Eleanor’s eyes flickered as she gradually regained consciousness. She groaned in pain, every part of her body aching. Dear God, her head! It felt as though it had split in two. It was throbbing, making it difficult for her to open her eyes, and her stomach felt as though it might need to empty itself.
She touched the top of her head, where it hurt so badly, and felt a lump and a gooey stickiness, through the veil. She felt bitterly cold, and was lying on something soft, yet damp, with the faint murmur of flowing water in the distance.
She gazed through the narrow slits of her partially opened eyes to find that two men stood by the edge of what appeared to be a gorge. One stood with his hands on his hips, and even from this angle, and despite his unusually dark attire, he was very much known to her.
Lord Balvoire…
But why? Why had he done this?
She shifted a little, trying in vain to find a more comfortable position.
‘Lord Balvoire?’ she mumbled. ‘What have you done?’ She rubbed her eyes lightly, trying to coax them to open more.
‘Ah, My Lady Eleanor, you’re finally with us, are you? Good, good…’
The odious man walked towards her and smiled, making the bile in her stomach rise.
‘And that, my dear, is the question I should be asking you.’
‘I don’t know what you’re trying to say…’
‘Don’t you, my lady?’ He crouched beside her.
‘No. Your behaviour is as outrageous as it is mad,’ she retorted, feeling none of the conviction of her words. She tried again, more forcibly. ‘I demand you take me back to my castle.’
‘This little misplaced outburst is precisely the reason why I have always liked you, my dear.’
‘Misplaced? What are you talking about?’
He sneered, moving closer to her and lifting her chin with his spindly long fingers so his face was level with hers. ‘You know, King John should have given you to me,’ he murmured, licking his lips, ‘You were wasted on Richard Millais, although I admired his persistence in getting you to dance to his tune. Not that you did, of course. I would have handled you very differently…’
‘Well, that is one thing I can be thankful for. At least the King spared me that.’
‘Let’s not be too hasty, Lady Eleanor.’ He leered at her, running his fingers down her face.
‘You forget yourself, sir, and you forget that I’m married. You will mind not to touch me again.’ The pounding in her head was now punishing.
‘We’ll see, my dear. And that new husband of yours will be of no use to you now. You’re well beyond his reach.’
She shuddered in alarm. ‘Which once again begs the question you have failed to answer, my lord. Why am I here and why have you abducted me in this high-handed manner?’
Eleanor hoped that Lord Balvoire would not notice her growing anxiety. What in heaven’s name was going on? She had no choice but to keep him talking whilst hoping to gain some semblance of her strength back, however futile that seemed.
He dragged her to her feet and pulled her round to face the gorge. She could barely stand…still felt so very weak.
‘Beautiful here, isn’t it? I’ve always enjoyed coming here. And you see the gorge yonder, Lady Eleanor? Well, the other side of it is my land…my territory.’
‘I am aware, my lord, but what has that got to do with anything?’
‘Ah, but do you know that this side—this part with the dense woodland—also belonged to my family? The old King Henry annexed it and gifted it to your father, for some nefarious reason of his own, and now, my dear, the time has come to redress that decision.’
‘Is that what all this is about?’
‘Alas, it is only a means to an end, my dear.’ He laughed roughly. ‘And now I will ask you the same question you asked me when you fluttered your pretty eyes open just moments ago…’ He smiled, revealing yellow-stained teeth. ‘What have you done, Lady Eleanor?’
‘I’m sure I don’t know what you mean, sir.’
‘Apologies, my dear. That bang on the head must have been harder than I thought. Allow me to explain,’ he said. He leant forward and caught her mother’s necklace in his palm. ‘Beautiful little thing… And, you know, for all its plain design I recognised it immediately at Winchester. Clever, really, although I had to wait to have it confirmed and tied up with the outlaw. But then I am a patient man.’
Eleanor swallowed, her heart hammering against her chest. Oh, God, no! This obnoxious, horrible man could not possibly know her secret. She could not betray her emotions. She must not. She had to remain calm and show surprise, even outrage, at his accusations.
‘Did you also receive a bang on the head, my lord? You are making little sense. You recognised my cross because I always wear it.’
