After the older woman had taken the bottle, Mr. Pembroke moved past Lucy and toward Miss Wilson. He lowered his deep voice and said, “The man in that train car is a menace, and I won’t countenance Miss Westmont spending another moment in his company.”
Miss Wilson shot a quizzical look at Lucy.
“I don’t wish to remain in Mr. Nichols’s company, and you and Miss Maribel shouldn’t either.”
Jane’s finely plucked silver brows winged high, and her mouth flattened into a grim line. “I did not like the look of him from the start. But where will you go?”
“There’s room in my train car,” Mr. Pembroke said smoothly. “Join us, if you wish. Number One. All the way at the end.”
With that, he came back Lucy’s way, wearing a conspiratorial smile. He’d charmed the older woman in less time than it had taken for her to lay a punch on Mr. Nichols’s face.
“I’m not sure this is entirely—” Jane Wilson called.
“It’s all right, Miss Wilson. I trust Mr. Pembroke.”
That almost made him stumble in his approach, and the cocky smile faded into something softer, uncertain, and vulnerable.
He gestured behind her. “This way, Miss Westmont.”
Lucy turned in the direction he’d pointed and started toward the first train car, far enough to get past the one containing the odious Mr. Nichols, but after a few steps, some wicked impulse made her wait to step forward until he was closer.
James Pembroke.Soon he was just at her back. His suit coat brushed the bell of her gown.
“Are you stuck?” His words were softly spoken and laced with amusement that could almost make her forget the pain in her hand. “Or are you havingsecond thoughts because you trust me much less than you claimed?”
Lucy looked back into that mischievous blue gaze. She couldn’t say whether it was him she didn’t trust, or herself and the wayward thoughts in her head since the moment she’d crashed into him.
Chapter Five
“I should go and find the Wilson sisters.”
“Who?” James tried to keep her talking as he focused on tending to the abrasion on her hand. He sensed she needed the distraction. It was less than half an hour since her encounter with the vile man in her train carriage, and there was still a quaver in her voice.
“The sisters who shared the train car with me and Nichols.” At the mention of the man, a shiver rushed through her body. James felt it as he held her, swabbing gently at the skin across her knuckles.
“Why did they leave you alone with him?”
“They didn’t. We all went to the dining car, but Miss Maribel Wilson needed her medicine, so I went back to retrieve it. That’s when he—”
“After I’m finished, I’ll find them. As I told Miss Wilson, there’s plenty of room in this car. My only companion has been an older gentleman who’s gone to the dining car too.” He looked up at her, but she kept her focus on the window and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth.
“The greater question,” he continued, “is what to do about Nichols.”
“I stopped him. There’s nothing more to be done.”
“He accosted you.” James spoke with more force than he’d intended. Anger simmered just below the surface, but he’d held it in check to comfort her.
“It was a... misunderstanding. Please leave Mr. Nichols to his own fate.”
“As you wish.” James nodded, but the thought of the man getting off with no consequences made him ill at ease.
She narrowed her jade green eyes as if she didn’t quite believe his easy acquiescence. It was odd to meet a woman who seemed to read him so well and so quickly.
For the first time, she turned her attention toward her injured hand and his attempts to clean away the blood. After a moment, the wary beauty sat up straighter on her bench and firmed her chin.
“This isn’t necessary, Mr. Pembroke. I assure you I’m quite capable of caring for myself.”
Interestingly, despite the bite in her tone, she made no move to pull her hand from his grasp.
