Lord Melvedere's Ghost (2 page)

If there
was a devil incarnate, the man opposite was indeed it. He was tall;
taller than average, with jet black hair over the most handsome set
of features she had ever seen on a man. High cheekbones bracketed a
long, aristocratic nose that pointed down to chiselled lips that
were captivating. She had no doubt if twisted they would look cruel
and merciless. At the moment, they were slightly upturned at the
corners as though he was satisfied about something.

Her
thoughts immediately snapped to a halt. Ignoring the tell-tale
blush in her cheeks she returned narrowed eyes to his face and
reluctantly met his gaze. She cringed inwardly at the smirk on his
face. He knew she had been studying him carefully and the arrogant
fop was nothing short of pleased by it.

Jamie
watched her gaze narrow warningly but refused to be cowed by her.
If the stain on her cheeks was anything to go by, she was
uncomfortable at having been caught staring at him, but he had no
intention of letting her off the hook so easily. She had haunted
his dreams many nights since he had been ungraciously thrown out of
her home. Now that he had her alone, he had no intention of
allowing her to dictate their conversation – or lack
thereof.

“
We aren’t going to Applemore,” Jamie announced bluntly, his
body gracefully moving in rhythm with the rocking
carriage.

“
But that’s where you told Archie we would be going,” Cecily
scowled darkly at him.

“
I am not sure how much Archie has told you, but we have reason
to believe that Applemore isn’t safe either.”

Panic
began to swirl within Cecily, and she struggled hard against the
sickness that began to churn in her stomach. She wasn’t sure if it
was the wildly swaying carriage that was making her feel ill, or
the events of the last few days, or the uncertainty of her future,
but she suddenly had the desperate need to fresh air.

“
Stop the carriage,” Cecily demanded, sitting forward to glare
at him.

“
I can’t, we need –”

“
I don’t care what you need. Stop the carriage.” Cecily felt
the blood drain out of her face and stared down at the floor in
mortification. The last thing she needed, or wanted, was to lose
the contents of her stomach in front of anyone, let alone this
man.

“
What is it? What’s wrong?” Jamie watched the colour vanish
from her face so quickly that if her beautiful features hadn’t
already been emblazoned on his mind, he would have considered the
sudden change in her appearance a figment of his
imagination.

“
Stop the carriage,” Cecily demanded, glaring at him sternly.
Even sliding across the seat made her stomach lurch alarmingly. She
reached out toward the door only to find her wrist captured by
long, warm fingers.

“
What is wrong?” Jamie demanded, watching her swallow harshly.
“Do you feel sick?”

“
Just stop the carriage,” Cecily urged, humiliated at the
thought that she couldn’t prevent what was going to
happen.

“
Do you normally get travel sick?”

Cecily
looked helplessly at him. “I have no idea.” It was the truth. She
had never really travelled anywhere in a carriage such as this one
to be able to find out whether she could travel or not. Her father
had never allowed them to go anywhere and, while she had been
travelling with Archie and Portia, she had travelled short
distances or had walked.

She
lifted helpless blue eyes toward him. His heart melted and he felt
a cad for trying to goad her. Had that been why she had been so
aloof? She had been feeling unwell and hadn’t wanted him to
know?

Alarmed
by the paleness of her cheeks that now made her look like Portia,
Jamie peered around the blind at the hedgerow as it flew past. They
were going too quickly for anyone to take any reasonable shot and
have any hope of hitting anything, or anyone, in the carriage.
Dropping the window, he dragged her over to the sit beside him and
unceremoniously pushed her against the side of the carriage next to
the window. It all happened so quickly that she groaned at the
speed of the motion accompanied by the jolting of the wretched
conveyance.

“
Take some deep breaths in. It should pass in a minute,” Jamie
murmured, studying the rolling landscape around them carefully. He
could hear Jonathan shouting orders at the horses. As one of the
best horsemen in the Star Elite, Jamie had no doubt that Jonathan
was capable of handling the horses through and around any obstacles
or difficulties that lay in their path. That left Jamie free to be
able to concentrate on the woman beside him.

Cecily
took several deep breaths of the cold air that flew in through the
open window, and felt her stomach settle a little. That is, until
the carriage dipped into a particularly deep rut before beginning
to bounce. Shaking her head, she leaned forward and braced her
elbows on her knees in an uncharacteristic and very unfeminine
posture of misery, and dropped her head into her hands. She was
aware of Jamie rubbing her back awkwardly and wished Heaven would
open up and swallow her rather than allow her to sit in such
humiliation.

“
Were you ill back in the tavern?”

Cecily
shook her head wishing he could talk about something
else.

“
Do you usually get travel sick?” Jamie persisted frantically
trying to come up with an explanation for her malady.

“
I don’t know,” Cecily mumbled, “I haven’t been anywhere
before.” They had been in the carriage about an hour or two at the
most and, as far as she was concerned, that was more than enough.
She wanted out, if only for a few minutes. “Can I not ride up
front?” She knew before he spoke what the answer would be and
wondered why she had bothered to ask.

“
You know you can’t. It is not only improper for a lady to ride
up on the box seat, but it is also dangerous. You are
unmistakeable.” He glanced at the glossy hair on her head with a
shake of his head, “Anyone could spot you from a mile
away.”

“
Please stop the carriage,” Cecily groaned, feeling her mouth
go dry. She began to count; mentally sing nursery rhymes, anything
but think about the subject he was seemingly refusing to let
go.

“
We can’t. We have to keep moving.” He mentally winced at the
thought of her reaction to the news that she would be in the
carriage for the better part of the day. The only other item in the
carriage was a basket of food for them to eat and a flagon of ale.
They were going to eat on the go, and would only stop for Jamie to
replace Jonathan as coachman, or for a change of horses.

