Page 66 of The Mysterious Miss Lydia
Lydia nodded and reached a hand out. It was then Luke saw the file Wendell held out.
The proof they needed to put Wendell in prison for life.
“You’re quiet tonight,” Wendell said. “Scared of the Home Office, are you? Well, I’ll tell you—”
“You have every right to be.” Sir Cedric’s voice boomed through the clearing, and Lydia was so startled she stumbled backward until she landed on her bottom. Luke rushed toward her as their friends followed right behind.
Chaos broke out all at once.
Wendell tried to run, but one of Sir Cedric’s men caught him easily as Sir Cedric headed toward Lydia with a fierce scowl that faded quickly into a wide-eyed look of shock. “Lydia!”
“I-I can explain,” she said.
“No, I can explain.” Luke was beside her, helping her to her feet and brushing off her cloak—a poor excuse to touch her, to reassure his racing heart that she was all right.
His Lydia was unharmed.
She smiled up at him in triumph as she held up the file. “Got it.”
He let out a shocked laugh as he drew her close, entirely forgetting for a minute that her father and a whole host of others were watching as he kissed her forehead. “You were amazing.”
Sir Cedric stepped between them sputtering. “Somebody had better explain what’s going on.” His face darkened a mottled red in the midst.
Luke flinched, but Lydia...
She laughed.
“I’ll explain everything, Father,” she assured the older man, patting the poor, astonished fellow on the arm consolingly. “But rest assured, Luke has already promised to marry me.”
Sir Cedric sputtered. Then he sputtered some more. “Luke?” he echoed.
Apparently, that was the most shocking part of the speech. Or at least the first part he clung to. “You call him Luke?”
He narrowed his eyes and Luke hastened to explain. “It’s not what you think...”
And then he drew a blank. He was speechless in the face of how to explain that he’d mistaken his daughter for a spy, and then a mistress, and then...
Well, then he’d gone and courted her in the most audacious way ever.
“I told you I’ll explain everything,” Lydia said, her tone so reassuring, even her father seemed to relax slightly.
Luke too looked at her with a new sense of wonder.
She looked so bold, so confident. And he suspected she’d only grow more so each day.
He rubbed at his chest. Had he truly thought it was so very important to hide in the shadows and seek out adventure.
That all paled in comparison to being the man to witness Lydia’s brilliance.
“I still don’t see how this came about, or what you’re doing here,” Sir Cedric said to Lydia.
“What’s important right now is that Lord Galena caught the man responsible for leaking sensitive information.” She leanedin and lowered her voice, but Luke heard her add, “The man you’d wanted me to marry.”
Her father paled. “I didn’t know.” He turned to Luke, still clearly irritated, but his gaze even and serious. “I didn’t believe...at first. And I’m sorry.”
At first. Luke didn’t miss that. “Did you have a change of heart?”
Sir Cedric sighed and nodded as he watched a babbling, irate Wendell be taken away. “I let sentiment get in the way, and it’s a mistake I’ll never forget or forgive. I got to thinking about your allegations, and while I’ll admit, I still didn’t believe it—or, I didn’t want to believe it. I’ve never known your instincts to be wrong before.”
