Page 22 of An Affair at Stonecliffe

“Attack you! What did you expect me to do? Stand still while you spirited Adam’s son away?”

“No, you did exactly what I should have expected from you! I was a fool to believe you, to let myself fall into your trap.”

“Trap? A comfortable home, a good life for you and your son, is a trap? Good God, woman, you are the most bullheaded, foolish...suspicious woman I have ever met!”

“As well I should be!” Noelle shot back. “After the way you’ve hounded me across Europe, all the times you’ve tried to abduct Gil. I was foolish, believing your promises, trusting you. Thank God I woke up in time to get him away from you.”

“You’re blaming me for you scarpering off?”

“Yes! You lied to me. All that pleasant talk, the kindness of the countess, the pretty pictures you painted of the life ahead for Gil and me, the way you oozed yourself into Gil’s favor, promising him horses and books...”

“What’s wrong with that? That’s the life the boy should have!”

“It was all talk, that’s what’s wrong—all pretense to lull me into letting down my guard, making it easy for you to grab Gil.”

“Grab Gil—sweet Jesus, are you back to that? I have never tried to abduct Gil! I would never—”

“You did! In Bern. In Barcelona. Or any of the many other times you’ve cornered us. You did it just yesterday!”

“Bern!” He gaped at her. “Barcelona? What the devil are you talking about? I’ve never even been in Barcelona.”

“Not you in person. A ‘gentleman’ wouldn’t dirty his hands like that. It was the man you hired, just like it was your man yesterday.”

“My man...” The anger in his face changed to bewilderment. He frowned, giving her a long look of consideration. “Perhaps you ought to tell me exactly what happened yesterday.”

“He didn’t tell you? I suppose he wouldn’t want to report his failure. He followed us home from work, as always, and when we were almost there, he charged in, knocked me aside, and scooped up Gil.”

“Noelle.” Oddly, he had called her by her name for the first time, Noelle noted. His voice was measured and quiet in a way that raised the hairs on the back of her neck. “My man didn’t follow you yesterday. In Bern, you were gone by the time Diggs arrived to deliver my letter. I never even knew you were in Barcelona.”

Noelle stared at him, her legs suddenly weak beneath her.

“Noelle!” Carlisle jumped forward, wrapping an arm around her waist to hold her up. She sagged against him, her ears ringing, and he scooped her up, carrying her over to a bench. “Sit down. Lower your head.”

She started to protest, but his hand was firm on the back of her head, pushing it down. She took a breath and the dizziness receded. Noelle straightened. Thorne sat beside her, watching her intently.

“Tell me exactly what happened in Bern and Barcelona,” he said.

Shakily, Noelle ran her hands across her face, as if she could bring her thoughts into order by doing so. “It was, um, three years ago. Barcelona, I mean. A man came up and knocked me down.”

“He hit you?”

“No, it was more that he grabbed my arm and threw me to the ground, but Gil created quite a fuss, and the butcher came to our aid. In Bern we were in a park, but I saw him coming that time, and I was able to stab him before he got to Gil.”

“Stab him?” Carlisle’s eyebrows soared.

“I was knitting.”

“I suppose I’m lucky to have escaped a maiming at your hands,” he said dryly. “Go on. What happened yesterday?”

“He was following us, as I said. I looked back and saw him. It wasn’t the man you usually have trailing us, and I thought how he wasn’t as good as the shorter one because he was too obvious. Then Gil began to jump about. He was excited because I’d told him—well, it doesn’t matter. Suddenly the man darted in, shoved me aside, and grabbed Gil. He ran up the street.” She let out a shaky breath, remembering. “I couldn’t have caught him. Thank God for that dog. And the man who hit him with his crutch.”

A faint smile touched Thorne’s lips. “A dog. A man on a crutch. A butcher. You certainly have an interesting set of champions.”

“Yes. Well.” She tried to muster up a faint smile. “Not exactly the life of a lady.” She linked her hands in her lap, turning her gaze down to them. She felt as if the world had tumbled down around her. “You didn’t send them? Truly?”

“I did not.” Thorne leaned forward and gazed squarely into her face. “I swear to you, on my life, on the life of the countess, on anything you want, that I have never sent anyone to wrest Gil from you. Yes, I searched for you all these years, but only because I wanted to persuade you to come home, to take up life at Stonecliffe with the countess. Both you and Gilbert. I would not have torn Adam’s son from you. I wouldn’t have done that to any mother. However overbearing I may be, I am not entirely hard-hearted.”

Noelle felt her resistance slipping away. She wanted to believe him. She wanted to let go of her burden, hand it off to someone else. But how could she put her trust in this man? Her enemy.