouring from his head and turning his hair red—and the tree limb near his body with spots of his blood.
