His lips twitched as if holding back a smile. He shrugged. “I have a good excuse for my disguise. What is your excuse?”
Nicole’s body trembled, and she folded her hands against her middle. Heartache gathered in her chest and left her throat dry. She had hurt him, and she had to fix it now. But how? As her mind scrambled to think up an excuse, she smiled the best she could under her duress. “Well, I’m ashamed to say my excuse probably isn’t as good as yours.” She shook her head. “My brother and I dress like this when we ride the railway, but I fear telling you might make you think differently about me.”
Confusion deepened the lines in his expression. “Why?”
“Because when we wear our regular clothes, people think we are wealthy, and well...they pester us for money.” She forced a frown as she tried to appear emotional. “I hope you don’t think poorly of me, but we can’t keep giving them money. I feel bad for their dire situations, I really do, but my brother and I just don’t have that kind of money to keep giving them.” Hesitantly, she touched Ashton’s sleeve. “You do understand, don’t you?”
Gradually, his expression eased, and the lines on his forehead and around his mouth disappeared. It only took a couple of seconds before she saw that familiar twinkle in his eyes again. Her heart softened, and she sighed a relieved breath.
“Forgive me, Nicole. I fear it is I who has judged poorly. Of course, I understand.” He took hold of her hand. “And I’m truly sorry for thinking you had lied to me.” He peeked out the window before returning his attention to her. “That is your brother? I thought he was one of your beaus.”
She couldn’t stop the laugh escaping her throat that sounded too much like a bark. “Ashton, don’t be ridiculous. I don’t have any beaus. The man is my older brother, Gordon.”
“Do you have any other family besides a brother and father?”
“No.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter.” He smiled fully. “I would like to meet them one day—just not right now. I’ll wait until I’m back in my regular clothes, looking like my normal self.”
“I agree...so, what is your excuse for being in disguise?”
He glanced out the window again before meeting her stare. “I would tell you, but I see your brother is getting anxious. You had better return.” He lifted her hand and kissed the back of it. “Come see me at my office tomorrow. It is the large red-bricked building by the railway station.” He pointed west of them.
“I will.” A different rhythm beat in her chest, and she wanted to laugh with giddiness. She squeezed his hand. “I thank you for understanding.”
“And I thank you for being so forgiving to my jealous rage.”
As she hurried out of the railcar, she couldn’t feel her feet touching the ground. It was astonishing to think that he was jealous. Finally, a man liked her enough to be jealous of other men. She never thought that would happen to her, but now that it had, she would cherish the feeling for as long as she lived.
Gordon waited outside the carriage, and as she neared, he ran his gaze up and down her frame. Confusion darkened his expression.
“What did you leave in the railcar that was so important?” he asked.
She slid her fingers into the sleeve at her wrist and pulled out a handkerchief. “I dropped this.”
He arched a questionable eyebrow. “And you just had to return to the railway for it when I know you have at least twenty more back at home?”
She flipped the handkerchief in the air as she strutted past him with her chin held high. “I swear, Gordon, you will never understand women. Handkerchiefs are like shoes...we can’t just own one pair.”
Gordon assisted her in the carriage and sat beside her. She turned her head to look back at the railcar, hoping to see Ashton watching her. Although it saddened her that she couldn’t see him, she felt that he indeed had his eyes on her.
The fluttering in her belly and lightness in her heart made her smile, yet she didn’t dare let her brother see. He had already guessed she was smitten, but she couldn’t tell him anything about her friendship with Ashton. Not yet.
It didn’t take them long to return to their father’s townhouse. Banks and Phelps were also there, and they—along with her father—waited for them in the dining room. Father’s cook had prepared a scrumptious dinner of roast duck and red potatoes. Nicole’s stomach grumbled from the Heavenly aroma filling the room.
“Are we waiting for Cartwright?” she asked Mr. Banks.
“Good grief, Nicole,” Gordon whined. “Don’t you ever listen to assignments? Cartwright went to Meols to the railway office there.”
Silently, she scolded herself. She hadn’t heard that, but it was probably because she was daydreaming about Ashton. She really needed to get a handle on that. She couldn’t have him distracting her worse than she already was.
She and Gordon hurried up to their rooms to change clothes before dinner. Although she was hungry, she wouldn’t feel right eating until she was wearing a much cleaner dress that wasn’t falling apart. Once finished, she scampered downstairs, almost un-ladylike, and rushed into the dining room.
They all sat around the dining table. Everyone, even Gordon, looked at her when she entered. Her father arched a bushy brown eyebrow at her.
“My dear? Is there a fire somewhere?”
She took a deep sniff but only smelled dinner. “I don’t detect any smoke. Why?”
