Duel of Hearts (27 page)

“No … nowhere …” Ingalls insisted desperately.

“At Gretna? Or earlier?”

“Gretna …” the fellow lied.

Edward nodded and let him go, smiling grimly. Ingalls was to be best man, no doubt. Well, Edward would let him make the trip. Ingalls would find, when he'd arrived, that there would be no Lord North to meet—that his lordship had been stopped somewhere along the Old North Road.

Itching with impatience to face Lord North, Edward dropped his hold on Ingalls and started for the door, leaving Ingalls leaning against the far wall of the room, panting for breath. But something in Edward's mind clicked warningly as he was about to step over the threshold. If Ingalls' part in this escapade was only to play best man, why was he so fearful? Why all the signs of guilt? Why the vehement denials and the lame excuses?
He
was not the one doing the eloping, yet he was behaving exactly as if he
were
abducting the girl.

Edward whirled around and advanced on Ingalls a second time. Ingalls, seeing him coming, groaned and held his hand to his throat protectively. “No, no,” he pleaded. “Not again! I don't know anything else.”

Edward held his hands up peacefully. “I don't intend to touch you. I only want to know what
your
part is in all this.”

“I've told you. Nothing.”

“You told me you're meeting them at Gretna Green. Why?”

Ingalls looked at him fearfully. “Just as a … surprise…” he said unconvincingly.

Edward grasped him again. “You're forcing me to this,” he said, tightening the neckcloth just enough to frighten the man. “I don't see why you're so reluctant to tell me your plans. I know enough already to stop the elopement. There's nothing more to be lost by your giving me the whole story.”

Tony made a final attempt to avoid answering. He shook his head. “I don't know … anything …” he gasped.

“I have no time to play games,” Edward told him impatiently and tightened his hold. “If you're so afraid to tell me the truth, you must have more to do with this than I thought. If that's true, I'll have to deal with you as I intend to deal with your friend.” He made his free hand into a threatening fist.

Ingalls, terrified, pulled back as far as he could. “No,
don't
! Shouldn't hit
me,
” he managed, his eyes bulging fearfully. “I'm supposed to
save
her!”

“
Save
her?” Edward scrutinized the fellow's face suspiciously. “What do you mean?”

“I'm going to
marry
her,” Ingalls said hurriedly, taking advantage of the fact that Edward's hold on his neck had eased by pushing the large hand away.

“
Marry
her? But isn't
North
—?”

Ingalls laughed hollowly. “North? Make a runaway match? Don't be a flat. He's betrothed already.”

Edward paled. So
that
was the scheme! North had not intended to marry Cory at all. He wanted to ruin the child and then have Ingalls come to pick up the pieces. He faced Ingalls with a sneer. “You slimy muckworm! You went
along
with such a scheme?”

Ingalls lowered his eyes and slid slowly down against the wall until he was seated on the floor. “I … there was no other way—” he muttered.

“No other way?” Edward asked, fury churning up inside of him. “No other
way?
” Roughly, he pulled the limp Ingalls to his feet. “Why, you damned milksop, there were a
dozen
ways you could have—”

“I know,” Ingalls admitted, shamefaced and unresisting. “Go ahead—do anything to me that you think you should.”

Edward pushed him away in disgust. “No, you're not worth it. I have a better target for my revenge.” And he strode to the door.

“The Th-Three Forks Inn. North of Wolverhampton,” Ingalls muttered.

Edward paused and turned. “What?”

Ingalls shrugged and hung his head. “That's where they'll stop tonight. I was to … arrive there in the morning.”

“I see.” Edward looked at the other man disdainfully. “Are you expecting any thanks for that? I'd have found them anyway.”

Ingalls lifted his head. “Not expecting any thanks, Middleton. Just tell Corianne … I'm … sorry…”

Everything looked beautiful to Corianne as North's rented carriage rumbled northward. “Look, Jack,” she exclaimed joyfully, “the fog is beginning to drift in. See it surrounding that clump of trees. Isn't it lovely? Like a fairytale setting.”

