Her mind was racing. Reginald was right. Gabriel would make a dangerous enemy. He had power and wealth at his disposal. Her only hope, she thought with bleak despair, was to escape now, while there as still a chance ...

"You are right." She spoke haltingly. She swallowed, her eyes lifting to his. "And I gratefully accept your help, Your Grace, as long as you are willing to give it."

"Excellent, my dear! Oh, I think you'l not regret it. Now, here is what we shall do ... Pack only a small bag for you and the child. I will send along the rest of your things before the ship departs. Now then, meet me at the stables in an hour."

Cassie frowned. "What about Evelyn? What am I to tell her?"

"Do not trouble yourself with Evelyn. I shall tell her I am taking you and Jonathan for an evening ride about the countryside in the curricle. That way there will be no room should she wish to join us. Do not worry, she will not question it. And later, I will tell her the truth. For now, it's too risky."

So it was that Cassie left the Warrenton estate an hour later. Jonathan, angel that he was, lay asleep in the crook of her arm. For a time, as she had hurriedly prepared for her journey, a blessed numbness had settled over her. But they had not gone far before her heart, her soul, her very being began to ache. Her chest was like a vast, hollow drum. Guilt dragged at her like an oppressive weight.

She could not leave Gabriel, not like this -- not like a thief in the night. They had come so far, and gone through too much to give up so easily. Now that the future was in her hands, she found herself searching the depths of her heart for the truth.

Unbidden, her mind filled with memories. In the space of a heartbeat, she relived every word, every sweeping touch -- every tender caress -- that passed between them. With her palm, she cradled the soft down of Jonathan's head. A loving fingertip traced the shape of his brows, brows that even now resembled his father's arrogant slant.

Her heart squeezed. Gabriel was right. Jonathan was his child, too... and she loved him all the more because he was so much his father's son ...

Just as she loved Gabriel. With every breath, every beat of her heart. And the thought of living without him was far more terrifying than anything could possibly be.

Don't leave me again, Cassie. Promise me you won't leave me again.

The words were a burning echo in her brain.

I would sooner cut off my arm than harm you.

She believed him, she realized, feeling the emotion rise inside her like a surging tide, powerful and endless. She believed in him.

And now, having found the answers that had so eluded her, she could not continue this course she had so rashly pursued.

They were not far from Farleigh. Another ten minutes and they would pass the gates. Raising her chin, she tugged on Reginald's sleeve.

"Please stop," she said when she had gained his attention.

With a jerk of the reins, he brought the curricle to a halt.

"What is it, girl?"

Cassie shook her head, "I'm sorry," she said levelly. "But I cannot do this. I cannot leave Gabriel like this. It. .. it is not right."

"What! Do you mean to tell me you wish return to Warrenton?"

"No, Your Grace," she said softly. "I would like to go home. To Farleigh Hall." She paused. "To my husband."

Something raced across his florid features, something that she could have sworn was rage ...

Instinct pressed her spine against the leather-backed seat. Very slowly he turned his head to look at her. She stared into gleaming dark eyes alight with the frenzy of madness.

"Perhaps you are right ..." He threw back his head and laughed then. A grating, horrible laugh. A menacing laugh.

A laugh that chilled her to the very marrow of her bones.

"You wish to return to Farleigh, eh? Well, so you shall, girl. So you shall."

Gabriel did not return to Farleigh. Instead he rode to Christopher's manor. There he paced the length of the drawing room, past white-sheeted furniture, until Christopher grew dizzy simply watching him.

Gabriel was angry. Angry at himself, angry at Cassie for provoking him into saying something he had never intended to say --- certainly something he did not mean.

But he was far more furious over his helplessness, his inability to trace the source of Cassie's tormentor. He smote his fist against his palm All this time and still no answers! Was he blind ... or merely a fool? Throughout the day, he'd had the nagging feeling there was something he had overlooked, something right beneath his nose.....

"Gabriel, this pacing will gain you nothing," Christopher observed dryly "while I, on the other hand, may have to replace my carpet far sooner than I care to. "When his friend did not slow his pace," he sighed. "You made the right choice. After what happened at Farleigh, Cassie is safer at Warrenton right now."

Gabriel ground to a halt. "You are right." He dragged a hand down his face. "If the past is any indication, she is far more likely to encounter foul play at Farleigh than at Warrenton. If there had been even the slightest possibility of her encountering danger there, I would never have allowed her to go. And yet I cannot rid myself of this feeling that...."

All at once he stopped. Christopher straightened abruptly in his chair. Gabriel was staring vaguely into space; for the life of him, he looked as if he'd seen a ghost.

"What?" Christopher demanded. "What is it?"

Gabriel shook his head, as if he were stunned. "Cassie said the oddest thing today. She said that I would stand to gain the freedom to marry where I chose if she were gone."

"A morbid thought, that." Christopher grimaced. "This cannot be easy on her, Gabriel. She will come to her senses, surely -"

"It's not that," he said numbly. "Christopher, don't you see? She was right. If she were gone. I would be a widower -- it would almost be," his voice fell to a whisper, "as if I'd never been married at all."

