Lucy quirked a brow. Was he truly determined to make her spell it out? “To find a husband, Mr. Pembroke.”
“None were up to snuff, hmm?” His expression softened.
“None suited me.” Lucy decided it was fair to leave out that woefully few had offered.
“Nothing wrong with considering an importantdecision carefully. We all should.” The vehemence in his tone made Lucy suspect he wasn’t referring to her failure on the marriage mart.
She agreed with the principle. “Oddly, Papa might say I am impulsive, but I suppose I know myself and try to make good choices.”
Despite the ugliness with Nichols, she still felt this trip to Scotland was one of those good choices.
The sisters shifted, and they both glanced at the two, expecting them to wake. Though they didn’t, Mr. Pembroke fell silent. Lucy wanted to continue quizzing him. But he’d drawn in on himself, crossing his arms and shifting his gaze out the train car window once more.
“I’m the sort who talks more when I’m anxious. It seems you prefer to talk less.” Lucy leaned toward him. “I’m sorry if I made it worse.”
“You couldn’t make anything worse,” he said with unexpected warmth. Then he turned toward her and lowered his voice to a whisper, “And you’ve done nothing wrong. I’ve enjoyed talking to you, Lucy Westmont.”
“And I you.” The whisper caught in her throat, as if she was confessing something significant.
“I hope you enjoy Scotland. See a great deal and read a great deal.” He glanced at her book-filled valise.
“I wish the same for your visit, Mr. Pembroke. Except perhaps the reading part.”
Lucy smiled but it immediately faltered. Thiswas it. Their goodbyes. Soon they’d part ways and likely never see each other again.
Something about that felt wrong, almost impossible to fathom. But she did her best to push such wistfulness aside.
This was the first solo journey of her life, and there would be all sorts of new experiences ahead.
Chapter Six
James found a hired carriage and the driver agreed to take him to Invermere easily enough, though he did remind James that the thirty-mile journey would cause them to arrive late—too late for visitors was the implication. But, in truth, he wasn’t a visitor. He owned the damned place. Waking the servants was an inconvenience he’d normally attempt to avoid, but everything about this trip was urgent.
Beck’s loathsome smirk flashed in his mind and then the fear he’d seen in Mrs. Wilton’s eyes. He would not allow anyone else to suffer for his failures.
But before the journey to Invermere, James had an appointment. At least he hoped the Scottish solicitor he’d contacted would come despite the short notice, and they could conclude their initial business quickly.
“Meet back here in half an hour?”
The driver tipped his cap, and James gave him a wave.
As he started away from the station and headed for Princes Street, James couldn’t resist scanningthe crowd for a lady in an elaborate plum-colored hat. She wasn’t hard to spot. Lady Lucy Westmont stood with the Wilson sisters as the three collected their luggage from a porter.
A pointless yearning washed over him, and though he could push it away with logic—she was better off not knowing a man like him, wasn’t she?—some part of him couldn’t quite accept that they’d never cross paths again. Their acquaintance was entirely unexpected, and she was quite the most provoking woman he’d ever met, but also the most appealing, and he knew that, despite the brief time they’d known each other, he would remember her.
In fact, he feared he might never forget her.
He lingered there on the pavement, putting on his gloves, though he hated wearing them, and straightening his tie, though he knew his clothing was impossibly rumpled after the nearly nine-hour journey.
What was he hoping for? That she’d look his way and approach him, just to draw out a connection that seemed to fluster her more than anything?
He had nothing to offer a lady like Lucy Westmont. At least not yet.
Goodness, there was such allure inyet. How tantalizing the future seemed if he could somehow connive to have her in it.
Her father, when she’d begrudgingly admitted his name, was one of the most well-known noblemen in London. A leader in charitable endeavors,powerful in the House of Lords, and known to invest in public works programs. James had almost invested in a scheme that involved a bevy of civic-minded noblemen. He’d been prepared to make an exception to his usual no-nobles rule because it had been a sanitation project that, while it would have earned him little profit, would have done a great deal for Londoners. Though the project eventually fell through, James recalled that Lord Hallston’s involvement was a beneficial draw.
But what was his plan regarding Lucy? To show up in London months from now and burst back into her life, when she’d likely have forgotten their strange little interlude on a train to Scotland? Or found herself a suitor ready to give her more than he could now? She deserved that.
