Page 35 of The Secret of the Dashing Detective
As the carriage slowed, however, he suddenly heard Juliana from the other side.
“Matthew, help!”
He rounded the back of the carriage faster than he had ever moved before, in time to see a man, a cap pulled tightly over his face, trying to force his way in through the carriage door. He was having difficulty, however, as Juliana was bashing him over the head with a large beef bone that had been leftover from the day, one she had been planning on giving to Lucy.
“Get away!” she shouted again and, as Matthew began to charge toward him, the man finally gave up and ran away.
Matthew had nearly lost his breath – something that rarely happened – when he reached Juliana.
“Are you all right?” he asked, wrenching open the carriage door and running his hands over her arms.
“I’m fine,” she said between quick breaths. “Are you?”
“Yes,” he said as he realized how bad this could have been. “But we have to get out of here. This was a trap – that much is certain.”
“I agree,” she said, and he didn’t care then whether Abigail was watching, or James, or if even the bloody duke himself had an eye on them. He leaned in and gave Juliana a hard, quick kiss on the lips, just to show her how glad he was that she was alive, unwell, and unharmed.
He leaned back to find her watching him with wide eyes, and he managed a small smile as he jumped back up with James and told him to go – and go fast.
He had nearly been taken advantage of. Someone wanted him to leave Juliana alone so that they could access her without him there.
Which was one thing he vowed, with new resolution, that he would never allow to happen again.
CHAPTER13
Juliana slept fitfully, convinced in her dreams that she was being chased.
Which made sense when she considered that her pursuer had come close once more, and that she already knew what it was like to be entirely at the mercy of a stranger who most certainly did not have her best interests at heart.
It was not the first time such nightmares had overwhelmed her, but tonight, at the point in her dream when she became so desperate that she nearly woke up, she was overwhelmed by something else – another presence, one who stepped in at the last moment and led her to safety.
Matthew.
He was there to make sure that she was never alone, that she always had an escape. She clung to that, until thinking of him caused her dreams to change entirely, and she was nearly frantic with needing him to be there with her in the moment, to wrap his arms around her – only not to keep her safe, but to push her to the edge of what she knew as comfort.
It was quite the conundrum.
When the morning sun peered through the curtains until Abigail pulled them back fully, flooding the room with light, Juliana decided that she would feel better if she went to feed Lucy, that seeing her again would bring her some joy and normality. Only, when she and Emma went to the fence an hour later, she found all the dogs thereexceptLucy. Juliana had no idea if something had happened to the dog, or if Lucy had decided that yesterday had been too much for her to return, but Juliana missed her.
“What’s wrong?” Emma asked from where she stood behind her, the sun reflecting on the blond in her hair. She must have caught Juliana’s mood this morning, for she had insisted on accompanying her on this morning visit. It was strange. In the entirety of her life, Juliana had spent more time with Emma than nearly any other person – until Emma had moved into the same house as her. Now when they actually lived together, she saw her much less frequently, for Emma spent so much of her time with Giles.
Which was fine. They were newlyweds, and already sharing their time – and their home – with the rest of their family.
“Lucy isn’t here,” Juliana said dejectedly as she fed the other dogs. “I’m afraid she might have been scared away.”
“She’ll be back,” Emma said, placing a comforting hand on Juliana’s shoulder before they turned and started back toward the house.
“How are you enjoying your new role as duchess?” Juliana asked, changing the subject, and Emma bit her lip in some uncertainty.
“I am happy to be Giles’ wife,” she said, “and I always knew that if I married, I would likely be the wife of a peer. I just never expected it to be a role of such a high status. It is rather intimidating.”
“Especially with my mother watching over your shoulder,” Juliana couldn’t help but add with a snort, to which Emma laughed.
“This is true,” she said carefully. “Although I will say she has been quite respectful, for the most part, and has already offered to move into the dowager house when we return to the countryside. As for here in London, Warwick House is so large that I cannot imagine the rest of you leaving for anywhere else. Why, Giles and I would hardly even need the servants anymore!”
“I suppose that works as long as my mother doesn’t interfere with your role,” Juliana said. They had always jested before about how awful her mother would make life for the woman Giles would one day marry. They just hadn’t, of course, ever considered that it might actually be Emma. It was not that Juliana’s mother didn’t mean well – it was just that she had her own idea of the right way to do things and she wasn’t afraid to share her opinions.
“How are you enjoying your time with Mr. Archibald?” Emma asked, eyeing her knowingly, and Juliana’s mouth dropped open for a moment before she snapped it closed again.
