Gorse snagged at her skirts. The wild moorland ponies and the sheep had eaten everything else, leaving the prickly shrub to mass along the paths and tracks. Her boots barely protected her ankles as she slid on granite rocks that erupted everywhere, but she managed to stay up with Jack and kept her balance.The warmth of his skin teased her through her thin leather gloves. She tugged at his hand. “You should let me lead.”“You’re safer with me up front.”“I am the one who knows where the cottage is.”He shrugged and kept walking. “Then tell me which way to go. Wouldn’t you rather I be the one to smash my shins or fall in a hole?” Her heart felt heavy and tight. “I would have thought you felt I deserved such punishment—for putting you in prison.”“You told the truth of what you saw. I’d never condemn you for that.” His words were kind but his voice was ice cold. He stopped abruptly, a shadow in the mist, and she had to walk right up to him to see his eyes. “Let’s make one thing clear, Lady M.