Christopher's gaze narrowed. "I'm not quite sure I follow you. Do you mean to say that you would be free to marry Evelyn once again?"

"Yes ... yes!" Both fear and excitement gathered in his voice.

Christopher lurched to his feet, swearing hotly. "By God, Gabriel, you go too far! How dare you suggest Evelyn would try to kill Cassie simply so the two of you could marry! Why, Evelyn could hurt no one, let alone Cassie --!'"

Gabriel gripped his arms. "No," he said grimly. "But can you say the same of the duke of Warrenton?"

Christopher was stunned. "My God " he breathed. "Her father. . ."

"Think, Christopher, think! The duke was in residence at Warrenton when Cassie was shot. He was in London with Evelyn when she was abducted."

"And he was at Farleigh when her chocolate was drugged." Christopher went as pale as his friend. "Gabriel, we must do something."

Both set out at a dead run for the stable.

At Warrenton, Evelyn had no sooner come down the stairs than Gabriel was before her. "I have come for Cassie, Evelyn. Where is she?"

Evelyn's smile wavered. "My father took her and Jonathan out for a drive in the curricle. They've been gone ... oh, perhaps a quarter-hour."

"No .., oh, God, no!" Gabriel's face turned ashen. "We must find them. We must find them before it's too late!"

Evelyn glanced to Christopher. "Something is wrong," she said slowly. "Oh, please tell me what has happened!"

Christopher took her elbow, his expression pained. "Evelyn," he began. "For your sake, I hope we are wrong. . ."

She was much stronger than he had realized ... for she was with them when they left Warrenton moments later at a breakneck pace. And it was she whose sharp gaze first spied the curricle sitting by the side or the rutted roadway ...

Empty, but for a screaming infant.

Chapter 26.

Jonathan was plucked from his mother's arms. Warrenton leaped heavily to the ground. "Get out!" he snarled.

Her pulse pounding violently, Cassie climbed from the curricle. She stretched out her arms "Please," she pleaded. "My baby..."

Warrenton's eyes were glittering. He thrust Jonathan onto the floor of the curricle. Jarred awake, Jonathan began to whimper and squirm. Cassie darted forward but Warrenton grabbed arm and yanked her to him.

"No!" she screamed. "Oh, God, are you mad? My baby!"

Warrenton paid no heed. Pudgy fingers gouged into her soft flesh, cutting off her circulation. He dragged her through the trees alongside the road. Though she resisted mightily, her struggles were no match for his bulk and strength. Through the haze of trunks and branches there was a glimmer of water. An icy foreboding shot through her. A soundless scream echoed in her brain. The lake! Oh, sweet heaven, not there, not the lake! In an attempt to thwart him, she stumbled and dropped to her knees. Warrenton yanked her to her feet so viciously she feared her arm would be wrenched from its socket.

He did not halt until they reached the end of the small dock that jutted into the waters.

He retreated a step. "So you do not swim, eh, girl? Very fortuitous of you to enlighten me." With a grinning leer he taunted her.

It was all she could do not to break down. He meant to kill her. She could see the deadly intent in the gleam of his eyes.

"It was you who shot at me, wasn't it? And that man in London... did you hire him to kill me? I remember one day riding back to Farleigh -- you watched me, didn't you? And the chocolate -- you put something in my chocolate that morning!"

"Yes, my dear, and you were right. It was laudanum. And my aim was deplorable that day, to be sure. And that fool in London!" He cursed foully. "You put me to a great deal of trouble, you know. I wanted to have done with it, but when the first two attempts were botched, I had to bide my time. It was my intent to make it appear an accident, you see. And those months when you disappeared -- I prayed you'd be found dead in some alley. But then you had to return!" His features contorted into an evil mask.

She could hardly speak for the awful constriction her throat. "Why? Why do you hate me so? I have done nothing to you!"

"Nothing! Why, were it not for you, Gabriel would even now be wed to Evelyn!"

"Evelyn was relieved at finding Gabriel already married! She did not want to be his wife!"

He shook his head. "It's not a case of Evelyn's wants. No, it's more a case of needs must. You see, my dear, it's my fondest wish to restore Warrenton to its former grandeur ... you've noticed it's in a rather disreputable state of late? I've other estates which must be maintained as well. And I fear I've grown fond of gambling these last years ... a pity my luck is not what it once was! Indeed, my dear, my debts at this moment are monstrous! Can you imagine -- the duke of Warrenton in the poorhouse? Why, my ancestors would surely turn over in their graves if they knew! My only hope is to see Evelyn married to a wealthy suitor."

Her lips parted. "So that is why you sought a marriage between her and Stuart -- and urged marriage between her and Gabriel."

"Clever girl. But I have my family honor to uphold, you know. I could scarcely marry off my daughter to a nobody in the merchant class. Ah. but once you are dead, all can be as before. Evelyn and Gabriel will be free to wed."

He glanced from Cassie's face to the glimmering surface of the lake, and back again.

