Chapter 13
Felicity hurtled through the crowd, heading not toward the celebrations but to the road.
Despite the joy thundering through her chest, she still could not quite credit that she’d won. No,they’dwon! It didn't matter who held the reins. She could not have won without Giles, and he could not have won without her.
They were a team. The best team. As elemental and unstoppable as the rain soaking through her clothes.
She could hear the roar of the crowd behind her as she hurried away. She wished she could be in the thick of it. Wished she could do it again and again.
Wished she were standing next to Giles right this moment, not just to celebrate, but to check his arm, to kiss his lips.
Instead, her brother had been the first person she’d seen at the finish line. He’d plucked her from the carriage and spirited her from the track before the crowd had a chance to reach her.
And then threatened to deal with her fully the moment he returned home. Starting with burning her trousers and locking her in her chambers if that was what it took to keep her safe.
Felicity didn’t want to be safe. She wanted to be…free. At least long enough to say goodbye to Giles in person. His absence from her life was already ripping a hole in her chest.
She burst from the trees and trudged down the street toward Grosvenor Square.
A hack pulled to the corner. “Need a ride, lad?”
Did she?
Grosvenor Square was two blocks away. Walking distance. Right back to a life of opulence and luxury, fine dresses and intractable rules. That was her future.
But it didn’t have to start right now.
“Thank you.” Felicity hauled herself into the hackney. “Langford smithy, please. On—”
“Oxford Street,” finished the driver, and pulled out into traffic.
Felicity grinned to herself. Of course any hack driver worth his salt would know the Langford smithy. Giles had more loyal subjects than the Prince Regent.
When they arrived, Felicity tossed the driver an extra coin and leaped to the ground.
The smithy doors were closed tight. Giles must give his workers a free hour during a big race, in case they wished to take part in the festivities. It didn’t matter. She wasn’t here to work on carriages.
She walked around to the other side where the front-facing door to his residence stood and gave the knocker a smart rap.
After a moment, the door swung open to reveal a familiar face: the maid who had brought tea to Giles’s parlor just a few days prior.
It felt like a lifetime ago.
“Come in,” the maid gasped. “You’re soaked! I’ll have a hot bath and a fresh change of clothes sent up at once.”
That sounded positively divine.
With gratitude, Felicity followed her to a previously unseen portion of Giles’s home, where she was handed off to a second maid, who coddled and cooed over her even more than the first. She felt like a princess.
Or a victorious charioteer, home from battle.
Felicity groaned in pleasure as the hot bath soaked the tension from her tight muscles. The only thing missing was Giles.
Given the size of the crowd, he might not return for hours. That would give Felicity plenty of time to make herself more presentable and come up with the right words for her farewell speech.
Just because they had both always known goodbye was imminent, did not make saying the words any easier.
She wouldn’t burden him with the knowledge that she loved him, but she wanted him to know how much their time together had meant to her. He had accepted her as who and what she was, without any attempt to make her fit some preconceived notion of what females were capable of.
That alone was swoonworthy, but she adored the rest of the package just as much. From the first time he—
The bedchamber door flew open.
It was not a maid with an armful of dry clothes, but the wet and bedraggled love of her life… who had never seen her naked. She gasped and covered her breasts with her arms, bracing herself for a wave of shame and awkwardness. It didn’t come.
This was Giles. She could be herself with him in a bonnet or trousers or nothing at all. If this was the last time they’d see each other, only a fool would fail to take advantage of every opportunity fate bestowed upon them. Tomorrow, she could be a respectable lady.
Today belonged to her and Giles.
