Page 52 of Memories Made At Midnight

She nodded, then realized he might not be able to see her in the muted half-light. “Yes.”

He lifted Beatrice to the ground, and she almost crumpled, so stiff were her legs. A small moan filtered past her lips.

Oh, God.

Never had she felt this wretched.

“I have you.” Sympathy tempered the captain’s voice. “Give your legs a few minutes to adjust to your weight.”

“When I get my inheritance, I’m purchasing the most luxurious coach money can buy. I’ll even pay for extra padding on the seats, which shall fold out into a comfortable bed.” She wouldn’t, of course. To do so would be an unnecessary and flamboyant waste of funds.

Cassius and his brother chuckled.

Brutes.

“Can you stand on your own now?” Captain Westbrook asked as Cassius slid from his horse.

She gave a stiff nod.

Stand?

Yes.

Move?

Beatrice wasn’t positive she could. Not without help.

It bruised her pride to be so needy when the brothers had ridden just as long as she and seemed no worse the wear from the journey.

“I’ll see to the horses, Cassius.” The captain gathered the reins. “Why don’t you help Miss Fairfax inside and see if there’s a candle or lamp?”

A bed? A washstand? A fire?

As if reading her mind, Cassius murmured, “We don’t dare light a fire, though.”

Rot and bother.

She tried to hide her shivering, but Cassius noticed.

“Bring the horse blankets in,” he said to his brother. “At least we’ll have those for warmth tonight.”

Wonderful.

Beatrice could add sweaty horse to the list of other odors she already smelled on herself. What a lovely way to meet the Duke and Duchess of Latham. Disheveled. Stinking. Sick. And pursued by ruffians. Surely, she would make a grand impression.

As she skimmed the ramshackle hut with her dubious regard, another shudder shook her, but it wasn’t caused by cold this time.

In truth, she wasn’t altogether keen on being the first to enter the cottage, which likely was the home to a hoard of spiders and four-legged creatures with beady eyes, twitchy whiskers, and sharp teeth. Nevertheless, she’d been a tremendous burden to these two men already, and she’d bite off her tongue before voicing any of her fears.

A cough shook her shoulders and battered her ribs, but she muffled the sound by covering her mouth with a handkerchief. So help her God, she would not be the cause of them getting caught. She didn’t think her uncle’s men knew the shortcuts or back trails they’d taken to reach this woodland.

She prayed they didn’t.

In flat places where the horses’ hooves left imprints, the captain had secured a bushy branch to the third horse to drag along the ground and sweep away the signs that they’d passed by. The trick wouldn’t fool a trained tracker, but Beatrice doubted her uncle had hired the men chasing her for that particular skill.

“Let me help you.” Cassius took her elbow and allowed her to set a slow pace toward the lodge.

To her surprise, once she forced the stiff muscles to work, the soreness eased, though she still toddled along like an ancient crone.