Page 53 of Devoted to the Spanish Duke
He let go of her hand and turned her to face him. “I know I agreed with Lisandro that marriage might be a necessity if he managed to find you, but there are other ways we could fulfil our obligations to him. A large sack of coins might be enough of a reward for Don de Aguirre, rather than claiming your hand. And then Father could offer a hefty bride price to entice the Count of Bera to marry you.”
Maria got to her feet. “You think I am going to marry Lisandro as a way of saying thank you? No. And it’s not because I see him as some sort of hero either—notwithstanding the fact that heisa brave man. I am marrying Lisandro because we love each other, and we have made a commitment. I won’t be marrying anyone else, let alone Juan Delgado.”
Diego’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean ‘a commitment?’”
She let silence be her answer. Diego let out a long, low series of curses, all of which would get him excommunicated if the abbess ever found out.
“Well, I don’t expect Count Delgado Grandes is going to offer for you now anyway. He lost interest once you disappeared. If he discovers that you have been with Lisandro de Aguirre unchaperoned, that will be the end of it.”
Maria didn’t care if she never saw Don Delgado ever again. The man didn’t care for her; he only wanted power.
A loud whistle from the bell tower put a hasty end to their discussion. The lookout signaled the number three with his fingers. He covered his face with his hands and shook his head from side to side.
What does that mean?
“Three men on the road. The Englishman with the scarred face is one of them,” said Diego.
She nodded. Of course, that was what the last signal had meant. Lisandro had obviously mentioned Mister Wicker in his note to Diego.
“You had better go inside. If there is to be any fighting, I want it over and done with quickly. I am not having you injured or killed this close to home. Mamá would never forgive me.”
Maria headed back upstairs to her vantage point. She wanted to see the man responsible for her kidnapping once more. To finally get a good look at him.
The gate of the convent slid open and Wicker and his men stepped inside. Diego’s man appeared from behind a nearby tree and closed the entrance. A loudclangresounded through the courtyard. The rest of Diego’s guards boldly stepped out from their hiding places with pistols drawn and aimed at the new arrivals.
Within seconds, the two men accompanying Wicker had thrown down their swords and dropped to their knees, hands clasped while they begged for mercy.
“Cowards,” spat Wicker.
Diego strode out the front door of the convent, pistol aimed directly at Wicker’s head. “My English friend, you appear lost, or else why would you be at a Catholic convent?”
Maria held her breath.
“I am just visiting various churches in the region,” replied Wicker. He shifted to one side, and Diego’s pistol followed. The Englishman was clearly testing him. “Come on, lad, put that down. You don’t want to be firing at a live target. You might hurt someone.”
With that, Wicker lunged forward, making a sudden move for Diego’s pistol.
There was a bang and a small cloud of smoke appeared. Wicker dropped to his knees before falling facedown onto the stones. His body gave a violent twitch and then stilled.
Maria put a hand to her mouth. The Englishman was dead.
The other men were quickly clamped in irons and led out the front gate. She hoped to never see either of them again. For ever after, Maria would never be able to understand why Wicker had done it. Had he been counting on her brother not having the courage to pull the trigger?
She hastened downstairs to where a clearly shaken Diego stood staring at the lifeless body of Wicker. Blood slowly seeped out from under his corpse, staining the ground red.
As she approached, their gazes met. Diego shook his head.
“You had no choice. It was either him or you,” she said.
He sucked in a shaky breath. “Yes, I know. But I just killed a man, and that is going to take some time to absorb.”
Maria placed a hand gently on her brother’s arm. There would be a time and place for a comforting hug, but that was not now. “Let me get your horse, Diego. It’s time we went home.”
Chapter Thirty-One
There was an eerie silence as Diego led his men inside the central courtyard of Castle Villabona sometime later that afternoon. The last horse in the group had Wicker’s body draped and tied over it.
Maria, who was seated behind her brother on his horse, sensed something terrible had happened.