North grunted. “It won't look so lovely to you if it thickens and keeps us from reaching the inn tonight. You won't want to spend the night freezing here in the coach, will you?”

She snuggled into his arms. “The fog won't stop us. Nothing will stop us, I'm certain. We're under the protection of a lucky star.”

He ran a finger along the curve of her cheek. “You're a silly little romantic. A lucky star will be of little assistance if we can't see it.”

But Cory would not be depressed. Her dreams were coming true, and it would take more than a little fog to dampen her spirits. She lifted her face to be kissed, and his lordship kindly obliged. It was only when his embrace seemed to pass beyond the bounds of propriety that she felt a twinge of misgiving. It was only a tiny twinge, quickly banished. She told herself that Jack's hand, passing lightly over the curve of her hip, had made only the slightest of slips, quite easily ignored and as easily forgiven.

But by the time the carriage turned into the inn yard of The Three Forks, Corianne was troubled and bemused. Lord North's behavior for the past hour had been far from gentlemanly, and although he'd turned aside her demurs with smooth banter, she couldn't help feeling uncomfortable. If they'd already been wed, she supposed she would feel no objections, but surely a
gentleman
would refrain from handling a girl so freely until the few days remaining of their single state had passed.

The inn was small and cosy, and a cheerful fire burned in the taproom, the first room that met Corianne's eye. A woman of ample girth was bent over the fire, feeding it some additional logs. The presence of another woman on the premises, and the welcome warmth of the fire, gave Cory a feeling of relief and contentment. She had no reason to be ill-at-ease, she thought, in such a clean and pleasant place.

Just then, however, the woman at the fire turned round. She was much younger than she'd appeared to be from the rear, and her features were coarse and vulgar. Her dress was cut far too low across a full bosom, and she wore a half-apron which looked as if it had never been laundered. At the sight of Lord North, the woman grinned lewdly. “Oh, yer lordship,” she brayed from across the room, dropping a clumsy curtsey, “back again, are ye?” Every vestige of Cory's feeling of safety fled.

Lord North raised his quizzing glass and stared at the woman depressingly. His look was cold enough to wipe the leer instantly from her face. But the act did little to ease Corianne's discomfiture. Lord North was evidently a frequent visitor to this establishment, a fact which she instinctively felt was an indication (though she didn't know why) of some sort of depravity.

The innkeeper bustled in, all obsequiousness, and led them to a private parlor without ado. While Cory warmed herself at the fire, Lord North ordered dinner. The meal was soon brought in. It was simple but excellently prepared, and Cory, who was as hungry as a bear, thrust aside her misgivings and permitted herself to enjoy the food to the full. North, looking breathtakingly handsome in the glow of the candles on the table, kept the conversation pleasant and reassuringly impersonal. Soon the girl told herself once again that she had worried about nothing.

When they finished, the innkeeper entered, piled all the china on a large tray and set out a brandy bottle and two glasses. He lifted the tray to his shoulder and proceeded to bow himself out. “Your bedroom is ready whenever you should wish it,” he said at the door. “G'night, m'lady … yer lordship.”

Corianne's heart seemed to fall right down to her shoes. “Bedroom?
One
bedroom? What did the man mean?” she gasped.

Lord North shrugged and reached for the brandy bottle. “This is a very small inn, my dear,” he said calmly, pouring the liquor into a glass. “There
is
only one bedroom available. However, it is large and quite luxurious for a country hostelry. I've stopped here before, you know, and found it quite to my liking.”

“But, J-Jack! You surely must be
joking
! You can't expect … you don't m-mean to suggest—!”

North smiled. “Don't be such a little Puritan, my love. Come, have a drop of brandy. It has a deliciously warming effect on the blood.” He rose, the glass in hand, and came round the table to her.

Warming her blood was the last thing Cory wanted. She pushed back her chair, raised her arm and knocked the glass out of his hand. “I'm
not
a Puritan,” she cried, her heart pounding against her ribs in fright, “but I won't share a bedroom with you tonight!”

