“Reed, what is going on?” Lucy asked.
He looked down at her, and her heart nearly stopped at the intensity of his gaze. “Our long nightmare is over, love. I’ve come to take you away from this place.”
“Have you really?” The words emerged as little more than a whisper.
“I have, indeed, and should have long ago.” To her family he said, “Au revoir!” then swept her from the room and down the corridor.
A footman waited at the front door, clearly anticipating their departure. He held the door, and they stepped out. Reed’s carriage sat in readiness, the driver already perched atop. They were quickly settled inside— Lucy on the forward-facing bench and Reed on the rear-facing— and the carriage lurched forward.
Her mind was in a whirlwind. What had just happened? Reed came for her, that much was certain. Though why he hadremained a mystery. She would not allow herself to believe he had missed her and longed for her, when so much silence had stretched between them.
And, yet, hewashere.
“Lucy?” His voice was a bit uncertain. “I need to say something, and I hope you won’t take it the wrong way.”
She braced herself. Heaven only knew what he meant to tell her.
“I have always liked your family; you know that. But darling, they aren’t very bright.”
“What do you mean?”
Reed moved and sat directly beside her, taking her hands in his and looking into her face. The streetlamps they passed illuminated his expression enough for her to see the earnestness there. “I realize you first came to your parents’ home because I was being an utter featherhead and you needed someone to listen to you. By the time I realized where you were, your mother and sisters had already convinced you that this miscommunication we were having was worthy of a drawn-out battle.”
That was true enough.
“Upon arriving, your male relations pulled me aside and convinced me of the same thing. Though I would have far preferred to simply bring you home and talk it through, I bowed to their years of matrimonial experience, thinking it gave them insight. But, Lucy, darling, they are idiots, the lot of them.”
She actually laughed out loud. She knew Reed really did like her family, but considering the turmoil of the past week, she had to agree with his assessment of their mental faculties.
He brushed his fingers along her cheek. “We should never have listened to them, my love. And I am sorry their schemes hurt you and sorrier still that I had any part of it.”
“We were both rather blinded by them,” Lucy said. “We ought to have simply told them all how bacon-brained they were being and fixed the problem ourselves.”
“Indeed.” He cupped her face gently in his hands and placed a tender kiss to her forehead. “And now that I have rescued you from the dungeon of despair they were keeping you in—”
She smiled at the theatrical tone he had adopted once more.
“I think we had best set our minds to resolving the difficulty that caused all of this trouble.”
Lucy leaned into his embrace, resting her head on his shoulder and her hand against his chest. “I know you don’t care for Society functions,” she said. “And I don’t want to force you to endure them all the time.”
His arms held her ever tighter. “And I know how much you do enjoy them, and I don’t want you to miss them all.”
“Perhaps…” She pressed a kiss to his cheek. “We could pick a few events each week I would particularly like to attend, and on the other nights, we could stay home.”
Reed kissed her temple. “I believe that is an excellent solution.”
Lucy shifted enough to more fully face him, brushing her fingers along his jaw. “And if there is ever anything you desperately wish to avoid attending, you tell me, and we’ll stay home.”
His hand slipped behind her neck, his fingers weaving into her hair. “And if there is anything you desperately wish to attend, you tell me, and we will make certain we are there.”
“And”— she feathered a kiss on his lips— “we will never”— another light kiss— “ever”— and another— “listen to my family again.”
“Agreed.”
Reed pulled her firmly into his arms and kissed her thoroughly. The heartache and loneliness of the past weeksimply melted away. He did love her. He always had. If not for the poor advice and insistence of meddlesome relations, they might have resolved this difficulty very easily.
But, she told herself as he continued kissing her and holding her, that without their disagreement, they’d not be enjoying a reconciliation.
