Chapter Twelve
Malcolm didn’t reallywant to talk about the war. He’d seen too much. Felt too much. And the sting of betrayal still hit him hard. But since Lizzie had shared so much with him, he felt he had to give her some information. He would just leave all the bad parts out.
“I worked with Wellington. Doing surveillance mostly.”
“Wow, that is impressive. He must have held ye in verra high standing to work with him directly.” She’d heard her papa speak of the man and always gave him high regards.
“I dinna ken that, but I was verra good at what I did.” He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees as he locked his eyes on hers. “’Tis why I was at the party. Wilson had hired me to ensure the Phantom Prowler didn’t attack.”
Her eyes rounded. “Do ye really think I am that prowler? Truly?”
He sat back, assessing her. Did he? He had serious doubts. But he wasn’t about to tell her that.
“That still remains to be seen. If ye are, I dinna ken how ye werena apprehended before now. Ye do verra sloppy work.”
She threw her hands up in exasperation. “Because I am no’ the prowler! That alone should prove it.”
He chuckled.
“Dinna laugh at me. I am no’.”
“Ye keep repeating that, but I did catch ye with your hands deep in the viscountess’s chest of jewels.”
“Aye, aye, aye.” She waved her hand in the air. “Ye will see. My papa will no’ be happy at all to find I’ve been forced to travel with a stranger. ’Tis a good thing Mary is here with me. Otherwise ye’d be forced to marry me for sullying my reputation.”
He barked out a laugh. He couldn’t help it. “I am sullying your reputation? My dear lass, I think ye are doing a fine job of tarnishing your reputation all on your own.”
She crossed her arms and scowled at him.
“I have done no such thing. My reputation remains intact.”
Back and forth their conversation went until they stopped early in the afternoon to stretch their legs and rest the horses.
Malcolm realized that he was enjoying their banter perhaps more than he should be. He’d found the morning pleasant and if it weren’t for the actual reason they were on this journey he could almost see it as a journey a couple would partake together.
He pushed a hand through his hair and dug his fingers into his scalp. The women were off tending to nature’s call, and he thought of his friends that had recently married. Both Nicholas and Alexander were over the moon in love with their new wives. Finlay, too, though his marriage was more recent and it was expected that he would be lost in love.
Had they felt the same way he was feeling now? Not that he was in love with Lizzie. Nay. Not at all. Infatuated, mayhap. Lusted, definitely.
Even when he kenned that was the last feeling he should have running through his body, but damn, the lass awakened every nerve he had.
The gowns she wore accented the swell of her hips, revealed the swell of her bosom. And her scent? She smelled like wildflowers ye would find deep in the meadows of the highlands.
He bit back a growl at the thoughts running rampant in his mind.
“Will we be continuing on soon?” Lizzie asked from behind him.
Startled, he took a step forward, clearing his throat. “Aye, as soon as John readies the horses.”
He expected her to walk away and settle in the carriage, but instead she moved beside him, her hands clasped at her waist.
“’Tis a lovely landscape is it no’?” She didn’t wait for him to answer before continuing on. “My brother and I would spend whole days running through the trees. My mama would get so angry when I would rip my skirts by snagging them on the branches as we ran as if the devil himself were chasing us.” She laughed at the memory and it was a beautiful sound. Her voice transformed when she reminisced of her childhood.
“I’m verra sorry for the loss of your brother, Lass.”
She nodded, a small smile lifting the corners of her mouth. “Thank ye. He was a kind, but misguided soul.” She swatted at a bug flying near her head. “Looks like John is ready,” she said and headed toward the carriage.
He wanted to ask what Lizzie meant about her brother being misguided, but she quickly changed the subject and was gone in a flash, leaving him no time to do so. Maybe she would open up more as they continued on their journey.
