“It looks as though it might rain.” He peered at the gray clouds that blanketed the sky with such density that one could easily forget the majestic blue of yesterday’s heavens. A damp chill was hardly kept at bay by the window.
“Come now, Mr. Yorke,” Mrs. Tonkin admonished him. “Show proper ’eart or I’ll ’ave to put a bit o’ fire in ’ee myself.”
Frederick’s brows drew together. Like most men, he did not care to have his courage called into question. If only she knew he’d once ridden his horse from one bank of the frozen Serpentine to the other without losing his seat. Or that after a card party had turned unruly, he’d given the slip to the constable via the rooftops, finally climbing down a trellis into the garden of none other than Lady Cowper.
So, no. He did not need her to put any fire in him. A bit of rain was nothing.
Once on Flint, Frederick followed Mrs. Tonkin’s very particular instructions. The horse snorted, taking exception toa broken cart wheel on the side of the road. He guided Flint past it, after which they turned to the left onto a small dirt path.
The view of the sparkling Trelowen harbor was soon lost amongst hedges and trees as the ground sloped steeply upward. Even when it was out of sight, however, the saltiness of the air and the sounds of the sea were a constant reminder of how far from London Frederick had roamed.
He had just turned a bend in the road when a figure came into sight ahead, her green skirts draped over the sleek back of her bay mount, her soft profile outlined by the pewter gray sky.
Lady Radcliffe’s head came around, and she went still.
Frederick feigned surprise—not entirely feigned, however, for hehadwondered if Mrs. Tonkin was leading him into yet another humiliating situation when she had said she happened to know the path her ladyship rode each Friday morning. “Lady Radcliffe.”
“Mr. Yorke,” she said, deftly controlling her mount’s impatient prancing. “I thought you would be on the road to London by now.”
“Thought or hoped?”
She smiled. “London is that way.” She indicated the direction he had come from with a nod.
“Which is why I am going this way.” He gave a responsive nod ahead. “Shall we proceed?”
She looked at him for a moment, then urged her horse forward.
He drew his alongside hers, though the path was barely large enough to permit such a thing.
“And pray,” she said, “whyareyou going this way, Mr. Yorke?”
“I am becoming better acquainted with the borough, of course.”
“And what has your acquaintance taught you thus far?”
Frederick considered how to respond. “That Trelowen and I have a bright future together.”
She lifted a brow. “Your optimism is inspiring. And has your thorough acquaintance taught you where the road you are on leads?”
“Some things must be experienced to be learned. Shall we find out together?”
That earned him a reluctant glint in her eye. Perhaps Mrs. Tonkin was not wrong. Perhaps hecouldwin Lady Radcliffe’s support.
“As I am well aware of what lies at the end, you would be alone in your discovery.”
“But not in the journey, which is every bit as important, I think.”
She regarded him for a moment. “And if the destination is dangerous?”
Their thighs brushed in a narrow part of the road, and he watched her hands tighten on the reins. Their faces were much closer than before, and her rich brown eyes watched him curiously.
“I would come to your rescue,” he said matter-of-factly, though he smiled as he said the next part. “Then you would be honor-bound to support my campaign.”
She gave a breathy laugh and turned her gaze ahead. “I am no damsel in distress, Mr. Yorke.”
Frederick was inclined to agree. Lady Radcliffe seemed more capable than most. “Mr. Oswald seems to think otherwise, and I have it on good authority that he isintimately familiarwith such matters.”
Her head whisked around.