‘Yes, and that was why it was quite surprising—shocking, even—when I saw it dangling out of that preposterous outlaw’s tunic for a mere moment all those weeks ago. When you ambushed us,’ he snarled. ‘I thought it odd, because it’s such a feminine piece of jewellery. But then I always did think the outlaw had a woman’s cunning.’
He pushed down Eleanor’s veil, gripping a long lock of hair and pulling it tightly, jolting her forward, closer to him. Closer than she could bear. Her head felt as if it was about to implode.
‘It’s you, my little Fox, and I have been waiting a long time to catch up with you.’
‘You have gone mad. I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘Oh, come now, Lady Eleanor. You can do better than that.’
‘For goodness’ sake, my lord, can you not see how ridiculous this is? I…? Le Renard? It’s laughable,’ she said evenly. ‘As for my necklace—your eyes must have been playing tricks on you. If, say, the sun obscured them or the mud you were face-down in obscured them.’
He smiled slowly. ‘Do you know, I do not believe I mentioned being face-down in mud?’
‘I—I speculated, my lord,’ she stammered, realising her mistake.
‘Whilst I am finding this quite entertaining, we need to keep moving.’ He signalled to the man he’d been travelling with to tend to the horses, tethered close by. ‘I’d rather avoid a full-scale confrontation with Tallany riders or that dolt of a husband of yours.’
‘Lord Hugh will have much to say about all this. So, if I were you I would let me go before any possibility of a “full-scale confrontation”, as you put it.’
‘Oh, I don’t think so. I have waited a long time for my plan to fall into place. I must say it was a surprise when your husband returned, much sooner than I expected, but with a little tweaking it has all worked out.’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘I suspected you would try to set that oaf of an outlaw free somehow—and where better to stage the hanging than Tallany Castle, where I would discover you as The Fox, helping the outlaw. And now, with Hugh de Villiers’s overzealous behaviour earlier, practically throwing me out of Tallany, he will once again take all the blame for this.’ He whispered in her ear. ‘And you are once again to be instrumental in your husband’s downfall. Do you really think he will help you when he finds out the truth about you?’
Eleanor’s gut twisted tightly. Balvoire was right, wasn’t he? She had caused Hugh pain with her duplicity—especially now that he knew everything about Le Renard. It would come as no surprise to her if he decided that she was far more trouble than she was worth and washed his hands of her.
But at least she had told him the truth about how she truly felt.
That she loved him…
What if she never saw him again?
‘Come, Lady Eleanor, do not make this more difficult than it needs to be.’
‘Where…where are you taking me?’
‘Oh, didn’t I say? I’m taking you back to my castle, where the real entertainment can start, my dear. I will gain a full confession out of you, and soon not only this piece of land but all the riches of Tallany will come to me.’
‘I will never yield to you.’
‘Oh, I hoped you’d say that,’ he said with another sneer. ‘I have means and ways. Let’s just say that, unlike Millais, I won’t leave marks on your exquisite body. Besides, I need to make you pay for that dirty trick you played on me during your little ambush. Whatever was in that disgusting sack gave me a particularly nasty itchy rash—I do hope I can return the favour.’
From somewhere deep inside, Eleanor had to find her courage—and quickly.
‘How dare you, Lord Balvoire?’ she said, hiding the panic that was threatening to overwhelm her. ‘You are mistaken, but your desperation for my land makes you believe that all your suppositions about my necklace are correct. I tell you they are not. It’s all nonsense, and you know it—or else you would not be abducting me in this extreme manner with just one of your hapless minions.’
‘Come, woman. I have no time for this!’ he snarled, baring his teeth and seizing her by the back of her neck, dragging her towards the horses. ‘You are a she-devil, my lady, and I hope you know what happens to them.’
His rancid breath was so close to her face that Eleanor gagged.
‘Wait, you don’t have to do this.’
Fighting her way out of this seemed impossible. Her head hurt, she felt far too weak, but she had to do something. She dragged her feet against the ground, but it was in vain. She was overpowered by his superior strength.
‘It would be so much easier if you were to accept your fate more readily, my lady.’
