But she was no longer the woman for him. No, that ship had sailed, so to speak. The pain of Lilly Bridge was far behind him now—where it would stay.
Whatwasimportant were the votes. He needed to be in London as soon as possible so that he, Danbury, and the earl could work toward changing some influential minds.
“I would be grateful, my lady, if you are certain it’s not too much trouble. To arrive in London on time, however, we’ll have to keep stops to a minimum.”
“Of course,Your Grace,we can make such a small sacrifice for a worthy cause.” Lilly nodded agreeably. He had addressed her formally, and she had returned in kind. “I suppose if we are to leave early in the morning, we ought to be getting ourselves off to bed—I mean, I should get back to our chamber, to my chamber…” He’d flustered her.
“Your driver was in the taproom earlier. I’ll apprise him of the change in plans, if that is amenable to you?”
“Yes, please,” Lilly said. “And Michael…”
“Yes?” His heart skipped a beat at her use of his name. No one called him “Michael” anymore.
“Can you procure some pistols?” Her brows furrowed as she seemed to consider he had already been the target of one attack.
He’d be damned if he’d be an easy target for another one. “I already have.”
Early the next morning,after a quick breakfast in the duke’s private dining room, Michael assisted Lilly, Glenda, and their maid, outside and into an ancient, but well-made, passenger coach before climbing in behind them. Looking the worse for wear, Arty climbed onto the carriage driver’s box with Lilly’s driver, Mr. Fletch. Fletch seemed happy for the company. Michael had procured a pistol for each of them, as well as himself.
Glenda and Lilly sat facing forward with Miss Fussy on Lilly’s lap, and Michael took a seat across from her, beside the maid. Mary was not a small woman, so he didn’t have a great deal of space. Glenda had brought along some embroidery while Lilly carried a few books in a satchel. All of them were a little sleepy so the first half an hour passed quietly.
Michael would have appreciated the tranquility a great deal more had he realized what was to come. For Glenda, once alert and awake, chattered enough to make up for all of them.
She began her assault by peppering him with a barrage of questions about London and theton.After attempting to answer one, and then another, and being interrupted with the next, he quickly realized he was not necessary to the conversation and happily lapsed into a contemplative silence.
The girl chattered exhaustively about all things to do with fashion—high-waisted dresses, morning dresses, walking dresses, evening dresses, pelisses, bonnets, gloves, and lace fichus. Half of which he had no idea what they were. She informed him that, as a debutante, she must wear only very light colors, but did he think she would look better in pastel pink, or periwinkle blue, or perhaps in lilac? Which shade of lilac, a rose shade or more of a purple? She went on and on…
Lilly appeared to be asleep, but occasionally he caught her tightening her mouth in an attempt to conceal her mirth. Thelittle wench knew Glenda was boring him endlessly. And since he was awake, and a gentleman, he was forced to nod occasionally and smile. Of course, Lilly, the minx, would find pleasure in this. The worrisome thought was that perhaps Glenda was not so very different from Lady Natalie!
Once such a notion entered his head, Michael forced himself to examine it.
In truth, he hadn’t spent much time alone with his betrothed. They had danced together several times at the endless balls he’d attended last season, and he had admired her and told her so eloquently. He had cheerfully fetched numerous glasses of lemonade for her, many of which had gone untouched, and she’d politely once pointed out to him that she preferred chicken to beef. Of course, she was always present when he dined with the earl at his town house. After dinner, the ladies always disappeared, and the men drank port or brandy and discussed politics usually.
What else? What did he and Lady Natalie talk about?
Ah yes…
“I think I shall allow my gloves to go just past my elbows as my arms are smooth and very white. Lilly will have to wear very long gloves to cover her skin. I tell her all the time she shouldn’t spend so many hours out of doors—it isn’t good for one’s complexion—but she just disappears into the sunshine anyway. Once outside, she sometimes removes her bonnet as she works. Oh, yes, she must wear very long gloves indeed. The long gloves must be tied with a string at the top so they do not slip…”
Fashion. Lady Natalie often mentioned shopping trips. Oh, God, he sincerely hoped she wasn’t the slave to fashion that Miss Beauchamp was.
Lilly frowned at the comment about her wearing long gloves. He could tell she wanted to correct the girl but could not while feigning sleep.
This gave Michael the perfect opportunity to observe her. She was thinner. He liked how her hair contrasted with the tanned color of her skin. She looked exotic. Lilly had been passionate about all things to do with flowers when they’d first met. She’d had quite a passionate nature.
They had explored that nature whenever possible.
EXPLORING LILLY’S NATURE
1815
Following that first drive to the park, after that first kiss, Lilly’s life revolved around the occasions when she would see him again. Her mother cautioned her against wearing her heart upon her sleeve. Every morning, in fact, over breakfast, she chastised Lilly for making herself too available to the captain.
“Men,” she told Lilly, “even gentlemen, appreciate the thrill of the chase.”
But not Michael.
He was different.
