Page 112 of A Winter By the Sea
Yes, she found that she did.
He slowly lowered his head, looking into her eyes to gauge her reaction, her willingness.
What about Charles?Unbidden, Charles’s face appeared in her mind’s eye. His eyes fixed on hers, his head slowly dipping toward her ... that near kiss on the veranda during the ill-fated house party. She tried to blink away the untimely image.
Perhaps he noticed her look of unease, because Mr. Thomson’s expression changed, and he pulled back.
At that moment, the carriage staggered to a halt, and angry voices arose from outside.
Suddenly on full alert, James used the arm beneath her to easily lift her back up.
Emily straightened on the seat, looking out the window in concern. “What is it? Why have we stopped?”
“I don’t know.” He pushed aside the curtain and from his taller vantage peered out the front window, past Georgiana’s back as the groom descended the box.
“What’s happening?” Emily asked.
“Ralph jumped down. Probably to set chocks behind the wheels so we don’t roll back. There’s someone on the road.”
Emily pressed her face close to the window to look out and recognized one of the men. “That’s Mr. Mutter, who delivers our firewood and such.”
“And the other man?”
“I don’t know.”
The second was a burly, broad-shouldered man in his forties with an impressive head of hair and a deep frown line above his prominent nose.
“I don’t like the look of him,” Mr. Thomson murmured.
“Nor I. I wish Georgie were inside with us. Are they blocking the road?”
James’s jaw clenched. “Appears that way. I shall go out and see.”
Glad he did not try to forbid her, Emily followed, descending the carriage after him. In the distance stretched Mutter’s Moor, a scrubby heathland broken by crooked paths and windswept trees.
The unfamiliar man scowled at them as they emerged. “Who are ’ee and what do ’ee want?”
“We are heading back to Sidmouth,” the groom said.
“For what purpose?”
“We live there,” Mr. Thomson explained.
“You a preventive man?”
Mr. Thomson frowned. “Do I look like one?”
“Mayhap.”
Emily pushed aside her fear. “We live at Sea View,” she said. “Mr. Mutter there delivers our firewood.”
The burly man turned to his companion. “You recognize ’em, Abe?”
“The maid’n, aye.”
The big man considered. “Very well. On yer way. We was just havin’ a little meeting. A private meeting.”
Mr. Thomson quickly helped Georgiana down from the box and ushered her inside the carriage. Emily felt the men’s eyes searing her back all the while. After Georgie was inside, Mr. Thomson offered a hand to help Emily in as well.
