Page 61 of The Ones Left Behind
Kitty hurried to change into a more serviceable gown and practical half-boots which were far better suited to walking. She did not know why she had not thought of the old Roman folly, but if Henry were on the estate, that was most likely where he would be. She did not wish to give specifics to the ladies because she wanted a chance to help Henry. If a large group came hunting him, she was afraid someone would give him away, but Matthias should know.
Henry might have followed the wrong path since leaving home, but she could not believe him lost to all goodness.
She did go to the stables first, to see if anyone was available to accompany her, but most were still down by the lake, cleaning up after the picnic. She debated asking the [one remaining stable-] boy to saddle a horse so she might search more quickly, but reflected it would also be harder to reach the area around the folly.
Mayhap Matthias would find Henry at the hunting lodge, she mused hopefully. Then he could offer his brother the help he needed to leave England safely. She would be careful and would make sure to be back before dusk.
She walked down the path leading away from the stables, in the opposite direction from the lake and orchards where they had been earlier. The path, while not secret, had not been well maintained and had become overgrown with brambles and undergrowth.
It would have been nigh impossible to bring a horse through this and she was glad she had forgone that mode of transport. However, she wished she had thought to bring a larger knife with which to cut branches away from the thick, thorny vines.
She was moving at a much slower pace than anticipated, she realized, as she trudged through a valley of sorts; and she still had to climb up to the old folly. Would Matthias think of this place? Kitty could not tell, yet she would not give up if there was a chance she could save Henry from the hangman’s noose.
What a barbaric practice! Many poor folk were hung without fair trials and for such base reasons as stealing a piece of fruit. Although duelling was equally bad, of course. There was a reason it had been outlawed, but gentlemen still occasionally practised it to defend their honour. There was that word again.
“Bah!” she sucked in her breath when she cut her hand on a particularly sharp, long thorn. She brought her hand up to her mouth and sucked on the wound to alleviate the pain. Turning as she did so to watch the sun fall further in the sky, she willed the golden orb to stay aloft for a while longer before then beginning the final climb to her destination.
“Those poor sods who had to build such a structure,” she said sympathetically, not minding her unladylike use of slang. At least she did not have to carry heavy marble on her climb.
When she caught sight of the folly at last, she stopped to catch her breath. If Henry was there, he had done an excellent job of not disturbing anything. Her heart sank with the realization that he was probably not there. It was a pity the little temple had been neglected, for it possessed a breathtaking view of the sea from its high point on the estate. She stopped to admire the sun’s glorious rays casting arms over the water’s seemingly endless depths.
However, the sun would soon go below the horizon and she would have to make her way back in the dark. She forced herself to look in the folly, the heavy metal door creaking on its hinges. When the spiders’ webs greeted her face, suddenly she felt foolish for having adventured out on her own.
An arm came around her from behind, clasping her mouth, and then she felt the cold tip of a metal blade on her throat.
She fought to free her mouth. “Henry! ’Tis Kitty!”
“Kitty?You should not be here! You should have left me alone!” His voice shook with panic.
“I came to help you,” she said, deliberately trying to sound calm. She could tell by his voice that he was terrified and frantic.
“You should not involve yourself, Kitty. If I have one ounce of humanity left, it is telling you to turn around and forget you knew of this place or that you saw me here.”
“It is only a matter of time until they find you, Henry. We have received word Lord Worth has hired Runners and has put a price on your head. Matthias is out looking for you, to try to help you get away before Lord Worth finds you.”
“He would sooner turn me in. His sense of righteousness would forbid his helping me,” he spat derisively. “Preston died, you know.”
“We did hear. But you are wrong, you know. Matthias does wish to help you. If you will credit him with no brotherly reason, then at least allow him to preserve the family name.”
“Ah, yes. The family name. The one which was supposed to be mine, but my brother had to live and my opponent had to die. This is my fortune of late, or, rather, not fortune but luck.”
The conversation was not going in the direction Kitty wanted it to. “Henry, will you please remove the knife from my throat?”
“Will you leave me here and not tell anyone?”
“How, then, am I to help you? You need food, money and transportation out of England,” she said, trying to reason with him.
He laughed, in a further display of contempt, and it frightened her. For a moment, she had thought he was the old Henry, but now she was not sure. “Henry?” she asked tentatively.
CHAPTER17
The gentlemen returned to the house. Matthias had pushed himself beyond the point of exhaustion and his leg throbbed like the devil. They had not found Henry, and he could not say whether he was relieved or disappointed. It only prolonged the inevitable, but they had to find his profligate sibling before the Earl did. Worth had a reputation for ruthlessness, and now his heir was dead by Henry’s hand.
The ladies rushed to greet them, except the one he wanted to see was not with them. “Where is Kitty?” he asked as he struggled over to a chair. “Forgive me, I must sit down.”
“Please go ahead,” the Duchess waved him down. “We have been too anxious to sit a great deal.”
Clearly sensing his friend’s pain, Waverley immediately brought Matthias a glass of brandy.
