summer, the area would, she suspected, be dotted with the trestles and benches she could see stacked to one side under a row of leafless trees.
Nearer at hand, a narrow bed ran along the wall of the inn, full of hellebores in bloom. It had been so long since she’d seen the so-called Christmas roses on impulse she opened the door and went out to admire them.
The plants were old, large, and carried many spikes of large, nodding white blooms. Some were even spotty. She bent down the better to see.
And heard a soft rush of footsteps coming up the lawn.
Straightening, she started to turn-just as a large man seized her from behind.
She screamed, struggled.
A second man tried to help the first, tried to hold her still as the first attempted to clap a hand over her mouth.
She ducked her head, jabbed an elbow back hard-into a flabby stomach. The first man gasped, then wheezed.
The second man swore and tried to haul her away from the inn as the first man’s grip faltered.
She dug in her heels, dragged in a breath, and screamed again. Wrenching one arm free, she struck wildly at the second man.
Del erupted from the inn. Kumulay and Mustaf were on his heels.
The second man swore, and fled for his life.
The first man wasn’t as fast; he was still clutching her, still wheezing. Del grabbed her free arm with one hand. His other fist flashed past her shoulder.
She heard a sickening crunch, then the large man’s grip on her eased and fell away.
Del pulled her to him, to his other side. Peering back, around him, she saw the man who’d seized her laid out unconscious on the flagstone path.
Then every man and woman who’d been in the tap came pouring out-to see, exclaim, ask questions, demand answers.
Del suddenly found himself and Deliah surrounded by a well-meaning throng. Many seemed to think Deliah would be in imminent danger of collapse, presumably from overwrought sensibilities, an assumption she seemed to find as mystifying as, and rather more irritating than, he did.
Questions, solicitude and sympathetic outrage came from all sides; it took vital minutes to calm everyone down.
Finally Del looked up and saw Mustaf and Kumulay striding back up the lawn. Mustaf shook his head, gestured with his fingers-the man had had a horse waiting.
They’d intended to grab Deliah and take her somewhere. Del’s mind supplied the where-wherever the Black Cobra or his lieutenant was waiting.
He swallowed a curse, looked for the man he’d laid out-then clamped his lips shut on an even more virulent oath.
The man had vanished.
Teeth gritted behind an entirely false smile, he tightened his hold on Deliah’s arm and started steering her through the crowd, toward the front of the inn.
Having noted the disappearance of the man, and Del’s direction, Mustaf and Kumulay went to summon the others and ready the carriages.
It was another twenty minutes before they were once again underway, and rolling out of the no-longer-so- sleepy village.
Del slumped back against the seat, finally registered the throbbing in his left hand. Lifting it, he saw he’d split the skin over one knuckle. He put the injured joint to his mouth.
Deliah noticed, frowned, then she looked ahead. Lifted her chin. After a moment, she said, “I believe your commander, whoever he is, would agree, now, that I have a right to know.”
Del grimaced. He glanced at her profile; her lips weren’t pouting-they were set in a grim line. “I don’t suppose you’d accept that those men were merely footpads-itinerants looking for an easy mark?”
“No.”
He sighed.
“If I’d known I stood in any danger of attack, I wouldn’t have gone out of that door.” She turned her head, met his eyes. “You can’t not tell me-it’s too dangerous for me not to know.”
He held her gaze for a moment, then looked ahead, filled his lungs. And told her.
Initially he gave her a carefully edited description of the Black Cobra and his mission. She seemed to sense his prevarications and refused to let them lie, verbally pulling and prodding until she’d extracted an account a great deal closer to the full picture from him.
He inwardly winced as he heard himself tell her about the manner of James MacFarlane’s death, and of the evidence he’d given his life to get to them.
“Poor boy-how utterly dreadful. Yet at least he died a true hero-I imagine that would have been important to him. And this is the evidence you and your friends are endeavoring to ensure gets into Wolverstone’s hands?”
“Yes.”
“And part of the plan is to make the Black Cobra attack, so he can be caught and thus implicated entirely independently of the evidence itself?”
“Yes.”
She was silent for a moment, then said, “That’s a very good plan.”
He’d expected her to be appalled, and then horrified, frightened, even terrified by the very real threat of very real and nasty danger-something she certainly wouldn’t have missed. Yet while she’d been as appalled as he’d imagined, horror, fright and terror didn’t seem to be in her repertoire; if he’d had any real doubts that she was made of sterner stuff, her immediate focus on the salient points of his mission had slain them.
After another, longer silence, she looked at him, met his eyes. “I will, of course, help in whatever way I can-you have only to ask. As the Black Cobra clearly views me as part of your entourage, there’s no sense in attempting to keep me distanced from your mission.”
He managed to hide his reaction. He could think of any number of reasons to keep her separate from his mission, all of which made excellent sense to him, but he hadn’t attained the rank of colonel without having some idea of how to manage others-although he’d never tried his hand at managing a termagant before. “Thank you.” With an inclination of his head, he accepted her pledge of help; if he’d tried to refuse it, to quash the enthusiam burning in her green eyes, her resolve to assist would only have hardened. Instead, he could use her commitment as a subtle lever to keep her under control-to channel her contribution into safe arenas.
Speaking of which…“We still haven’t decided where to stay in London.” Brows rising, he relaxed against the seat. “Do you know of any place that might suit?”
“See?” Deliah stood just inside the foyer of fashionable Grillon’s Hotel, and watched Del survey the critical amenities-the single handsome staircase leading to the upper floors, the dining room to one side, the parlor to the other, and directly opposite the main entrance, the only entrance from the street, the wide counter behind which two young men stood, ready to deal with any request from guests, all under the eagle eye of an older gentleman in a uniform sporting gilt-embroidered epaulettes. In addition, there were not one but two uniformed doormen manning the portal. “It’s the perfect place for us to stay,” she murmured. “Not only is it in the heart of London, but Grillon’s reputation is based on security and propriety-they would never permit anything so gauche as an attack of any sort to occur on the premises.”
Del had come to the same conclusion-the ex-solider behind the counter was watching him steadily, and the doorman who had shown them in had yet to return outside. He nodded. “All in all, an excellent choice.”
He walked forward. Deliah glided beside him, her long legs allowing her to keep pace easily. The head clerk behind the counter straightened, all but coming to attention; after decades in the army, Del’s bearing inevitably gave him away.
“Can we help you, s-”
“I’m Miss Duncannon.” Deliah laid her gloves on the counter, waited until the clerk looked her way. “I require a room for myself, and accommodation for my staff. Colonel Delborough”-with one hand she waved at him-“will also
