If You Were Mine (27 page)

Suddenly
she was sick and tired of having men dictate her life for her. As
woman of five and twenty, with enough wealth to live in luxury for
the remainder of her life, she was not going to allow men to
control her life any more, and that included the man who held her
heart.

She
resisted the urge to look behind her to see if he had actually left
her alone and had her answer when, having taken no more than ten
steps deeper into the woods, she was spun around by his hard grip
on her elbow.

“
Damn you to hell,” he snarled, grabbing the back of her head
to hold her still as he slammed his mouth down upon
hers.

Temper
raging, Isobel met the hot plunge of his tongue without fear or
trepidation. His hard lips raged against hers, demanding her
compliance with a determination that was relentless, until she
succumbed. Plundering until she acceded; but she refused to give in
to his masculine strength. In return, she grabbed the back of his
head and pulled him down, deepening the kiss and drawing the soft
mounds of her breasts tighter against his chest.

“
God, woman,” Dominic growled with a shake of his head.
Inwardly he was still seething. He had been hoping that being out
in the cold darkness would be enough to dampen her enthusiasm, and
she would want to go home to a nice warm bed. He was annoyed that
she was still adamant she was going to go through with her stupid
scheme. He wanted to slam a fist into a tree.

Dominic
sighed deeply, and glared at his wife. “Do you have any idea what
they will do to you if you get caught?” He knew he didn’t have to
remind her of the beating he took, or hte daily abuse she had been
subjected to. “Death would be the easy way out,
darling.”

If being
out in the frosty night air, facing his anger weren’t enough to
deter her, then he would have to take the harsh option. “There
were, at Peter’s last count, four men inside the house.” He nodded
brusquely across the gardens to the looming menace of Rupert’s
house. Isobel paused, her back towards Dominic as she stared out
across the grounds towards the hulking menace of the
house.

Silence
settled between them for several minutes as she stood in quiet
contemplation. Her voice was a mere whisper but was carried on the
still night air. Standing deep in the shelter of the trees, within
the relative anonymity of the darkness of the night gave Isobel the
strength to voice her thoughts.

“
He beat me, you know that,” her voice was cold and
flat.

Dominic
moved forward until he was standing directly behind her. He wanted
to place his hands on her shoulders and pull her into his arms, but
his instincts warned him to allow her to speak.

“
The last time he beat me, he just didn’t stop. It was a week
after he told me that you had married another. I said it couldn’t
be possible, but if it was, I was happy that you had found somebody
you wanted to spend the rest of your life with. Obviously it wasn’t
the answer he was looking for, because he hit me repeatedly until I
fell to the ground.” Tears pooled in her eyes. Strangely she could
remember the blows, but not the pain. With eyes that stared
sightlessly out at nothing, Isobel continued in a monotone voice,
as though recounting a story from a book.

“
Something inside me broke: I don’t know what. He had already
told me that Peter had died the night I had my first beating. But
when he told me about you, all doors suddenly closed on me, and I
had nowhere to go. I lay curled up on the floor as he kicked me,
and I knew that if I didn’t leave and take every risk to leave,
then I would die. If not at Rupert’s hands, then at
DeLisle’s.”

Isobel
recounted the night she had met DeLisle’s third wife at the
Marchington’s Ball. She described the devoid, emotionless features
of a woman who had given up all hope of escape, who had been beaten
into submission, and knew it.

“
I didn’t care what my chances of survival were, but I knew I
had to take the risk,” Isobel declared softly. “That is why, no
matter how hard it got living on the streets, I bore it with
everything I had within me. If I was to die of cold or hunger, then
it would be a far less of an ordeal than the future Rupert had in
store for me. I was colder than I had ever thought possible. So
hungry sometimes, that I thought I should keel over. The pains in
my stomach were so bad that I even stole a farmer’s loaf of bread
to eat. I had to keep walking.”

Strangely, she felt no sense of relief by telling someone of
her plunge into the criminal world. “At first I went to Hubert to
ask for his assistance, but knew I couldn’t stay with his family.
There was still the question of guardianship. So, having set up the
necessary arrangements to fake my own death, I knew I had to hide.
After Rupert’s news about you, I knew I couldn’t appear at your
door - your wife would not have been happy in the least. Kitty told
me to head to Coniston up in the Lake District, but as I travelled
further north, the weather became colder, and I knew that I didn’t
want to go there. But after several weeks of wandering aimlessly,
trying to keep as inconspicuous as possible, I knew that cold or
hunger would take me.”

Isobel
slowly turned to gaze up at the solid features of her husband,
standing so silent and strong behind her. She couldn’t tell if he
was angered or repulsed by her revelations. He hadn’t moved since
she had begun talking, but had made no attempt to stop her talking
either. Looking at him, her eyes met and held his. “I knew that I
wouldn’t survive the winter alone. I also knew, or thought, your
door was closed to me,” Isobel’s voice shook as the memory of those
solitary nights she had lay huddled in the cold rose before her.
She had been hungrier than she had ever thought possible and
loneliness had been her constant companion. “I needed to be near
you.”

Isobel
sucked in a breath of cold night air, oblivious to the clenching of
his fists beneath his cloak, and she turned and stared at the
house.

“
I would have gladly curled up on your doorstep, and passed
away there and then, just to have my last few moments near you.”
She felt acutely embarrassed by revealing the depth of her love for
him, especially given his anger with her. She had never revealed
her emotions to anyone to such an extent before. It should have
been liberating, but something within her was still wary, and she
stood waiting for his reaction. Strangely though, it was somehow
easier to reveal her thoughts to the stark warrior behind her, than
to the lovable rogue she had become familiar with.

