Page 75 of Rogue of the Greenwood
Marianne leaned close to Robert’s ear. She wasn’t sure the noise and excitement from the dining roomwould drown out her whisper, but Robert needed to know what she had overheard earlier today.
“Mr. Gisborn is the one who told Mr. Dent to meet someone in the woods. He was to then claim he was robbed while bringing Uncle Prinley his payment. That was their plan to deceive my uncle—they would say the payment he expected was stolen, while really Mr. Gisborn had no intention of paying him. Mr. Gisborn never said Mr. Dent would be murdered, though!”
“Who was he to meet?”
“I don’t know. One of Mr. Gisborn’s associates, I suppose.”
Robert nodded. He seemed to comprehend this better than she did. By the grim set of his jaw and the harshness in his eyes, she began to understand what this meant for him. Gisborn had lured the man there and orchestrated his murder. Now he would blame it on ruffians—Mr. Gisborn relished the rumors and helped to spread them. Sherwood Forest would be crawling with searchers by morning. Anyone caught would be charged with the murder. It was perfect for Mr. Gisborn, but deadly for Robert.
He pulled her back from the doorway, into the shadows again. Holding her there, he studied her face, as if he were afraid he would never see it again. She began to worry. What did he know that she did not?
“Go back to them,” he whispered to her. “Be as shocked as everyone else. Give nothing away.”
“But what about you? What will you do?”
He touched her cheek once more and gave an ominous parting word.
“I’ll take care of my own.” Then he turned into the darkness and was gone.
Chapter 19
Robert hated to leave her. It was physical pain to pry his hands off of her and send her back to Gisborn’s dining table. But it was the only thing he could do.
He was sending her back to a murderer, placing her in the middle of Gisborn’s dark schemes. He hated to do it, but he had to get word to his men. They were in grave danger, even now the net could be tightening around them.
Cursing himself for not seeing things sooner, he crept deeper into the dark, unused parts of the house. He was a cad for leaving Marianne to fend for herself, and he was a scoundrel for leading his men into such danger. The very moment he knew he was out of earshot of the dining hall, Robert broke into a run. He hoped to find Will still searching the library.
He did not. He rounded a corner before he got there and nearly collided with his friend.
“What the devil is going on?” Will asked.
“We’ve got trouble,” Robert replied.
“I know. I was just coming to find you.”
“What has happened?”
“A signal from Alan.”
Damn it! This likely meant the sheriff’s men were already closing in. Robert and his friends had best get to their designated meeting place and hope all four of them were still free.
Racing through the empty house, Robert led theway to a rear door. It opened into a walled garden that had once been used by the servants for their own vegetables but was mostly overgrown and forgotten now. To his great relief, John and Alan were there. They had another young man with them.
“You’re safe,” John breathed. “Thank God—when we saw a pack of Reeve’s men arriving, we were worried about you.”
“They were here to report a murder, I’m afraid,” Robert said.
To his surprise, John and Alan already know about this.
“Yes, it was some fellow named Dent,” Alan said.
“How do you know about that?” Robert asked.
Now John pushed the young man with him forward and introduced him. “This is Davey Grover.”
It took Robert a moment to recognize the name. “Grover… as in one of Mrs. Grover’s sons?”
“The same,” John explained. “He’s been in London, working to save up money to help his family. When he came back to town, he found they’d been evicted. Friends told him last they knew, the family came out to the forest. So, Davey’s been out here looking for them. Instead, he happened to find a secret meeting between Dent and the man who murdered him.”
