‘Hmph,’ was all Lawrence said.
Radcliffe handed Miss Cecily into the carriage, followed by Sally.
‘I’d get in yourself too, my lord,’ Lawrence directed. ‘No point us both getting cold,’ he said cheerfully.
His own bay would also be left to rest with his carriage horses – and the inn did not have another to spare. And truth be told, Radcliffe was quite glad to have the chance to rid the chill from his bones. ‘I owe you a thousand favours,’ he told Lawrence.
‘I’ll accept a raise,’ Lawrence retorted cheerfully.
Inside the carriage, Miss Cecily fell into an uneasy slumber, while Sally looked out of the window into the dark, wide awake.
‘We’re lucky she didn’t get hurt,’ she said into the quiet. ‘I’ll be glad to get her home in one piece.’
‘You’ve gone above and beyond today, Sally,’ Radcliffe said, fighting an urge to yawn. ‘You have my thanks – and I’m sure Miss Talbot’s too.’
Sally nodded.
‘Why did you come to me?’ he asked, curiously. ‘I think you did the right thing, but why was I your first option?’
‘Well, I couldn’t get to Miss Kitty in time – although she would have solved everything in a trice you know,’ she said in a confessional aside. Radcliffe thought with some acerbity that he was not sure how Miss Kitty would have solved it any better than he had, but controlled the impulse to vocalise this.
‘And she trusts you,’ Sally finished. She looked at him narrowly. ‘Reckon she trusts you a lot, in truth.’
As soon as they left the house, as if by prearranged signal, Archie, Hinsley and Kitty began to run. There was no sound of pursuit, but they raced down the path nonetheless, feet flying over rock and stone. They raced through the gate, squeezed themselves three abreast into the curricle, and Hinsley drove the horses off at once. By the time they turned the first corner they were riding at quite ten miles an hour.
‘What was that?’ Hinsley demanded. ‘I told you to stay in the carriage!’
‘And I did, until it seemed you weren’t coming back out again,’ Kitty protested.
‘That is a barefaced lie!’
‘She was going to shoot him,’ Archie said, dazed.
‘I was not,’ Kitty insisted.
‘Give me that pistol,’ Hinsley instructed angrily, making a grab for it. ‘By George, do you have the faintest idea how to use it?’
‘Well, not really,’ Kitty admitted. ‘But as it turns out, neither do you – it wasn’t loaded, you dolt. I checked as soon as you left. Are you honestly a soldier?’
‘Dear God,’ Hinsley cursed. ‘Dear God.’
‘We were about to be quite trapped there,’ Kitty said – now that she was in the safety of the vehicle, she was quite regaining her usual self-possession – ‘there wasn’t much else to be done but threaten him most soundly.’
Hinsley let out a peal of wild laughter.
‘Hinsley – Hinsley, what on earth is going on?’ Archie asked weakly.
‘We came to rescue you,’ Hinsley said cheerily. ‘From certain ruin. Must say it’s the first time I’ve done a rescue with a woman onside, but credit where credit’s due – you performed most excellently, Miss Talbot.’
He gave a courteous little flourish of his hand in her direction, and she returned the gesture with even more pomp. ‘May I say that you did very well yourself, my dear sir.’
Archie began to think they had both gone quite mad. ‘Perhaps I ought to drive,’ he said cautiously, as they began to laugh again.
‘Best not, dear boy, I can smell the drink on you – and the smoke,’ Hinsley said. ‘Are you all right?’
‘I think so,’ Archie said uncertainly. ‘But I feel a fool. I do not think Selby is my friend after all.’
‘I am sorry, Archie,’ Kitty said, real regret in her voice. Archie looked at her.
‘But why did you come, Kitty?’ Archie asked. ‘I must say I do not think it at all proper.’
‘I had to come,’ she said simply. ‘Proper or not. Besides, with your brother left for Devonshire – who else was there to come after you?’
She smiled at him, warmly, and he felt a sense of foreboding in his chest. Blast, the girl was still in love with him. Awfully strange way to behave if that was the case, but the signs were clear as day. No other reason she would come haring after him, Archie could see that.