Rescued By A Viscount(33)
She grabbed the lapel of his jacket with her free hand. “Don’t tell, Mathew, please. He thinks I am with Eva and Daniel.”
“Have a little faith in me, woman.” His voice was gruff as he led her down the stairs to await the carriage. “I don’t like deceiving your brother, but for you, I will do so, or at least until I know what this is about.”
She didn’t speak again, and their ride arrived minutes later. He quickly helped load her luggage and then urged her inside. Following, he shut the door behind them and pulled the curtains closed. “I do not want anyone to see you alone with me when you are meant to be with Daniel and Eva.”
She nodded.
“I must stop at my house and collect a few things, Claire, and change carriages.”
She nodded again but remained silent, and he wondered if she was too scared to speak or too tired. What the hell is going on? Fear and anxiety were written in every line of her body. She was coiled so tightly, Simon wondered if she would shatter if he touched her. She looked broken, and he had never seen her this way before. He’d believed her when she’d said she wasn’t sick, yet whatever this was about was serious enough to make the indomitable Miss Belmont vulnerable.
He remained silent as they journeyed through the streets of London but kept his eyes on her, while hers remained on the hands that were clenched in her lap. She looked the elegant society lady she always did. Her dress was soft and hugged her lovely body, and her bonnet framed her face, yet if one looked closely enough, one would see the desperation.
His house was close, and they were soon pulling up outside. Moving to the edge of the seat, he took her hands, forcing her to look at him. “I want your word that you will sit here and await my return, Claire.”
“I promise.”
“If you run, I will follow, and you will not be pleased to see me when I catch you.”
“I have promised, my lord,” she snapped, making him smile. It was good to see a glimpse of the woman he knew so well. On impulse, he kissed her cheek and then left the carriage.
He ordered Merlin to have his traveling coach brought around and to be ready to drive him to Liverpool. Ben would sit beside him, and both would be armed. Simon wasn’t sure why he wanted his two best coachmen with him. Perhaps because Claire was to be inside. He ordered it to be loaded with food and blankets. After telling his staff he was leaving for a few days, he then broke his valet’s heart, telling him he would not be required for the journey.
“But your neckties!”
“I can tie a bloody knot, Sully. I am not a complete imbecile.” Simon pulled some papers and money out of the locked drawer in his desk, then tucked a pistol into the top of his boots.
“But your boots, my lord–who will clean them?”
“No one, and all who see me will wonder at the capabilities of my valet,” Simon said, trying to think what else he would need. The problem was he didn’t know what was a foot. Therefore he had no idea what to expect or, indeed, what to prepare himself for.
His valet whimpered as Simon grabbed the neckties off him and stuffed them into the case. “You have no brush,” Sullivan said, scampering across the room to grab one.
Taking it, Simon hurled it into the bag beside the neckties. “Now be quiet and fasten that bag. I must leave at once.”
Sullivan muttered of dire circumstance such as missing buttons and dirty cuffs all the way to his front door, which Simon opened and closed firmly in his face.
Claire had not moved and did not utter a word as he opened the door and held out his hand.
“Come, we need to change coaches for the journey.”
They traveled in silence until London was well behind them. He’d thought to give her time to get her thoughts together and feel comfortable in the carriage with just him for company. Hell, he needed the time to think about the change in his circumstances. This morning, his most pressing worry had been whom he would fence with, now Daniel was away. Looking across the carriage, he wondered again what this was all about. Claire wasn’t the sort to take risks or break rules. He’d never seen her
do anything even remotely scandalous until that day in the lane when she’d lifted her skirts and fled from him. Sensing his eyes were on her, she looked up.
“You will have to tell me soon, Claire, as I will not leave you alone until we return to London. I will be present when you reach Liverpool and be with you as you do whatever it is that you intend to do. In fact, you will probably come to think of me as your shadow until I have you safely returned to the bosom of your family.”
“I doubt I will ever again be comfortable around my family, my lord.” He watched as she slowly unclenched her fingers after speaking these ominous words, and then, pushing the curtain aside, she looked through the windows. “Do you think we could open them now?”