Dominic
moved to stand beside her. “I visited your grave,” he declared
softly, as silence settled between them. Dominic slowly took her
small hand in his, curling his fingers around it protectively. “I
spent three years at war and saw so much horror and bloodshed,
words cannot begin to describe the misery, but nothing was like the
moment I stood beside your brother, next to your grave. My world
was swept out from under me, when Peter and I were told you had
died.”

“
I’m sorry,” Isobel said. “It was my fault, but in my defence,
it was planned before I knew you were looking for me. I did know
Rupert and DeLisle would give chase once they realised I had gone,
and pretending to die would give me the opportunity to start again
– somehow.”

“
I know,” Dominic replied, his voice harsh in the cold night
air.

“
We owe it to ourselves to get those papers, and make Rupert’s
life difficult for a change.”

“
It would be enough to see him transported,” Dominic declared
firmly.

“
I will never forgive him for what he has done to us, for all
of the pain and suffering he has caused everyone. I cannot
contemplate having a family with you, bearing your children,
spending my life with you, only to find myself alone again and at
Rupert’s mercy should he escape, or wriggle out of punishment
somehow. Given everything he has done to me personally,
I
have to be involved in
bringing about his downfall.” Isobel wished he could
understand.

“
Then let’s do this together,” Dominic suggested, giving her
hand a quick squeeze.

“
Really?” Isobel was unable to believe her warrior would
relent so easily. “I can’t imagine you getting through the small
window next to the kitchen door,” Isobel teased, needing
desperately to lighten the gloomy atmosphere.

Peering
through the darkness, Dominic spied the small, partially open
window offering a clear route into the lower floor of the house and
shot her a dour look.

“
What’s wrong with the door?” he asked, smiling slightly at
her look of astonishment.

“
Surely it is too obvious?” Isobel couldn’t believe he meant
it, surely he didn’t expect to just waltz in without being
noticed.

“
Not if we are very quiet,” Dominic replied carefully taking
note of the upper windows.

“
What about the watch?” Isobel asked, with a quirked
brow.

“
What watch?” Dominic whispered, frowning at her.

Isobel
sighed before pointing out the window at the end of the upper floor
furthest away from them. Even at this distance, the faint
flickering glow of the candle light in the upper window was clear
to see.

“
It moves across the upper hall, and then presumably down the
stairs, and will appear in the lower corner over there.” Isobel
pointed to the black windows of the corner room to the left of the
front door. “Then it circles around the house this way until it
reaches the kitchen. It stays in the kitchen for some time, before
leaving going across the ground floor over there.” Carefully
pointing toward the far bank of windows facing the gardens, she
turned to look at her husband, catching his astonished look with a
smirk. “If we time it right we might be able to get in if the watch
is on the opposite side of the house. They won’t be able to hear
us.”

Dominic
nodded, clearly impressed with her cool logic and observance. “We
could have done with you in the Army,” he muttered, shaking his
head ruefully as he watched the candlelight take the exact route
she had pointed out.

As the
candle paused in the kitchens, Dominic and Isobel settled back
against the large bulk of a tree trunk to wait the next round,
quietly planning which rooms to search.

“
Promise me one thing,” Dominic turned the determined point of
her chin around to face him. Placing a soft kiss upon her lips, he
gave himself up to her soft warmth for several moments before
releasing her with a sigh. “If anyone does come back, you leave.
Run hard and fast, straight for home. Don’t try and hide anywhere,
and don’t wait for me to catch you up. I will be right behind you,
but whatever you do you must promise me that you won’t take any
chances. Your aim is to get back to Havistock Hall and fast. Do you
promise?”

Concern was clearly etched in his voice, and Isobel was left
in no doubt as to the dangers of what they were about to do. She
nodded without hesitation. “I promise; home it is.” Although she
agreed, she still needed a few reassurances of her own.
“Promise
me
though, that you won’t play the hero and stay behind to
fight. Promise you will leave with me.”

Dominic
looked down at her. “Darling, I will be right behind you, btt you
must not stop. I can run faster than you, and no doubt am far
fitter due to the lifestyle I have led.” She would probably smack
him if he said because he was a man.

Isobel
looked at him haughtily. “I will out-run you, my dear man,” she
argued, with a confidence that was ruined by a cheeky smile that
lit her face. “Just make sure you can keep up.” She pointedly
ignored his guffaw.

Isobel
shook her head astounded at their strange situation. Here they were
standing in the middle of woods, in the darkest hour of the night,
staring at the home of one of the vilest men in England, teasing
each other.

She was
about to remark upon the fact, when the candle in the kitchen began
to move through the established route. Nudging her husband in the
ribs, she nodded quietly to the house and moved away.

“
Are you sure we should go through the door?” Isobel still
wasn’t sure it was a good idea, but found comfort in Dominic’s
confidence.

Nodding
quietly, he pointed out the route they would take through the
shrubbery, keeping to the shadows as much as possible. Within
moments, they melted into the shadows of the hedgerow.

Several
minutes later, heart thumping, Isobel stood at Dominic’s back
trying desperately not to stop and think about what they were
doing. Her knees were already trembling, and they weren’t even in
the house yet. She listened to a faint squeak as Dominic jiggled
the latch, and winced at the loud click that seemed to explode in
the night like gunfire. Surely someone would hear that and come
running. They paused for a few moments, and waited. Nothing
stirred.

Slowly
easing the door inwards, they had entered the large cavernous
kitchen area. Their eyes had long since grown accustomed to the
darkness. It wasn’t any hardship to see the large mass of the
kitchen table, and two pot-laden dressers along the far wall.
Silently nodding, Dominic moved across the kitchen with cat like
grace. Careful to keep her flowing cloak close to her legs, Isobel
followed closely, fighting the urge to cling to him like a
frightened rabbit. She had, after all, insisted she be included in
this, she couldn’t now announce that she had changed her mind and
demand to go home.