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“Yippie,” the coachman muttered under his breath before he went to open the carriage door.
Eleanor glanced at Byron. If he’d heard the coachman, he gave no indication of it. She collected her valise and let the coachman help her into the carriage.
Byron followed in after her then sat next to her. He waited until the coachman closed the door before he put his feet up on the seat across from them and rested his head against the carriage wall. Then he let out a long and heavy sigh.
She blinked in surprise. He was more worried than she’d believed. “Is it hard to stay up all night?”
He glanced her way as the carriage moved forward. “No. I do it all the time.”
“Have you ever needed to protect someone who was being pursued across the country before?”
He closed his eyes. “Yes, I’ve had to escort gentlemen who were being followed. There were a couple of times it was the only way to draw the criminal out of his hiding place.”
She frowned. Granted, she hadn’t known him for long, but in all the times they’d been together, he’d seemed confident. This morning, she detected a vulnerableness in him.
After a moment, she ventured, “Do you think the Duke of Winnett will succeed?”
“He’ll succeed over my dead body.”
She was sure the comment was supposed to make her feel better, but it didn’t. Directing her gaze to the window, she noted the people and other carriages around them. She didn’t see the Duke of Winnett anywhere. That didn’t mean anything, of course. As Byron had warned, it was unlikely that he would show himself.
“Do you think he might disguise himself so we won’t recognize him?” she asked.
“I’m sure of it.”
Then it could be any of the men she was looking at.
“As long as we stay together, you’ll be fine,” Byron assured her.
He sounded so sure of it that she couldn’t help but relax. She settled back into the seat. Byron still had his eyes closed. “Do you plan to sleep?” she asked.
“I need to if I’m going to be able to stay awake tonight. I might be able to accomplish many amazing things, but even I need rest.”
The joke made her laugh. “Since your weakness is the need for sleep, I’ll leave you alone.”
She caught the smile on his face before she took a book out of her valise. From time to time, she glanced out the carriage window, and she saw a couple of carriages off in the distance. Any of them could contain the Duke of Winnett. It was impossible to tell. But Byron was with her, and she had no doubt he would make sure she didn’t end up marrying the wrong person.