"I must say, it's altogether fitting that you should die like Caroline -- and so fortunate that the lake is so distant from Farleigh Hall. Oh, yes, my dear, I fear you will be the victim of an accident, just like poor Caroline." He gave a dramatic sigh. "And I alas, was simply unable to rescue you before you succumbed! A tragic loss, I fear -- but in your death lies my salvation."

Terror twisted Cassie 's insides. He was right. There was no one to see. No one to hear. The story he would concoct would sound entirely plausible, so plausible no one would ever guess he had murdered her ...

Warrenton drew a small but deadly-looking pistol from his pocket. He gestured toward the water. "Now, my dear. Will you jump, or must I resort to this?" An expression of distaste crossed his features. "I pray you choose the former, for I truly have no desire to use this. It's so very messy, you know."

Cassie regarded him in stricken horror. It was just as in her dream, she realized numbly. Behind her was the lake, its waters serene and pristine. But beneath the surface lurked a dark world of gloom and death. Her greatest fear was of drowning, and that was how she would die ... a slow, choking death.

Slowly she shook her head. "I -- I will not jump. You will have to -- to shoot me." In truth it was scarcely bravery that prompted her -- quite the opposite.

An evil smile crept along Warrenton's lips. Before she knew what he was about, he seized her arm and spun her around. There was a forceful shove between her shoulder blades. A scream welled in her throat as she felt herself flying forward, her feet leaving the safety of the dock.

Frigid water closed over her head. She plummeted deep ... still deeper through black, murky depths of icy cold. Sheer terror clogged her veins. She managed to surface once, her mouth dragging in one precious gulp of air.

Then she was sinking again. She tried to kick, but her skirts tangled heavily around her legs so that she could not move. She felt herself being, dragged down, ever down ...

Gabriel, her mind screamed. Oh, Gabriel, help me....

She did not see the two men who raced frantically across the meadow toward the lake. A slight feminine figure trailed distantly behind, her arms clutched around a small, screaming bundle.

Warrenton threw back his head. His sinister laughter turned to a gasp of disbelief as pounding footsteps shook the dock on which he stood.

Christopher reached him first. He lunged for Warrenton and wrapped his arms around the older man. "Hurry!" he shouted to Gabriel. "She just went down again!"

Gabriel tore off his boots and flung them aside, his gaze pinned on the place he'd last seen Cassie. "Jesus," he breathed. "Let it not be too late!" The next instant he knifed cleanly into the water.

Cassie was unaware of the sharp tug at the back of her gown. She panicked, flailing wildly. Searing fire scalded her lungs, so desperate was she for air, but she would not open her mouth to breathe, for she knew what awaited her. Her head swam dizzily. A numbing curtain of unconsciousness began to smother her. She had but one thought. So this is what it was like to die ...

Somehow Gabriel snared her about the waist. With a mighty kick and an upsurge of power he shot above the surface. His legs churned as he towed his precious burden toward the bank, carefully striving to keep her head above the water. His chest labored with exertion, his muscles straining when at last succeeded in dragging her ashore.

He scrambled to his knees, cradling her in his arms. His hands were shaking as he pushed aside the streaming hair from her face. Her flesh was milky white and cold. Her eyes were closed, her lashes spiked wetly against her cheeks. His heart leaped in fear.

"Cassie," he cried hoarsely. "Cassie, open your eyes, sweet. Open your eyes!"

Slowly she stirred. Her lungs heaved. She gave a sputtering, choking cough, then a racking, wheezing breath. Her eyes fluttered open.

"Never tell me!" she said with a gasp. "Am I dead then?"

His groan was half-laugh, half-sob. "Why, Yank, do you fancy yourself in heaven once again?" He clasped her tight against his breast.

Awareness returned in full bloom. Though it sapped all her strength, she lifted her arms and tugged his dripping head to hers. "Do you know," she whispered against his lips, "I believe I do."

But it was a moment destined to be altogether short-lived. Nearby there was a resounding blast, and then a high-pitched scream. Gabriel's head jerked up. Cassie strained upward. "No! Don't look, don't look!" He tried to urge her cheek into the hollow of his neck.

She cried out sharply. "Tell me! I must know!"

"It's Warrenton, sweet. He ... he turned the pistol on himself."

"No! Oh, no! Oh, poor Evelyn ..." She bowed her head and began to cry. Tenderly, gently, Gabriel gathered her close. The nightmare was over. It was time to go home.

Back in her room at Farleigh, Cassie tightened the sash or her robe. A long hot bath had done much to drive the cold and ache from her muscles, but she was still too restless to sleep..

Her mind strayed to all that had happened tonight. In spite of everything, she could not hate the duke of Warrenton. She felt only sorrow and regret. Her heart went out to Evelyn, for Evelyn had been there to witness her father's choice to end his life. And yet, Cassie sensed that her friend's grief was tempered by Christopher's presence, for it was Christopher who comforted her, in Christopher s arms where she had wept. Christopher loved her, and Cassie did not doubt that Christopher's love would go far in healing Evelyn's wounds.