It was loston him, Laura was glad tosee.
The innkeeper, Roe, bowed his head. “Milady.” He scrubbed at the bar with a cloth. “Excuse me,Y’Lordship, while I wipe up the tears of the tankard. Can’t have you wetting the sleeve of your good coat.”
Nathaniel ordered a pint of ale for himself, then led Laura through a door into a smoky parlor with small windows looking out onto thestreet.
Roe brought their drinks. “It’s a pleasure to have you in my humble establishment.” His grin exposed a missing front tooth. “Not like the rascals and sharps that usually frequent the place.”
“What does he mean by referring to the drinkers here as sharps?” Laura asked after he’d left theroom.
“Nothing complimentary,that’s certain.” Nathaniel drained his tankard. “Stay here, Laura. I won’t be a moment.” He returned to thebar.
Laura heard him say, “I need to have a quiet word with you, Roe.”
“If you’ll step into the back room,Y’Lordship?” Roereplied.
A good twenty minutes later, Laura, having finished her drink, walked to the parlor door wondering where Nathaniel had gottento. A soldier stood at the bar talking to the barmaid. His pipe smoke seeped into the stuffy parlor.The pair glancedat her. The soldier said something Laura couldn’t catch,and the woman, her breastsrising like two half-moons from her white blouse, threw back her head andlaughed.
Laura’s discomfort grew. Why had Nathaniel brought her here then left her to drink alone? As her frustration mounted, hereappeared.
Roe returned to his place behind the bar. “No fear,Y’Lordship.That business shall be dealt with.”
Frowning, Nathaniel murmured something indecipherable and threw some coins onto thebar.
“Right you are.” Roe weighed the coins in his hand. “Thanks for the strike,Y’Lordship.”
Nathaniel escorted Laura into the street. He tossed another coin to a young lad minding theirhorses,thenthrew her up into thesaddle.
Hetreatedher in such a cavalier fashion. As soon as they were out of earshot of the curious villagers, Laura edged her mount closer, disappointment causing her voice to shake. “Why did you take me there?”
“Why? It’s the local inn.” His eyebrows met in a puzzled frown. “I’ve been going there since I was old enough to drink.”
“I don’t think it’s a suitable place…” she began,then realized it sounded snobbish and unreasonable. “It’s just that I didn’t enjoy drinking alone.”
“Yes,I’m sorry. I didn’t expect my business to take so long.”
An unwelcome thought had crept into her brain,and she desperately wanted to dismiss it. Nathaniel had told her the port they drank at home had come from Portugal. Did smuggling still go on in these parts? “What business would you have with that man?”
“Sweetheart, please, it’s nothing of import. Don’t concern yourself.”
He shut her out and showed no interest in her opinion. Tense and wary, Laura gripped the reins. Had she left her mother only to replace her with a male version of the same? Her horse sensed her mood and broke into a gallop across the rocky ground of thecauseway.
“Laura!”
When they reached solid ground, she was still fighting to slow the animal. Nathaniel grabbed her reins, pulling their horses close. His expression was one of pained tolerance.Lauraquaked.
“Are you going to take off every time something happens that doesn’t suit you? This is Cornwall, Laura. It’s dangerous to let your mount have her head. This isn’t Hyde Park.Things are done differently here.”
Laura remembered her aunt’s words. Would she ever really know him? She tried to pull her horse’s reins from his grasp. “Let go, Nathaniel.”
“When you have regained your good humor.”
She didn’t want to admit she’d lost control of the horse. His disappointment in her would be too hard to bear. “I’m not used to being treated in this fashion,” she said instead. It soundedweakand wasn’t what she really wanted to say;her frustration was about something else entirely. She clamped her lipstogether.
“Of that I am patently aware.” He studied her for a momentwith a perplexed expression,and then released her reins. He nudged his horse into a canter. “If you’ve forgiven me,weshall call on Cilla. That’s if you still care to?”
“I do.”
He appeared to be on friendlyfirst-nameterms with this woman. Laura was in no mood to meet her. They rode on in strained silence. The chance to question him about Amanda’s bedchamber receded even further.
