“Off the road! Quickly, quickly!” Jeremy snapped, giving Suzette a push toward the trees that nearly knocked her down.

Managing to keep her feet under her, she followed her father off the road and across the grass into the trees. Lord Madison continued walking until he came to an area with thick brush that offered cover, and then dropped to his haunches to duck behind it without Jeremy’s ordering him to. Suzette wasn’t surprised. They’d already done this twice before when carriages had approached. At this rate it was going to take a very long time to get to Gretna Green. Not that she cared. She had no desire to go anywhere with the man.

Under normal circumstances, Jeremy would probably be waving down the carriages for a ride to the next inn where he could rent a hack to finish the journey. However, he could hardly do that when he was holding them at pistol point, which made her wonder how he planned to get them to Gretna Green and force her to marry him.

“Down,” Jeremy snapped when she didn’t follow her father’s example and duck quickly enough. He also shoved down on her shoulder until she dropped to her haunches.

“Just how are you planning to get to Gretna Green like this, Danvers?” her father asked suddenly and Suzette glanced at him with a combination of surprise and relief. He hadn’t spoken a word since regaining consciousness and she’d begun to worry he’d taken more injury than she’d realized. She was glad to hear him speak at all, but was also interested in the answer to the question and after giving her father a small smile, turned her head to peer through the darkness to Jeremy.

His face was pale in the darkness, seeming to reflect the moonlight, and she saw his jaw clench before he said, “We are going to walk until we reach an inn, and then I am going to leave you two tied up in the woods while I rent a hack to take us the rest of the way.”

“Another driver to shoot?” she asked dryly.

“I will take the reins myself,” he said shortly. “Now shut up.”

Suzette scowled, but then turned her attention to the road as a carriage came into view on the lane. It was moving much slower than the last two that had passed. They had both been traveling at a gallop, obviously heading somewhere and eager to get there. But the driver of this carriage was keeping the horses moving at a slow trot, as if out for a ride through the park. There was also a second carriage traveling behind it at the same gait, Suzette noted, and narrowed her eyes on the vehicles as the hairs on the back of her neck began to stand up.

“It’s the boys.”