“Not yet,” Flint amended with a smile.
“Keep talking like that, and the word will be never.”
There were grins all over the inn yard now.
“I have a note from the duke that should set her mind at ease,” Lord Flint said. “The old girl is also a stickler for protocol.”
Felicity actually groaned. “In that case, I sincerely doubt she'll present herself anytime soon. You cannot imagine she would recognize a girl who is unable to identify her own parents.”
“If the duke told her to, she would curtsy to Napoleon. And if she recognizes you, the entiretonwill. She might not often leave Hedgehog Haven, but she doesn’t really have to. I’m surprised you haven’t seen any number of visitors popping up to see her.”
Still Felicity sat where she was, considering the activity in the inn yard. The entire idea was absurd. What wasn't she seeing? What question did she need to ask?
“Billy said you were interested in learning to ride,” he coaxed before she could say anything. “You'd have the time to at least make a good start.”
The dastard.
“Lord Flint...”
His grin was brash and bright, his eyes crinkling again. “The name is Flint. Or Bracken if you feel peevish.”
“I never feel peevish,” she assured him with a sniff. “Although if I were to succumb, I have a feeling you would be the instigation.”
“Well, come along and find out.”
Felicity just stared at him.
“Make up y'r mind, dearie,” the farm wife demanded. “We got a stage to catch.”
“Oh, for the love of heaven,” Felicity snapped, jumping to her feet. “Fine. I'll go.”
Swinging around, she leveled a glare on her companion that should have frozen his eyes. He lifted his hands in a gesture of innocence and almost popped himself in the eye with his hat. Giving him one last glare, Felicity shoved the bag into his arms, straightened her skirts, and marched over to the curricle.
“Well?” she demanded of the diminutive head groom who was grinning at her from the driver's seat.
Billy Burke jumped right down and held his hand out, his bright blue eyes twinkling. “Ah, sure now, he's not all that bad. He can ride like the devil, and you saw him wield these horses here, all right.”
Felicity chuckled. “Indeed. What else do I need to know?”
Without another objection, she let the little man hand her up onto the coach. After all, he did have a point. Besides, the stables at Glenhaven did have some fine horseflesh in them, which had been the only thing keeping Felicity at the house even this long.The least the Bracken family could do for her was give her a few more days in the saddle.
Tossing the carpetbag up, Lord Flint climbed into his own seat with a grumble and gathered the reins in his gloved hands as Billy Burke took up his perch behind. Waiting only until the curricle creaked with the little man's weight, Bracken flipped the reins and turned the restive chestnuts back through the gates.
Felicity didn't realize how glad she was to go until she heard clapping from their audience back in the yard. “I wouldn'ta told him no neither,” she heard from the farmwife as they passed through the archway onto the high street.
It was obvious Lord Flint had heard it, too by the grin on his face.
For not the first time, Felicity wondered if she were making a mistake.
Chapter 4
As he guidedthe sleek curricle through the Gloucester traffic, Flint fought a surge of ambivalence. He had succeeded in getting Felicity off the coach. But as he swerved around a beer wagon, he saw the tall squared-off bell tower of Gloucester Cathedral lurking over the rooftops, as if judgment were following him through the streets. The results of his actions would be good for him. But would they be good for Felicity Chambers?
Assuredly not. And there was nothing he could do about it.
“Felicity....” he began.
“Miss Chambers,” she immediately corrected like the veriest deb.
