Page 36 of The Storybook Hero
“Be that as it may, it would be beyond churlish for me not to express my heartfelt gratitude for your actions at the inn. Without your unselfish courage and cleverness, our fate would have been … unspeakable.”
“Well, it didn’t come to that, so let us put the matter behind us,” he said quickly. Then, as if to keep her from dwelling on such disturbing thoughts, he quickly changed the subject. “Now that you know of my travails, it’s time you explain to me just how you have come to be wandering with Miss Renfrew in the wilds of the countryside.”
She told him briefly what had happened, sticking to the barest of facts, but when she finished, his brow was furrowed in anger as well as concern.
“The greedy louts,” he muttered. “They should be horsewhipped for abandoning the two of you.”
Octavia’s jaw tightened. “Indeed. And you may be sure that I shall see to it that Emma never again has to endure the prospect of life with relatives who offer no warmth or affection ,but care only to wrest some sort of advantage for themselves from someone else’s vulnerability.”
He didn’t answer, but a thoughtful expression came over his features as he guided the horses around a fallen spruce. It was only after the sleigh had brushed through a small drift of snow that he spoke again “You mean to take the girl back to England?”
She nodded.
“And so you go to St. Petersburg as well.” It was a statement rather than a question. “Just how do you expect to manage that?”
Octavia’s spine stiffened. “That’s hardly any of your concern. You may leave us off at the next coaching stop. I have sufficientfunds and am perfectly capable of …” Her voice caught for a fraction as she recalled what had just happened. “of managing a simple journey for the two of us.” Even to her own ears, her bravado rang rather hollow.
Alex gave a snort. “How long do you think it will take to have that scene at the inn repeated, Miss Hadley?”
Her chin came up a fraction.
“You may be as stubborn as a mule, but you’re not a fool. You were very lucky that I happened along, but Lady Luck is a fickle companion. I wouldn’t count on her company. A female traveling alone and unprotected is a tempting target for all manner of rapacious men, especially in this country.” When she still didn’t speak, he added, “If I leave you off as you wish, I don’t doubt that you will be robbed and raped by morning.”
She sucked in her breath. “I certainly appreciate your tact and delicacy, Mr. Leigh.” The edge of sarcasm in her voice was honed by the fact that she knew he was most likely right. “But you’re forgetting that I have a pistol with which to defend myself.”
“It might make a difference if you could hit what you are aiming at,” he retorted. “And perhaps you’re forgetting that the sort of cur we are talking about usually runs in a pack.”
Octavia refused to let her shoulders sag under the weighty truth of his words. “Well, I have no choice,” she snapped. “So I will just have to cope as best I can.”
“You do have a choice, Miss Hadley, though I fear I can’t promise it will be any less perilous than the other alternative.” His lips twitched. “However, only your life may be at stake if you come with me, not your virtue.”
Despite the seriousness of the situation, she couldn’t repress her own wry smile.. “How very reassuring.” Her expression then turned serious again. “You have enough troubles of your ownwithout being burdened with mine. Your offer is very kind but I must decline.”
Alex’s eyes narrowed. “Actually, I was wrong. Youdon’thave a choice. I can’t in good conscience allow you to take such a reckless risk. You and the child are coming with us.”
In truth, relief coursed through her, but she still felt a twinge of guilt for adding to his troubles. “You needn’t feel compelled by some absurd notion of gentlemanly honor to put yourself in such an awkward position.”
He stared straight ahead, a rigid set to his lean features. “Because, of course, I am no gentleman?”
A soft laugh escaped her lips. “Mr. Leigh, if you were a gentleman, you wouldn’t be stuck in such a coil so far away from home. Outcasts and misfits like us don’t have the luxury of genteel scruples. We must make difficult choices in order to survive.”
He grinned. “There, you see? You’ve just admitted that we make a matched pair. Surely you cannot?—”
A shriek from inside the carriage interrupted the discussion.
Alex pulled the horses to a stop and jumped down from his perch. Octavia was right on his heels, and as he yanked the door open, she couldn’t quite believe her eyes..
Emma’s fur hat was sadly askew and her face was stained with tears. Nicholas’s cheek bore the angry red imprint of a slap, and though he refrained from any such unmanly display of emotion, his lower lip was quivering quite perceptibly.
“Good Lord,” muttered Alex under his breath. “At least the two of us have not yet found it necessary to come to blows.”
“At least not yet,” murmured Octavia. In a louder voice she sought to sort out the trouble. “Emma—” she began.
“He pulled my braid!” wailed the girl.
“She called me a bad name!” cried the boy at the same time.
“I did not!”
