If she’d given him some hint, some indication that she was willing to discuss matters of import to them both, he’d have welcomed it.
But something in her demeanour kept him silent. As if she’d thrown up a wall, through which he could not pass.
He took a breath, determined to broach the subject as best he could, only to be rocked roughly as the carriage swerved to avoid a mail coach, horn blasting, going the other way.
Grace hung on to her bonnet and Perry found he was holding her tightly without even realising he’d put his arms around her. It just seemed second nature to want to protect her in every way.
She straightened herself and he had no choice but to let her go. “Thank you, Perry. That was quite a bump, wasn’t it?” A brief smile followed her words. “Oh…look. We’re already at the outskirts of London. Not far now.” She managed to slide closer to the window, putting a slight distance between them.
He felt awkward, which was very unlike him, and made him uncomfortable.
“Grace, we should discuss matters.”
She did not turn to him. “Oh, I don’t think there’s much to say, really, other than to thank you for a delightful little adventure.” Her fingers tugged at the light scarf beneath her bonnet, pulling it over the scars on her cheek. “I believe you asked the driver to take me directly to Mowbray House?”
“I did, yes.”
He was angry now. A ball of worry had formed in his gut, and the fact she could avoid any conversation of a personal nature, when he felt it was so important, annoyed the hell out of him. And he did not regard their activities as adelightful little adventure.
But he had no idea how to broach the subject, if she truly believed what she had just said.
