Page 77

He was fishing. She did not think he knew for sure, but he was most certainly suspicious of the viscount.

“No, my lord.”

“I see.” He looked over his shoulder and then back at her. “If your destination is not Langton Manor, you have a long way to go yet. There is nothing else on this road for several miles. Return with me to the inn. I have business with your father. When it is complete, I will escort you to your relatives. It is not safe for you to be out so late unaccompanied.”

She was pinned into a corner. If she refused him, his distrust would surely rise. He might abandon his visit to the inn completely or insist on taking her to her “relatives” now. Either scenario would mean that he would evade the trap the noblemen had set. Unfortunately, even if she owned the necessary equestrian skills, her old mare could never outrun his stallion. If the Midnight Master was to visit the inn tonight, there was really only one possible response.

“Thank you, my lord. It has grown dark far sooner than I’d anticipated,” she said. “I believe I will accept your kind offer.”

“Very well,” he said. “Let us be on our way.”

***

“What exactly did you tell them?” Jonas said.

“The answer has not changed since the last time you asked,” Alexander replied, doing little to hide his irritation. “Two Bow Street runners at The Fox and Hare Inn in Little Tilbury this Monday at nightfall.” He stared at the door as though willing it to magically admit the missing lawmen. “I refuse to take the blame for their lack of punctuality.”

“Fair enough,” Jonas said. “But the fact remains, they’re not here, and Forwood could show up at any moment.” He leaned on the desk in Doyle’s office. “We need another plan. One that does not involve any extra help.”

Alexander rose from the only chair in the cramped room. “Very well. What do you suggest?”

Jonas wanted to pace, but walking two steps to the window and two steps back was only going to make him dizzy. “Miss Doyle . . .” Alexander raised his eyebrows, and Jonas gave a long-suffering sigh. “Bear with me, old fellow. I’ve known her as Miss Doyle considerably longer than you have. It will take a bit of getting used to.” Alexander conceded the point, and Jonas continued. “Miss Allerton told me the Midnight Master usually slips in through the back door and goes directly into Doyle’s office. He waits here until Doyle shows up—presumably to report on a solid night’s work. Soon afterward, he leaves.”

“Well then, it seems we should meet him in here,” Alexander said. “Even without the runners, it’s two to one with surprise on our side.”

Jonas rubbed the back of his neck. Alexander’s logic was fair. They had already incarcerated Doyle and Cummings without additional aid. The blackguards were unlikely to sound a warning from the hidden room. Doyle was in too much pain to do anything but moan; Cummings was too afraid of Alexander’s pistol.

“I don’t think Forwood will be as easy to take as the dullards upstairs.”

“True,” Alexander said. “Do you have your pistol?”

Jonas patted the bulge in his coat pocket. “Yes.”

“Good, because you can bet your finest stallion that Forwood is carrying at least one.”

That fact alone made capturing Forwood far more complicated and dangerous than their previous two seizures, and made Jonas doubly grateful that Miss Allerton was gone from the inn. When he’d taken her to the stable, he’d purposely chosen a placid mare. The aging horse had shown no sign of skittish behavior, and although her gait was slow, it would be steady. All being well, they had reached Langton Manor by now.

The muffled sound of horse hooves penetrated the office window.

“Do you hear that?” Jonas said.

“It’s coming from the courtyard.” Alexander gave him a meaningful look. “And it sounds like there’s more than one.”

“Bow Street runners, smugglers, or the Midnight Master?” Jonas asked.

“I tend to think the lawmen’s arrival will be less obvious.”

“Agreed,” Jonas said. “And the Midnight Master usually rides alone.” He withdrew his pistol from his pocket, his mind racing. With a single lantern as the only source of light in the passageway, they wouldn’t get a good look at who had entered the inn until it was virtually too late to act. “If it’s smugglers, they’ll be unloading goods into the cellar. If it’s Forwood, he’ll be coming in through the back door and making straight for the office. You monitor the passageway, I’ll remain in here.”

With a nod, Alexander disappeared out the door and headed toward the darkened stairwell. Jonas glanced around the cramped room. The only sign that anyone had been there was the candle on the desk, but he assumed Doyle usually left one burning for the Midnight Master anyway. There was nowhere to hide. Crouching in the desk’s foot well would put him at too great a disadvantage should he be seen. With no other option available, Jonas took position behind the door, placed his ear to the wall, and waited.

All was silent, then he heard the creaking of the stable door in the yard, followed by footsteps and the opening of the inn’s back door.

“I’m sure my father has his office prepared for your arrival, my lord. I can wait in my bedchamber until you are ready to leave.”

Jonas jerked back, his heart racing. What was Miss Allerton doing back at the inn? What had she said? His mind stumbled to focus through his fear for her safety. She’d called her companion ‘my lord.’ The Midnight Master, then. And she’d suggested going to her bedchamber, so he must not be holding her captive. But she was to leave with him afterward. Jonas tightened his grip on his gun. That last would not happen while he could still take a breath.

“I think not, Miss Doyle.” Forwood’s voice made Jonas’s skin crawl. “There is something unsettling about the inn tonight, and until I have ascertained the source of the problem, I believe it would be better if we stayed together.”