“I never said how I consigned your address to memory. He made me recite it. He didn’t want it written anywhere. Didn’t want Garrick tipped off to my whereabouts should I need to disappear. I thought my grandfather exaggerated the severity of the situation, but then—” She broke off, grimacing as scenes from her last night at Hastings House, what Garrick tried to do to her, flashed through her mind.
How very right her grandfather had been to worry for her. But she got away, she reminded herself, thanks to her grandfather and the honorable man sitting across from her.
The earl with his shock of white hair, aristocratic features, and powerful frame cut quite the intimidating figure. But one glimpse into his kind blue eyes and she’d known he would do everything her grandfather promised and more.
She gazed at the earl through a blurry haze and sent him a tremulous smile. “Thank you,” she whispered. “For everything."
The earl’s jaw hardened, his look reminiscent of Zeke at his most obstinate. “I vow, I’ll see you safe from your blackguard cousin. He won’t get his hands on you so long as I draw breath.”
Kitty moved to crouch at his feet, taking one of his large hands between hers. “And so long as I draw breath, I vow I’ll neverforget what you’ve done for me, my lord.” She conjured her sunniest smile. “It seems as if Garrick’s called off the hounds, thanks to our efforts. There hasn’t been an ad in theTimesfor months.”
Admiration gleamed in his eyes.“Yes, sly tiger that you are.” He touched the tip of her nose with his pointer finger. “Methinks you threw him off your scent. Now be a dear and pour us nightcap.”
She filled a snifter for the earl and escaped to her small chamber, her legs moving as fast as they would carry her. Her will to hold her grief at bay had finally given out.
Ensconced in darkness, her heart burning as if it lie broken in her chest, she dove into bed and sobbed into the pillows. Tears for the grandfather she missed so terribly, for her beloved brother, lost before his time, and even for the parents she knew more from their written adventures than time spent in their company.
Underscoring it all was a pain she couldn’t name, a nagging longing consuming her whenever a certain someone was near—and when he wasn’t.
Eventually the flood of tears gave way to exhaustion, and exhaustion to fitful sleep. Then came the nightmare she hadn’t suffered for months.
She jolted awake, heart racing, skin clammy with fear. Rolling herself into a tight ball, she pinched her eyes closed and tried to shut out the image of Garrick on top of her.
I got away. I’m safe.
Lord Claybourne’s genius had devised her clever disguise, making of the whole thing a grand adventure. “One year to play at being a boy,” he’d said with a jaunty grin.
Hadn’t she spent six full months here without a moment’s trouble, hiding in plain sight? In another six months she’d reachthe age her grandfather's trust pronounced her free and no longer subject to her guardian's decrees.
But what then?
The image of a golden-haired man with velvet blue eyes, and a gleaming white smile filled her mind.I knew you liked him,the earl had teased earlier.
In the darkness, her face flushed with heat anew. She’d die before admitting the truth. She’d developed a silly, hopeless crush on Lord Zeke Thurgood. How could she have done it? Then again, how could she not?
Sharp-witted and beautiful, but critical to a fault—especially of Kit.
Regardless. Zeke captivated her with his robust laugh, stories of foreign lands, and the Heart-melting way he doted on his grandfather, calling himold maneven as he panicked at every cough or sneeze or flush.
Of course, none of that negated the fact he often acted an arrogant ass.
She pummeled her pillows in frustration then collapsed onto her back. Bother. Despite his many flaws, Zeke could have his pick of women, which meant even if she exposed her secret to him—which she wouldn’t—and threw herself at him—which she wouldn’tever—she had nothing to hold the man's interest.
Zeke was a man of the world whose tastes wouldn’t run toward greenhorn girls who hadn’t even had the experience of a London season.
Zeke’s perfect mate would be beautiful and exotic and cultured. The exact opposite of her.
She had only passable looks, was as exotic as an apple, and though she knew an awful lot about an awful lot of places, she’d barely ventured outside Maidstone County.
Meanwhile Zeke’s wanderlust would soon see him sailing into the sunset in search of new adventure. She ought to think aboutthat the next time his golden good looks or hardy laugh or tender ministrations toward his grandfather turned her brain to mush.
Thanks to her parents and her brother, Kitty knew all about wanderlust and the havoc it wreaked on those left behind. Unlike some people, she knew what really mattered in this world. Family and togetherness, love and trust,nottraveling far from home, alone, in a never-ending quest for adventure and fortune.
She rolled to her side, closing her eyes. In several months she would be free to chart her own course in life. Where would she go? What would she do? She lay awake with the questions looping through her mind till the morning sun illuminated the sky.
Zeke still hadn’t returned home.
Chapter Four
