“We’re not going to stop along the way, Syd. You had better eat something. How about tea? And a little bread with honey.”
“All right. You are quite the mother hen, did you know that?” she teased when he cut her a slice and began to pour honey on it for her.
“Never a mother hen.” He grinned back at her. “I am a man, therefore I am considered manly and protective.”
They shared a light breakfast while the Huntsford footmen loaded their bags onto his carriage. However, he had given more thought about their planned travel to Scotland and decided to send the coach and driver back to London once they reached Oxford. Upon arriving at that thriving town, he would make new arrangements with one of the local coaching companies to take them the rest of the way to Scotland in an unmarked conveyance.
Keeping his carriage or riding in one from Ambrose’s selection would have been too conspicuous while they made their way north, especially with the Huntsford crest emblazoned on the door.
He could not risk them being so easily noticed.
A gentleman and his pretty wife signing in as Captain and Mrs. Thorne would not be nearly as conspicuous as Captain Octavian Thorne, brother of the Duke of Huntsford, traveling with a companion he claims to be his wife but why had no one heard of his marriage?
By the time he and Syd were ready to depart, they had been seen by just about everyone in the household save for the cook and scullery maids. Since Syd’s presence was no longer a secret, Octavian summoned the entire staff. “Lady Sydney is here and under my protection because her life is in danger,” he said, histone quite serious. “If anyone comes around asking questions, you must tell them that you have not seen her. Her life depends on your silence. I cannot stress this enough. She was never here. Am I understood?”
They all nodded.
Syd’s face was so pale, it served to confirm the peril of her situation.
That she stood silently beside him also helped convey the direness of it. He hoped she would remain meek and quiet until they were on their way. He did not need her mouthing off with false bravado and diminishing the importance of the warning he was conveying to the Huntsford staff.
“Captain Thorne,” the head butler said, clearing his throat as he stepped forward.
“Yes, Greeves?”
The man appeared confused as he glanced at Syd before returning his attention to Octavian. “Are we to say nothing even if it is her family asking?”
“Especially her family.” He now handed over the letters he and Syd had written last night. “These are to go out immediately to Lady Withnall, Lady Dayne, and Lady Gregoria Easton. This next one also goes immediately to Lady Muir or her husband, the Marquess of Muir. Either one will do. I trust them both.”
In truth, he hoped Marigold, Lady Muir, would report the news immediately to her husband. The marquess, Leo, was smart and tough. He would look after the two dowagers, as well as Gregoria and Marigold, in the event Syd’s father or Sir Henry sought to apply any pressure on them. Indeed, Leo was as fierce as a lion, as his name indicated, and would rip those scoundrels apart if they dared intimidate any of those ladies.
Octavian now held out one final letter. “This last one remains here and is to be handed over immediately to whichever brother of mine returns first.”
The head butler took this last one from him, too. “I will hold this one safe and attend to these others at once, Captain Thorne.”
Octavian nodded and dismissed the rest of the staff save for the Huntsford head butler and housekeeper. “If my brothers should ask, we are headed to Greenock and will return in about a month.” He glanced at Syd, trying to get an indication of whether she would marry him or not. They had agreed upon their plan last night, but Syd was such a skittish thing, and she was so lost in her misery that she was not even looking at him.
So be it.
He said nothing about their marital intentions since he had no idea what would happen within the next hour, much less the full week it would take them to reach their destination.
Let his staff speculate, if they wished.
He would clarify the situation upon his return.
It was not quite seven o’clock in the morning by the time their bags were loaded onto the carriage. He helped Syd climb in and then did the same, settling in the seat opposite hers. He did not mind having to look at her lovely face the entire journey to Scotland, although he hoped to see her smile on occasion as they put distance between them and London.
She turned to stare out the window once they were off and making their way through the relatively quiet streets of London that would be bustling within the hour when many of the shops and businesses began to open. She remained staring out the window, ignoring his presence as the carriage clattered toward the outskirts of town.
Octavian glanced at her from time to time, his lips pursed in thought. Is this what their marriage would be? Her turned away from him and completely withdrawn?
What in blazes was he doing?
Syd suddenly gasped and drew back, trying to burrow into the fine leather of her seat. “That was Sir Henry’s carriage. What is he doing out at this hour? He should have been home hours ago. And that is not the way to his home or my family’s home. Where is he going? Do you think he knows? Is he looking for me? What if he is headed to your residence?”
“First of all, the Huntsford townhouse is one of the last places he will look. Did you not tell your family you were staying with Lady Withnall last evening? He will go to her first, and I can assure you, that tough, old bird will keep him waiting until proper visiting hours and then tell him nothing.”
“All he has to do is question her staff and they will tell him I am not there.”
