Bobbi Smith - Captive Pride

“You must let me know when the duel is to take place…I have to be there for him, even if he doesn’t care…” CC insisted.

“Believe me, CC. He cares,” Matt confided.

His declaration surprised her, and she glanced at him, puzzled. “How can you be so sure of Noah’s feelings for me?”

“Because he told me.” Matt read her shock at his revelation.

“Noah told you that he loves me?” Her heart was pounding, and she knew a moment of sublime joy.

Matt nodded. “He also told me that there could be no future for the two of you. Do you know why that was?”

CC looked away, embarrassed.

“CC?”

“I have to see him, Matthew… I have to talk to him.”

“He may be back at the Red Lion by now, but I don’t think it would be wise for you to venture there dressed as you are.”

“No. I’d better wait until tomorrow, when all of this is over. Matthew?”

“What?”

“Thank you for telling me.” His confirmation of her longed-for dream filled her with joy, and tears stung her eyes as she gazed up at him.

“You’re welcome,” he grinned, feeling inordinately pleased with himself, and he touched her cheek with a gentle hand. “My brother is a very lucky man, whether he knows it or not.” CC gave him a bright smile. “Now, I’d better get out of here. It’s important that I let myself be seen about town tonight, so I won’t be arrested for consorting with the rebels tomorrow when the theft of the arms shipment is discovered.”

“Be careful, Matthew.”

“I will,” he answered as he started toward the door.

“You’ll let me know about the duel?” she asked, stopping his progress from the room.

“Yes. I’ll send you word as soon as I find out,” he promised, and then he was gone, leaving CC alone with her thoughts of Noah.

Though Matthew appeared outwardly relaxed as he shared a late dinner with Faith and Ruth at the Red Lion, in actuality, he was nervous and on edge. When he and Noah had parted after turning in Radcliffe’s hired thugs, they had agreed to meet at the inn by ten o’clock to dine. Now, however, it was well past midnight, and Noah had still not arrived.

Worries assailed Matthew. Had Noah encountered some kind of trouble with Radcliffe, or had something happened with the Pride that had demanded his immediate attention? Matt longed to know but realized it would be foolhardy for him to rush down to the wharf in search of him.

“Matthew?” Faith, intuitively aware of his very real distress, reached out to touch his hand.

Matt glanced up at her as he brought his thoughts to bear on the present. “Yes?”

“Shall we go now, or do you think we should wait for him a little longer?” she asked, her own concern for Noah reflecting in the depths of her blue-green eyes.

At her gentle prod, he realized that they had long since finished their meal and that there was no reason to linger any longer. “It is getting late… I suppose we should be going…” Matt began.

“I think so,” Ruth agreed.

As Matthew rose from his seat and moved to assist Faith and Ruth with their wraps, a man came rushing into the taproom and hurried to join the men at the bar. He was welcomed warmly by his friends and immediately began to relate some bit of news to them that caused quite a furor among those gathered there. His thoughts still on Noah, Matt paid scant attention to the man until he heard Radcliffe’s name being bandied about.

“That can’t be true!” Someone doubted his story.

“It’s true, I tell you!” the man declared vehemently to the others as the conversation grew excited at the bar. “I just heard it myself!”

“Come on, Gerald,” another sneered. “I don’t believe it!”

“Lord Geoffrey Radcliffe is dead! He was shot! Murdered tonight in his very own home!” the man insisted unwaveringly as he assumed a most pompous pose. He felt himself to be most consequential since he was bearing such important news, and he could hardly wait to relate the rest of the information he’d learned to his eager comrades.

Matt froze at the news, and his eyes suddenly glowed fervidly as his features grew strained and pale.

“Matthew?” Faith and Ruth, too, had overheard the conversation, and Faith glanced concernedly from her husband to the group of men.

He gave an abrupt shake of his head to silence them as he strained to hear all that was being said.

“Do they know who did it, Gerald?” someone else asked.

“They most certainly do. The authorities arrested him right on the spot. They caught him with the murder weapon in hand,” Gerald informed them.

“Who was it?”

Gerald’s expression reflected his delight in delivering the next bit of information. “The murderer is none other than Lord Noah Kincade.”

“Lord Kincade?” A chorus of voices echoed the name in stunned surprise.

Matthew had almost sensed what Gerald’s answer would be, and as he heard him pronounce Noah’s name, a gut-wrenching pain seared through him. Without conscious thought, knowing only that he had to get away from the inn as quickly as possible without attracting any undue attention, he hurriedly escorted Faith and Ruth outside into the cold darkness of the December night. It wasn’t until they were safely ensconced in a hired conveyance and on their way home that he spoke.

“As soon as I drop you at the house, I’m going to find Noah.”

“Shall I send word to Ben?”

“There’s no reason. What happened at Radcliffe’s had nothing to do with Ben and the others. It was private and personal,” he explained, and then suddenly a curse erupted from him as he felt close to violence. “Damn! What the hell happened between Noah and Geoffrey tonight?”

“The only way you’ll find out is to go to him,” Faith urged. “I’m sure he’s innocent. Noah would never kill someone like that.”

At her naive belief that Noah was incapable of savagery, the vivid, bitter memories of Noah’s deadly duel with James Radcliffe surged into mind.

“I pray to God you’re right,” Matt ground out, hoping against hope that Noah was innocent, and believing deep in his heart that he was. For, though his brother had been discovered with the murder weapon in his hand, Matt knew for a fact that Noah had gone to Radcliffe’s unarmed. If anyone had introduced guns into their confrontation, it had been Geoffrey.

“I know I am,” Faith told him solemnly. “He’ll probably be freed by morning. Just wait and see.”

Despite Faith’s hopeful encouragement, Matt felt that all was not as simple as it seemed. The situation must have looked very incriminating for Noah to have been arrested on the spot, and he wondered if there had been any witnesses to the shooting.

“Mother and I will be waiting up for you,” Faith said supportively as the carriage drew to a stop in front of her small house.

“I don’t know how long I’ll be…” he said distractedly as he climbed out and helped his wife and mother-in-law down.

“Don’t worry about us. Just go to Noah and help him.” Faith kissed him softly before going inside.

Matt strode back to the carriage and climbed in, ordering the driver, “To the jail, and fast.”

“Yes, sir.”

It was just after one in the morning when Matthew stormed into the jail and demanded to see Noah.

The jailer, a burly, mean-looking man, eyed Matthew disinterestedly before replying with only the barest essence of civility, “There’s no visiting allowed this time of night.”

“That’s ridiculous! I’m Lord Matthew Kincade, and I’ve just received word that my brother has been arrested. I demand to see him so I can find out about all these trumped-up charges,” Matt declared indignantly, calling upon his most imperious manner.