Page 50 of When the Marquess Was Mine
Sunlight streamed through the windows the next morning. It should have been dark and gloomy, to match his mood, and Rob threw off the blankets rather grimly.
Georgiana came downstairs in her traveling clothes, and mentioned more than once over breakfast that they hoped to make a start soon. Lady Winston wished them Godspeed on the journey, and Geneva begged Georgiana to send her some fashion periodicals when she reached London. Rob recognized that he was the only person not anxious for them to leave, so he ate his breakfast in silence.
The travel chaise was waiting by the time they finished eating, their luggage loaded in the boot. Georgiana’s maid, Nadine, a round-faced girl with brown skin, climbed up with the driver, a small blessing he appreciated. Then Georgiana was hugging her hostess good-bye and stepping into the carriage. Rob said his thanks as well, adding a silent promise as Lady Winston wished him a full recovery and good health:I will not forget this.Whatever he had done to make the Winstons hate him, he would make up for it.
They drove off with cheery waves out the window, Geneva wagging her handkerchief. Georgiana waved for a long time, then finally fell back against the seat opposite him with a sigh.
“Glad it’s over?” he asked.
“Aren’t you?” she asked in astonishment.
No, he thought with a pang.
“I’ve been faint with fear I’d say the wrong thing, and cause a row with Kitty, or a setback for you, or even get us both thrown out of the house. Now I can breathe easily again,” Georgiana continued.
“Well.” He smiled wryly. “Breathing easily is good.”
She laughed, and he couldn’t help laughing, too.
The inn where they were to meet Tom was seven miles away. That left him barely two hours alone with Georgiana, and he did not know how to spend it. His brief moment of fury at her deception had dissipated in the face of her heartfelt apology, and the realization that she really meant to leave and not see him again.
Last night, he had wrestled with that. He ought to be pleased. She’d been lying to him from the start, and there was a chance she still was. Had he really said those dreadful things about her? He had no memory of it, but it did feel uncomfortably familiar. His friends would say things like that. If hehadsaid that, she was perfectly justified in hating him, and he would be well rid of her as well.
Instead he could think only of her cool hands on his feverish skin, of her voice readingThe Arabian Nightsin six different accents, of her eyes growing dark with desire when he caught her in the pond. Had she only been acting then? Or did she feel the same potent attraction he did?
In spite of everything, he wanted that part to be real.
“There are some things I must return to you.” Unaware of his turmoil, she opened her reticule and dug inside, producing a thick gold ring, engraved with a W. “It’s very distinctive.”
He slid it back onto his finger and closed his fist. It fit perfectly and felt right. “When did you take it?”
She blushed. “When everyone was in uproar at the beginning. I hid it in my stocking drawer.”
At the beginning, when she’d stripped off his clothing and tended his wounds. “You’re practically a spy.”
She rolled her eyes, but with a smile that made his stomach tighten. “Do you think? I’m sure I’d be found out and hanged at once if I tried any real spying.” She turned back to her reticule and took out a folded paper. “And there is this.”
He had a suspicion he knew what it was, and a quick read of the first few lines confirmed it. “Why are you giving it to me? You could give it to Lady Winston and put her mind at ease.”
She gazed at the document, then lifted her sea-green eyes to his. “I took it from you, and I should give it back to you.” She lifted one shoulder and turned to look out the window, not quite hiding the color in her cheeks. “I trust you to do the right thing with it.”
She obviously had not trusted him to do the right thing earlier. Rob slid it inside his jacket, not interested in discussing the deed. “Come sit by me.”
She blinked, startled. She’d taken the backward-facing seat before he could.
He moved over and patted the seat next to him. “It’s wretched to travel backward.”
“Oh! Yes, it is.” She switched seats without another word of protest. He caught a whiff of her perfume as she arranged her skirts, and he inhaled greedily. “Thank you,” she said with a warm glance at him.
“I didn’t want you to cast up your accounts on my boots,” he replied. “There’s been far too much illness between us already.”
She nodded fervently, and he grinned. Let nothing grim or unpleasant sully this last hour with her to himself.
“In the interest of that, then...” She tugged loose the ribbon on her bonnet and tossed it onto the opposite seat. Without hesitation Rob threw his own hat to join it, and she laughed in surprise. Encouraged, he stretched out his legs and even propped his left foot on the opposite seat. Georgiana scrunched up her nose, still smiling, and put up her own feet. Her leather half boots looked dainty and delicate next to his.
“Are you eager to return to London?” he asked.
“All things considered, yes.” She heaved a sigh. “Even to Lady Sidlow.”
