Page 19 of Persuasions of an Earl's Daughter

“What the devil happened?”

“I had to escape so I jumped in the river upstream.”

She said this as though she was explaining she’d be taking tea with the Duchess of York next Saturday and had not just escaped dangerous men by taking a dunk in a river that was hardly a gentle stream. He glanced at the ropes abandoned on the ground.

And she’d done it all bound apparently.

“They were not very good kidnappers,” she explained. “Terrible at knot tying.”

“So you jumped into the river?”

“Well, I thought they might try to pursue me on foot, and they were stronger than me.” Lilly spoke slowly as though he were dense indeed.

He worked hard to match up the images in his mind with any young lady he knew and struggled. Lady Lilly Musgrave was a different sort of creature entirely. And one made for survival it seemed. He couldn’t help but admire her. He also knew what it was like to fight like the devil for survival.

“Your aunt has arrived at the inn,” he said for want of anything else sensible to utter.

“Oh thank goodness. I was worried for her.”

August couldn’t keep back the laugh bubbling in his throat.

“What is it?”

He shook his head. He wasn’t going to explain how petrified he’d been for her. From the way she was looking at him right now, she’d think him nonsensical. Why would any man worry about Lilly Musgrave being taken against her will?

Unbuttoning his jacket, he swiftly shucked it off and slung it over her shoulders. “I want that back,” he warned.

She nodded and shrunk into the jacket. It swallowed her and reminded him of how small she was. Everything about her, from the odd stompy manner with which she walked to the way she met his gaze told him of strength, of a woman who wanted for nothing. But she needed him right now, even if just to keep her warm, and that tugged at some strange, unknown part of him.

“Did you know I’d come for you?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said with the slightest of smiles. “I was tired, and I figured you would not be too far behind.”

He didn’t much enjoy being predictable, however, her utter faith in him made a smile stretch across his face.

“The groom said they kidnapped you to get to Icarus.”

“I imagine the silly men thought they could use me to find him.” She lifted her hands. “They saw Icarus and overheard where the thieves were taking him but I think their plan didn’t seem very well put together at all.”

Shaking his head, he eyed her and tried to imagine any other woman shrugging off a kidnapping so easily. “Let’s get you back to your aunt.”

Chapter Seven

If someone asked Lilly to explain the sensation she’d experienced when she saw August riding toward her, his expression almost wild, his appearance unpolished, she’d have struggled. All she knew was that it was like coming home to a warm fire after being caught in a storm.

She feltthingsdeep in her chest and low in her stomach, but she couldn’t place them.

When he tugged the lapels of his jacket about her, enclosing her in warmth and spicy scent, the wordsafesettled in her mind.

It was odd to her that she liked the word. Safety had never really been something she pursued. She’d climbed trees as a child and skated over frozen lakes that were likely not frozen enough and even as an adult, she rode too fast and spoke too brashly.

There was enough safety in her life. She had a brother who would look after her in her dotage and sisters who would defend her to the ends of the earth not to mention the privilege of wealth and parents who loved her—perhaps too much at times.

It didn’t matter how many bruised knees she came home with or how often she scared her mother by vanishing for hours on end into the forests of her father’s estate—they still loved with an almost annoying dedication. Could they not see that she was real? that she was human? She was notjustthe youngest sister, the one they should all dote upon.

She was not just a wealthy young woman with no dreams beyond living comfortably. She craved adventure and newness so much it ached. So the idea of wishing to be safe was odd indeed.

When she met August’s gaze, the feelings in her chest only expanded. He looked her over, a crease tucked between his brows. He wore no hat, leaving his golden hair ruffled, and affording her a far too good a look at the planes of his face and the brilliant blue of his eyes.

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