Page 16 of The Lady’s Sweet Revenge

Please come to Slains Castle forthwith and plan for an extended stay. I appreciate you do not particularly relish returning to Scotland, but your presence here is most important. Know if I do not see you in a fortnight, all funds in London and Sussex will be cut off until your arrival.

Breckenridge

He wondered if it sounded a bit too harsh, but then decided he didn’t care.

He had one final letter to write. But this one took much longer for it needed to be encoded for secrecy. It had been some time since he’d needed to employ such a skill, but he managed to convey the message.

Make haste to the Inverness. Captain Merrick is heading there with the Zephyr.

Sealing all the letters, he hired a post boy to take them to London as fast as possible. They would surely arrive before Merrick’s letter of ransom. Reese assumed the man would still send his demand even when he learned Harlow had jumped overboard. Likely, he would assume she’d drowned and it wouldn’t change his plans if she were dead.

Reese had waited a long time to bring Merrick to justice.

Rubbing his thigh where the wound still ached on occasion, Reese remembered the blinding burn when he’d been shot by Merrick. Reese wished he’d be the one to bring Merrick back to London and see him hanged, but he would have to trust the job would be done by the other agents.

Reese sighed. Merrick had been so close to ending him. This time Merrick would be apprehended. And Reese would have to be satisfied with the small part he played in that outcome.

It seemed his guest was right about the cleansing power of vengeance. For Reese felt better already.

He peeked into Harlow’s room again to find her still sleeping. Belle raised her head and tilted it to the side as if asking him if it was time to go for a walk. Walking along the beach was the only thing that lured the beast from Harlow’s side.

“Keep watch, lass,” he told the dog and closed the door feeling unsettled. He found he enjoyed talking with her and when she slept so often, as was expected of someone healing, he didn’t know what to do with himself.

When days ago he’d been content to be there alone and read or see to the grounds, now he was wishing Belle’s movements would have woken his guest.

“Are you a’right, my lord?” Mrs. Garrison asked as he passed by Harlow’s room again.

“Aye. I’m fine.”

“Did ye need something?” She looked at him and then looked at the door pointedly.

“Nay. It’s just I hadn’t seen Belle and wanted to make sure she was in with Lady Harlow.” As lies went, this was not the best, but it was the best he could come up with on such short notice. Any proper housekeeper would mind her own business and accept his reasoning with a nod and a wish for a good day. But of course not his housekeeper.

Mrs. Garrison’s eyes widened. “If the dog isna at your side, she is surely with the lady. Belle’s barely been away from her but to eat her dinner.”

“Yes. Well. Now that that’s sorted, I’m free to return to my study.” Where he should have already been to avoid such a conversation.

“Aye, she’ll likely not wake until morn. She needs rest to heal.”

Of course, he knew that. He’d just thought as much. He didn’t need his housekeeper to explain the way injuries worked. She knew well enough of his experience with such things as she’d been the one to tend to him when he’d been shot.

Instead of arguing, he simply turned and went to his study, closing himself in and taking a deep breath.

“The lass is not for you. She’s been through a horrific ordeal and is recovering from an injury. She surely doesn’t need you sniffing after her,” he said aloud to himself so there could be no mistaking his intensions and what he thought of them. “You are a safe port in a storm. Nothing more.”

He went and poured himself a dram of whisky so at least then he’d have a reason to be talking to himself. Thanks to a few too many drinks, it was where he ended up falling asleep, awaking just as dawn approached.

It was too early for her to be awake so he took his time getting dressed and eating. Harlow’s breakfast was taken to her room as she was still unable to leave her bed. And, unable to stay away, he headed in to see her.

She was once again attempting to get out of bed. With a wince and gasp of pain she relented and sat back on the mattress where Mrs. Garrison set the tray. Harlow seemed almost angry with the limb that refused to support her weight as if it had failed her in some way.

He didn’t know the woman well, but already he’d gathered she wasn’t one for sitting still for very long. He was much the same way. And he disliked not having anyone to talk with. Which was the reason he had arrived so early in the day. He liked that they had that in common. But then not many people would like being forced to lie about.

Once she was settled again and staring longingly at the window, he knocked and entered her room.

“How are you feeling today, Lady Harlow?”

“Better, thank you. Though I do wish I could get out of bed.”