Page 61 of Fortune Favors the Viscount
Emilia had no idea when Nick had formed his plan of leaving town, but she was mightily impressed when she led the girls downstairs an hour later and found a travel coach waiting out front, their trunks already being loaded into the back. Pearce held a basket, covered with a cloth, which Lucy bounded forward to take with a wide smile. Charlotte hurried over to peer inside with her, and Emilia guessed those cakes wouldn’t last long.
“Everyone ready?” Nick came down the stairs behind her. Emilia turned and forgot how to speak.
She had only seen him in evening clothes or dressed for riding: polished, elegant, austere. It had never sat quite right on him, handsome though it was, and finally Emilia saw why. It had been a disguise.
Thiswas what he was. A ruffian, a rogue, a pirate lord. He might be on his way to rob stagecoaches on the turnpike. He was dressed all in black, save for the white shirt barely visible beneath a loosely knotted blue neckcloth. Battered leather boots came to his knees, and he held a broad brimmed hat. He hadn’t shaved. His hair looked longer than ever, curling wildly around his neck. He was dark and dangerous and something inside Emilia seemed to catch fire and burn right through her bones.
At the bottom of the stairs he took his greatcoat from Pearce and replied to something Charlotte had asked. Finally he glanced her way, his golden eyes almost unearthly compared to the darkness that was the rest of him. “Ready?”
Dumbly she nodded, still transfixed by his appearance.
He put out his hand. “Then let’s be off.”
The first few hours passed comfortably enough. The cakes, as foreseen, were swiftly demolished, and to distract her charges Emilia brought out her copy ofPride and Prejudice and read aloud. Nick and two of his men rode beside the carriage for a while, but eventually Nick joined them inside.
“Won’t you tell us where we’re going?” Charlotte implored.
“Tonight we’ll be in Farnham,” he replied. “The Bush Inn was recommended.”
She rolled her eyes. “And tomorrow?”
His eyes fell on Lucy, who had leaned her cheek upon one hand against the window. “We’re going to Dorset,” he said quietly.
Charlotte wrinkled her nose. “Dorset? Why?”
Lucy went pale. Emilia took her hand, and the girl gripped it hard. “We shan’t stay long,” she murmured.
Lucy looked up at her with huge, frightened eyes. “You said we wouldn’t have to go,” she whispered, barely audibly.
Nick leaned forward. He and Charlotte sat opposite Emilia and Lucy. “It’s important, or I wouldn’t take you,” he said gravely. “It’s to protect Miss Greene.”
Emilia jerked. Lucy peeked at him uncertainly. “From who?”
“The man who stopped her in the street this morning. He’s a bad one, Lucinda.”
“I know,” she whispered, glancing at Emilia, who was thoroughly disconcerted now.
Nick paid her no mind, his attention on Lucy. Charlotte had gone quiet, listening hard as well. “Suppose someone tried to hurt me. I would not like that at all. I would probably want to fill a bucket from the privy and throw it on him.” Lucy gave a surprised giggle. Nick grinned. “And if I were to do that, what do you think I would first tell my friends?”
“Don’t tell anyone,” said Lucy in a small voice.
Nick shook his head.
“Stand clear,” murmured Charlotte.
“Exactly.” Nick poked one finger in Charlotte’s direction in agreement. “You and Charlotte are very dear to me. I would tell you and Charlotte, as well as Miss Greene and James and Henry and Mrs. Watson and Mr. Pearce and everyone else I like, to stand very, very far away, so you didn’t get any muck on you. I want every disgusting drop of it to land on the bad man. And that’s why we’re going to Dorset for a few days. Can you bear it?”
Lucy’s chin sank, but she gave a tentative nod. “I know what to be wary of,” she told him. “I can try to help.”
“Brilliant,” said Nick fervently. “I was hoping you could. I’ll rely on you.” He leaned back, propping his shoulder against the corner.
“What—?” began Emilia, still reeling from the implication that they were leaving London to protecther. Surely he’d just said that to reassure Lucy.
But Nick gave a quick shake of his head, and then that roguish wink, before dropping his hat over his face and going to sleep.
Nick had sent someone ahead,and the innkeeper at the Bush Inn was waiting for them, beaming. He had rooms prepared, plus quarters for the servants and a private parlor reserved for dinner. Nick sent off James and his other men to study the area, then gave them liberty for the evening.
They dined together. Emilia had been throwing him questioning looks all day, but she put aside her curiosity while the girls were with them. After dinner, Charlotte brought out a deck of cards, and suggested they play.
