Seeing the minute relaxation of her brother’s habitually impassive face, Lucy had agreed that the Drakes should join them.They had made quite a merry party setting out from Ashbourn House in a traveling chaise with a heavier coach following behind, carrying the trunks along with Gabriel’s valet, Avery, and Lucy’s new lady’s maid, Mary Parkes.
All perfectly correct and proper, Lucy thought with a mental eye roll.She and Caroline had shared a room the first night they stopped at a coaching inn outside Uxbridge, while Gabriel and Fitz bunked together.
When Lucy tried to thank Caroline for being so flexible about their sleeping arrangements, her bookish blonde friend had merely blinked and said she’d slept in many worse places under far worse circumstances than a comfortable inn with a friend.
That was certainly true; Fitz and Caroline traveled the world in pursuit of her scholarly passion for the study of birds.Lucy couldn’t help but envy the perfect understanding that seemed to exist between the Drakes.They could communicate whole volumes with a single glance at each other.
Meanwhile, Lucy could hardly sit next to Gabriel without fidgeting, glancing in his direction every few minutes, then looking aside and blushing when he caught her.It was mortifying, but she couldn’t seem to stop it.
They traveled slowly, with lots of breaks for rest and refreshment, at Lucy’s insistence.Though Gabriel was ready to declare himself physically recovered, and he was indeed much improved, she dreaded the return of his headaches.
At last, they reached Hazlemere, the village that stood nearest to the enormous swath of land owned by the Dukes of Thornecliff since the time of Edward, the Black Prince.Gabriel filled them all in on the history of the area, pointing out local landmarks like the parish church and the cherry orchards that had formed the backbone of the hamlet’s farming efforts since medieval times.
“I should like to take a walk in the cherry orchard,” Caroline said at once, staring out at the orderly rows of trees in full flower.A breeze kicked up, shaking branches as they passed and causing a shower of pale pink petals to swirl over the road.
“I’m sure that can be arranged,” Gabriel said easily.“Why?Are there interesting birds that live in cherry trees?”
Caroline swiveled her head to pin him with one of her unblinking stares.“You are very different from how you used to be,” she announced.
“So I’ve heard.”Some of Gabriel’s ease vanished, tension gripping his frame.“I suppose I was very rude to you.Before.”
“Not especially.”Caroline shrugged, going back to looking at the trees.“Though I think you believed Fitz made a mistake in marrying me.And I know you did not always treat Fitz with the care he deserves, as your friend.”
Lucy’s brows shot up.She was very fond of Caroline, but her blunt way of speaking created a bit of awkwardness here or there.In this case, however, Lucy was quite interested in Gabriel’s reaction.
He leaned forward to catch Caroline’s attention and said, “I don’t think Fitz made a mistake.I’m sure I haven’t always been a good friend to him, but I can’t answer for what I might have said or how I might have behaved in the past.I can only apologize and promise to do better in the future.”
“Come now,” cried Fitz, flushed and pleased.“That is very handsome of you, old chap.”
“Yes.”Caroline eyed Gabriel with the beginnings of a smile she then turned on Lucy.“Very handsome, don’t you agree, Lucy?”
Narrowing her eyes at her friend, Lucy nevertheless smiled at Gabriel.“Extremely handsome,” she confirmed, and didn’t even blush at how low and fervent her tone was.
They all had eyes.Gabriel was the most beautiful man imaginable.
Lucy wasn’t the only one who thought so.All along the road, at every place they stopped to dine or change horses or use the necessary, women had stood and stared when Gabriel walked in.
One barmaid had poured beer all over her bar while gazing at him.The landlady at The Spotted Hart had nearly broken her ankle while walking backward to keep him in view.A serving girl who’d brought them a hamper lunch had tripped over her own feet and would have come to grief if Gabriel hadn’t reacted with lightning-swift reflexes to steady her.
She’d thanked him with stars in her eyes, and Lucy was sure she herself sported the same glazed look of disbelieving wonder when she looked at Gabriel now.
But he was just so very, very handsome.It got worse every day, to Lucy’s disbelief—and no small amount of chagrin.
He’d started out objectively, almost offensively, handsome.It didn’t seem fair that the past days of getting to know him as he was now—or perhaps, as he had been, before life had warped him into the man she’d known as Thornecliff—rendered him even more attractive to Lucy.
Feeling out of sorts, Lucy tried to tell herself it was merely the discomfort of the long, cramped carriage ride.Though the truth was that she, like Caroline, had traveled in far less commodious and convenient ways on her Grand Tour.A large, well-sprung carriage that contained only people she knew and liked was a luxury.
The driver slowed the horses and pulled the carriage onto a well-maintained lane that wound through stands of ancient oaks and up a small hill.At the top of the rise, Thornecliff came into view.
Lucy blinked; it was far more magnificent than she’d been prepared for.Not that she hadn’t known Gabriel was a duke, and from a very old family with generations of wealth to support the title, but her own family’s holdings had nothing to compare to this splendor.
At the end of the wide lane stood the house, its Elizabethan façade somehow both quaint and imposing in its unembellished simplicity.Lucy snuck a glance at Gabriel, wondering what he felt when he saw his childhood home, but his black gaze was impenetrable.
“Will Lady Rosalie be there?”Caroline asked into the sudden silence.“I should have inquired before.”
“No, she is visiting a friend at present,” Gabriel replied calmly.
Caroline visibly relaxed and Lucy hid a smile; she wondered if her friend would have declined to join them had the answer been yes.She’d heard a bit about Caroline’s encounters with Lady Rosalie, and having met the lady in passing herself, Lucy could well believe the tales.