He yanked at her so aggressively that she collided into him, hard, making them both tumble backwards, close to the mossy edge that seemed to fall away to nothing. She heard the sound of gushing water, flowing from the stream some distance below, and steadied herself.
‘What are you trying to do? Kill us both, you stupid woman?’ he spat.
‘That’s preferable to what you have planned.’
She pushed herself free and tried to get away, but his arms came around her in a vice-like grip. One hand went to her throat, squeezing softly, and the other moved around her waist, holding her still.
‘Don’t try that again or I’ll hurl you off here myself!’ he muttered in her ear, squeezing her neck a little tighter.
Dear God, she was choking. She couldn’t breathe. The glorious hues of green in front of her on the horizon reminded her so much of Hugh’s eyes but they were fading to nothing…
Her body slumped as she bitterly accepted that all had been lost.
Suddenly she faintly heard something that broke through her desperate thoughts. It gave her hope, even though all hope had seemed lost. It was the distant sound of barking… But, no, she must be imagining things. And yet the hound’s barking had become louder and louder, and there was something else… The sound of a horse galloping towards them. Could it be?
Balvoire turned, having also heard the din, and just as he did so an arrow flew past and lodged itself at the centre of his floppy drab hat.
‘Let her go,’ said a steely low voice that was somehow familiar to her.
Lord Balvoire swung her around, clasping her tightly, pressing her back to his chest, with his dagger drawn and held against her throat. Eleanor peered from under her lashes and was surprised to see the figure in front of her… It was a man whose head and face were hidden under a fox-trimmed hood.
He dismounted effortlessly and prowled towards them, an arrow stretched and nocked against his bow, aimed at Balvoire’s chest and ready to be released.
The man was evidently dressed as Le Renard. But that was not possible. Unless…
No, her eyes must be deceiving her.
‘I said, let the lady go.’
Balvoire took a small step to one side. ‘You…? It can’t be… I have the real Fox here.’
‘I don’t think so.’ The imposter smirked.
Oh, Lord, could it be…?
Hugh?
‘I don’t believe you. The outlaw Le Renard is small and wiry. I have met him before,’ Balvoire spat, tightening his grip on Eleanor.
‘Frankly, I don’t care what you believe—although it has been known for boys to develop into men,’ he drawled. ‘Now, I’m going to give you one last chance, Balvoire. Let her go.’
‘I don’t take kindly to demands, you know…because they make me do this.’
Balvoire drew the tip of his dagger down Eleanor’s neck, cutting her, making her gasp as she bled.
‘The next one won’t be so light. Now, this is what you’ll do, whoever you are: you will leave quietly and go back to wherever you came from. I will then take Lady Eleanor with me, and you are not going to stop me or follow me. I will otherwise have no choice, sadly, but to kill her.’
‘No, I don’t think so. This is what you will do: you’ll step away from my lady and only then will I allow you to leave. But I swear if you come near her, or touch her again, you will be cut from here…to here.’
Le Renard—or rather Hugh—indicated from Balvoire’s neck to his navel with the tip of his arrow.
‘And I suppose you would be the one to do that, eh?’ Balvoire snarled.
‘Oh, no, not I…’ He chuckled. ‘But him.’
Lord Balvoire jerked his head in the direction Hugh had tilted his head—only to encounter the sharp tip of a sword jabbing him under his chin. And the man holding the hilt of the sword was none other than… Anselm.
‘Missed me, my lord?’
‘You!’ he breathed. ‘What are you doing here? You have some nerve.’
‘As do you, ’olding up my lady, ’ere. And you dare call me the villain.’
‘Lady Eleanor Tallany is the traitor I’ve been seeking—as you well know.’
‘So, you’re dishin’ out justice where no one can see what you’re about, eh? Truest villain I ever did see.’
‘How dare you? When I get my hands on you again, I’ll enjoy cutting your entrails out while you’re still alive and—’
‘Enough!’ Le Renard strode forward, closer to Balvoire. ‘I said, let my lady go—now!’ He aimed his arrow close to the man’s chest. ‘It’s over.’
‘Never!’
It happened so quickly.
Balvoire took a small step backwards and slipped on the wet, grassy edge, losing his balance. His eyes widened with shock and he fell, plummeting down below, dragging Eleanor with him.
