Page 51 of Her Wicked Highwayman
Diana spun in a circle, looking for any hint of the little blue-and-white dress that Isla wore. There was no sign of her. A moment later, rain swept across the gardens, pelting the earth violently. Thunder crashed ever closer.
“We have to find her!” the nanny cried. “She’ll catch her death in this weather.”
Mrs. Chesterfield was right. They had to find Isla, and fast.
CHAPTER 12
Diana forced the nanny to sit on the edge of the fountain before the poor woman collapsed. “Wait here. I will find her.”
“Oh—but—” Mrs. Chesterfield protested.
The rain came across the gardens again in another violent torrent, and Diana felt her dress grow heavy from it.
“On second thought, go back to the house at once and inform Lady Lennox that I am searching for Isla.”
“I should come and help—” Mrs. Chesterfield tried to fix her dampened bonnet. This woman clearly adored her little charge, yet Diana felt the woman should not risk herself in this weather.
“Please go inside. Lady Lennox must know the child is missing. If she is caught in the storm, she will need dry clothes, warm blankets, and a fire in the nursery. Please arrange for those to be ready for us when we return.”
Mrs. Chesterfield wiped away rain and tears from her face. “All right.” Once she was on her way, Diana began her search in earnest.
“Isla!” she called as she ran deeper into the garden. She peered under every branch, behind every cluster of roses, and still there was no sign of the child. She reached the end ofthe gardens and faced a vast rolling hill far below.There!She spotted a flash of a blue-and-white pinafore among the gold grass.
“Isla!” She hoisted up her skirts and sprinted through the knee-high grass. The child was so far away. A crash of thunder and lightning sent a spiral of fresh terror through her. The earth shook beneath her with the force of the thunder, and she almost stumbled down the hill. But Diana recovered her balance. The last few years of work with her servants had strengthened both her body and her spirit. She kept going until she found Isla, eyes closed, clutching her doll.
“Mama!” the child wailed. Diana knelt down to put her arms around the child and pulled her close against her chest.
“Shhh, it’s all right, darling.” The surge of protective instincts she now felt stunned her. She’d stopped thinking about children years ago, around the same time she’d stopped hoping for a love match.
“Mama,” Isla whispered again and burrowed into her.
“What were you doing out here?” Diana asked as they hunched down in the grass, trying to find some temporary shelter.
“Mrs. Crumpet told me to take a turn, and I got lost. I couldna find Nanny again.”
Isla cried harder after her confession. Diana’s chest ached with the need to protect the little girl.
A sudden brilliant flash followed by the crack of exploding wood made Diana dive to the ground, covering the little girl with her body. Her ears felt as though they’d been stuffed with cotton. She couldn’t hear anything after, except for a loud, dull ringing. Lightning must have struck a tree.
Her mind tried to process the immediate danger. It wasn’t safe to stand, let alone make a run for the house. She’d been told as a child to stay low outside during a storm and never to standunder trees. One of the field workers who’d worked part of her family’s lands had been struck by lightning while taking shelter under a tree.
“It’s all right,” she soothed. Isla had gone very quiet but was trembling hard beneath Diana’s body. “We must stay here until it is safe to move.”
A deep bellow echoed across the meadow and seemed to shake the clouds above them. “Isla!”
Diana raised her head. A tall figure was coming toward them at a fast sprint through the thick, wet grass. Rafe Lennox.
“Go back! It’s too dangerous!” she screamed. If he risked running to them, he might die. As if the storm heard her warning, she felt the air sizzle around them, and the air smelled strange. Another strike was coming...
“No!”
His gaze locked on Diana’s as he seemed to realize the danger, but it was too late to turn back. She saw his determination to protect his child, which outweighed everything else. He dove forward, his body hitting the slick grass on the steep hill.
A blast of pure white blinded her vision, and thunder deafened her ears once more. Through the haze of her disorientation, she managed to raise her head, afraid to see Rafe lying dead in front of her. But he was running again, no more than a dozen yards away and closing in fast. He had flattened himself just in time, but now?—
He slid, feetfirst, straight toward her and skidded right to a stop beside them and threw his body around hers and Isla’s. An instant later, another bolt struck part of the gardens far above them. His muscled arms banded around them both like iron.
“Stay down,” he commanded. Diana shifted beneath his body, making sure Isla was fully shielded. They lay there, the three of them so flat beneath the raging storm, counting theseconds between the lightning and the thunder for what felt like an eternity before Rafe dared to move.
