Rebecca emerged from the green tunnel and, gathering her skirts, raced through the dense woods. She came out near the ruins. About fifty feet away, Caspian was grazing. Rebecca paused, again listening, but couldn’t hear above the Thames’s rushing current on her right. She moved forward cautiously. The horse jerked its head up and made a nervous prancing motion to the side, his eyes wary at her approach.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” she murmured. She had taken a few steps when she realized that the horse wasn’t looking at her.
Rebecca pivoted just as Lady Louisa rushed forward, the stick held high. Rebecca stumbled back with a cry. At the last minute, she regained her footing, then spun and fled up the embankment.
Kendra didn’t know how long they’d ridden, but it seemed like forever, the stallion’s hooves churning up the ground as they sped across the countryside. Throughout the ride, she kept her arms wrapped tightly around Alec’s waist, terrified she’d fall off the beast and break her neck. She lifted her head to look around when Alec suddenly pulled up the reins on the horse, slowing down.
“What is it?” she asked, but she had already spotted the old man studying the fetlock of a pretty mare. Another dappled gray horse stood by his side, tail swishing against the flies.
Alec said, “That’s Becca’s horse.”
He urged his horse over to the man, who dropped the fetlock to watch their approach.
“Where did you get that mare?” Alec demanded.
The old man pushed his cap up and scratched his head. “It came bolting out of woods,” he said, pointing to the copse ahead. “She belongs to Lady Louisa’s friend. Must’ve got away from them. Stumbled a bit, the poor dear. Ain’t nothing that I can’t fix up, just a little ligament—she’ll be as right as rain soon enough.”
Kendra asked, “Who are you?”
“Lady Louisa’s groom. Liam’s the name.”
“Why aren’t you with your mistress?”
Liam didn’t seem to see anything odd in Alec’s harsh question. “She likes to race her horse. Poor old Beth there can’t keep up. We usually—” He paused, but then stared wide-eyed toward the road in the distance. “Is that a phaeton? Bleeding hell, is the driver actually getting off the road? He’s gonna break his wheels!”
Kendra and Alec turned. It was too far away to see the occupants, but she suspected that the driver of that particular phaeton was the Duke, and his passenger Sam.
“Never mind them,” said Kendra. “Where’s Lady Louisa?”
“Same place this here mare came from.” Again he lifted a finger to point to the trees. “In there.”
Rebecca had miscalculated—badly. The stones of the embankment were more slippery than usual with the previous night’s rain, slowing her down, and the woods now seemed too far away. On the right side of her was the Thames, the recent rain having raised its level, and on the left side—coming fast—was Lady Louisa.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” the young woman was chanting, but her eyes, fixed on Rebecca, appeared almost feral.
Lady Louisa brandished the stick now like it was a sword, forcing Rebecca to step backward, further up the embankment, trying desperately to keep her balance. “Please, you don’t have to do this.” Rebecca was surprised the words even came out; her throat appeared to have closed into a tight knot. “Lady Louisa, I’m your friend.”
Something flickered in the madwoman’s eyes, a small bit of humanity. But then it was swallowed up by an unholy determination. “I need to protect my family,” she said, and continued to advance.
Rebecca realized she’d committed another fatal error by going up the stones rather than trying to sidle toward the woods. She saw the flurry of crimson rushing toward her, the stick raised and then swinging down in a brutal arc. Rebecca tried to evade, but the stinging blow caught her on her arm. Lady Louisa brought the club up again, her face twisted in a murderous rage. Rebecca danced backward, but her feet got caught in the long train of her riding habit. With one arm hanging uselessly, she couldn’t balance herself, and she screamed as she toppled backward and plunged into the icy, torrential waters of the Thames.
58
Rebecca felt the shock of the freezing black waters as the river engulfed her, invading her nose and mouth. She ignored the pain in her arm as she fought her way to the surface, desperate, her lungs burning. She broke through with a spluttering gasp. Unlike ladies of her acquaintance, Rebecca knew how to swim. But these was not the genteel laps she’d completed in the placid waters of the lake on her family’s estate, when the sun was a burning in the sky. This was a life-and-death battle. The river was brutally cold, delving into the very marrow of her bones and sapping her strength. The current was strong, greedy, and grasping, spinning her around and pulling at her. The material of her skirts were like an anchor, weighing her down.
Her arm screamed in agony as she attempted to swim toward shore. She was caught again and dragged under by invisible chains. Just before she went under, she caught a glimpse of scarlet on the embankment and knew that Lady Louisa was watching her. Then the Thames closed over her.
She tried to kick to the surface, but her skirt had wrapped around her legs like a rope. In a burst of energy, she clawed her way back to the surface, her head breaking the surface. Lady Louisa had vanished. This was the time to swim toward shore—except her strength had been completely depleted. A strange sort of numbness crept over her and she sank for the third time.
The scream brought Alec’s, Kendra’s, and the groom’s eyes to the forest. The horses ears twitched.
“My God . . . Becca,” Alec breathed. He yanked the reins to the side, which sent his horse wheeling around. Kendra clutched at his waist as they galloped toward the woods.
They were nearing the outside of the tree line when Lady Louisa exploded from the tangle of vegetation on the back of an enormous black stallion.
“Don’t!” Kendra said sharply, when Alec pulled up on his reins, prepared to go after the fleeing woman. “Leave her. We need to find Rebecca.”
Alec gave a quick nod to let her know that he’d heard, then sent his Arabian into the forest. There, they were forced to travel more carefully over the tangled roots and loose rocks, so as not to cripple the horse. The gray light of day was cut off here, leaving only dense shadows. The thick, almost syrupy scent of flora and fauna rose up around them.
Impatience thrummed in Kendra. She opened her mouth to suggest that it would be faster if she got off and ran the rest of the way on foot, when the trees suddenly thinned and they entered a large clearing. Here there was a stone embankment and the ruins of a castle, a place that would have been quaint on any other day.
As soon as Alec brought the horse to a stop, Kendra slid off the animal and cupped her hands around her mouth to amplify her voice. “Rebecca!”