“Surely Lucy doesn’t need to go with you,” Mother said. “It is bad enough you’ve been delivering things like a common laborer. You don’t need to drag her into it.”
“Lady Bridgewater,” Lucy said, “if you think I’m going to let your son out of my sight before he fulfills his promise to marry me, I’m afraid you're wrong.”
That quieted Mother. Apparently Matthew wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to lose Lucy.
Mrs. Tucker offered to make tea for Mother and Miss Helena while he and Lucy made their final deliveries. Mother agreed, telling Matthew she would save her embraces for London, when he’d changed out of his current clothes. He imagined both she and father would have a few choice words for him once the three of them were alone.
The moment Matthew had the cart out of sight, he slowed Marge to a stop and pulled Lucy into his arms.
“What are you doing?” she asked, laughing into his chest, but not pulling away.
“I’m fairly certain I already told you.”
“It will be getting dark soon. We need to hurry.”
“And just where do you think we are going?”
She pointed to the packages in the back of the cart. “We have all these deliveries to make.”
He smiled. “They are all going to town. It won’t take long.”
“But the package I want to pick up isn’t in town.”
Matthew furrowed his brows. She actually wanted to pick up a package? “I thought you made that up.”
Lucy lowered her lashes and looked up at him with a delightful pout on her lips. It was all he could do to not kiss her senseless. “Do you think I just go around making things up all the time?”
Matthew put his hands on her cheeks and dropped a swift kiss on her lips. “That is exactly what I think.”
She huffed. “Well, this time, you are wrong.”
He laughed, released her, and picked up Marge’s reins. “All right then, where will we be going?”
Lucy raised her eyebrows, a mischievous glint in her eye. “To Johnson's farm. I promised your mother a gift.”
Matthew chuckled and tucked Lucy into his side. “Are we bringing a live goose with us all the way to London? In my mother’s carriage?”
Lucy rested her head against his shoulder and snaked a hand up to his chest. “It’s the only way to make certain they’re fresh.”
CHAPTER 23
When they gotto the edge of town, Lucy reluctantly took her head off of Matthew’s shoulder and sat up straight. Matthew’s mouth dipped into a frown. He shifted the reins into one hand and put his free arm around her waist.
“Matthew, what if someone sees us?”
He shifted in his seat so that their sides were pressed up against each other. “I hope everyone sees us,” he said. “I’m planning on telling the whole town that we are going to be married.”
“Really?” Her heart warmed. It was a strange thing to go from thinking she might never see Matthew again, to being happily engaged to him in less than an hour. This new Matthew who held her by the waist and wanted to tell everyone about their relationship would take some getting used to. Not that she minded.
“Of course.”
“But how will we explain everything?”
“I suppose that depends. Do you still want everyone to think you are Miss Shroud? Would you rather not have the news of our time together spread to London?”
Lucy thought about it. She’d had three Seasons in London, all while engaged. She couldn’t think of a single person she cared enough about for them to affect her decision. “What about you?”
“As long as I get to tell everyone you are my fiancée, I don’t really care what name we tell them.” He paused. “Although, my mother might care.”
