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“I think Hattie might need to come inside.”
Nearby ruts had filled with water; dark mud covered the ground. Unexpectedly, the door to the carriage opened, filling the carriage interior with the roar of the torrential rain. Perdie nearly screamed.
It was only Hattie, scowling to herself as she crowded into the carriage. “Sorry, milady. I took us as far as I could.” She slammed the door shut in her wake. It muffled the sound of the rain, making it echo off the dim interior. Even with the meager light, Perdie noticed the dark patches of damp cloth on Hattie’s shoulders, arms, and back. She must be soaked nearly through.
“No need to apologize. It wouldn’t do to make yourself sick.” Again, Perdie peered out the window. The sky frothed with dark clouds that seemed in no danger of letting up any time soon. “We’ll wait out the rain and start up again.”
“Those poor horses…” Felicity muttered under her breath. “And the men—”
Perdie frowned. “They’ll carry on without us. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but they actually aren’t beholden to us.”
As Felicity looked up, the pinched set to her mouth relaxed. She grinned and said, “Perhaps you ought to write Mr. Thaddeus a letter. I don’t think he’s read that omen.”
“I shan’t be writing him—”
A sharp rap on the windowpane nearly made Perdie jump out of her day dress. She pressed her hand to her chest and turned to find Thaddeus outside the carriage, now sporting a top hat that did very little to shield his head from the elements. As with Hattie, his shoulders were darker than the rest of his coat. He held onto the reins loosely with one hand as he leaned down.
“Why have you stopped?”
Perdie scowled. “I can hear you perfectly well. You don’t need to shout. And as you can see,” she gestured to the panorama, “it’s raining.”
“You aren’t stuck?”
Perdie glanced at Hattie for confirmation. When her lady’s maid shook her head, Perdie answered, “No, Sir Gawain, we aren’t stuck.”
“I’ll continue driving the carriage to the inn. It can’t be far now, a mile or two at most.”
It was proclamation more than permission. Without waiting for a response, Thaddeus swung out of the saddle and tossed the reins to his young manservant, who scrambled to catch them. The poor boy looked miserable, sitting out in the rain. Perdie nearly invited him into the coach to dry off. However, as the carriage lurched with Thaddeus’s additional weight, she cursed under her breath.
“Damn and blast! I’ll go out and keep him company.”
Felicity’s eyes widened, “And catch your death of cold?”
“I will be fine Felicity. What men can do women can do also.” Perdie reassured her friend.
“Yes, but men can also catch their death of cold.”
“Would you rather this stranger lead the horses to some secret location to have his way with us?”
Felicity gasped and clutched her chest, “Of course not.”
To that, Perdie offered with a sweet smile, “Unless you’d prefer to make sure the handsome stranger doesn’t make off with us?”
“No, I’m in the pink sitting right here. You go on and keep his company,” Felicity said with a teasing smirk.
Perdie grumbled under her breath about impertinent companions, eliciting a laugh, as she squeezed past Hattie to the carriage door.
“I can do it, milady. I’m already wet.”
“No. Stay here and warm yourself. It’s my turn at the reins.” Perdie could not in good conscience leave all the heavy lifting required during her flight to Hattie and Felicity. Another wonderful and fun benefit of being a member of 48 Berkeley Square had been learning how to drive a carriage.
Now she’ll have the experience of it even in the rain, it seemed.
The droplets fell like icicles down her neck as she hopped to the ground, her shoes squishing in the mud. She hurried ’round to the driver’s seat and climbed up with efficient steps before Thaddeus had even sorted out the reins.
He looked at her as if she’d sprouted horns. “Lady Perdie, what are you doing out here? I said I’d drive.”
“You dictated, my good sir. I’m not about to listen to the dictates of a strange man. You could be a kidnapper bent on taking us to your lair.”
