Historical Romance Boxed Set Read Online Free PDF

behind them.
    “‘Ere I am,” she laughed. “Did I scare ye?”
    Nathaniel didn’t answer. Mary was a wiry young girl with medium-brown hair and a heart-shaped face. She had sharp little teeth and a flat, shapeless figure, nothing much to recommend her, but Richard gave her a hug.
    “Did you miss me?”
    “No, an’ I know better than to believe ye missed me.” She laughed again, her eyes turning to Nathaniel with apparent interest. “Oooo, ye did bring ‘im. But ye never told me ‘e was so ‘andsome.”
    “That’s because he’s an ugly bloke in the light,” Richard responded. “His hair’s as black as one of those American savages everyone talks about, not the flaming red of me own, and while I admit his eyes are blue, they sometimes look as pale as ice. You should see him when he gets angry, which I must admit, he does, and entirely too often.”
    Nathaniel couldn’t resist a smile at this quick accounting of his attributes, or lack of them, but he hadn’t come to be inspected like a horse. He was ready to get hold of the heavy book Mary hugged to her breast, and doubly eager to be away from Bridlewood.
    “Well, ‘e wouldn’t be ‘is father’s son if ‘e didn’t ‘ave a temper,” Mary responded. “The duke’s been a miserable soul ever since the two of ye took that first ship. I can scarcely keep a straight face when ‘e starts rantin’. I swear, the mention of ye makes ‘im apo—apo… what’s the word?”
    “Apoplectic,” Nathaniel replied dryly, deriving a small bit of pleasure from picturing his arrogant father out of his mind with rage.
    “That’s it. ‘E’s apoplectic near ‘alf the time.”
    Nathaniel felt the maid’s hand on his forearm.
    “But ‘ow did ye get so tall?” she asked. “Yer a full ‘ead taller than yer father.”
    “Perhaps I’ve my mother to thank,” Nathaniel responded. “May I?” He put his hand out for the book she still held to her flat chest, and finally she shrugged and relinquished it.
    “‘E’s in an awful ‘urry,” she remarked to Richard, a grimace claiming her plain face.
    Nathaniel quickly lit one of the candles he had brought in his pack and laid the book open, searching for the information he needed. The pages were filled with the names of ships, the dates, times, and locations of their departures, their destinations, even a list of their anticipated cargo.
    Nathaniel smiled as he memorized the schedule for the following two weeks, but the smile froze on his face when he heard voices, men’s voices, coming through the trees.
    “There’s someone at the pond,” a stranger shouted, “Come on!”
    Running feet pounded the ground, making apprehension prickle down Nathaniel’s spine. Whoever it was, they were close. And they were coming closer still.
    He glanced up to see a look of shock, then fear cross Mary’s face. Snapping the book closed, he shoved it into her arms and pushed her back into the cover of the trees. “Run,” he whispered. “Go back another way and return this. The sound of our horses will draw them after us and keep you safe for a bit, but you must hurry.”
    Nathaniel leaped onto his horse as Richard did the same, then he glanced around, wondering which direction to go. The water was on one side, their pursuers were on the other, and he had no idea what he might encounter in front or behind him.
    “How do we get out of here?” he asked Richard.
    Richard shrugged and pointed. “I’ll go this way, you go that way. We’ll meet back at the tavern, where Trenton is waiting for us.” Then he dashed away, leaving Nathaniel to charge ahead in the direction specified and to pray they could both escape.

 
     
    Chapter 2
     

     
    Tree branches clawed at Nathaniel’s face and clothing as he goaded his horse through the thickest part of the forest. Whoever he had heard back at the lake sounded as though they were on foot, but there was no way to know for sure. God willing, even if they had mounts, he could