A Christmas Escape by Anne Perry Read Free Book Online Page A

were torn and stained with earth, dust, and what looked like blood. His hat was gone, his hair caked with dirt and sweat, and he was limping. He was clearly in a vile temper.
    “Didn’t wait for me, I see!” he snarled. “Could have been dead, for all any of you cared!” He looked at Isla as he said it.
    She pushed her chair back and stood.
    Candace turned to Bailey, her eyes wide. Without appearing to be aware of it, she reached out her hand and put it on Finbar’s wrist gently.
    “You appear to be hurt, Mr. Bailey,” she said calmly. “Did you fall down coming home in the dark?” She spoke with much concern, but her choice of words suggested it was his own fault.
    Charles winced. He could see in Bailey’s face the way he had read the remark.
    “You’re hurt!” Isla said anxiously, before he could respond. “We must clean your wounds and bandage them in case they become infected. Stefano will put something by for you to eat later.” She moved toward him nervously.
    Bailey waved his hand to keep her away, as if her ministrations irritated him. He glared at Candace.
    “No, I did not fall over on my way home in the dark, young woman. I was attacked. Just as the sun was setting. Someone tried to kill me!” He stopped, allowing the horror and amazement to soak into the room.
    “Kill you?” Finbar said in amazement. It was not possible to tell from his voice whether he believed Bailey or not.
    “They didn’t do a very good job of it,” Candace whispered to Charles.
    Charles tried to look stern and, knowing he’d failed, put his napkin up to his mouth. Please heaven Bailey did not look at him!
    “That’s terrible.” Candace tried to sound sympathetic.
    “Have you any idea who it was?” Finbar asked him.
    “No idea at all,” Bailey said bitterly. “It could have been any of you!”
    Isla looked dreadfully pale. “That’s an awful thing to say!” she protested. “Why on earth would you think it was any of us?”
    “Because we know him,” Candace replied. Then realizing how that sounded, she colored bright pink with annoyance at herself and embarrassment.
    Bailey glared at her, but he was too furious to speak immediately.
    Charles tried to rescue the situation. “Were you robbed, Mr. Bailey?” He thought it more likely that the man had fallen but was too ashamed to admit it.
    “Your watch, perhaps?” Quinn asked, his face perfectly composed. If there was a shred of sarcasm in him, he did not reveal it.
    Bailey chose to ignore him.
    “They did not need to half kill me simply to pick my pocket!” he snapped, but at all of them except Quinn, toward whom he kept his back turned.
    “You are quite right,” Charles said soberly. “It looks as if you were unpleasantly injured, and it could have been much worse. Maybe you were stronger than they assumed?”
    “Much,” Bailey agreed. “Many people have made that mistake.” He glanced over toward Bretherton. “People tend to imagine that because they are taller, they are also stronger.”
    “Was he taller?” Charles asked, and then wondered why he was doing so. He was the latest arrival, the last in command, so to speak. But no one else seemed to be overly concerned. Either they did not know what to say or—on the other hand—they did not really want to know who was responsible. Or worse than that, perhaps they already knew. Was that possible? Could one of the people sitting here at this charming dinner table have crept up on Bailey in the dark and struck him down so that he was injured in the fall, his clothes torn and his legs bleeding?
    If he had fallen some time ago, higher up the mountain, barely at dusk, then it was possible. They had all been alone, except for him and Candace.
    Bailey looked around at them all, considering them one by one. “I don’t know,” he said at last. “He had the advantage of surprise. I was deep in thought and did not hear him on the soft ground. He struck suddenly, and very hard.” He appeared somewhat