Viscount Breckenridge to the Rescue

Breckenridge thought for a moment. “Where in Glasgow did they meet him?”

“In some tavern. Apparently they do work like this for others, for hire. He heard of them from someone else they’d worked for, and approached them through some contact they have in place.”

“So they don’t necessarily know much about him?”

“I gathered not — they gave me a name, but before you get excited, Fletcher made it clear that they’re certain it’s not his real name.”

“What was it?”

“McKinsey.”

“Scottish — so he’s most likely a Scot.” Still far too aware of her perched on the bed — his bed — beside him, Breckenridge stood. He started to pace back and forth.

Heather looked up at him. “I’m not sure we can assume that. It might be that the reason Fletcher’s so certain McKinsey isn’t his real name is because he — their employer — is English.”

Breckenridge grimaced. “True. And there are Englishmen aplenty in Glasgow.”

Beneath the coverlet, she straightened. “Regardless, it’s clear I need to learn more.”

The dark look Breckenridge slanted her wasn’t encouraging. “We’re already a long way from London, and we’re still on the Great North Road. We have no notion how far north they intend taking you, but every mile takes you further from your family, further from safety.”

Her lips tightened, but she held to her composure. So far he’d been reasonable and supportive. For once she’d try reason with him and see where it got her. “As to that, strange though it seems, they have orders — strict orders — to keep me safe. Safe, unharmed, and healthy. I used those orders to insist on being allowed to walk by the river, so it seems they’re taking them seriously.”

Somewhat reluctantly, Breckenridge nodded. “I was in the tap, on the other side of the partition separating it from the foyer. I heard it all.” He kept slowly pacing, his face set in its usual impassive mien, then shot her glance. “I admit that this is decidedly strange.”

She nodded. “Indeed. And every mile we go further from London makes the notion of ransom even more unlikely. So we’re still no closer to learning what’s behind this — neither the who nor the why of it.” She waited until he swung around again and caught his eye. “I believe we need to consider the wider implications.”

His lips twitched — she was almost certain of it — but he didn’t stop pacing. “Meaning you want to continue on with this”—he gestured—“quest of yours.”

She tipped up her head. “Of course. I’m here, already kidnapped, but they’ve provided me with a maid and are under strict orders to see to my health and safety, orders they’re clearly committed to obeying. On top of that”—she waved at him—“you’re here. If you continue to follow our party, when it comes to the point where escaping becomes necessary, I’ll be able to do so and hide behind you. God knows, you’re large enough.”

He quirked a black brow.

Before he could respond verbally she went on, “Given the threat extends beyond me to my sisters, and possibly even to my cousins, and that as yet we have insufficient information with which to counter or nullify that threat, then while remaining with Fletcher and the other two exposes me to no additional danger, it’s patently my duty to stay with them at least until we learn enough to identify who’s behind this, and, if possible, his motives.”

Fixing her eyes on Breckenridge’s, she concluded, “In my estimation, the reasons against continuing on with my captors are outweighed by the reasons that I should.”

Breckenridge studied her as he paced. He wanted to inform her that she was wrong, that in his estimation the imperative of keeping her totally and absolutely safe — which to his mind meant taking her back to London and depositing her under her father’s roof — by far outweighed every other consideration. And for him, it did. But for her. . the damned thing was he could understand her stance. And he could hardly accuse her of being a headstrong, willful, heedlessly selfish female when she was driven by such a selfless, family-duty-derived motive.

One he would feel were he in her shoes.

Halting, he raked a hand through his hair, then realized what he was doing and lowered his arm. He glanced at her, sitting on his bed wrapped in his coverlet, her head high, chin tilted upward, but the angle was not yet an outright challenge.

He knew that challenge would come if he didn’t agree with her direction and tried to pull her from it. He could, very easily — he was Viscount Breckenridge after all — but she would fight him every step of the way and hate him forever after. All of which he would accept without a qualm if he could only be certain that he was, indeed, acting in the best interests of her and her family.

As things stood. .

“Very well.” Halting, he met her eyes, a darker gray in the lamplight. “If you’re stubbornly determined on this?”

Up went her chin. “I am.”

“In that case, we’ll continue on, more or less as we have been, at least for tomorrow.” He frowned. “We’ll have to play it by ear.” He’d have to trust her to do so. “If you’ll give me your promise that the instant you learn either the employer’s name or his direction — or even the place where they plan to hand you over — you’ll tell me, give me some sign at least so I can arrange to whisk you out of their clutches. . if you promise that, we’ll go on as we have been.”

She smiled, pleased. “I promise. As soon as I learn anything useful, I’ll give you some sign so we can meet and discuss it.”

He noted the difference between what he’d asked and what she’d promised, but that, he suspected, was the best he could hope for. He nodded in acceptance, then waved her to the door.

She rose, slid the coverlet from her shoulders and laid it back on his bed, then walked to the door.

Keeping his gaze on her face, he waved her to a halt. He opened the door and looked out. The corridor was empty. Reaching back, he took her arm and drew her through the door. He escorted her quickly and silently back to her room.

She opened the door, and the sound of robust snoring issued forth. She turned to him, grinned, and mouthed, “Good night.”

Slipping through the door, she quietly closed it behind her.

He stepped back, put his back to the corridor wall opposite the door, and waited, listened. After enough time had elapsed for her to have slipped back into bed, and the sonorous snoring hadn’t ceased, he pushed away from the wall and headed back to his room.

Inside, he stripped and slid beneath the covers — and was immediately enveloped in a subtle scent he had no difficulty identifying.

It was hers, the scent that clung to her hair and had transferred to the coverlet. The airy, delicate, vibrantly female scent instantly evoked the vision of her stockinged ankles, the way the sheer silk had sheened over the curves. .

He groaned and closed his eyes. Clearly he wasn’t destined to get much sleep.

Accepting that, dampening his reaction as well as he could, he sought distraction in the pragmatic details of the adventure they’d somehow embarked on. He was going to have to devise ways of staying close to her while remaining invisible to her captors. Appearing inconspicuous wasn’t a skill he’d had much cause to develop.

No more than he’d had cause to learn the ways of dealing with her on a rational basis.

Keeping her safe on her quest was a task that looked set to tax his ingenuity in ways it had never before been challenged, yet no matter how he turned the puzzle of her kidnapping over in his mind, no matter what perspective he took, in one respect she was incontestably correct.

This was no ordinary, run-of-the-mill abduction.

Chapter Four

At one o’clock the following afternoon, Breckenridge sat at one of the trestles set up outside the White Horse Inn in the small town of Bramham. Leaning his shoulders against the inn’s stone wall, he