Regency Romance: A Race Against The Lord (A Historical Romance Book) (COMPLETED)

05

Lydia looked like one of those cats who had embarrassed herself and then acts completely nonchalant about it in the hopes that no one else will notice. When Nicholas rose the next morning, she was up and in that dull black again, looking out at the lightening sky with her hands folded in her lap.

Nicholas dressed hastily and went out for few moments, returning with a tray of sliced apples, a thin porridge, and two mugs of water.

"I heard the guard from the coach say that a suitable replacement for the driver has been found," Nicholas offered. "We can be on our way in an hour or so."

"That is good," Lydia responded mechanically.

With a frown, Nicholas touched her chin, making her raise her eyes to meet his.

"Lydia? You mustn't be ashamed of what happened last night."

"But I am!" she burst out. She looked up at him, and he was once again struck by those magnificent green eyes. "I-I have to find out what really happened to my brother! I have thought about nothing ever since he died, and then—"

"And then for a few minutes, you were allowed to think of something else," Nicholas said, his voice soft. "That's all right, Lydia. It's fine. Even prisoners are allowed out of their cells once a day."

He had hoped that it would make her laugh, but instead, she looked stricken.

"That's-that's how it's been. For so long. I've been alone with this grief, a prisoner."

Nicholas spared a moment for her father. He was really the last person to be criticizing negligent fathers, given how many wayward daughters he had enjoyed, but he couldn't help feeling a stab of reproach for the man.

"You're not alone now. I'm here, and I do not think the lesser of you for your natural response."

Her cheeks colored again when he mentioned her response, and he hurried forward.

"You should eat your food. And when you are done, we should talk about what comes next."

She looked up at him alarmed.

"What do you mean, what comes next?"

"Eat, and we'll discuss it."

She shot him a mutinous look, reminding him of her unquenched spirit, but she ate the food he had provided. While they ate in silence, Nicholas had time to think about what he would have to do. Finally, when the plates were empty, he looked at her, leaning back in his chair with his arms over his chest.

"You should let me escort you back to your father. Under no circumstances should you be wandering the damned countryside like a grieving mendicant nun."

She stiffened.

"I'm not wandering; I am a woman with a destination in mind."

"And little money, no companionship, and a marked tendency for mayhem."

"If you are referring to the bandit that I dispatched..."

"I'm referring to the fact that you shouldn't have had to dispatch him at all. I'm referring to how very inappropriate it is for a young lady of breeding to be gallivanting around the countryside at her own pleasure."

Instead of responding to him with heated words, Lydia narrowed her eyes.

"I hardly think that I have to take a lesson in morals from you, your grace! Or is Catherine a sister or a cousin of yours?"

Nicholas had to stifle a laugh at that. The chit was spirited, but it could bring her to disaster if she wasn't careful.

"And now you are speaking the name of my mistress as if you were close friends. Tell me, up until this mad venture, had you even spoken with a man you didn't know before without a chaperone?"