“That will teach her to pay her daughter more mind. If I had not stepped in when I did, Malet would be off with Kitty andyouand your aunt both would be frantic to know what had happened to her.”
“I realize that.” She yawned, quickly covering it with her hand. “Still, I don’t approve of your high-handed methods for forcing the issue. Nor, I suspect, would your mother if she knew of them.”
“Feel free to tell her. There’s no going back for us now. The road to your home will already be impassable. We have no choice but to take shelter at Armitage Hall until the snow melts. Look, why don’t you stop worrying and try to sleep a little?” He grinned at her. “I swear I won’t ravish you or Kitty until we reach Armitage Hall.”
She glared at him. “That isn’t remotely amusing.”
“I suppose not, under the circumstances,” he drawled.
A big yawn escaped her. “My goodness. Clearly I shouldn’t have had that last glass of negus at the ball.”
If he remembered correctly, negus was made of watered-down port with lemon juice and sugar. Who in God’s creation got drunk on that?
Apparently Cass did.
He chuckled. “No matter.” Covering her and Kitty with his greatcoat, he murmured, “Just sleep. It will be a few hours before we arrive.”
She laid her head against the squabs. It wasn’t long before he could hear her even breaths between Kitty’s snores.
He shook his head. The two women were so different. Kitty, on the one hand, was as insubstantial as champagne. Hard to believe she could have written all those clever and witty letters.
Cass, on the other hand, was as bracing as brandy, an interesting woman he couldn’t help liking.
He sighed. A pity she had no money. If he couldn’t marry an heiress whose dowry would help him save the estate his father had left him, he’d have to sell it for a song, then continue in the army for however long it took him to make enough to support a family.
Those were the simple facts. He could not afford to marry for love.
Chapter 4
When the carriage turned onto the gravel drive, Cass awoke. Her foggy brain struggled to take in where she was and why she and Kitty were covered with a voluminous greatcoat that smelled of cheroots and bay rum.
Then Heywood said, “We’re here,” and everything came flooding back. They’d been abducted by the only man who’d ever really interested Cass, at least on paper.
And apparently he’d carried them off to fairyland, because the snow-dusted mansion at the end of the drive bore all the marks of an enchanted castle. Twice as large as Welbourne Place and probably four times as large as Aunt Virginia’s manor, it had turrets and towers crowned with cupolas and windows that reflected the waning moon in ever-changing slices of light. Good heavens.
As soon as the coach halted in front of a massive ornamental door, Kitty jolted up in her seat. “Where are we? What are we doing? What’s wrong?”
When Heywood chuckled, Cass rolled her eyes at him and took Kitty’s hand. “Nothing’s wrong, dearest. We’ve merely arrived at Armitage Hall.”
Kitty blinked twice, then looked out. “Oh. I see.”
A footman had already come running out to put the step down and open the carriage door. Heywood reached under his seat and handed them pattens to buckle around their ballroom slippers, thus protecting them from the snow.
“How considerate!” Kitty exclaimed.
“And fortuitous,” Cass added, eyeing Heywood closely.
“My sister and mother use them regularly. That’s why they’re always in the coach.” He climbed down and turned to help each of the ladies out in turn. “Truly, Cass, you seem to be suspicious by nature.”
“Sheis,” Kitty said. “Let’s not beat around the brush—Cass always assumes the worst about gentlemen.”
Cass threw her shoulders back. “Are we going to stand out here in the cold discussing my faults or are we heading inside where it’s warm?”
With a laugh, he offered each lady an arm. “Shall we?”
The carriage pulled away, and Cass glanced back toward the drive. She caught her breath to see the snow already coming down in sheets of white. “It appears we made it here in the nick of time. It doesn’t show signs of stopping.”
“Yes.” His rumbling voice resonated clear to her toes. “We should be cut off from Malet for a few days at least.”
