Grandmama pressed her hands together with obvious glee. “Oh, my dear, I’d given up hope you would ever fall in love. Does this man love you?”
“I hope he does.”
Grandmama’s smile widened. “Does he want to marry you?”
Regina shrugged helplessly. “I hope he does.”
A knowing light came into her grandmother’s blue eyes. “Then grab him with both hands and don’t let go.” She patted Regina’s hand and turned toward the door. “I’ll see you when you return.”
“Wait. Grandmama? Don’t you want to know who it is?” Regina asked with a laugh.
Lady Harriet paused at the door and turned back with a sly smile. “It’s Mr. Oakleaf, darling. I’m old, not blind. And I’m certain my great-grandchildren are going to be gorgeous!”
Her grandmother winked at her and trotted off.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Mark’s coach rolled to a stop near the intersection of Earlham and Mercer in the early morning light. Mist still rose from the ground, and the freezing temperatures made Regina burrow her hands more deeply into her fur muff. She glanced out the window, trying to fight off the panic rising in her chest that threatened to choke her.
The last time she’d been here she’d been nearly paralyzed with fear, convinced that Knowles would find her at any moment and drag her back into her bedchamber cell.
“Take a deep breath,” Daffin said, his strong, warm hand at her elbow.
“Is it that obvious I’m frightened?”
“Yes, but you have nothing to be frightened of,” Daffin said.
Mark sat across from her, his gaze trained out the window for any sign of movement. There were some newspaper boys and other vendors setting up shop for the day on thestreet corners, but the roads were mostly barren, the residents apparently still sleeping off their amusements from the previous evening.
Daffin jumped from the coach and turned to help Regina down. The moment her boots touched the frozen earth, the memories of the night she’d escaped came rushing back. She forced herself to take a deep breath.Be brave. Be strong.
She glanced around. The last time she’d been here it had been dark, but the smell of the place triggered her recollection, newspapers and fish combined with some type of offal she didn’t want to contemplate.
She shook her head and forced herself to look around, hoping she could find her way back if she could only spot the same landmarks she’d seen that night. If only her head hadn’t been so foggy with laudanum at the time.
“Take your time, Regina,” Daffin said, his voice comforting from behind her. He hadn’t let on anything while in the coach with Mark. He certainly didn’t treat her as if they’d spent the night together. She might believe she’d imagined the whole thing if it hadn’t been for the softening of his eyes when he glanced at her.
Not that she blamed him for remaining aloof. He could hardly act differently in front of Mark. She would also pretend nothing had happened between them, but the entire time she’d ridden next to Daffin in the coach, she’d been preoccupied by his nearness, his scent. She’d wanted to reach out and kiss him, grab his arm and drag it around her. She wanted his protection, his stability, his strength, his warmth. She wanted all of him. She knew he still thought the difference in their stations was too much, but she didn’t care. She’d give up all of it to have him.
“Do you see anything familiar?” Mark asked, shaking her from her thoughts.
Regina glanced around again, shivering from the cold. It all looked alike, the rows of dirty façades on the sad little town houses, the trash piled about, the dingy windows, the grayness.
A glint of red caught her eye.
“Wait. I remember that.” She pulled a hand from her muff and pointed.
“What?” Daffin asked, swiveling to follow the line of her finger.
“That. That red door,” she said. “I remember hurrying past it, thinking what a bright color it was.”
“Which direction were you coming from?” Mark asked as the three of them crossed the street toward the house with the red door.
Regina bit her lip and thought about it for a moment. She’d seen the door as she’d hurried past, and it had been on her left. She must have been going west. “That way,” she said, pointing again. “I was coming from that way and headed that way.” She pointed in the opposite direction.
“Let’s go,” Daffin said.
They took off in the direction she’d indicated.
