Page 77 of A Dangerous Engagement

But she couldn’t help remembering the deep resonance of his whispered words,Are you hurt, Miss Mayson?And later,I hope I didn’t hurt you.Her heart thumped hard against her chest. He must care about her, at least as much as any kindhearted man would. He’d even drawn attention to himself by suggesting to Lady Blackstone that he, instead of her fiancé, should ride beside Felicity. And how grateful she was to him for that! It was Mr.Ratley’s uncontrolled stallion that had caused her mare to bolt, and Mr.Ratley was too full of brandy to save her. If she actually intended to marry the man, she would feel humiliated at his behavior.

But with Mr.Merrick beside her, she felt safe, even on her skittish mare.

Thank you, God, for Mr.Merrick.She couldn’t help glancing over at him. How handsome and strong he was. He must have plucked her right out of the saddle of the galloping horse.

A bawdy drinking song broke out behind them. Mr.Merrick met her eye for the first time since they had remounted their horses. He gave her a sympathetic smile, then looked at the trail again.

Lady Blackstone’s scowl deepened. She turned to Felicity. “Men are just overgrown boys. We have to be their mothers, even when they’re grown and married. I hope you will take Mr.Ratley’s brandy away from him when he starts drinking too much. You should take a firm hand with him, Felicity. He requires it.”

“Yes, my lady. That sounds very wise.” But she had no intention of taking any kind of hand with him, firm or otherwise. She was getting out of this nightmare, the sooner the better, and she would have to trust Providence to help her.

Philip sat down at the dinner table, the stiff folded papers jabbing his side.

It was the evening after their ride to the seaside, and the men were either still drunk or already feeling the effects from the morning’s drinking. But Lady Blackstone insisted on dinner protocol, so they gathered and ate and talked. Most of them were quite subdued.

The men’s headaches should work in Philip’s favor. He could sneak out of the house after everyone had gone to bed, saddle his horse, and ride to London to deliver his evidence. The Home Office could arrest all the leaders before Lady Blackstone could warn them, and the revolution would be ended before it began. The public might never know how close they had come to being taken over by this band of would-be assassins and usurpers.

“Felicity,” Lady Blackstone said rather loudly. “I still have not seen any of your letters in the outgoing post.”

“Oh, I am not much of a correspondent, I’m afraid. My mother doesn’t mind. She has so many children, she cannot write to me very often, so she doesn’t expect many letters from me.”

Philip wondered how much of it was true. But he could not fault her for not writing her mother, given their situation.

How might he and Miss Mayson have got on if they had not both had to practice so much deception? He might have danced with her at a ball and would have certainly found her very beautiful and alluring. He would have admired her smile and her easy way of conversing, her delicate laugh and the modesty in her expressions. He might have asked her for a second dance and even a third. He might have called upon her the next day.

No. Unfortunately, he probably wouldn’t have. Miss Mayson possessed no fortune and neither did he. What did he have to offer her? He lived at his parents’ town house in London and went to work every day at the Home Office at the Horse Guards in Whitehall. On the contrary, he would not have shown her undue attention. He was too much of a gentleman to sport with any girl’s affections. But Miss Mayson ... she made him hope ... that he might make his fortune somehow, and that she might like him as himself, Philip McDowell, not Philip Merrick, the spy.

“Mr.Merrick, now that everyone is present, I have something to say.”

The two footmen at the end of the room moved closer to the table, and two more footmen suddenly entered the room and stood by the two exits.

Every muscle in his body tensed.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Felicity felt the tension in the room. She had thought she was imagining that Lady Blackstone and Mr.Ratley were staring a great deal at Mr.Merrick. But now Lady Blackstone stood, placing her hands on the table in front of her. Her eyes glittered in the candlelight as she looked at the men around the table. Virtually all of them had droopy, bloodshot eyes, except for Mr.Merrick, who looked quite as handsome, and alert, as ever.

“We have been making plans while we’ve been here. We have trusted each other completely, have we not?”

The men mumbled their agreement and nodded their heads. Some were starting to take closer notice. Mr.Ratley’s face was flushed, and perspiration beaded on his forehead.

“But we have a traitor in our midst.”

A gasp and a few grunts went around the room.

“Ladies, if you are squeamish, you should leave the room immediately.”

Mrs.Cartwright stood and cried out dramatically. The other women followed suit, and they all filed out of the room, but Felicity stayed in her seat. She wasn’t sure why, but she couldn’t seem to move.

“Felicity, you had better leave as well. I do not want you to see anything that will be too disturbing for you. Mr.Ratley, take her out.”

Did they not suspect her, then? Mr.Merrick.O God, please help him!

She let Mr.Ratley take her arm, help her from her chair, and lead her into the next room.

She wanted to look back at Mr.Merrick, to assure him that she would risk her life to save his. Surely they would not kill him in the dining room.

She began to feel light-headed, the familiar sting in her forehead and cheeks that came when she was about to faint.No. I won’t. I can’t. I must keep my wits. I must think of how I might help Mr.Merrick.