Page 106 of Lyon of Least Resistance

“Georgiana, we ought to be going,” she said. “Keep behind me.”

“Where’s James?”

“Your brother’s on the road to Lincoln. He feared Sir Iain had taken you to Scotland to marry.”

“But wouldn’t that please him, to see me married?”

“He doesn’t want you unhappy, Georgiana. And whatever you believe, Sir Iain would not make you happy.”

Georgiana nodded, her eyes wet with tears.

“We must warn your brother, for I fear he’ll continue riding north in search of you,” Cordelia said, her heart aching as she recalled the anguish on her husband’s face.

“How?”

A movement made Cordelia glance up. Sir Iain was struggling to his feet, clinging to the footwell of the carriage, and the coachman had drawn near and was almost within reach of her.

Then Sir Iain let out a low chuckle as the coachman reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a pistol.

Chapter Twenty-Five

As James urged Hercules on, a sharp crack echoed in the distance. The stallion reared, almost unseating him.

“Steady boy!” he cried, as the horse lurched sideways.

What the devil was that?

Surely nobody was out shooting at this hour? Lord Croft, who resided on the estate neighboring Bedford Hall, was currently in Town, and the Yates family at Longford Hall were now of an age that didn’t facilitate early rising. A duel was unlikely, for men seldom engaged in that particular infantile activity outside of London. And it was unlikely to be a poacher, for they preferred traps, given that a gunshot came with the risk of getting caught and carted off to the assizes.

And besides…he could have sworn he heard a scream after the shot.

Then a second shot rang out. A cloud of black shapes rose from the trees in the distance, cawing in protest before descending like a heavy thundercloud and dissolving into the canopy.

The shot had come from the east—the direction of Winley Regis.

Cordelia…

His gut cramping with fear, he turned Hercules in a tight circle then set off at a gallop.

Why the bloody hell had they ridden in separate directions? He ought to have stayed with her, not exposed her to goodness knows what on the roads.

Or whom.

Robbers were known to linger, awaiting unsuspecting travelers, forcing carriages to stop and their occupants to hand over their valuables at the end of a pistol. A lone woman on horseback at dawn would be too much temptation for an opportunistic ruffian. As for the second shot, the robber either had two pistols, or there were two robbers.

“Cordelia!” James cried as he spurred Hercules on.

Dear God—had he lost her before he’d been given a chance to fully atone for his behavior?

He reached the fork in the road where he’d parted with his wife and watched her ride into the distance in search of his sister—the sister who had given Cordelia no cause to love her, but for whom Cordelia risked her life to save from ruination.

Fuck. He really was the most utter arse.

I promise that if she’s unharmed, I shall spend the rest of my life worshipping her.

His deal made with the Almighty, he took the right-hand fork and galloped eastward.

Shortly afterward, he spotted movement on the road ahead and slowed Hercules to a canter.