Cait grinned. “Just beyond the estate and a very short walk.”
Eve found herself smiling. “I’ve missed the ocean, the breezes, the sand.”
“Seals, whales and waves.”
To breathe in the salty air, the very air she’d grown up smelling, might just be what she needed.
“How soon can we go?”
“As soon as we are dressed.” Cait pushed herself from the bed. “I’m just going to dash over to the school and change and be back shortly.”
Cait hadn’t returned to the school last evening and had borrowed one of Eve’s sleeping gowns. “I’ll be ready when you return.”
“Meet me in the breakfast room,” Cait said. “I have no desire to dine with students this morning and prefer the company of adults.”
Having met only three of the students yesterday, Eve could well imagine being surrounded by so many of the same age, in one room, might be taxing to one’s nerves and neither she nor Cait were in a state to be taxed by anyone.
Chapter 19
Henry must have dozed after he came to accept his emotions and his love for Eve because when he opened his eyes, the sun was beginning to rise following their second night in the carriage. And even though they continued to travel at a breakneck pace, and he was anxious to find Eve, a peace like he’d never experienced had settled about Henry. He would find Eve, apologize, and if necessary, get on his knees and beg forgiveness. He’d do nearly anything to earn her back and then he’d do anything in his power to keep her from leaving again.
As the carriage slowed, he noted a coaching inn up ahead. It would feel good to stretch his legs and maybe they should actually take a meal outside of the carriage for a change. His driver and his son had been taking turns at the reins and his friends: Pickmore, Keegan and Ashford, had not complained about not being able to exit the carriage beyond fifteen minutes at a time, only about the speed of their travel. Besides, if his estimations were correct, they weren’t all that far from Kirksbury and it wouldn’t do to arrive before anyone had risen from their beds.
They would all stop and rest, maybe even for an hour before continuing on the final miles of their journey.
As soon as the carriage came to a stop, Henry stepped out and reached above his head, stretching out his tight muscles. He was followed by his friends who did the same.
“Jamie, we are going to have a meal inside instead of eating while we drive.”
His driver’s eyes widened as his mouth opened. “Are you certain, Lord Kilsyth?”
“Yes. It was wrong of me to push you and the horses so hard. We could all use a rest.”
Jamie looked to his son and it was as if they sank with disappointment.
Henry thought they’d be happy for the break.
“You see, Lord Kilsyth, my brother and his son have made this same trip, and he’s always bragging that nobody has done it faster, or ever would.”
Ah, a competition between brothers. Something he was well-versed in when he and his brother were boys. Those competitions, however, had disappeared when Elliot began to be groomed to take on the earldom and Henry was no more than a spare.
“How close are you to beating him?” Pickmore asked.
“By my estimate, we are almost two hours ahead, and he only carried one passenger.”
His friends began to smile.
“Is there a wager involved?” Ashford asked.
“Aye,” the driver admitted after a moment. “It’s only fifty pounds. Not much to the likes of you, but a fortune to me.”
“When was this wager made,” Keegan asked.
“Some five years back.”
“Well then, we can’t let the man lose his wager.” Pickmore patted Henry on the back.
“Here! Here!” Keegan and Ashford called.
