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Chapter Twenty-One
There was barely enough moonlight to make out any movement in the town. Byron had very few complaints to take up with God, but the decision to alter how much light the moon gave on any given night was one of them. There were far too many shadows with all of the buildings and carriages in the town. A person could hide anywhere. That gave the Duke of Winnett a significant advantage, and if there was something Byron didn’t want to give him, it was an advantage.
Byron settled back in the chair. There was no point in keeping watch by the window. He wasn’t going to see anyone who was sticking to the shadows. The only thing he could do was be with Eleanor in case the duke managed to find his way into the room.
Eleanor’s father had granted the Duke of Winnett permission to marry her. Byron assumed the duke’s first recourse would be to kidnap her and run off with her to Gretna Green himself. She wouldn’t be able to fight him, and upon their return to London, it was unlikely anyone would believe her version of events. She was a lady. Like it or not, people were apt to believe the gentleman, especially one with a good reputation. The Duke of Winnett might be bad with money, but he was spotless otherwise. Byron wouldn’t be able to prove a kidnapping any more than he could prove that the duke had a hand in the incident at the theatre or with the carriage wheel. It was just Byron’s luck that the one case he couldn’t prove was the one that involved someone he had a personal interest in.
He turned his gaze to Eleanor. She had fallen asleep hours ago. It was actually quite nice to have her nearby. He could get used to it. She wasn’t loud and obnoxious like some ladies. She wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, but she wasn’t prone to idle chatter. All she wanted was a quiet corner of the world carved out just for her where she could be with people she cared for, who, in turn, cared for her.
The only problem was that he couldn’t give her the life a lady like her deserved. While he managed to get by, he couldn’t afford the things she was used to. He could work for a hundred years and not earn the kind of money her father earned in one year. When she realized what she had gotten herself into, she was going to regret running to his residence without a chaperone. The marriage might bode well for him, but it wouldn’t bode well for her.
Eleanor turned over in the bed and opened her eyes. She blinked when she saw that he was watching her. She sat up in the bed. She shouldn’t have done that. The moonlight might be dim tonight, but it wasn’t so dim that he didn’t notice the curve of her breasts under her chemise.
“Is something wrong?” she asked.
Face warm, he forced his gaze higher. She couldn’t tell he’d been staring at her breasts, could she? He cleared his throat. “No. I’m just…” Just what? Thinking of how he couldn’t give her the future she deserved while also thinking of how much he was looking forward to their marriage? After a moment, he decided on a better response. “I’m bored. Night watches are often boring.” Yes, that was good. And it was the truth, which made it even better.
“Do you do these night watches a lot?”
“I do. Most criminals act at night. It’s easier to hide in the dark.”
She gave a nod then asked, “What time is it?”
He retrieved the pocket watch from the small table by the window. “It’s only 1:43. You might as well get back to sleep. There’s a lot more night left.”
He set the pocket watch back on the table and gave another look out the window. Not that it did any good. He could barely tell if anyone was out there. It was unfortunate the events that led to him and Eleanor going to Gretna Green didn’t occur when the moon was fuller.
“I don’t think I can sleep,” Eleanor said as she pushed the blanket off of her. “All we did was sit in a carriage all day.”
His eyebrows furrowed as she stood up. “We can’t leave now. The coachman needs his rest.”
“I realize that.” She grunted under her breath. “Why do gentlemen think ladies lack any good sense?”
His gaze went to her figure as she went to her valise. “I don’t think that about ladies. Plenty of ladies are smart. I’d trust my sister’s intellect over quite a few gentlemen’s.”
“And me? Do I compare in intellect to your sister?”
He was about to say yes when she lit the candle next to the valise. He jumped to his feet and hurried to snuff out the wick. What did she think she was doing?
“I can’t keep watch if it’s light in here,” he said. “I need to be able to see what’s going on out there.” He gestured to the window. “Now isn’t the time to brush your hair.”
She gasped in a manner that indicated she found his comment insulting. “I wasn’t going to brush my hair. I was going to grab my book and read.”
“Well, you can’t.”
“Nothing happened last night, and nothing is going to happen tonight.”
“You can’t be sure of that.”
“I can be mostly sure. You’re in the room with me. You’re a skilled Runner. We’re on the second floor of the inn. You blocked the doorway with a heavy dresser. Just what do you think the Duke of Winnett can do to me?”
“It’s not just what he can do in here. It’s what he can do out there.”
“What do you think he’ll do out there?”
He paused. “I’m not sure what to expect from someone as meticulous as he is. I’ve never come across someone like him before.” He returned to the window and took a good look around the town. Even if he couldn’t see anyone in the shadows, it didn’t mean the duke might not slip and go into an exposed area. Granted, it was highly unlikely, but it was possible. “We have to be careful. Most of the time, waiting for someone to act can take days. Sometimes it can take weeks.”
She groaned but went back to the bed.
