Page 64 of The Mysterious Miss Lydia
But if she was to spend the rest of her life with this man—or even begin to contemplate it—then she needed to be straightforward with him now about what she wanted. “I’m tired of watching from the shadows,” she said. “I’m through letting others dictate my future. I can’t just sit back while the man my father wants me to marry—”
“I know.” His soft utterance cut through her rambling as surely as if he’d shouted.
For the second time she found herself blinking up at him in shock. “Pardon?”
His smile was slow and sweet as he placed his hands on her waist, about to tug her forward until Miss Farthington cleared her throat.
He and Lydia glanced over to see her and Mr. Grant exchanging a look. “What?” Miss Farthington said. “A headmistress ought to have some rules.”
The way the man smiled made Lydia’s heart swell on her friend’s behalf. Nowthatwas the look of a man smitten. A fact she now knew because Luke was smiling at her in that very same way—as if she were the center of his world.
As if she hung the moon and he was privileged to be at her side.
It was a truly marvelous smile, and Lydia basked in it as he lowered his voice for her ears only. “That was why I came here tonight, my love. I don’t want to see you in any danger, but I also know that I can’t treat you like a breakable treasure.” His fingers clasped her waist harder as emotion flickered in his gaze. “I came here to tell you that I understand that. I don’t want to be like every other person in your life, mistaking your quiet thoughtfulness and your gentle spirit for cowardice or weakness.”
Her eyes stung with unshed tears at words she never expected to hear.
She wasn’t even entirely sure she believed them herself…but she wanted to. She desperately wanted that to be true.
“You don’t think I’m cowardly and weak?” she asked.
“No,” he breathed. “I truly do not. But...” His brows came down in a fierce scowl. “That doesn’t mean I condone you being in the way of danger either.”
She smiled. “I see. So that means...”
“So that means that you must pursue every adventure, my darling...” His lips quirked up in a smile. “But only so long as you allow me to be at your side to protect you.”
Her lips quivered, this unexpected joy making her heart full to the point of bursting. “I think that’s a deal I can strike.”
His smile warmed her all the way through. “Good. Then I do believe you and I have a traitor to catch.”
19
Turned out, it wasn’t just Luke and Lydia who made their way to the gardens that night. Richard insisted on coming as well, and then Miss Farthington demanded that she be allowed to join as Lydia’s protection against ruination.
A very thin line of defense there, Luke was certain they all agreed. But it was the ‘modicum of decorum’ Miss Farthington insisted upon as Lydia’s chaperone, and in the end she won out.
“She’s a surprisingly forceful one, isn’t she?” Luke murmured to Lydia as he helped her into his carriage.
She smiled up at him, and with the moonlight gleaming in her hair, she’d never looked more beautiful. “Oh yes, she’s much stronger than she looks.”
Luke wondered if Richard realized that as the man was doting over the petite headmistress like she was made of glass. He held her arm gently as he led her to the carriage.
For a moment Luke could have believed they were all heading off to the opera, or for some picnic. But no, he was heading to a clandestine rendezvous with his soon-to-be fiancée, her chaperone, and a scientist.
He said a silent prayer that God was on their side tonight. For they might very well require a miracle to get the best of Wendell that evening.
They arrived at the destination early, and while the carriage circled, the foursome found a place to hide.
“This is cozy, is it not?” Miss Farthington whispered.
She and Lydia shared a grin. “It is rather,” Lydia murmured.
They were all so close, one wrong move from Luke and they’d all topple in a heap in the bushes.
And then...they waited.
And waited some more.
