Page 38 of The Trouble with Tigers
Lady Lillian waved off the compliment and peered at Kitty’s face. “Now I see you, I can’t believe you played the part of a boy these past months. With your fine bone structure and that porcelain skin, it’s a wonder anyone believed the ruse. Bravo.”
Kitty’s spirits lifted a little. Someone had apprised Lady Lillian of at least some of the facts, and she didn’t appear appalled. “Yes, well, Lord Claybourne and I tried to keep a low profile. At least, that had been the plan.” She slanted a meaningful glance at Zeke.
He stared out the window at the passing terrain, two fingers holding the curtain aside. He gave no indication he’d heard Kitty’s pointed remark.
Just as well, considering he had just rescued her. “Lord Thurgood,” she began, “I confess, I’m more than a little surprisedyoucame.”
When he made no reply, merely shifted his gaze in her direction, she went on. “May I ask where we’re heading, or rather, where you’re taking me?”
One corner of his mouth kicked up. “Weren’t you listening, darling? We’re off to Maidstone to fetch some of your things. Such as gowns and dainty little slippers.” He waggled his fingers at the last. “Perhaps you’ve heard of them? Ladies wear them.”
She ignored the barb, and instead focused the more important point. “All the way to Maidstone? That’s very kind of you. What will you tell Garrick?”
He leaned back, spreading his arms to rest them on top of the seat cushion. He appeared genuinely perplexed. “I don’t follow.”
“What will you tell my cousin when we—I—never arrive at Chissington Hall?”
“Lady Hastings,” Zeke said in a silken voice. “We are heading for Hastings House, where we will retrieve some of your clothes and girly accessories. Afterwards, we will make for Derby, where we will”—he paused to heave a world weary sigh—“act out our brief engagement.”
Chapter Nine
Kitty stared at Zeke, recumbent on the coach bench across from her. “You’re actually going along with the earl’s mad scheme?”
“Leave it to two men,” Lady Lillian intoned in disgust. “You didn’t bother to fill the poor girl in on any of this?”
“There wasn’t time," Zeke replied neutrally. "Grandfather and I worked it all out last night after she’d gone.”
“You and the earl worked out precisely what?” Kitty asked.
Zeke glanced at her, his expression inscrutable. “In brief, we shall act out the part of a betrothed couple. Announcements will be posted in theTimes, documents will be produced, etcetera, etcetera.”
“You said…acting?”
“Acting.” He enunciated the word with precision. “As a favor to the earl, I’ve agreed to act the part of your fiancé until you’ve reached your majority, or your cousin has ceased being a nuisance, whichever comes first.”
A nuisance. That was one way to put it. She folded her hands in her lap. “What will happen at that point?”
“You will break off our engagement, and I will get on with my life.”
She nodded, thoughtful. It could work. “I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”
He nodded once. “So long as you don’t get the idea our betrothal is legitimate, all will be well.”
Kitty felt her cheeks blossom with heat.
Lady Lillian spoke up on her behalf. “Ezekiel Thurgood, that is quite unnecessary. You should apologize immediately.”
Kitty sniffed. “That’s quite all right, Lady Lillian.” She lifted her chin. “To put your mind at ease, my lord, no, I do not expect to find the two of us betrothed in six month’s time. In all honesty, I fail to understand why we’re bothering with the pretense.”
“My sentiments precisely. But the earl was adamant.”
So the earl had cowed him into it. It shouldn’t hurt. It did. “I could disappear again? It seems a far less convoluted plan.”
“For you. But it’d leave the earl wide open to accusation and scandal when your guardian goes screaming to the authorities and anyone else who might choose to listen.”
Kitty’s shoulders slumped. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
“That much is obvious.”
