One of the men strode toward them and handed them each a sandwich. Ally rammed half of it in her mouth.
“Slowly, Alexandra. If you eat it too quickly, you’ll get sick.”
“I don’t rightly care at the moment.” She finished the sandwich in a total of four bites. “That’s not nearly enough.”
“I know,” Evan said, munching on his own sandwich, “but we’ll be fed well once we return to the estate. Sophie will have Chef prepare us a veritable feast.”
They went back into the shack and each drank a dipper of water. Then they mounted the horses and were off.
Sitting astride behind Evan was certainly no hardship for Ally, even though the terrain was rough until they made it to the road about forty-five minutes later.
The breeze blew through Ally’s long hair, tangling it into a worse mess than it was already. But nothing to be done at this point.
Several derriere-pained hours later, they arrived back at the Brighton estate. Evan dismounted and helped Ally down, and the servants took the horses to the stables.
“Oh, a meal and a bath…or a bath and a meal,” Ally said. “I’m afraid I don’t know in which order I want them. Perhaps one of the maids can serve me in the tub.”
“A meal for me first,” Evan said. “I’m famished.”
She was as well. But after their ordeal, Evan looked merely disheveled. And terribly sexy. She, on the other hand, had strings of hair filled with snarls tangling around her shoulders, and her dress was still damp and felt sticky next to her skin. The curse of being a woman. It was the same with growing old. Men looked handsome and distinguished. Women looked wrinkled and crone-ish.
The unfairness of it all.
He walked her to the main door of the mansion and opened it.
“Sir!” Graves strode toward them quickly. “Thank goodness. Did Marley and Silverton find you?”
“Yes, yes, and we are so grateful. We are a mess from the storm, as you can see, and in need of a hefty warm meal.”
“At once. Let me inform Lady Sophie that you’ve returned.”
A few minutes later, Sophie ran toward them and embraced Ally. “Thank goodness! Oh, what a mess! I can only imagine what you’ve been through.”
“Sophie, it was horrid, but we’re alive and in one piece. Unfortunately, poor John didn’t fare as well, nor the horses.”
“You must tell me everything.”
“We will, but we really do need a meal first.”
“Yes, of course, but Ally…”
“Hmm?”
“You have a caller.”
“A caller?” She looked down at her mussed dress and the hair sticking in tangles to her shoulders.
“Yes. But don’t worry, I’ll tell him—”
“My lady?”
Ally jerked at the gentleman’s voice.
Out of the parlor walked Mr. Nathan Landon.
Confessions of Lady Prudence
by Madame O