Page 15 of Good Duke Gone Wild

“This is it.”

“Yes,” Clara squealed.

“This might change everything.”

“Itwillchange everything.” They took each other in an embrace. “Now go!”

“I love you.” She kissed her sister’s cheek.

“I love you, too.”

When Agatha pulled away, she watched Clara discreetly wipe a tear from her eye. “I’m fine. I’m happy for you.”

“You’re the best sister in the world.”

“That’s to be determined. But once you travel it, you can let me know with certainty.”

Agatha had to leave now else she lose her courage.

“I don’t have to travel it to know.” Clara nodded with red rimmed eyes and happy smile at her words. Words of which she was already absolutely confident. Agatha skipped to the door, lighter and happier than she had ever felt before. “I’ll see you soon.”

Now that, she wasn’t as sure about.

Chapter 8

AGATHA RACED OUT OF the house, grabbing her cloak on the way out of the door. Dashing down the steps she still didn’t know what her plan was. Sneak into his carriage somehow without him knowing? Convince him to take her with him? Or just go take a peek at the ship before making up her mind? There were so many options and she wasn’t sure which one made the most sense for her.

Which offered the least risk with the highest payout? Certainly, the worst thing that could happen would be for her to be caught and sent back home before any plans could be put into action. That was the worst that could happen.

Well…actually she didn’t allow her mind to consider worst case scenarios if she did make it onto the ship. She just wasn’t sure that she was willing to let that kind of negativity (as realistic as it might be) dissuade her from attempting the greatest adventure of her life.

Once she saw Jude in front of his carriage, she made up her mind in the split second he was giving instructions to the driver. She ducked around the line of carriages so that he couldn’t see her. Then she planned to slip up into the carriage on the side opposite to him, praying that it had one of those benches she could hide underneath.

With undue optimism, she wrenched open the door and breathed a sigh of relief that fate had assigned her the perfect carriage. She drew up her skirts into billowing bundles and squished herself underneath the bench. It was a tight fit, but it was dark and the man was drunk. To ensure her hiddenness, she sent up another prayer.

The door cracked open and the grumble that followed alerted Agatha to Jude’s presence. That and her damn nipples perking up. A shiver rattled through her as she squashed down the memory of the kiss (and more). But her memory squashing abilities were about as good as her skirt bundling abilities. A few scraps were surely sticking out. She squeezed her own eyes shut. As if by closing them she prompted him to close his own, for if his eyes were shut he couldn’t see her.

And before she could give any more thought to skirts, kisses, or her beyond scandalous intentions, the carriage lurched forward.

This was it. She was taking her destiny into her own hands. She was going to grab a hold of more real life experiences if it killed her.

Well…obviously if it killed her that kind of negated the objective of her adventure…but…well, see, that was one of these silly negative thoughts that she didn’t give any credence to.

“You can come out now,” a gruff voice muttered, exhaling a rough sigh.

Damn it. He couldn’t be talking about her, could he?

“Yes, I’m talking to you, Aggie.”

Drat.

She shuffled out from under the bench.

“How did you know?”

“You’re not that subtle, Siren.”

“But—”

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