From the
look of her though, they would be lucky if she made through the
next ten miles.

Jamie
ran his hand comfortingly across her back, aware of the bony
protrusion of her spine against his palm. He mentally cursed their
father for his callous disregard for his daughter. Although the
clothing she was wearing were a man’s cast-offs, he had seen her
dress. It was modest, and as cheaply made as possible without
bringing the family into disrepute. Although neither girl was
starved, it was clear they had been fed sparsely with just enough
food to stave off illness and starvation but, he had no doubt that
their upbringing had been bereft of all luxuries and frivolities
that ladies like Portia, and Cecily, deserved to have in their
lives.

In an
attempt to ignore the growing anger toward her father, Jamie turned
his thoughts toward Cecily, and what she would think of Melvedere
Manor. He found himself filled with urgency to get her there as
quickly as possible. Melvedere was his home; a huge, sprawling
manor house nestled deep in the middle of a wooded glade on the
Cumbrian border. It was peaceful and remote, and would give her the
space and time she needed to recover from her ordeal at the hands
of the spies, her father, and the carriage ride. If he had his way,
she would not need to travel any great distance for quite some time
but, he couldn’t exactly tell her that now.

Cecily
was close to tears. Her stomach roiled in protest at the jolting
and jarring of the carriage and she swallowed repeatedly in a last
ditch attempt to preserve her dignity.

“
Did you feel ill while travelling with Archie?” Jamie asked,
wondering if she had been poisoned or some other malady was the
cause of her poor state.

“
We walked most of the time, and when we did travel in the
carriage, it wasn’t like this.”

“
We are going quickly because it is the way Jonathan usually
drives. He is an excellent coachman and knows what he is doing. The
more distance we can put between us and the French, the less chance
there is of them catching up with us or forming a blockade further
down the road,” Jamie explained. He had no idea why he felt the
need to apologise for her rough treatment; they were trying to keep
her alive after all but, a small part of him, a part he had not
seen or felt in a very, very long time, was urging him to protect
her and offer her comfort.

“
Stop the carriage,” she demanded again, pushing at his hands
as they tried to grab hold of her. Wrenching open the door she was
vaguely aware of Jamie’s frantic shout before the carriage slammed
to a halt. The violent motion propelled her out of the door,
closely followed by Jamie. She barely had the time to blink before
she was swept off her feet and held in mid-air with Jamie’s hard
arms around her waist. Her blank stare landed on Jonathan, who had
jumped down from the box seat and was now glaring at her with a
fierce expression on his face.

Feet
kicking, she pulled and clawed at Jamie’s arm until he loosened his
hold. Pushing away from him, Cecily pushed past a shocked Jonathan,
and disappeared through the hedge.

Shame
and mortification swept through her. She was aware of the low
murmuring as Jamie spoke to his colleague a few feet away, but she
paid no mind to what was being said. Several long moments later,
she gathered enough energy to push her way back through the hedge,
shaken but feeling slightly better. She couldn’t bring herself to
go back into the carriage and instead began to walk around a
little, willing her wobbly knees to keep her upright.

“
Where do you think you are going?” Jamie asked gently. She was
physically shaking, and so pale that she was almost translucent.
“Jonathan is going to go a bit slower for a while, just until your
stomach eases a bit,” he soothed, pushing a small flask in her
hands. “Take a sip, it will help.”

Cecily
couldn’t meet his eyes and merely nodded, taking a tentative sip
before handing the small silver bottle back to him. In all of her
life, she had never done or said anything that she was ashamed of,
but this was one event she would be more than happy to obliterate
from her mind.

“
What are you doing?” She squeaked when strong arms swept her
off her feet. Instinctively clutching the folds of his shirt with
desperate fingers, she stared into the dark confines of the
carriage as though she was looking through the gates of Hell.
“Please, not in there again.”

Jamie
froze and stared down at her, one foot on the carriage floor. “We
have to,” he replied regretfully. He watched tears pool in her eyes
that were rapidly blinked away, but he couldn’t ignore the fear in
her gaze. “The carriage isn’t going to hurt you. We can lift the
blinds and drop the windows so you can get some fresh air. Jonathan
is going to slow down a bit so it won’t be so bumpy. It should make
things easier for you,” he knew she wasn’t convinced when she
continued to stare into the carriage in horror. “Trust me,” he
whispered, willing her to meet his gaze.

It was
as though she had read his mind. She turned questioning eyes to
meet his and they stared at each other silently for several long
moments. His gaze held mute appeal for her trust; hers held a hint
of suspicion and a helplessness that unmanned him. He wished he
could tip her chin up and kiss her the way he wanted to, but his
arms were busy holding her and that was almost as good. His body
was very aware of the gentle flow of her feminine curves against
him, and he was only grateful that her thoughts were engaged
elsewhere so she wouldn’t notice the physical effect she was having
on him.

“
How much further is there to go?” Cecily asked reluctantly
wondering how she was going to get through the next hour in the
carriage, let alone on to the next village or their final
destination.

“
A while yet,” Jamie replied evasively, flicking a glance up at
Jonathan who was staring down at them in rapt amusement. Shooting
him a dirty look, Jamie ignored Cecily’s reluctance and eased her
through the carriage door, placing her gently on the seat before
slamming the door more forcefully than was necessary.

True to
his word, Jonathan eased the carriage forward at a gentler speed
and they resumed their journey.

CHAPTER TWO

Jamie
was very grateful that there was no return of the debilitating
sickness that had hit Cecily so ruthlessly earlier that day. She
had fallen asleep within minutes of being back inside and had slept
solidly for the past four hours. This had allowed Jonathan to
increase the speed they were travelling threefold, and they were
now barrelling along at a good pace with Cecily none the
wiser.