AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But now it was over and she needed to eat something after having drunk so much. She was imagining what that might be when the door suddenly opened again. She scrambled upright and watched with consternation as William Douglas climbed into the coach and sat directly across from her. “Thank you, William, but I should like to be alone.”
“It would be rude to send you home without company.”
“No.” She reached across and managed to push the door ajar. “I am perfectly at ease and quite accustomed to a lack of company. Off you go.”
A footman or someone closed the door from the outside.
“What sort of gentleman would I be if I allowed it?” He smiled and removed his hat, placing it next to him on the bench. The coach lurched forward, almost spilling her out of her seat and making her stomach roil. “And it’s too late,” he added cheerfully.
With a groan she tossed her wrap and bonnet aside and looked out the window as the coach moved on from Stafford House. She was aware of William’s eyes on her and turned her head to look at him. He was studying her, all right. “What is it?”
He shrugged. “I was observing how regal you looked just now, with the afternoon light on your face.”
She blinked with surprise. “Why are you speaking to me in that way?”
“What way?”
“Like you’re a suitor. Not a half hour ago you said I was swarthy.”
“I did no’,” he said, holding up a finger. “I said your drinking of champagne was swarthy.”
“It’s my prerogative to drink as much as I like without comment from you.”
“So you made perfectly clear.” He nudged her foot with his. “I donna care if you drink a barrel of it, Justine.”
“Thankyou,William,Chamberlain of the Champagne, for your permission.”
He smiled. When he smiled like that, it made her feel a little dizzy. Oh yes, she’d had far too much champagne.
“I do wonder, however.”
She didn’t want to ask; shedidn’t want to ask.She asked. “Wonder what?”
“Why do you shake so?”
She could feel the blush rise in her cheeks. “No one would like to know the answer to that more than me. But thank you for asking.” She sat a little straighter in her seat and turned her gaze to the window and watched a plain building that looked like an asylum disappear from view as they rolled past. Seemed an odd location for one.
“Did you think I didna notice it?”
Her blush deepened. She hadn’t been so ridiculous to think that, but she’d certainly hoped it. “I don’t care if you did.” She turned her gaze back to him. “The only reason younoticed is because you have the awful habit of standing too close and staring at me. No one said you must shadow my every move.”
He laughed. “I’m to keep you under my watch. What is it, then?” he asked curiously. “A malady?”
“Amalady?” She shook her head. “I don’t know why, but if I did, I would employ all remedy necessary if only to avoid my mother’s priest, who believes I might be cured if only I pray harder.” She shuddered to think of the time in her life when she was required to meet with Lord Reverend Pontifo every morning at five for Matins prayers. She sighed and began to yank the gloves from her hands. Every part of her needed air. “It’s nerves. When I was a girl I had a terrible experience in a crowd. That’s the first time I can remember experiencing the sensation of being unable to breathe. Unfortunately, it seems to have gotten worse the older I’ve become, and I think because the crowds around me have gotten bigger. When there is a large group of people very close to me, it happens.”
She tossed her gloves onto the pile with her bonnet and wrap and folded her arms across her middle. “I’ve been told byeveryonethat my nerves are vexing. But I can’t help that my heart races and I feel a little ill. And the champagne...it soothes me. So there you have it, William. I am all bad nerves and soothed only by drink.”
“No, lass. I saw what you did to Mawbley—you canna be all bad nerves and command a match as you did. I would imagine it unbearable to be in the thick of a crowd with so many people vying for your attention.”
She was a little astonished that he wasn’t saying the things she usually heard—that she was so fortunate to be in her position, that she had to swallow her fears and present herself as queen, that she was being foolish. “It is,” she agreed softly. She didn’t like talking about it—it made her realize how truly vulnerable she was. Her father said she must project strength and calm in public. Never fear.
“Something similar happened to me,” William said.
She laughed. “Someone tried to snatch you in a crowd when you were a girl?”
“No. But when I was a wee lad, my father wanted to teach me to fence.”
“Oh?” She sat a little straighter. “Why didn’t you tell me you were a fencer?”
