Page 28 of Dare to be Wicked

They manoeuvred Eliza’s horse to stand beside a tree trunk, and Lottie helped her with her heavy skirts as she mounted.

“Shall I come…?” she began, disliking Eliza riding off alone in such an emotional state.

Eliza shot her sister such a look that Lottie swallowed the words.

“You’ll take care, then?” she asked tentatively.

Eliza’s expression softened and she reached down to grasp Lottie’s hand. “Don’t fret, love. I shan’t do anything foolish. I shall go straight home and have a good cry, and by the time you get back I shall be quite myself again.”

Lottie nodded, a lump in her throat, but there was something in her sister’s expression that made Lottie believe she might never be quite the same again.

By the time Lottie got back to the picnic, she found only Cassius and the twins awaiting her. It was clear that Cassius had told them of his conversation with Eliza. He looked up at her, such agony in his expression she could not remonstrate with him for whatever he had said to hurt her so. Sometimes the truth was painful enough, no matter how carefully you were given the words. Lottie knew Cassius would not have hurt Eliza for the world, any more than she would, and she swallowed down a truth of her own. She could not admit her feelings for Cassius all the while Eliza was reeling from the shock of losing him. Perhaps not for some time after that. She met his eyes, silently understanding that he had come to the same conclusion.

“Well, that did not go as expected,” Vivien said, and Lottie found herself relieved at her friend’s often tactless nature.

“No,” she said quietly.

“Is she all right?” Viv asked, concern in her eyes.

“Should I go after her?” Ash asked, moving to get up.

“No!” Lottie said in a rush, shaking her head. “No. She wants to be by herself for a while. I’m afraid she feels she’s been rather made a fool of, because she was the last to know.”

Ash sent Cassius a caustic look of irritation, and Cassius blanched.

“I know, I know,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “If cutting out my bloody heart would help, I’d do it. It was the only reason I delayed but… but you were all right. I should have told the as soon as I could, and now… Oh, God, Lottie, she hates me.”

Lottie shook her head. “Don’t be silly. She could never hate you, and she’ll realise it was for the best once she calms down. You were never suited in that way. That is the only reason everyone guessed so easily, and I know she’ll see that once she can think about it calmly.”

Cassius nodded but looked so utterly wretched, she wished she could comfort him, but that was not possible. Not now. Now she would have to stay well away from him, or risk losing her sister for good.

They all turned as Louis César walked back to them alone with no sign of his brother. He frowned to see that Eliza was not with them.

“Where is Lady Elizabeth?” he asked.

“She’s gone back to the house,” Cassius replied, his tone brittle.

“Ah,” said Louis César with a wry smile. “That is a coincidence.”

Eliza rode hard, urging her horse on. Bitter tears stung her eyes as the wind whipped at her face and she only wanted to ride faster, farther. She was never reckless, never did anything with abandon, and suddenly she was suffocating with the desire to do something wild. Lottie and Cassius had always complained about her lack of imagination, and she knew her forthright mother looked upon her as though she was a strange cuckoo in the nest. Mama was, after all, a novelist with a marvellous imagination, and a forthright nature, but Eliza had always preferred reality and not attracting notice. As the eldest child of a duke and duchess, she was under constant scrutiny from the ton, and she found the idea she might do or say anything to cause her parents embarrassment excruciating. Why, she did not know, for they would never be hard on her and would always take her side. Until recently, the rules had made her feel safe, sheltered from the storm, but now it seemed she was the storm, raging against the bars of a cage she had not realised she resented so bitterly. She would not go home, she decided, not yet. Instead she took a path that would lead her to the ruins of Bayham Abbey. It was a romantic Gothic ruin over an hour’s ride away, but she loved it there and she needed the freedom.

Movement to her right made her turn her head, and her breath caught at the sight of Mr Demarteau. His powerful horse galloped beside her lighter beast with ease, eating up the terrain as though it flew. She met Demarteau’s eyes, for once seeing nothing resembling that aloof, judgemental expression to which she had grown used. Instead, his eyes were full of understanding, full of the same desire to escape. He made a sharp sound of encouragement to his horse, who put on a burst of speed. Her own mount’s ears went back, and her horse sprang forward with the desire to follow its companion. Eliza let out a burst of surprised laughter, her heart lifting, and gave the creature its head.

“Where on earth have you been?” Lottie demanded, running to Eliza as she entered the house.

Their picnic had been short-lived after Eliza and Demarteau had gone, with no one much in the mood to enjoy themselves. Lottie had rushed directly to Eliza’s room only to discover she had not yet returned. She had worried herself sick the past hour and was on the point of setting up a search party to look for her when Eliza strode into the house.

She was flushed and dishevelled, with a strange glitter in her eyes Lottie had never seen before.

“Riding,” Eliza said calmly, handing her hat and gloves to a footman. “I needed to clear my head.”

She moved towards the stairs, certainly looking far more self-possessed than she had when she’d left the picnic.

Lottie hurried after her. “Are you quite well? Did anything happen? Did you see Mr Demarteau?”

“Who?” Eliza cast a careless glance back at her. “Oh, him. Yes, we passed each other. I believe he is still out riding.”

Lottie frowned, disliking Eliza’s calm tone for reasons she could not quite put her finger on.