Page 21 of A Lady in Name

CHAPTER FOUR

Shock ripped through Stefan in a wave that felt like lightning. Marriage? This was the first mention of marriage. Was Lucy betrothed to the fellow? Why in Hades had she said nothing, if that was so?

He might have asked aloud, but curiously, he felt an odd reluctance to voice these questions. As he helped his sister down from the coach, he was aware of feeling a savage repudiation of this Mr Waley. Reflecting that his permission must be granted before Lucy could marry anyone, he felt a trifle less ruffled and was able to usher the ladies into the inn with relative calm. The business of bespeaking rooms and a meal served to cast a further damper over his irritation, so that by the time he rejoined his sister and Lucy, he was in command of himself again.

“We will dine shortly. No doubt you will both wish to freshen up before we do so. The landlady will show you to your chambers.”

They went without demur, and Stefan was at leisure to make use of the facilities of the house for himself. He had time for a tankard of home-brewed before the girls reappeared, by which time he was so hungry he shoved the question of the curate to the back of his mind until he had taken the edge off his appetite.

Over coffee and sweetmeats, he broached the matter of tomorrow. “How do you wish to proceed, Lucy?”

The instant she looked at him, Stefan was aware of change. Her eyes were troubled and she did not answer immediately. When she did, her hesitance argued a state of nervousness.

“The vicarage. I had best go there first.” She put up her fingers in a gesture he’d noticed before, tucking at stray curves of hair as if she would hide them in her cap. “Somehow I cannot now remember what there is left to do. It feels as though I had been away a month, yet it cannot be more than a matter of days.”

“That is the effect of change,” said Dion, selecting a sugared almond from the silver bowl of sweetmeats. “It puts you out of kilter. I have often remarked it.”

“You having had so many changes in your short young life,” Stefan put in drily.

His sister twinkled. “I dare say it seems unlikely to you, but girls have quite as much adjustment to make as boys, you know.”

“More, in some ways,” he agreed, his eyes straying back to Lucy’s face. “Particularly when they are married.”

She met his glance, an odd look of question in her face. Stefan held her gaze steadily. Was she thinking of the curate? His tongue betrayed him.

“Where is this Mr Waley of yours? Does he live near the vicarage?” He had not intended the harsh note. No wonder Lucy widened her gaze.

“Who is Mr Waley?” asked Dion.

Stefan ignored her as he tried to retrieve the slip. “I wondered if you intended to visit him at the same time.”

A tiny frown drew Lucy’s brows together. “He will be in church, I imagine. I may catch him there at any rate.”

Stefan felt a softening at his breast. “You look tired, Lucy.”

Her fingers ran between her brows, smoothing the frown. “I am rather.”

“Go to bed.”

She looked startled, but Dion caught him up. “Stefan, what in the world is the matter with you? I should think you are the one who is tired to be speaking so gruffly. Take no notice, Lucy.”

But, to Stefan’s secret surprise, Lucy gave a tiny smile and rose from the table. “On this occasion, I am glad to do your bidding, my lord.”

With which, she dropped a curtsy and hurried out of the room. Stefan was subjected to an intense stare from his sister. He summoned his blandest manner.

“What?”

“It is of no use to say ‘what’ in that stupid fashion, brother dear. I cannot think what has come over you to be behaving in this heartless way.”

Stefan dismissed the cross tone — or tried to. This was just his little sister fussing as usual. “I fail to see what I have said for you to accuse me of being heartless.”

Dion tutted at him. “Cannot you see how poor Lucy is beset, coming home to all her sad memories?”

Stefan considered this. “I don’t think she is sad. I think she is confused, bewildered perhaps, which is not unnatural.” His tone hardened. “Or else she is thinking of a different future than the one we are offering.”

Dion stared. “What future? She has no other future.”

“With the curate.”