She was repeating “Forgive me” over and over. Ross could hear her muttering behind him, her words slurred as she slumped against his back.
Montgomery was beside him. They waited. It seemed the entire rookery waited. It was quiet. Even the children were silent.
Ross heard the pounding of feet first. Behind him, Sara stiffened and sobbed quietly. Ross tightened his hold on his pistol and took aim.
Newport came running around the same corner Sara had, a knife in his hand. When he saw the two of them blocking his escape, he slid to a halt, his eyes flashing surprise.
Ross cocked his pistol.
“Don’t shoot,” Montgomery murmured.
“The bastard deserves to die.”
“Wait.”
“Your Grace,” Newport said, as if they were at a damn social event.
“He killed her,” Sara whispered against his back. “He killed Meredith.”
“Go to hell, Newport,” Ross said tightly. He was finally facing Meredith’s murderer. How many nights had he dreamed of this? Newport grinned. “Don’t be angry, Rossmoyne. You know you didn’t deserve her, just as you don’t deserve Lady Sara.”
Ross growled, but before he could pull the trigger, a shot rang out and a hole appeared in Newport’s chest. He staggered back, a shocked look on his face. Sara screamed and clung tightly to Ross.
Newport made a gurgling sound. Blood dribbled from his lips and he pitched forward, revealing a gaping hole in his back where the bullet had gone clean through his heart.
Montgomery’s pistol smoked.
Sara screamed.
“Sara!” Arms came around her shoulders, cradling her, gently rocking her, but she couldn’t stop the tears or her body from trembling so violently that it made her arm shriek in agony.
“Sara, wake up.”
She struggled to open her eyes. She was in her bed at Rossmoyne House. Ross was lying beside her, holding her close, the front of his shirt soaked with her tears.
Just a dream. That was all it had been. Newport had not killed her. She slumped against Ross with a ragged sigh.
“Are you in pain?” he asked. “Do you need something for it?”
“No.”
“There’s nothing wrong with admitting you’re in pain.” His voice rumbled through her, and it was the most wonderful, comforting thing she had ever heard.
“How am I here?” Her words were slurred, and she suspected that she’d already been given something for the pain. She had no recollection of arriving here.
“Montgomery got us both back here, but I have to admit that my memory of it is hazy.”
“Is he dead?” she asked quietly, referring to Newport.
Ross hesitated. “Yes.”
“Good.” Yet her fear didn’t go away. It would be a long, long time before the fear was gone. She didn’t want to close her eyes, even with Ross holding her. Even knowing that Ross would do everything in his power to protect her, she knew that if she closed her eyes, he would be there, wielding that knife.
“Sleep, Sara. Everything will be all right.” Ross looked down at the top of Sara’s head. He didn’t think that he would ever rid himself of the ball of terror lodged in his throat. Never would he get rid of the image of Sara stumbling out of that alley.
Sara fought sleep, but eventually, her breathing evened out and he closed his eyes, pressing his cheek against her head.
“What does my mother think of me being here?” she asked, startling him. So she hadn’t been asleep at all. But she kept her head firmly nestled against his shoulder.
The doctor had set her dislocated shoulder. Luckily, she’d passed out. Ross couldn’t have listened to her screams if she’d been awake.
“She hasn’t said a word about it,” he said.
“And she saw you in bed with me?”
“No, but I think she suspects.”
“She won’t be happy.”
“I couldn’t care less.”
“Me as well.”
Ross chuckled. He wasn’t enamored of Lady Grandview but kept in mind that she was Sara’s mother. However, Lady Grandview had said nothing at all when Sara was brought to Rossmoyne House.
“Forgive me,” Sara whispered.
“Whatever for?”
She lifted her head and resisted him when he urged her to lie back. He was being selfish. He didn’t want her to leave his side, not for a moment. But she used her good arm to scoot up in bed and face him. The doctor had put her other arm in a sling that she would have to wear for several weeks.
“For not listening to you that night we…” Her face turned several shades of red and she looked away.
“Ah. That. There’s nothing to forgive.”
“When Newport…” She looked up at the ceiling and blinked the tears away. “When I thought he was going to kill me, I knew I’d made a horrible mistake.”
“By going riding with him?”
“For not accepting your marriage proposal. I was a coward. I was scared of what my duties as a duchess would entail, and I let that overshadow my love for you.”
He stilled, and he could have sworn his heart missed a beat or two. “You love me?”
Her eyes were red-rimmed, with dark circles under them. Her hair was a mess, and yet she’d never looked more beautiful to him than she did at that moment.
“Of course I love you.”
“But you don’t want to be a duchess?”
“I didn’t think I did, but if that’s what it takes to be your wife, then I will be a duchess.”
“Unfortunately, you can’t have one without the other.”
She grimaced and he grinned.
“What if I promise that we will limit our public appearances?” he asked.
“What about India?” she asked.
He hadn’t thought about India in a few days. “I still have to make my report to the queen, but I won’t ask to go back.”
He couldn’t miss the flare of hope in her expression. “You would do that for me?”
“Ah, Sara.” He pulled her in for a quick kiss. “I would do anything for you. Don’t you know that?”
“I’m beginning to believe it.”
“I’m willing to spend the rest of my life proving it to you.”
“I love you,” she whispered with tears in her eyes.