Free Fenella J. Miller by A Dangerous Deception Page A

she would be sick and then be obliged to lie in the mess she’d made. The very thought of having to do that settled her stomach. Suddenly the carriage lurched more alarmingly, there was an ominous cracking and her world turned over and over. For a second time that morning she lost her senses as her head hit the side of the upturned carriage.
     * * * *
    Jonathan galloped back to Martlesham Hall shouting to attract attention as he arrived in a skid of gravel. Within minutes he had explained to his valet, Samuel, and his estate manager, Peter Hodgkin, what he wanted them to do for him. He ran inside and snatched up his duelling pistols, also pushing a thin stiletto down the side of his right boot. It was wise to be prepared. He sent a groom galloping to Ipswich to raise the militia, and then with four men, all armed with pistols and cudgels, galloped back down the drive and through the woods.
    All this had taken him less than one quarter of an hour to arrange. He had also had time to dash off a quick note to be taken posthaste to a friend in London, who was a member of the government. In it he asked for the a Bow Street runner and some constables to be sent down to Upton Manor in Kent to arrest Digby and rescue the real Miss Roberts.
    Satisfied he had done everything he could, he concentrated on his urgent mission to recover Miss Forsythe. He told the group to dismount ten yards from where the abduction had taken place.
     ‘I want to see which way they went, I didn’t stop to look when I was here a little while ago. The ground is muddy, it should be easy to pick up their tracks. There was certainly one horse and two men, possibly more.’
    Samuel remained where he was holding the reins of the five horses as the others, keeping to the grassy areas on either side of the path, headed for the coppice.
    When he saw the bloodstained stone for the second time Jonathan’s rage increased. He had only known this softly spoken, beautiful girl for a few weeks, but already he was certain he had finally found the woman he had been waiting for all his life. At last he could put behind him the misery of his first marriage and begin again.
    Tom, the head coachman, called out to him. ‘Sir, over here, I’ve found their tracks. I’m sure there were only two of them, but both mounted.’
    Jonathan ran over to see what the man had found. He dropped to his knees, ignoring the dirt, and stared at the imprints. Yes, there were definitely two sets of horses hoofs and two different imprints made by down-at-heel boots.
     ‘Look, sir, the prints of this horse are deeper than they were on the far side of the track, I think one of them must have been carrying Miss Roberts.’
    Jonathan straightened and shouting for the horses to be brought up turned to the three men and gave them their orders. ‘Tom, you lead, let’s see if we can follow these villains back through the fields. There’s scarcely a path at all, more a rabbit track than anything else. The hoof prints should be clearly visible, one will have been leading Bess.’
    Remounted he set off close behind, they arrived at an open gate and outside he saw the wheel marks from a carriage.
    ‘Dammit, they have transferred her to coach. That means there must be more than two of them, a least three by my reckoning. Which way do you think they went, Tom? They will be heading for the Kent, but I doubt they’ll want to take the toll road to Colchester, they’ll have to go by back lanes to avoid being seen.’
    Tom was examining the wheel marks a puzzled expression on his face. ‘I don’t think they’re heading south, sir, it looks like they’ve turned the carriage and are going straight towards the coast.’
    Jonathan stared at him for a moment unable to think of a logical explanation. Then his blood ran cold as he understood the importance of this. ‘Good God! This is not an abduction, it is a murder attempt. We must ride flat out, Miss Roberts’ very life depends on us arriving at the