Captive Pride

Roberts and his cohorts glared futilely at Matthew, but he ignored them as he moved into the hall and opened the door for them.

“Good night, gentlemen,” he said curtly. He shut the door with firm finality behind them and then breathed a huge sigh of relief that they were gone.

As Edward Demorest sat in his study trying to enjoy his usual after-di

“CC.” He knocked softly at her chamber door. “CC, I’d like to speak with you.”

There was no answer to his knock, and he frowned slightly. He knew A

“CC. I’d like to speak with you. Please open the door.”

He paused, awaiting her response, but silence was all that greeted him.

“CC?” Edward called her name. “CC, is something wrong?”

There was still no answer, and he began to grow worried. Anxiously, he tried the doorknob, and he was distressed to find the door locked.

“Mr. Demorest? Is there something the matter?” A

“Yes. It’s CC. She’d not answering… Perhaps she’s taken ill. Quick, bring me the extra set of keys.”

“Yes, sir.”

Within moments A

“CC? CC, my dear, if you’re ill…A

Edward started in the direction of his daughter’s bed, fully expecting to find CC there. As A

“By God! She’s not even here!” He wasn’t sure if he was more astonished or furious. “A

“Nothing, sir!” she answered quickly, defensively.

“The truth, A

“That is the truth, sir!” she cried, fearful of losing her job. “I brought up the di

“I see.” Edward’s eyes narrowed as he looked about the room, noting her hastily discarded clothing and the open window. “You didn’t see her or talk to her after that?”

“No, sir.”

He knew then how she’d made her escape, and he became even more upset.

“Mr. Demorest, sir, do you suppose she’s all right?”

“Don’t worry about it, A

“Yes, sir.” A

Edward crossed the room to close and lock the door before blowing out the lamp. Settling down in the chair beside the bed, he folded his arms across his chest and sat back to wait. If CC thought she’d witnessed the full potency of his anger over her visit to Kincade at the jail, she was wrong, he vowed silently as he contemplated a suitable punishment for such an unruly, wayward young female.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

CC moved cautiously through the darkly shadowed rebel hideout. Though she could detect no sign of anyone’s presence in the old two-story structure, she knew better than to assume that there was no one around. For years they’d been forced to meet in secret, and they were most adept at disguising their whereabouts. CC was aware that there were several windowless meeting rooms in the building, and it was in one of these that she hoped to finally locate Ryan.

CC ascended the staircase as quietly as possible, and when she reached the hall, she noted with relief that light was shining from beneath the door to one of the rooms. Quickly she rushed forth, anxious to impart her news about Noah’s treachery so that precautions could be taken against any possible action by the Crown.

CC knew a momentary pang of sorrow over the fact that she had to tell Ryan of Noah’s betrayal, but the memory of the scene at the jail between Noah and Eve assailed her then, erasing any kinder emotion she might have felt for him. She had always known that he was a double-dealer, and she felt foolish for having believed any of what Matthew had told her last night. She was glad now that she had not arrived at the jail before Eve. Who knows what kind of a fool she would have made of herself, professing her love to him? Her witnessing of his embrace with Eve had cured her of wanting him, and any love she had felt for him was buried beneath a hard shell of hate. It was in that frame of mind that CC knocked once on the door to a

Noah, try as he might, had only managed to get a few minutes’ sleep since being left there. Unable to rest, he had lain upon the bed trying to come to grips with what he really wanted from life. His entire plan for the future had been destroyed by the events of the past few days, and he had to admit to himself that he was not altogether sorry. Matthew’s blunt assessment of his character had shocked him, and yet at the same time it had forced him to accept the ugly truth about himself. He had changed. He had become a different person, and Noah knew he didn’t like the man he’d become.

Looking back objectively, Noah could see how the humiliation of his father’s failure had rendered him a slave to his obsessive desire to “prove” his worth to those who’d shu

A sound in the hall interrupted Noah’s thoughts, and thinking it to be one of Ryan’s men returning to check on him, he quickly got up and started toward the door as it swung open.

CC stepped inside the room fully expecting to come face-to-face with Ryan and several other members of the group. Instead she found herself staring up at Noah. He looked so tall and so handsome that for a minute she froze, overwhelmed by his very nearness. Her hands went cold and clammy, and her heart began to pound in her breast. What was he doing here? Of all the people she’d expected to see when she came through the door, he had been the last. Her moment of disbelief was brief. He was a double-dealing traitor!