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Thaddeus held up his hands in surrender. “Of course, I understand. I’m leaving.”
He barely heard the words that left his lips. His brogue was thickening, and he didn’t have a mind to tend to it just now. “Sorry for the bother.”
He took a step back. Then another, and another. Each seemed to bring him closer to the chasm that had opened in his stomach. The woman stayed by the door the entire time, watching to see him gone.
He went to the stables.
He did not see the team of horses Perdie had used to drive her carriage. The carriage itself was absent, as well, though there was a sturdy-looking cart tucked into the back of the stables where the carriages might go.
The housekeeper hadn’t lied to him. Perdie had left. They had spent the last few days connecting in ways he hadn’t with any other woman. And dash it all, a night of passion like none he’d ever experienced.
She’d run from him.
Hollow, he stalked back through the eerily silent stables. He gathered himself and walked toward the village. Last evening he had walked to her, every step one he could not have resisted.
It did not take long for him to reach the inn. Thaddeus wanted to leave right away. He did not want to linger on the feelings eating at his gut. They were unknown and complex, and if he breathed life into them, surely he would be sucked under.
The rooms were empty. The common room of the inn showed no sign of the young lad. Hell. Thaddeus had not planned to sleep the night in the damn folly. He might have worried the lad needlessly. Hurrying to the inn’s stables, Thaddeus peeked into the stalls, quickly finding Lionel curled up on a bale of hay. One small relief. It did little to alleviate the churning in his gut.
When he tapped on the stall door, the boy lurched into wakefulness. He mumbled something under his breath that Thaddeus didn’t catch. Blearily, he looked around and wiped the sleep from his eyes. Then, eyes widening, he staggered to his feet.
“Your Lordship.”
“Why are you sleeping out here. You have a perfectly good room.”
The boy’s cheeks reddened. “I…I wanted to be near the horses.”
He’d forgotten the boy’s love for the animals. But Thaddeus had not thought it so serious he would have left a warm bed. Lionel looked around. “Are we leaving for London today, my lord?”
“We are.”
The lad stretched his arms wide. “Are we to travel to the cottage to say goodbyes once more?”
“Lady Perdie and her companions have already moved on.”
Lionel blinked owlishly. “She left?”
Hearing it, having to repeat himself again, cracked Thaddeus’s chest open. “She’s gone. I’m afraid they’re too far away this time for us to catch them. The rain will have muddled their tracks.”
Briskly, Lionel brushed away the straw sticking to his clothes. “Where do you reckon she went?”
Thaddeus wished he knew. The entire time of their acquaintance, Perdie had been vague as to her destination. When they’d arrived here, he’d thought she would settle in this house. That she would be safe, at least for a while. But now, she had vanished again like smoke, and he didn’t have the first clue where to look.
He turned away.
You have responsibilities.Lionel being one of them. It was time for Thaddeus to stop ignoring them.
Taking a deep breath, he squared his shoulders. He pretended to look commanding and in control when he felt bloody out of sorts.
It was only one night. One woman.
But Perdie was unlike any other woman he’d ever met. From the start, he’d wondered if perhaps she might be the woman to tempt him to take a wife. Now, she had taken the decision out of his hands.
How did I frighten you away?Was it his promise to marry her? She had been a virgin. That he was most certain of. And her kisses had lacked experience. Thankfully, he’d had enough sense of self to withdraw from her body last night. Or now he would be worried he had left her with child, with no way to find her, and with her no way to find him. Gruffly, he said, “We’ll continue on our way.”
He curled his fists by his sides and took a deep breath. He had more than himself, than this feeling that was surely not heartbreak, to consider. His aunt and dependents of several new estates depended on him. That should be his only aim now. Nothing else.
Lionel sighed as he let himself out of the stall. “Finally. Any chance we will be able to get a hot breakfast before we go?”
Thaddeus nodded his head. “Saddle the horses first. We’ll eat heartily and then make our way to London.”
And when he got there, Thaddeus would do his best to tend to his affairs and forget about an unforgettable woman.