North was completely undaunted by her act of rebellion. His smile widened, and he pulled her to her feet. “Why this unnecessary defiance, my sweet? We are to be married the day after tomorrow, are we not?”

“Y-Yes, but … we are n-not married
yet
! Please, Jack, if you are teasing m-me, I wish you would s-stop.”

“I don't tease,” North declared, putting an arm around her and tilting her face up to his. “You're delightfully young, my dear. It makes you very delectable, but your appalling innocence is a decided disadvantage. You mustn't be frightened. I promise I will use you with all gentleness.”

“You will not use me at
all
!” Cory thrust him from her and backed away. “Call the innkeeper. Tell him to make up a room for me. A servant's room, if necessary. At
once
, please.”

“Don't be childish, Cory. You're making a fool of yourself, you know.”

“P-Perhaps I am,” she said mulishly, very close to tears. “I s-suppose I'm not b-behaving like Mrs. Saxon or the f-fashionable London l-ladies—”

“No, you certainly are not.”

“I don't c-care! If they behave as you expect m-me to behave now, then I don't
want
to be one of them! If you won't call the innkeeper, I
will
.”

“It won't be of any use to call him, my dear. He's gone to bed.”

She threw him a look of disbelief and started for the door. “There will be
somebody
in the taproom—”

He caught her in his arms. “No one is about, I assure you. When I stay here, the whole house is mine. I don't like intruders. There's no point in struggling, Cory. The innkeeper and the servants will keep to their rooms, whatever they hear.”

Cory's breath caught in her throat, and she stared at North as if she'd never seen him before. There was something in his eyes—something heart-stoppingly icy—which she hadn't noticed before. Yes, this was the Frozen North she'd heard about but hadn't recognized until now. “You
planned
this!” she cried in sudden comprehension. “Oh, my God … you intended
all along
to … to…”

“Why not? You're a taking little creature, you know, and you flirted with me outrageously every time we met. Are you going to continue to behave in this ridiculously coy fashion, or are you going to admit that you are as eager for this adventure as I am?”

Cory's eyes widened. “
You never intended to m-marry me at all!
” she accused in a horrified whisper.

North snorted, tightened his hold on her, and pressed his mouth against hers. Cory, feeling the pain of complete desolation for the first time in her life, sagged in his arms helplessly. He had tricked her, lied to her and used her as no man ever had. Now he was going to
ruin
her!

This night would ruin her life forever. How could she have been so
stupid
as to have permitted such a thing to happen?
Well
, she thought with a renewed flash of spirit,
I
won't let him do it without a struggle
. She stiffened in his embrace and bit his lip as hard as she could.

With a cry of pain, he dropped his hold on her. “You
imp of hell!
” he exclaimed in irritation, taking out a handkerchief and dabbing at the blood on his lip.

Cory looked around for a way to escape, but the only door in the room was directly behind him. She couldn't reach it without being caught. Desperately, she backed away from him across the room, farther and farther until the back of her leg struck the edge of a wooden bench. Caught off guard, she lost her balance and dropped down on it with a surprised cry of fear.

North laughed. “Had enough, my girl?”

Cory cowered into the corner of the bench but said nothing.

“Well,
I
have. It grows late. Come upstairs.”

Cory didn't move.

North smiled. “I'll carry you, if I must. I don't think the task will be too much for me.”

“D-Don't
touch
me!” Cory burst out. But seeing that her words had not the least effect on him, her last bit of courage died. She dropped her head in her hands and wept.

Her sobs kept her from hearing the door open, but North heard it. Angrily, he wheeled about. “I
told
you I didn't want—” he began. But it was not the innkeeper in the doorway. It was Edward Middleton. “
Damnation!
” he hissed under his breath.

Edward's eyes brushed past the startled North to the girl weeping miserably in a corner of the bench. “Cory?” His voice was taut with apprehension.

Her head came up slowly, and as her eyes took in the identity of the shadowy figure standing in the dimness of the doorway, a look of unutterable relief flooded her face. “Edward?” she breathed, her heart immobilized for a moment with joy. “
Edward!
”