A trickle of panic slid down Lucy’s back and made her shiver. James misunderstood and pulled away from her, slipping an arm from his overcoat to settle that half around her shoulders and pull her against the warmth of his body.
“Let me talk to him first?” she asked.
“You’re worried.”
“Papa is someone who makes assumptions at times. He’s used to quick decision-making, but he’s reasonable.” Less so about the welfare of his children, Lucy had to acknowledge to herself. But sheknewshe could make her father understand how she felt about James.
“If we have to wait until Pembroke Shipping—”
“I don’t want to wait. I wish I could come home with you now.”
James chuckled. “Me too.”
“I don’t even know where you live.”
He frowned. “In Cavendish Square. Not the most fashionable address, but we needn’t be there for long if all goes well.”
“It’s perfectly fashionable as far as I’m concerned.” Lucy didn’t mind about where they lived. If it was up to her, she’d happily make a home with him in that little cottage at Invermere. “I needed your address because I plan to send a message tomorrow after speaking to Papa. It will be later in the day. He spends mornings at his club. Then perhaps you can come and join us for dinner.”
Lucy chewed at her lip and contemplated the next challenge they’d have to face together.
Though her parents had promised her she could marry for love, she’d always known that came with the assumption that she’d marry someone of whom they would approve. Of course, they had every reason to approve of James. All the reasons that mattered to her, at least. He was kind, brave, and he loved her. Didn’t he?
She turned to him within the confines of the carriage, but she had no idea how to ask such a simple yet terrifying question.
“James?”
“You’re worried your father won’t approve of us marrying,” he said in reply as if he could read her thoughts. Well, at least some of them.
“I am a little. But not truly. My parents are reasonable people. I think they’ll see in you what I do, and they’ll recognize what I feel. I can’t denythat...” Her voice caught and her throat burned. Nagging doubt in her head told her that she might be in far deeper than he was.
“You can’t deny that...?” he prompted.
Oh, if there was no denying it, then why hesitate? She’d told Aunt Cassandra she was ready for the risk.
“That I love you.”
His eyes sparkled in the carriage’s lantern and that seductive smile that made her insides quiver curved his mouth. “And I love you.”
Lucy kissed him because she couldn’t help herself. He gave himself to the kiss too, and then he grew sentimental, kissing her cheeks, the tip of her nose, her chin, then her forehead.
“I wish we were already married,” he breathed against her skin. “I wish the work of convincing anyone that we should be was already past us.”
“As do I.” It was precisely what she felt, and she was half tempted to ask him to take her back to his home rather than deliver her to Hallston House. She’d feel no shame in spending the night in his arms, but allowing her parents to find that she hadn’t slept in her bed overnight would only make the task ahead of them harder.
This time the hansom cab driver drove around to drop her off in the mews and waited patiently while they said their goodbyes.
“You’re sure you can get inside and this time you’re staying put?”
Lucy laughed and kissed him one last time. “I promise.”
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Remember to wait until I send word,” Lucy reminded him. “It’s only fair that I face him first.”
As soon as Lucy reached out to open the cab door, James placed his hand on hers.
“I don’t think it is fair that you face him first. Allow me to speak to him? You came for me tonight. Let me take care of you as you always do for others. Let me speak to your father.”
