One of the two seats showed signs of rodent-gnawed stuffing and pilling velvet, while all that remained of the other was springs. Coal-colored paint peeled from part of the door.
Much of the rest was similarly blackened, but not from paint. What had been the box was clearly charred, and the charred line seemed, almost to have split the conveyance in two.
The carriage was not just splintered but burnt.
How,howhad he survived?
She glanced over to Delmare, who was inspecting what remained of the axel.
“That’s enough. You’ll be filthy.”
“But I want to see!”
“This isnotWisterley,” she said harshly. “We need express permission before we enter the buildings, and we both know the opposite, in this case, is true. WhatamI to tell the duke?”
“Musthe know?”
“Heshouldknow.” She rose, wiped off his hands on her petticoat and then shook out her skirts. She placed her hands on her hips. “If I decide not to tell him, I would do so not to spare you pain, but to spare him the disappointment of knowing you disregarded his directive.”
She took him by the hand—something she rarely did—and led him out into the light. She instructed him to stay put and then grunted as she pushed the door back into position.There. She could not explain why she was so very relieved.
“Did you say you’re sorry, Del?” Fee asked.
“Yes!” Delmare replied. Theobviouslywas implied by his tone.
“I’m sorry, too,” Fee added. “Don’t feed us gruel, please?”
She couldn’t, could she? Not without explaining to Mrs. Small and Mrs. Whitby why the children were being punished.
“If you both promise me you will behave—and be entirely truthful—for the rest of our stay, I see no reason why you cannot enjoy a proper supper. And, just this once, we will keep this adventure to ourselves.”
“Oh, thank you, Mrs. Montrose,” Fee threw her arms around Hera’s skirts.
“That’s enough, Fee. I don’t wish to be thanked for perpetuating a wrong. Come, we must go.”
With a child in each hand, she carefully picked her way to the lane. She didn’t breathe easy until they were back on the main pathway. Even then, she continued to feel as haunted as she would have been if she actually had met a ghost.
Seeing the wreck had been like peering into the duke’s private anguish.
She shivered, remembering how angry he’d been when she’d told him she thought he’d known great pain. He told her she’d been right. She did not want him to know that she now understood, in a visceral way, justhowright she’d been.
Had his parents been killed immediately, or had they lingered? Had he been conscious? Had he been alone?
How he must have suffered! She could imagine no easy sequence of events. Any possibility would have forever altered his outlook and his character.Yes.He’d known great pain. She ached for that pain.
Had anyone since showed him the tenderness he deserved? Had anyone cared enough to attempt to mend what the accident had broken? She suspected that there was a good deal more to the rules he’d shared with Delmare. What had he told the boy?
To stay strong, on the inside, where a man couldn’t be touched. To keep his friends close. His secrets closer. And be ready to strike before stricken.
...Or to take furious insult when incendiary desire met cautious criticism.
She closed her eyes and swallowed roughly.
Ah, they were playing a dangerous game. And, after tonight, the stakes would only grow higher.
Even if hehadtruly meant his proposal of marriage, she could not fully regret last night’s turn. What they had now—a four cornered contract—she could control. Anything more would demand an excess of what she was able to pay.
She knew this.
