Señora Alvarez raised her pistol and shot the man through the calf.
“Ahh!” The guard fell to the ground, gripping the wound and yelling. The dogs went wild, slavering and barking. The señora turned her gun on them but didn’t fire.
Joe, showing more speed and courage than Arthur had expected, jumped to the ground. The dogs surrounded him in a leaping mass, but they didn’t bite. “Down, Rex, Faron,” the groom cried. “It’s all right.” He pushed the gate open and leapt back to his seat on the wagon. Arthur had already set his curricle moving.
“You’ll be sorry for this, Joe Crendel,” said the guard as they passed. “We’ll come for you.”
“On the contrary,” said Arthur over his shoulder. “The law will be here shortly, coming for you.”
“So you better leg it,” said Joe.
“Or hobble it,” said Señora Alvarez, showing not the slightest remorse, though her voice shook.
A laugh burst from Arthur as he made the turn onto the lane outside the walls.
Joe closed the gate behind them to contain the dogs. Arthur would have left it open for the convenience of the magistrate he meant to summon as soon as possible. But he didn’t want to chance canine pursuit.
They headed for the main road. Arthur slowed near the copse beyond the wall, and Tom and his group rode out to join them. “These are friends,” Arthur called back to allay Joe’s concern. Though he didn’t really expect anyone to ride after them, he was glad of the escort.
“We was waiting for your signal,” said Tom, coming up beside the curricle. “Alf thought that was it.” He pointed.
Arthur turned to see a large column of smoke billowing up on the other side of the wall. The fire had not been found in time. It seemed to be a major blaze. “It is a sign of something,” he said.
“Liberación,” replied Señora Alvarez.
Twelve
Freedom came with some complications, however. “We spent so much time planning how to enter the house,” Teresa said to the earl as they drove along the lane in his curricle. “And very little thinking what to do once we succeeded.”
“It does suggest a sad lack of confidence in our own abilities,” he replied. He met her gaze. His eyes were bright with triumph. In fact, he looked like a mischievous boy who had pulled off an epic prank.
Teresa had to laugh. She was feeling euphoric herself. “We have the excuse that we did not know exactly what we would find.”
“Or how we would manage the rescue,” he agreed.
“But the girls cannot ride in that cart all the way to London.”
“Of course not. Post chaises will be best, I think.”
“And you will wave your hand and make them appear.”
“I will go to an inn and hire them.”
And he would do it with great panache, Teresa thought. He didn’t seem at all concerned over their predicament. Perhaps the awkwardness of his position hadn’t soaked in yet. “We can choose an inn where you are not known,” she began.
“Oh, I think we had better go to an establishment where I am known. I can take advantage of my, ah, privileged aristocratic position and run roughshod over the sensibilities of those who serve me.”
She had used phrases rather like that on him once upon a time. Clearly, he had not forgotten. “But how will you explain a cartload of young women hidden under piles of hay?”
“Explain?” he asked, in the drawling, imperious tone he had used on the denizens of that dreadful house.
“I beg your pardon, my lord. But you must know that tongues will wag.”
“Let them.” He shrugged as if it didn’t matter a jot to him.
Teresa thought it would matter when the gossip started. He would not like being twitted by his society friends. But she saw no other way to transport her charges, and so she said nothing more.
Lord Macklin led their cavalcade to the nearest inn, where he was indeed well-known. As he was engaging a private parlor for their use, the girls began to emerge from the piles of hay in the wagon. Naturally, this caused a sensation. The landlord grew more and more stiff and expressionless with each one who appeared, particularly those who showed signs of ill usage. Finally, he could bear it no longer. “My lord!” the hefty, aproned man protested.
Teresa was amazed that the earl showed no sign of embarrassment. “We have uncovered a nest of criminals not far from here,” he said. “I require the direction of the nearest magistrate.”
“Sir Samford Jellison lives a matter of two miles away,” said the landlord. He gaped at Odile, who had a dark bruise on the left side of her elfin face.
“Ah, good, not too far.” Lord Macklin turned to Teresa. “I am sorry to leave you, but I must go and speak to him at once.” He set one booted foot on the step of his curricle. Then he paused, lowered it, and came over to Teresa. “You had best take this,” he murmured, slipping her a thick roll of banknotes. “I intend to be back quite soon, but it’s best you have the means…”
“To overawe the innkeeper?”
He smiled down at her in a way that made her heart pound. “Precisely. You will be all right?”
“Of course.”
“I’ll look after ’em,” said Tom. The state of the dancers had eroded his usual good humor. He looked grimly determined.
The earl gave them each a nod and climbed into the curricle. “Tell me how to find this Sir Samford,” he said to the innkeeper. The man did so. “I will return as soon as possible.” Lord Macklin touched the brim of his hat and drove away. Teresa felt a twinge of dismay at his departure. She suppressed it ruthlessly.
Her fingers gripping more ready money than she’d possessed in a long time, Teresa put on her most authoritative manner. “Come,” she said to the six girls. She took them up to the private parlor and ordered whatever refreshment they desired. The landlord seemed glad to have them out of his yard and made no difficulties. Yet.
“My friends have to go,” said Tom, who had followed them upstairs. “They’re due back at their work.”
Teresa nodded. “Where is Joe?”
“Hiding in the stable, looking after the cart horses. He seems to think they’re his now.”
“Why not?” It seemed fair to Teresa.
“I’ll just see Alf and the others off.” Tom went out, closing the door behind him.
Maria dissolved into hysterics. Odile collapsed onto the settee and put her face in her hands. Jill clasped hers tightly as if to stop them trembling and started to cry. Sonia cursed at length, and most colorfully, in Spanish. Jeanne sat very still, as if afraid to move. “It all comes over you, like, now that we’re well away,” said Poppy. She plopped into a chair and bit her lower lip.