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Lounging in the very center of the bed.
Nick.
He was reading a book. Not just any book. He was reading the novel she’d left behind.
“What took you so long?” Nick grinned. “I’ve been waiting for ages. This is really quite a good book upon a second read. Though I don’t much like that Caroline Bingley. Bit of a witch. And that arrogant Darcy. Who does he think he is?”
The sight of Nick lying in her bed had rendered her temporarily mute.
He was so beautiful.
And so unexpected.
Her heart expanded like the sails of the ship catching in the wind.
“Nick, what are you doing here?”
“I’m one step ahead of you, Alice. For the very first time. And probably the last.”
“How did you arrive before me?”
“I rode Anvil. I told him I had to be early this time, instead of late.”
“But...”
“Lear somehow created that obstruction in the road so that your carriage would be delayed. I’ve no idea how he does these things, but he does. Worked like magic. Are you going to stand there gaping?”
His eyes lost their teasing edge. “If you want me to leave I’d better go and tell Lear to turn this ship back, I believe we’ve already begun to move.”
“But the duke...” Alice said. She seemed to only be able to manage sentence fragments. Very uncharacteristic of her.
“He’s in the ship’s orchid conservatory, happily making an inventory of his new blooms. I was the one who was afraid to leave London, not my father. I clung to the idea that he needed Sunderland when really it was me who was too afraid to leave.”
“This ship has an orchid conservatory?”
“To store the orchids Lear will hunt for his wealthy investors.”
“You don’t like ships. You said you’d never set foot on one again.”
“That was before.”
“Before what?”
“Come here and I’ll tell you, Dimples.” He patted the bed beside him. “We’ll talk this through in comfort.”
Kali yowled in her basket, and Alice hastily set her down and opened the lid. Her cat hopped free of the basket in one leap and jumped onto the bed, flopping down beside Nick.
Nick propped himself up on one elbow to scratch behind Kali’s ears.
He wasn’t wearing a coat. Or a cravat.
“Do you have breeches on under those covers?” Alice asked suspiciously.
“Come and find out,” Nick said, with a wicked grin.
Alice snorted. “What did I do to deserve this?”
“Married beneath you. Now come here, Dimples. I have an apology to make.”