Hugh hurled himself at her and grabbed her hand just as she felt the ground disappearing beneath her. For a long moment they just stared at each other as she dangled over the edge, suspended in mid-air. But she could feel her grip slipping.
‘It’s no use, Hugh, I can’t hold on,’ she whispered.
‘I’ve got you!’
‘I’m slipping…’
‘Hang on tightly so I can pull you up.’
‘It’s too difficult to hold on,’ she said, as one finger after another slipped away from Hugh’s grasp.
‘Damn it, Eleanor, I won’t let you go.’
He pulled her up with a strength from somewhere deep inside, hauling her back to safety and into his arms.
‘I will never let you go, do you hear?’ he said softly. ‘Never, my love.’
‘Balvoire’s dead good and proper, Fox.’ Anselm looked down to the stream. ‘Cracked his ’ead on a boulder.’
Hugh looked up and nodded at Anselm grimly, wrapping his arms around Eleanor, who was shivering, and dropping a kiss on the top of her head. ‘Hush, sweetheart. It’s over now.’
* * *
Eleanor fell in and out of sleep on the ride back to Tallany Castle. Hugh had parted ways with Anselm, who had now paid his debt by helping Le Renard with his rescue mission, and he had left Balvoire’s accomplice tied to a tree.
Once the Tallany guards were dispatched they would find Balvoire’s body, and the accomplice, from whom they’d get a confession about the attempted abduction of Eleanor.
That was as much as Hugh was willing to do, so as not to expose Eleanor’s complicity with the outlaws. And, although it didn’t sit right with him that he would have to bend the truth for King John, the alternative was inconceivable.
All that mattered to him was that his wife was safe. When he’d watched Balvoire threaten her, and cut her with his dagger, Hugh had had to use all his resolve to keep himself from pouncing on the bastard. And when she’d almost fallen down that gorge…
It didn’t bear thinking about.
Yes, all that mattered was that she was safe and back where she belonged…with him.
‘Hugh?’ Eleanor muttered. ‘I still can’t believe that you came to save me.’
‘You’re awake, sweetheart?’ he said gently. ‘How do you fare?’
‘Tired, sore, and my head is ready to burst—you didn’t answer my question.’
‘We’ll be home soon and then you can rest properly.’ He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. ‘You must have a low opinion of me if you believed that I wouldn’t come for you.’
‘Oh, I have a high enough opinion of you—but that’s not what I meant. I can’t believe that you came disguised as Le Renard.’
Hugh tugged at the reins, bringing her palfrey to a halt, and sighed. ‘A wise woman once told me that sometimes there are no choices when there’s a desperate need.’ He shrugged, smiling. ‘Besides, I thought it was about time you received a few surprises of your own.’
‘So now do you understand? About everything that I had to do?’
‘For me, there was a much greater need that made me desperate.’
She looked faintly confused. ‘A need for what?’
‘You, Eleanor…’
‘Oh, Hugh.’ She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him softly on the lips.
‘I love you, Eleanor Tallany. I love you, body and soul. You challenge me to be a better man. A man worthy of you.’
‘And I love you,’ she murmured, her eyes filling with tears. ‘With all my heart.’
‘Ah…is that the same heart that you once declared would never be mine?’
‘Yes, the very same.’ She smiled, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
‘Good to know.’ He shook his head, chuckling.
‘Does this mean that you have forgiven me?’ she asked.
‘Let’s not get carried away, now.’ He smiled, raising his brows.
‘Well, I’m hopeful that you will. After all, a wise man once promised me hopeful futures that would drown out disastrous pasts.’
‘True.’ He grinned. ‘And now that I hold the constancy of your heart in mine I have no choice but to use it for my own ends.’
‘Confounding man! Of all the ridiculous, arrogant—’
Hugh silenced her with a kiss so passionate that it rendered her speechless—if only briefly.
‘Hugh?’ she said, eventually.
‘Yes, my love?’
‘You didn’t really mean that, did you?’ She bit her bottom lip.
‘Oh, yes, Eleanor, I meant every word,’ he drawled, and bent his head to kiss her again.