Page 45 of To Hunt the Hunter

There was a long, crackling silence, during which Mr Knight and Helena stared between them, wide-eyed, and Lucian was very still. Then he slid Matilda a wary glance.

“Forgive me,” he said, a little uncertainly. “I do not mean to… to worry you, but I must go, Matilda. You would not wish me to let my uncle succeed in destroying my name?”

“Of course not,” she said at once, knowing it must be strange for him to have to explain himself at all, let alone take anyone’s else’s feelings into account. “But could you not wait a day or two?”

Lucian turned back to Mr Knight. “I suspect that is not going to be possible.”

Matilda looked to him too, and the man spread his hands in a helpless gesture, clearly wishing he could tell her otherwise.

“Then I shall go with you,” she said, folding her arms.

“That you won’t!” Lucian retorted, sitting up so fast he had to grab at his shoulder, what little colour had returned to his face leaving it all in a rush. He gritted the next words out between clenched teeth. “You will go home with Mr Knight and Lady Helena and, with luck, no one will be any the wiser about you having been here. God alone knows how the story hasn’t got about by now. You ought to have left days ago.”

“I’m not leaving you.” Matilda folded her arms tighter, mostly so he couldn’t see her hands were shaking at the idea of leaving him at all. She glared at his stony face, knowing he was only so cross because he wanted to protect her. “If you don’t take me with you, I shall just follow on by myself and then see what a scandal you shall make of me, forcing me to chase you across country.”

“Matilda!” Lucian said, outraged, but Matilda just quirked an eyebrow at him.

“Do you think I wouldn’t do it?”

Lucian muttered a curse under his breath and turned to Mr Knight, who held up his hands in defeat.

“Don’t look to me for help,” he said, shaking his head. “She’s one of the Peculiar Ladies. If she’s anything like this one—or the others, come to that—you’ve not a hope in hell.”

Helena snorted.

“She’s not just one of us,” she said, amused by the men’s frustration. “She’s the best of us, our leader and self-appointed mother hen. We’d be a deal less adventurous and strong without her.”

“That I believe.”

Matilda smiled at Lucian’s exasperated comment, and she felt her heart swell with gratitude as Helena winked at her.

Lucian was quiet for a long moment before he spoke again.

“My uncle is no fool, quite the reverse, and we underestimate him at our peril. He knows as well as we do that we can prove his words to be lies, and he knows how we should best go about it. He will have planned this as my next move if Mr Burton failed to kill me.”

Everyone stared at him in horror.

“Christ,” Mr Knight said. “He’s a cold-blooded devil, isn’t he?”

Lucian returned a grim smile. “I learned from the best, I assure you.”

“Lucian,” Matilda protested, but he hushed her, shaking his head.

“I hope I am not the kind of man he is. I have tried not to be, but it is pointless to paint me as an innocent party. This game has been in progress for most of my life, and once I decided I had no desire to remain a pawn, to be moved about as he saw fit, I played it too. I know how his mind works, and I know what I would do if I were him.”

“So, what do you think he is planning?” Mr Knight asked.

Lucian shrugged as if the answer were obvious. “To get me to leave Dern, where I am less vulnerable, and ambush me on the road. There are fewer highwaymen around these days, but it could be arranged to look like a robbery gone wrong, I’m sure.”

Matilda felt her blood run cold.

“So, you see, love,” he said, turning back to Matilda and taking her hand once again, “I don’t want you in danger.”

“And what if I would be in more danger without you?” Matilda countered. “I would be alone and unprotected. What if he took advantage of that fact—”

“I know how we could all go, and no one be any the wiser. Then we would all be safe,” piped up a small voice.

“Phoebe!” Lucian said in outrage as the girl appeared from a hidden panel in the walls. “You little wretch. How long have you been eavesdropping?”