Page 28 of The Tempting of a Devilish Lord

“This will not be the end of us, and my driving is excellent, thank you.”

He kept his body pressed close to hers and his jaw clamped tight, so she didn’t hear his teeth chatter. Being so far down in the ground, the water was like ice, biting through his clothing. He’d already divested himself of his jacket and managed to work off his boots, losing them to the dark water beneath so they didn’t weigh him down, but he could not imagine how Lucy felt, surrounded by petticoats and tight corsets.

“Now I think you might be right about being adventurous,” she said quietly. “If I had known I would end up dying in a well at six-and-twenty...”

“There will be time for adventures,” he assured her. “Did I tell you of the time I climbed Grossglockner and nearly froze to death?”

“I donotwant to think about freezing to death.”

“It had a good ending. I got caught in an awful snowstorm and ended up climbing the wrong way. It took me far longer than it should have done to make my way back to camp. It took me nearly six months for my toes to cease being numb.”

“You are lucky you did not lose your toes!” She shuddered, and he pressed himself as close as humanly possible into her.

Neither of them had much heat left to preserve, but it made him feel better having her tucked against his chest and hopefully it helped her too.

“I nearly did,” he admitted. “But the point is, I survived that, and a damned well, will not be the end of us.”

“My mother does not approve of your adventures.” She gave a weak laugh. “She thinks it irresponsible for a titled gentleman to risk his health like that.”

“Your mother does not approve, oryoudo not?”

“Well, it is a little reckless...” She sniffed, the sound loud in the confines of the well and he hoped to God she was just cold and not crying.

“It’s nice to know you have been talking of me at least.”

“I was not talking of you,” she protested. “But you have been the gossip of the town since your arrival and you cannot expect otherwise, surely? One of the Lords of Scandal Row in our midst? It is certainly more diverting for most than talks of the weather.”

He allowed himself a grin. “Doyoufind it diverting to talk of me?”

“That is not what I meant!”

“I rather like the thought of you gossiping about me, Lucy.”

He heard her struggle for an answer and felt her body sag in defeat. Which meant shehadbeen talking of him and he most certainly liked that fact. However, he needed to keep her occupied until he could figure a way out of here or someone came along. With all the visitors to the area, surely someone would happen upon them eventually?

“Why do you do it?” she asked abruptly.

“Do what?”

“Behave as you do. A-all rakish and adventurous and whatnot. Mama said you were in the Alps for Christmas.”

“As I said, one never knows when life will end.”

“In a well,” she added miserably.

Alex eased out a breath. He hardly felt like talking about it, but he suspected it would be the best way to distract her. Women were forever begging him to share all of his woes with them. He would wager Lucy was no different.

Also, some odd part of him wished to be honest with her and spill all his secrets. There weren’t many but nevertheless he wanted to share them with her.

“My wife died abruptly and at a young age,” he said swiftly.

“I had heard. I am sorry, but I thought—”

“That I did not care. That I had no love for her.” He was well aware his plunge into numerous love affairs meant the newspapers and gossipers cast him as an unfeeling man, happy to be free from his arranged marriage.

She paused a moment. “Well, yes.”

“I scarcely knew Eliza, but she was a sweet woman and I anticipated us working well together. She was an excellent wife.”

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