“There’s a coachin’ inn beside that tavern,” he said aloud.
“Please, do not think any more about that. Do not think about who I put on that coach, or where I sent them,” she begged in desperation. “It was for the right reasons.”
“I believe you,” he said without hesitation, looking up into her eyes again. “Yet Charlotte, ye risked a lot tonight. Ye, the woman who thinks and kens more about propriety than any other woman I ken, risked bein’ seen in a place like that. For what exactly?”
“For the happiness and safety of a friend,” she muttered plainly, her voice strong despite the quietness. “And I would do it again in a heartbeat.”
He was struck by her words so completely that he was left almost as breathless as she seemed to be.
He stared at her, struggling to tear his gaze away as he thought about what she had done.
Sweet, bonnie lass. Yer heart is truly good.
Slowly, he pulled himself down from the saddle and onto the ground, her hands loosening from his coat as he went. He helda hand up to her, showing silently that he intended to help her down, but she didn’t yet take it.
“Come, lass,” he whispered. “I’ll see ye to yer door. We can be quieter on foot so nay one will notice us.”
She nodded and took his hand, allowing him to help her down.
When they stepped out into the shadowy edge of the street, he threaded that hand through his arm, but didn’t let go with his other hand. It was a protective position. He found he was quite determined not to let go, as long as it meant he could keep an eye and make sure she was safe at last.
They said nothing between them as they walked toward her house. Only when they neared the gate did they speak again, for he held the two of them in the shadows behind one of the pillars on either side of the gate that guarded the driveway.
“Ye astonish me,” the words fell from his lips.
“What?” she murmured, turning to face him. They still had a tight hold upon one another.
“Aye.” He shifted his weight between his feet. He was awkward in manner, he knew that. He didn’t have the literature training that men she knew of thetonwould be used to. He supposed if she had courted in the past, those men must have been lyricists or poets. He could not match such words, but still, he desired to say something to her. “Ye are a unique woman, Charlotte,”he whispered. “Ye protect yerself with all this propriety, and yet when a friend is in danger, ye risk it all for them.”
She nodded, slowly.
“Wouldn’t you?” she asked, and he smiled at her.
“Aye.” Yet it was still his shock that she would do the same which was making his heart pound against his ribcage, as if it wanted to break free from it.
He took her hand tentatively from the crook of his arm and lifted it to his lips, at all times moving slowly and carefully, giving her every chance to look away, then he kissed the back of her hand. She watched, not pulling away.
Was that a gasp? Some sort of breathy sound had escaped her, he was sure of it.
“It’s time ye got back inside now, lass,” he whispered, lowering her hand between them, still not quite letting go. “I shall stay here and ensure ye make it back into the house safely.”
“For tonight, thank you,” she said in a rush. “I am indebted to you.”
“Think nothing of it. Did yer friend get away all right?”
“Yes, she did.”
“Then that is what matters now. Get inside, lass. Before anyone kens where ye have been tonight.”
She squeezed his hand, just once, her fingers soft against his own, then she slid her hand out of his grasp. Their fingers passed over one another, her touch tender indeed, contrasting what he felt was his own large and ungainly hand.
She opened the gate a crack and slipped inside, looking briefly at him through the bars with a quick smile, then she turned and ran down the driveway into the house.
He waited until he saw her disappear inside through a side door, then he retreated, heading back down the road toward his horse. As he walked, he kept replaying in his mind what he had seen and felt that night.
He’d felt fear when he’d seen Charlotte being accosted, then admiration and pride when he’d known why she had been there.
Only when he pulled himself into the saddle and looked back down in the road in the direction of Charlotte’s home did he realize something.
