Page 54 of A Lady's Beastly Duke
“I’m coming with you!”
Lily hauled herself into the coach, a cloth bag on her back. She blinked up at Anastasia, grinning through tears.
“I could not stay without you,” Lily insisted, pulling herself into the seat and shutting the door. “I felt it incumbent upon me to attend, for I cannot bear to be apart from you, dear sister. Wherever you venture, I wish to accompany you.”
Anastasia felt her heart twist. Lily was smiling at her, full of trust. The coachman had started to drive the coach forward again. Lily looked happy. Anastasia was delighted to see her, despite her shock that her sister had run out alone.
“You impossible...” She shook her head, grinning at her sister’s gentle face that was lit with joy. “How on Earth did you manage to sneak out?”
“I heard the door. I could not endure the thought of your departure. As soon as you slipped away, I hastened to the endof the street and took my stand, knowing the carriage must inevitably arrive here. I awaited your return with bated breath, for I could not imagine my existence without you. The very notion was insufferable.”
Anastasia shook her head. “You’re remarkable,” she said gently.
Lily leaned back in the coach, her eyes round. “Is it very far to Scotland?” she asked.
Anastasia took a breath. The mail-coach would go all the way to Edinburgh, but they would disembark before then. Camilla’s aunt lived on her estate near Berwick-upon-Tweed. The town was three-hundred-and-fifty miles from London.
“A long way,” she murmured. “We will be a week in the coach.”
Lily gulped. “That’s...good.”
Anastasia stared at her sister’s pale, frightened face. She was dressed in a white gown and pelisse. Her soft hair was in ringlets, and she looked so sweet and gentle that Anastasia’s heart melted. She was young—just sixteen. She was full of life, and she loved balls and parties. If she went to the border, there would be no hope of that. She would be disgraced, barred from reentering London society, even if she chose to return. And what if she went to stay there? What life was there for her? She would have to live with Camilla’s aunt as well, and that would mean a life without balls and parties, without dancing and shops and museums and galleries and music. There would be none of the things that Lily loved. She would have turned her back on all ofthat, simply because she loved her sister and could not bear to be parted from her. It was unfair. It was wrong.
“I cannot do this,” Anastasia whispered.
“We can,” Lily insisted.
“No.” Anastasia shook her head. Staring into that youthful, joyful face, she knew that she could not condemn her sister to a life that would deprive her of everything she loved. “We are not going. We are going home.”
“But Anny?” Lily frowned. “What about Lord Ridley? What of you, and being free, and everything...”
“This is not freedom either,” Anastasia said firmly. “It would be another kind of prison. And it is one I will not share with you. We are returning home.”
“Anny...”
“No,” she said softly. “Stop the coach!” Anastasia shouted, banging on the roof to get the coachman to hear. She had to do it fast, before she lost her nerve. They did not have far to go—they were moving past Hyde Park. She could see the railing in the light from pine torches on a house nearby. The coach slowed and stopped.
“My lady?” Mr. Jackson jumped down from the box, opening the door. Anastasia let out a breath.
“We are going home. Please turn the coach around. Thank you,” she added numbly. She was giving up the one wild escapeshe had left. It had been bold, but it had taken the notion of sharing it with Lily to make her see she was not running towards freedom. She was simply running away from one horrible situation into, quite possibly, another one.
She felt the coach start, and she leaned back, gazing at Lily. Her sister looked calmer, though she held onto Anastasia’s hand firmly, as if daring anything to come between them.
Anastasia swallowed hard; her heart flooded with love. If it were not for Lily, she would be racing to the mail-coach by now, on her way towards Scotland and a journey which would change her life. Becoming a companion to a remote, eccentric noblewoman was a decision she could not reverse—once she was there, she would have to remain there because she could never go back to society after that.
I am doing the right thing,she told herself firmly. Love had made her decision—love of Lily and, ultimately, love for herself as well. It would be no life for her on the border with Camilla’s aunt, either.
All she could do was pray that she had made the right choice and that something—some remarkable thing—would happen to help her.
Chapter 20
“Giles...I don’t know what to do.” Sidney rested his head in his hands. It was one o’ clock in the morning, and Giles had walked into the billiard room where Sidney had been sitting by the fire, unable to sleep. The firelight flickered over the expensive mahogany tabletop, painting a pattern of light and shade that Sidney focused on. He gazed briefly at Giles, whose squarish face was flushed with the firelight.
“Not so easy, old chap,” Giles agreed. “Could you duel the fellow?”
Sidney tilted his head. “I could,” he agreed. He had long considered dueling with Lord Ridley—ever since he found out the news about Anastasia. “But if I challenge him, he’ll choose the weapons. And I don’t trust him not to cheat.”
“Pistols?” Giles asked. His voice slurred the word, but only slightly. His hazel eyes seemed alert, as though he was taking in all that Sidney said.
