Page 65 of The Miracle of Love
“I would not presume to tell you how to go about your business. To be precise, I am trying to give you a realistic account of what I am capable of doing. Is it not important for you to know the limits of my abilities? There are some things I cannot or will not do.”
“Such as leaving me behind?”
She nodded. “I thought you ought to know my thoughts since it will impact how you carry out your assignment.”
He wanted to be angry with her, but somehow could not summon so much as a kernel of rage. “Anything else? May I leave now?”
“If you were truly worried about those new arrivals, you would have been out of here long before this. Well, I do have a few more thoughts. The timing is awful, I know. Sorry. I’ll pack our belongings and be ready to flee, but never without you. Just to be clear on the matter. We are in this together…to the end. So you had better be careful and stay unharmed.”
He had every intention of doing so.
Besides, two travelers, even if they turned out to be enemy agents, were hardly a threat to him. He could easily dispatch them.
She folded her arms across her chest. “Are we in agreement?”
“Gad, you’re a bossy thing. Now you are sounding just like me.”
She managed a wry smile. “Loyal and resourceful?”
“No, Grace. Highhanded. Insubordinate. Utterly irritating.”
“Thank you. I shall take that as a compliment.”
Chapter Ten
The Blue MoonInn, being a coaching inn, was usually quiet in the late morning. On an ordinary day, most guests would have left shortly after break of day and the place would not fill up again until the coaches stopped here to discharge their passengers for a midday meal and secure a change of horses.
However, due to the storm, all regular schedules were completely tossed to the wind. No travelers had left the inn and most were now seated in the common room, bored and restless as they drank ale and chatted with other guests for lack of anything better to do.
Deklan quietly made his way downstairs and slipped into the little-used library to peer out its window which provided a clear view of all who came or left the inn.
He laughed and hurried out to greet the newest arrivals who had just emerged from the stable and were now standing outside the inn’s door dusting snow off their cloaks and hats, and stomping snow off their boots. “I ought to have known you two would be the only idiots reckless enough to ride out in this blizzard.”
Deklan was never happier to see his cousins, Lorcan and Donal. “How in heaven’s name did you find us so quickly?”
“It was easy,” Donal said, “once Rafe told us where you were headed. Why did you hide the truth from us? Wooton is livid and has threatened to string you up by your privates if you dare show your face in London again.”
Deklan shrugged. “An idle threat. He won’t lay a hand on me. I am his best man, and right now he needs me to avert a war. How could I tell him my plan? He would have tried to overrule me, and I was not going to obey his orders anyway.”
Lorcan chuckled. “I thought I was insolent and arrogant. I am an obedient servant compared to you.”
Donal clapped Deklan on the back. “We’ve missed you. Glad you’re back with us, even if you are on assignment. Speaking of which, where is your…ahem, lovely assignment.”
“Grace? Fretting upstairs. I had better go tell her we are safe.” He glanced around. “That is, I hope we are. Any chance you were followed?”
Lorcan shot him a scowl. “No one follows me unless I intend them to see my trail. We slipped away as cleverly as you did. No one will realize we are gone for at least another day. Miranda’s house is a zoo and all the family has been summoned to add to the confusion. Those agents have no idea who is coming or going. The wives and our rambunctious children are doing their best to maintain the confusion.”
“All part of our duties in protecting the Crown,” Donal added with a grin.
“Well, I am grateful. By the way, I am here as Captain Adam Driscoll, Royal Navy. I’m traveling with my wife, Grace. We are newly wed and on our way to London so she can introduce me to her family.”
Lorcan shook his head. “London?”
“Don’t ask. Grace was trying to be helpful and thought she was cleverly throwing everyone off our scent. Who are you two supposed to be and how do I know you?”
“Old schoolmates of yours from Eton. But we are going to keep our true identities. We are not known here, so there’s no need for disguise. Besides, we want those agents to pick up our trail eventually and think we are shadowing you.”
“But you are shadowing me.”
