“Farley,” he then barked, “Join my driver. And you, get in the carriage before I change my mind.”
The silence between them was tense as they continued their journey to Alfriston. Even so, Bridget could not stop herself from admiring Adrian’s handsome features. He kept his eyes fixed on the carriage window, as if determined not to look at her, and his long legs were crossed over one another as he leaned his sculpted chin into the palm of his hand.
There was an allure to him when he was soft and kind, but when he was riddled with anger like this, she could not deny that itsent bolts of lightning through her bloodstream. She wondered, suddenly, if such passion came out of him in other ways, and she blushed deeply at the thought.
You should be ashamed of yourself!
Reminding herself that she was a married woman—even if a lonely and unloved one—Bridget decided to follow his lead and stare quietly out her window. Her thoughts instead turned to what she had accomplished the day before.
Bridget had thought that going out to look for Warren was going to be a rather jarring experience, and in many ways, it was. Yet by physically stepping out of the world that had so constantly forced her to hide her comfort for the sake of others, she had realized something. Shehadbeen uncomfortable. For a very long time.
The days of finding appreciation in the small blessings in her life had long since ended. The cage she had been forced to inhabit was large and gilded, but it was still a cage, and until yesterday, it was one she had never thought of escaping.
She knew now that lying beneath the anxiety she had felt yesterday over breaking so many rules had been a thrill. A tingling in her spine and a shiver in her muscles, as if she were waking from a long slumber where not just hours but years had passed.
“Stop.”
Adrian’s deep voice rasped, breaking the silence within the carriage as a warmth enveloped Bridget’s hand. The storm outside was slow to approach, but as the carriage made its way through the single main street of Alfriston and toward the river, the once-blue sky grew mottled with shades of gray, andAdrian’s ice blue gaze settled intently on her.
A blush crept into her cheeks as his thumb smoothed over the back of her hand, as if trying to give her comfort. She noted the subtle pinching around his eyes, the flare of his nostrils, and the tightness of his lips, and realized that he was not angry but worried.
“Stop what?” she asked, her soft voice breaking a little as something fluttered in her heart.
“Locking your jaw,” Adrian replied, then moved his hand from hers to caress her face where her usual pain ebbed.
She gasped. Not just at his touch, but at the fact that he noticed her usual habit of clenching down on her teeth when she was trying to keep things inside. No one hadevernoticed.
“Apologies,” she breathed, then let her jaw sink down just enough for top and bottom teeth to separate. Her jawline sighed at the relief, though her teeth still ebbed with pain. “Did I elicit a sound?”
Adrian’s fingertips caressed over her jaw once more, leaving trails of fire in their wake before he pulled away and leaned back into his own seat.
“No,” he replied, adjusting his jacket and cravat, as if he needed something to do with his hands. He drew his gaze away again toward the road that was now taking them through the middle of Alfriston. “However, I am aware of the pain one can cause oneself from such a habit. How long have you been burdened by such an ailment?”
Bridget let out a laugh, though it held no mirth.
“Since my marriage, at least,” she confessed, turning her focus to the window. The single main street in Alfriston was ending, and the carriage was creeping slowly toward the river and the outskirts of the opposite side of the town. She then flicked her eyes back to Adrian, curious.
“You suffer from such a malady as well?” she asked.
Adrian’s only answer was a stiff nod as the carriage fell once more into silence. Bridget spent the next few minutes in deep thought, wondering how Adrian had noticed such a subtle thing about her. What did Warren know about her? She wondered. Had he ever noticed such gestures and simply not mentioned them? Did he ever look at her long enough to take such notice?
“There,” Adrian stated, drawing Bridget from her thoughts. She looked up and found he had lifted a finger to the window.
“What do you think? It is just outside of town, as the man said, and it is slightly better quality than the homes we passed on the main street,” Adrian said.
Bridget turned back to the window as a large cobblestone house surrounded by a quaint white picket fence came into view.
Wariness seeped into Bridget’s body. Her jaw locked immediately as she looked intensely at the house they were approaching, took it in, her pain renewed. Was she actually doing this? Confronting her husband’s mistress?
For the first time since she had started her journey that morning, Bridget wondered what the woman would be like. What she wouldlooklike. What was it about her that Warren found worthy of risking his and her reputation for? She waited for jealousy, for a sense of possessiveness to overtake her as she had such thoughts, but those feelings never came. She did notyearn for Warren’s attention. All she wanted, she realized, was to find her husband and demand that he end her humiliation.
“I believe this is as good a place as any to start,” she said with a sigh. “We shall ask for this Miss Penny. And even if she does not live there, perhaps whoever does could point us in the right direction.”
Adrian gave a stiff nod and knocked on the carriage ceiling. It drew to a stop just as they approached the front gate to the house, and in a second, Adrian was getting out and extending his hand toward her.
Bridgetalmostsmiled.
Even though it was obvious he was perturbed with her for trying to take on the journey on her own, he was being chivalrous. She took his offered hand, trying her best to ignore the sparks that erupted from their touch, and stepped out of the carriage.
