“Me ’orse ’as cast a shoe. If you could give me a lift to the next town,” he mumbled in a hoarse voice, pulling the coat tightly around his narrow frame with one hand while holding the bridle of the big, restive gelding with the other. “I’d sure be appreciative, sir.”
“Happy to.” Jack wondered if he would be set upon as he tied off the reins and jumped down. The handsome thoroughbred must have been worth five hundred pounds at market, which further stirred Jack’s suspicion. Was he about to have a pistol poked in his ribs should he take the strange fellow up? If the horse had been stolen, Jack would have no truck with that, his pistol at the ready tucked into a pocket. The spindly chap could easily be overcome if the need arose. And Jack was curious.
With the horse tied behind the curricle, he took up the reins again after the man made heavy work of climbing up onto the seat beside him.
“Good of you, sir. Me name’s Joseph Smith,” he said in a rough voice, but as he kept his head bent, Jack couldn’t make out much more than a flash from a pair of spectacles in the small, pale face.
“Viscount Hereford,” Jack replied, wondering if the man was wanted by the law. He was a puzzle, all right. The coat and hat werequality purchases from the best London tailors. But his voice wasn’t that of a gentleman. And damn it if he didn’t smell of roses. As Jack flicked the reins and drove on, the fellow sat stiff and silent beside him, clutching his portmanteau.
“Where are you off to?” Jack asked after a moment’s strained silence.
“To visit me ma,” the fellow said, without looking up, before falling silent again.
Jack gave up any attempt to draw him into conversation. He’d be free of the odd fellow within a half hour.
They proceeded along the road as the sky lightened from violet gray to a soft orange-gold with the rising sun.
When they entered the main street, Jack pulled up the curricle outside the stables. His passenger muttered thanks and scrambled awkwardly down. He looked as if he’d lose his breeches at any minute, and also the hat, which was far too large.Odd, decidedly odd. But England was full of strange folk, and this fellow seemed harmless enough.
Jack joined him at the back of the curricle, where the fellow was fumbling to untie his horse, his fingers clumsy in the outsized gloves. “Allow me.” Jack moved closer.
As the man stepped back to make space for Jack, a waft of delicate rose-scented perfume arose, and a long, strand of glorious, ruby-red hair escaped from beneath the hat.
“Well, I’ll be…” Startled, Jack bent his knees and peered beneath the brim of the hat, then grunted in surprise. He gently eased off the overlarge glasses. Wide, sea-green eyes stared back at him.
“What the devil? Lady Prudence?”
Chapter Five
“Confound it, LadyPrudence! I thought my nose deceived me when I smelled perfume!” His shocked gaze took in her appearance, down to her boots. “What has occurred to cause you to ride alone at night, dressed in this manner?”
As Lord Hereford loomed over her, his gray eyes steely, Prue had the strangest desire to giggle. She coughed, her hand to her mouth.
“Are you going to explain?” he asked after a few minutes had passed.
Exhausted and fed up with male interference, she squared her shoulders. She was tired of defending herself against forceful gentlemen. What sort of acceptable explanation could she come up with, anyway? Certainly not the truth. It was unlikely he’d believe it. Something plausible that would permit her to continue on her journey unhindered. “I’m on my way to visit my great-grandmother in Richmond.” She shrugged her shoulders with a casual indifference she didn’t feel, daring him to challenge her, as if her mode of travel were an entirely normal occurrence.
Disbelief reflected in his eyes, his dark eyebrows snapping together. “All the way to London in that gear and riding that horse?”
Prue shrugged. “It really is no concern of yours, my lord. I plan to arrange for this horse to be returned to my father’s…” Her breath hitched. “Stables. But I must hurry now to be added to the waybill, before the stage stops at the coaching inn for breakfast.” She tried to step around him, but he blocked her, the mere size of him like a wall between her and freedom. She glared up at him, so exasperated, she could scream.
He cocked an eyebrow. “Why not travel in relative comfort and safety in Mr. Stanton’s coach?”
He seemed to know a lot about her circumstances. “I have my reasons.”
“You are fond of running away, are you not, Lady Prudence? You left Lord Bain’s in a similar fashion.”
She stared at him. “Were you watching me?”
“I happened to catch sight of you through my window, riding down the carriageway. Bareback, no less!” He glanced pointedly at the men’s saddle. “Do you have an aversion to sidesaddles?”
“What woman doesn’t? Wouldyoucare to ride one?”
He ignored that. “What reason has driven you to take such a dangerous course? Is it because of the new earl?”
Prue bristled. “Mr. Stanton is not the earl until he receives the Letters Patent from the Crown. And he has no control over me.”
“If you think that disguise will protect you on your journey, you are foolish.” His gaze dropped to her bosom. “Now, in the dawn light, I can quite clearly see you are a woman, as will everyone else.”
