His expression remained neutral, but she knew he sifted her responses for truth and falsehood. “A long journey for a lady on her own. Didn’t you have a maid to accompany you, at least?”
With every moment, she sank further into an abyss of lies. But what choice did she have? If she revealed her identity, any law-abiding citizen would immediately hand her over to the authorities.
Nonetheless, her unruly tongue tripped over her answer. “My maid ran off when we changed coaches in London.”
“You have indeed suffered a series of misfortunes, Miss Watson.”
Did his response contain a hint of irony? His expression remained all polite interest. She decided to accept his comment at face value. “It’s been a terrible day.” At least that much was true. “Now all I wish is to reach my aunt’s house.”
“You’re a long way from Portsmouth.”
Didn’t she know it? She’d barely covered a few miles and already tested the edge of her endurance. She had no money to pay for a seat on a coach, and even if she had, she couldn’t risk someone seeing her and remembering her. Yet again, the insurmountable task she set herself struck her. Then she recalled what awaited back at Holcombe. “I’ll manage.”
“How?” he asked with the first trace of sharpness. “You’re dead on your feet.”
Hearing her own doubts voiced with such emphasis made her belly clench with sick despair. “Needs must.”
His lips flattened. Clearly he found her sullen answer as unimpressive as she did herself. “I offer you transport if you care to accept.”
Charis jerked back as if he tried to touch her. This seemed too good to be true. Transport to Portsmouth was a godsend. Her stepbrothers would already be on her trail. If she went with this stranger, she’d cover more ground. Not only that, her stepbrothers would ask after a girl traveling alone.
“I couldn’t inconvenience you so.” She intended the words to sound final, but her injuries slurred her speech.
“I’m traveling south anyway.” His expression became somber. “Chivalry forbids me to abandon a woman to the mercy of any blackguard she meets on the road.”
In spite of physical misery and encroaching fear, a grim laugh escaped Charis. She made a dismissive gesture with her good hand. “Chivalry is an unreliable quality at the best of times.”
“You have my word as a gentleman that your virtue is safe, Miss Watson.” He didn’t smile.
She’d heard so many lies recently, she just assumed anything a man said must be falsehood. But strangely, she believed him when he pledged his word.
Good Lord, if this man meant to rape her, surely he’d have made a move by now. Every scrap of sense prompted her to credit him as that most chimerical of creatures.
A genuine man of honor.
Or was she just dazzled by his remarkable looks? She was vulnerable and exhausted. Ceaseless pain turned her mind hazy. She was frightened for her life.
The pause extended, stretched into taut silence. If he’d tried to persuade her, she would have insisted on going on alone. But he let her make up her mind. Only the tension straightening the powerful shoulders under his superbly cut jacket indicated he awaited her answer with more than indifference.
Finally, she sighed. It was a sound of acquiescence. Fear clogged her veins, but desperation was stronger. Wondering if she cast her lot with the devil, she gave a brief nod. “Then I accept your help with gratitude.”
“First we’ll take you to a doctor.”
For an instant, her terror had faded to a distant thrum. The chance of escape had beckoned like a lifeboat to a drowning man. Now his words reminded her she’d found no sanctuary yet.
Perhaps ever, unless she was very clever and very lucky.
Any doctor in Winchester would recognize her immediately. She shook her head in swift denial, cradling her arm. “I don’t need a doctor. My injuries aren’t as bad as they look.”
She waited for argument. None came. “All right. No doctor.”
Relief made her sag, although she tried to mask her overwhelming reaction. Apparently she’d fallen in with the most credulous gentleman in the county. So far, he accepted her story without a moment’s doubt.
Odd, she wouldn’t have considered him a stupid man. Intelligence sizzled in those perceptive dark eyes.
Perhaps he was just naïve. More reason to go with him. Evading him in Portsmouth should present no trouble.
What she’d do then was a complete blank. She had no money and no friends. Or no friends she could put at risk of prosecution. Her stepbrothers had already terrified her one close relative, her great-aunt, into handing her over to them. She wore a gold locket and her mother’s pearl ring, neither of great value. Somehow she had to hide for three weeks. Her crushing dilemma made her shudder.