Guy, Lord Fortescue and Miss Horatia Cavendish invite you
to attend the virtual blog tour for A Baron in Her Bed, published in print and e-book on
Wednesday! Join me and comment. Prizes to be won! First stop: THE BOOK MAVIN
Horatia's plan to join the London literary set takes a dangerous turn.
Now that the war with France has ended, Baron Guy Fortescue arrives in
England to claim his inheritance. When Guy is set upon in London, a
stranger, Lord Strathairn, rescues and befriends him. But while
traveling to his country estate, Guy is again attacked. Guy suspects his
relative, Eustace Fennimore, is behind the attacks on his life. Horatia
refuses to believe her godfather, Eustace, is responsible. Secure in
the knowledge that his daughter will finally wed, Horatia's father
allows her to visit her blue-stocking aunt in London. But Horatia's time
spent in London proves to be anything but a literary feast, for a
dangerous foe plots Guy's demise. She is determined to keep alive her
handsome fiancé, who has proven more than willing to play the part of
her lover even as he resists her attempts to save him.
EXCERPT
At least two hours had passed before
Horatia guided the horse back towards the road. Distracted by her thoughts, she
had ridden farther than she intended. A glance at the skies told her the storm
bank was almost upon them.
They would have to take their chances
and return by the road. She urged The General into a gallop.
They came to the road that led to
Malforth Manor but were still some miles away. She would be lucky to reach home
before the storm hit. She eased the horse into a trot as they approached a
sharp bend in the road, the way ahead hidden by a stand of oaks. Once round the
corner, she gasped and pulled the horse up hard.
A body lay in the road.
Highwaymen tried this ruse she’d heard.
She edged her horse closer.
With a quick search of the landscape,
she saw a horse disappear over a hill with its reins trailing. She dismounted
and approached the man with caution. Barely a leaf stirred. It was oddly still,
and the air seemed hushed and quiet as death before the coming storm. It
matched her mood as she stood wondering what to do about the problem before
her.
The man sprawled on his side. Judging by
his clothes, he was a gentleman. Beneath his multi-caped greatcoat his brown
coat revealed the skill of the tailor. His cream double-breasted waistcoat was
of very fine silk. Long legs were encased in tight-fitting buff-colored suede
pantaloons. His mud-splattered top boots showed evidence of loving care.
He moaned.
Horatia knelt beside him and grasped his
shoulder. “Are you all right?”
When he didn’t answer, she struggled to
roll him onto his back. A nasty gash trickled blood over his forehead where a
bruise would surely form.
The man’s dark hair was sticky with
blood. “Can you hear me, sir?” His eyelids fluttered. She shouldn’t stare at
him while he remained unconscious, but she couldn’t draw her eyes away. He had
remarkable cheekbones. His dark looks reminded her of Lord Byron. More rugged
perhaps, but an undeniably handsome face, his skin more swarthy than one
usually saw in an English winter. There was a dimple in his chin and a hint of
shadow darkened his strong jaw line. She gingerly picked up his wrist and
peeled back the soft leather glove, glad to find his pulse strong. An expensive
gold watch had fallen from his pocket. So, he hadn’t been robbed. It must have
been an accident. She looked around for some sign of what had happened but
could see nothing.
A gust of chill wind made her shiver,
and she glanced up at the sky. Ashgrey snow clouds now hovered overhead. “I
have to move you, sir.”
Horatia stood and looked around. The
road ran along the boundary of the Fortescue estate. Over the hill among the
trees was a tiny hunting lodge.
She’d passed it many times when she
roamed the woods, although she hadn’t been there for years. Her godfather,
Eustace, lived for a part of the year in the Fortescue mansion, but it was some
distance away and the snow had begun to fall.
It was by far the closest shelter, but
trying to get the motionless man onto a horse unaided would be impossible. She
sighed. That was not an option.
Horatia looked back at him. He was
large, tall, and broad shouldered.
How on earth could she move him? And
what would she do with him if she did? She looked up and down the deserted road
with the hope that someone–preferably someone with big, strong arms–would
appear to help her, and yet, she dreaded to be found in this invidious
position. This was a quiet back road; most folk preferred the more direct
route, so she couldn’t expect to be rescued soon.
She wondered if she should drag him
under a tree and ride for help. As she considered this, the snow grew heavier.
It settled over the ground and the prone man and touched her face like icy
fingers. She couldn’t leave him out in the open, prey to the elements while she
went for help. In bad weather it would take ages to ride to Digswell village.
By the time she located the apothecary and brought him here, the man would be
near death. Somehow she had to move him off the road and under shelter,
although in the dead of winter, there was little to be had.
Horatia bent down, wrapped his limp arm
around her shoulders, and caught a whiff of expensive bergamot. She took hold
of his firm waist and tried to pull him towards the trees, but he was too
heavy. She eased him down again.
Horatia pulled off her coat and
shuddered at the cold. She tucked it around him. The snow had begun to fall in
earnest, and worse, the prospect of a blizzard loomed. The wind gathered force.
It stirred the tops of the trees around them and whipped the snowflakes into
chaotic spirals of white.
Panic forced her to act. She took hold
of the man’s arms and tried again to drag him. In small spurts she edged him
closer to the scant shelter of the nearest tree, an oak whose dead leaves
remained, curled and brown. Forced to pause, she took several deep breaths. He
was quite a weight. She broke into a sweat despite the absence of her coat and
the frigid air.
Horatia was severely winded and gasping
by the time she reached the tree. It was a victory of sorts but afforded very
little protection. She propped him against the trunk.
His eyelids rose. Startling pale blue
eyes stared uncomprehendingly into hers.
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