The Viscount's Veiled Lady (Whitby Weddings 3)

She muttered a swear word and his lips twitched in amusement. He couldn’t have put it any better himself.

‘Well, Miss Webster...’

‘I’m sorry.’ Her expression turned guilty. ‘I shouldn’t have said that.’

‘I’ve heard worse. I believe I actually said worse earlier.’

‘Oh, yes—’ her expression cleared again ‘—so you did.’

‘Then I suppose I can’t blame you for running away. Between that and my lack of clothing, I must have appeared like some kind of monster.’

‘I thought you were a convict.’ She dug her teeth down hard into her bottom lip, turning serious again. ‘But perhaps you might let me borrow your carriage? Just to take me to the outskirts of Whitby. I’ll make my own way from there.’

‘I don’t have a carriage, only horses, and you won’t be making your own way anywhere. I might not look like much of a gentleman, but I hope I still have better manners than that. I presume you can ride?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then I’ll escort you home.’

‘No!’ She sounded positively alarmed. ‘I mean, there’s no need for you to put yourself out. I can go on my own.’

‘I’m sure you can, but I’d like to have my horse back afterwards.’

‘Oh...yes, of course.’ Her expression wavered uncertainly. ‘Then perhaps we could wait until dark and you might leave me in the street?’

He lifted his eyebrows, regarding her dubiously. ‘Embarrassed to be seen in my company, Miss Webster?’

‘No-o, but the truth is that my parents don’t know anything about my coming here. They’d think it was shockingly indiscreet for me to call on you.’

‘They’d have a point. It’s unfortunate that your sister doesn’t share their scruples, but it won’t be dark for another few hours. Won’t your parents be concerned if you’re not home before nightfall?’

‘Oh, no.’ She shook her head with conviction. ‘They’re used to me coming and going, and Lydia will cover for me, I’m sure, under the circumstances.’

‘Quite.’

He glanced down at his hand, surprised to find it still resting on her foot. He must have kept it there without thinking and now the feel of her skin beneath his fingertips was making him even more unsettled. Positively uncomfortable, in fact. Maybe his sister-in-law was right and he was starved of companionship. Not that this was the kind of companionship she’d likely had in mind. Even sitting so close to a woman now was making his collar feel uncomfortably restrictive. Or perhaps he was just used to wearing loose farm clothes. In either case, he ought to let go of Frances’s foot. Now that he’d bound the injury, he really shouldn’t still be touching her at all, especially when he was so acutely aware of the shapeliness of the legs beneath her petticoats. Except that pulling his hand away now would only draw more attention to it...

‘Lydia only wants to talk to you.’ Her voice sounded strangely breathless all of a sudden.

‘So she sent you with a request that I’ve already refused, twice, without either your parents’ permission or any care for your reputation?’

She shuffled in her chair, the movement of her foot beneath his fingertips causing an immediate, and this time unmistakable, reaction in his lower body.

‘I didn’t know that it was twice, but she said that she just wants to explain...about her marriage.’

He was actually glad to feel a rush of anger, dampening his other responses and finally giving him an excuse to pull his hand away. ‘You mean to explain why she married someone else within a month of my leaving? Can she explain that, Miss Webster? Or are you going to tell me it was just her way of grieving?’

‘She only wants...’

‘She wants a title!’

He hadn’t intended to shout, though he realised he must have as a heavy silence descended over the room, punctuated only by the sound of Meg’s panting as she lifted her head from her paws and looked curiously between them. Miss Webster herself didn’t say anything to either confirm or contradict his statement, only hunching her shoulders and dropping her gaze as if she wished she were somewhere else.

‘I apologise.’ He felt a stab of guilt for his outburst. ‘But you shouldn’t have come. Why did you? Just because she’s your sister and she asked you to?’

‘No...’ she kept her gaze fixed on the floor ‘...but I couldn’t refuse. I have my own secrets.’

‘And your sister knows them, but your parents don’t?’