Page 78 of Secrets of the Heart

“He won’t be, because I am going with him,” Rachel put in.

Both men swung on her, protesting.

“No! Rachel…” Perry looked horrified. “That would just put both of you in danger.”

“Absolutely not.” Michael crossed his arms and looked forbidding.

“Well, I cannot go to the opera while you are out trying to get yourself killed!”

“Then stay at home. You and Perry could have an evening of cards, say.”

“You need someone with you. Someone to help you watch for Sir Robert. To guard your back. You cannot see everywhere at once. He could sneak up on you.”

“I can take care of it. I promise you, I will be fine.”

“You need a witness!” Rachel cried, pleased at having come up with another argument. “Someone to corroborate that Sir Robert came there to ambush you.”

Michael raised an eyebrow. “You think that my word would not be good enough?”

“Don’t try to throw me off course. You know I’m right. Of course you are trustworthy—everyone knows that. But Sir Robert is also a man of breeding and apparent honor. He was a hero alongside you in the war. You have a difficult case to prove. It would help greatly if you had another witness to his perfidy,” Rachel argued reasonably. “Besides, if there are two people there, he will be less likely to shoot you. He cannot go about leaving dead bodies strewn all over the place.”

“If he is cornered, I’m not sure what he is capable of doing. I cannot risk it, Rachel. Not you.”

“You are risking yourself!”

“That is different. I have had some experience in these matters. I will have my pistols with me, and Sir Robert is well aware of my accuracy with them. You, on the other hand, would not only be vulnerable, you would make me vulnerable. I would have to worry about you. I could not simply concentrate on the matter at hand. Your presence would distract me, and that could prove fatal. Besides, he would know he had only to threaten you and I would be rendered harmless. If I had a pistol on him, he would know that even if he shot me, he would die, too, whereas if you were there, he would need only to point his gun at you and I would have to give up. You would endanger me, not help me.”

Rachel scowled. She would have liked to argue, but she knew that he was right.

“I will go with you,” Perry announced. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m not completely useless, you know. I may not be the marksman you are, but I have clipped a few wafers at Manton’s. I can guard your back. And Rachel is right—two people’s testimony would carry more weight.”

“Yes, take Perry with you,” Rachel agreed. She did not really think that Perry Overhill would be adequate protection—she wished desperately that Richard or Devin were there—but having him with Michael would be better than Michael’s facing an enemy alone.

“No. I need Perry to stay with you,” Michael said. “I have to be sure that you are safe.”

“I will be at home, with servants all around,” Rachel pointed out. “And the man you suspect will be with you. What could happen to me? I will be perfectly safe. You need Perry with you much more than I need him.”

“She is right,” Perry added. “Be sensible. I am sure—if Blount is your man—that he does not want to hurt you. He simply wants you out of the way. All harming Rachel would do is wound you and make you even more determined to capture him. It would be foolish in the extreme of him.”

Michael hesitated, obviously swayed by the arguments. Finally he sighed and said, “All right. But only—” he fixed Rachel with a serious look “—if you stay at home, locked in and with the servants around.”

Rachel rolled her eyes. “I promise. But I do wish that you would hold off on this, Michael. We could write to Dev and Richard, and they would come to help immediately. I know they would.”

“No. I need to do this now. And I do not need an army. Perry will do fine.”

So it was that several hours later Rachel settled down to spend an evening at home. Michael, thrusting a brace of pistols into the pockets of his jacket and looking grim, gave her a goodbye kiss and turned to go pick up Perry at his home.

“Michael, wait,” Rachel said, catching hold of his sleeve. “I don’t think this is a good idea. I cannot imagine why I thought Perry would be any protection. Please, wait. I will write to Richard this very evening.”

Her stomach had been in knots ever since their conversation that afternoon, and now, with the moment actually upon them, she did not think she could bear for Michael to leave. What if he was taken from her now, when she had finally realized that she loved him?

“No. I cannot wait. Besides, until I catch our villain, I will still be in danger of his killing me.”

“This is just so awful. I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to you.”

Michael kissed Rachel on the cheek, saying, “I am glad that you are concerned for me. You have no idea how much.” He smiled down into her eyes. “But there is no need for you to worry. I promise you. This will soon be over, and I will be back here.”

Rachel managed a smile for him and kept it in place until Michael was out the door. Then she dropped down into a chair and put her head in her hands. She did not know how she would get through the next few hours. There was nothing she could think of that would take her mind off Michael and what was about to happen. Reading was out of the question, and she was certain that if she started work on any of the delicate clothes for Miranda’s coming baby, she would just have to rip out all the stitches the next day.