He picked his way across the slick ground, sucking in a breath as frigid water seeped into his boots and his toes screamed in protest, the icy water stabbing him like knives slashing his skin.
The shock of the cold made him slow, clumsy, but he could see the man clearly now, a dark figure moving slowly through the trees ahead of him, grabbing at branches as he went to steady himself.
Samuel crept after him, his steps careful but his pace quick and steady, one step, two, a dozen, drawing closer with each one…so close he could see the man’s broad shoulders and a black-gloved hand resting against a thick tree trunk.
Closer, a little closer and he could leap on the man’s back, drag himto the ground—
“Bloody hell!” The man whirled around at the sound of Samuel’s footfalls, but it was already too late.
By then, Samuel was on him.
“Oof!” The man landed with a hard thump on his belly on the muddy ground. Samuel was atop him in an instant, shoving the man’s face into the muck with a fist to the back of his head. “What have you done with Emma, you blackguard?”
The man wrenched his head free, and a torrent of vile curses fell from his lips. “Hell, and damnation! I might a’ known it’d beyou—”
The man broke off, gagging around a mouthful of mud as Samuel gave his face another shove. “Tell me where she isnow, or I’ll see to it you’re buriedhead first in—”
“Get off me,ye daft devil!”
Samuel had no intention of going anywhere, but by now the man had overcome his shock, and with one mighty heave he managed to crawl to his knees and throwSamuel off him.
Samuel landed on the ground on his back with a thump that knocked the breath out of him, but in an instant he’d rolled into a crouch, a growl on his lips as he readiedto leap again.
“It’s Brixton, ye damned fool!” Brixton struggled to his feet and bent over, hands on his knees, and sucked one ragged breath after another into his lungs.
“Brixton?” Samuel dragged himself up, swaying as he struggled to stand. “Damn it, man, I’ve been searching for you! You’re doing a bloody poor job of protecting Emma,because she’s—”
“Damn it, Lymington, I think yebroke my hand.”
Samuel wanted to strangle him. “I don’t give a damn about your hand. Christ, Brixton, didn’t you hear me? I told you, Emma’s missing!”
Daniel spat on the ground. “Dunn took ’er.”
“Dunn?” Samuel shook his head. “Why should Dunn—”
“Dunn’s yer blackguard, Lymington. Did away with those threeservant girls.”
“Dunn!” Samuel stared at Brixton, stunned speechless. “How do you know?”
“I know ’cause ’e tried to kill me. Coward crept up behind me in the folly. Nearly crushed my skull with a rock, then tossed me in the pond.”
“He crushed your skull and tossed you in the pond, and youdidn’t drown?”
Brixton scowled at him. “Ye ever been in that pond, Lymington? It’s half ice still. Woke me right up, it did.”
“You’re sure it was Dunn?”
“Aye, I’m sure. I crawled onto the bank of the pond and saw the devil drag Miss Emma away. I’ve been lying there ever since trying to get up, but my head was dizzy, and my legs not right.”
None of this made sense. Dunn had been in Samuel’s drawing room an hour ago, sipping tea and smiling, just having risen from his bed…except his boots had been wet, and his coat splattered with mud.
Samuel swallowed as those two details took on an ominous significance. “You’re telling me Dunn’s a villain, and now he has Emma?”
“Aye, that’s what I’m telling ye. But don’t underestimate Miss Emma. That lass knows what she’s about—”
Samuel didn’t wait to hear anymore, but whirled in the direction of Dunn’s hunting box. “If Dunn has Emma, then why are we still standing here? Let’s go!”
“Nay, Lymington. He didn’t take her that way.” Brixton pointed in front of them. “He took ’er back toward the house.”
