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His frustration mounted. “What do you intend to do? Follow me all the way home?”
William watched her shoulders lift slightly, her eyes filling with interest. “Now that is an idea. It will surely be better than laying my head in an inn tonight.”
He wouldn’t grace that with a response. To show that he was serious about leaving her behind, he simply kept silent and kept walking. It bothered him to know that she was following him once again, even as they grew closer to the tavern.
Surely, she means to stop? Surely, she isn’t so foolhardy as to walk back to such a dangerous area?
But when he glanced over his shoulder again, he saw that she was still trailing behind him. She looked afraid, tentative, and her focus was on the man who’d just stumbled drunkenly out of the tavern slurring all manners of profanities. But she was following.
Annoyed with himself, William came to a halt and faced her. They were almost near the entrance, close enough that those who lingered outside noticed a lady in their midst. He could almost feel their leering gazes, taking in the woman who was so obviously not a part of their world.
Elizabeth came to a stop, her eyes meeting his once more. She didn’t look back at the tavern and whatever trepidation he’d spotted before dissipated before his very eyes. She looked almost…hopeful. His annoyance shot to the sky and without a word, he grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the tavern, heading across the street.
She didn’t say anything, thankfully. He didn’t know what he would say if she did. After so rudely and bluntly showing he didn’t care about what happened to her, he didn’t want to have to explain himself now. He didn’t even want to understand it himself. But he kept dragging her along, not stopping until he’d pulled her through a gap in two abandoned houses and spotted his coachman sleeping against the carriage.
“Wesley,” William clipped and didn’t bother to comment when his coachman jerked awake and wiped at the sparkling drool on his chin. Instead, he pulled Elizabeth up to the carriage door and opened it for her. “Home,” he threw back at the coachman.
Elizabeth stared at him with wide eyes filled with questions. William didn’t bother to answer them. For now, he wouldn’t question his actions. He simply tilted his head at the door, a clear indication that he wanted her to get in. After a moment, she complied while the still groggy coachman scrambled down from his post to assist.
William climbed in behind her and instantly positioned himself on the opposite end of the carriage, as far away from her as he could get. It didn’t take him long to realize that it would do him very little good.
Once Wesley climbed in front again, the carriage jerked to a start. William kept his eyes stubbornly looking out the window though he saw nothing but dilapidated houses.
“Thank you,” Elizabeth murmured after a moment. He remained silent. In the corner of his eye, he saw her fidget, her fingers gripping and releasing the skirt of her plain gown. “In truth, I was a bit scared of being on my own.”
William scoffed. You should have been scared from the very beginning, from before you decided to follow a stranger.
He kept the words to himself. Being already so at odds with his actions, he didn’t want to risk revealing something he shouldn’t.
The silence dragged on for a while longer before she continued, “William…what happened?”
William gritted his teeth. Slowly, he dragged his gaze over to her, meeting those curious eyes. He didn’t have to ask what exactly she was asking him. He already knew it was about what happened seven years ago.
She didn’t give him the chance to respond. To his horror, tears filled her eyes once more and he quickly averted his gaze. “After being apart from you for so long, I…I nearly lost hope. I thought I would never see you again. I thought you might have died.”
“You should have just believed that and went on with your life,” he murmured gruffly.
“How can you say that? Did our friendship mean nothing to you? Did you truly not love—”
“Enough.” He didn’t shout the word, but it cut through the air with such dangerous authority that she stopped talking. Surprise rushed through him at that, though he didn’t show it. The last time he’d quieted her, she’d lost her temper.
It appears I am not the only one who’s changed.
“William,” she began again. The sound of her cracking voice was enough to drive him mad. “Please, I need to know what happened—”
“I said, enough!” he shouted this time and saw when she flinched. As impossible as it seemed, Elizabeth shrank into the seat, curling in on herself. She bit her lip, squeezing her eyes shut and the rest of her tears ran down her cheeks. William wrenched his eyes away, not wanting to see any more.
