Page 25 of In Want of a Wife
“Sleep well, Miss Abrams.”
She shut the door none too quietly at that.
Lily groanedas Kate woke up and sang as she dressed and readiedherself for the day. How she was friends with perpetual sunshine was beyond her.
“It’s not so bad.” Kate threw open the window as a draft of sweet June air swept into the room. “I love listening to the birds.”
“Why are you the way you are?” Lily rolled over in bed, wishing more than anything to be asleep.
“I noticed everything stopped once you spoke with Mr. Davies last evening.”
She didn’t wish to speak about that repugnant blackguard this early in the day. She needed tea first just to stomach riding in a carriage with him for several hours again.
“How far away is the Isle of Wight?” she asked instead.
“I am not sure exactly but a few days’ worth of riding at least.”
“May I sit next to Charlotte today?”
“Mr. Davies is not so bad that you can’t stand sitting next to him.”
He was intolerable. And he was far too handsome, and he had a crooked grin, and he was polite when she wished he would be rude. He was…
Well, his eyes for one were the most magnificent green with gold flecks and somehow magnetic. She couldn’t look away.
Lily slipped out of bed and ruffled through her trunk before slipping behind the screen to dress. “He snores.”
“He traveled a long way to Stonehurst. I am sure the journey is taxing.”
“I was reading.”
Kate laughed. “Lily, I love you. If you wish for me to sit next to that incredibly handsome man, I will make that sacrifice for you.”
It was Lily’s turn to laugh. She peeked out from behind the screen. “I am going to miss you, Kate.”
“Oh, we will write, and I will visit if you will have me. It’s not as if London will have me now after last Season.”
“It’s not as if they will welcome me back. I don’t wish to know what the gossip is after Felton.”
“It’s best not to know.”
Lily heard the sadness in Kate’s voice. Kate had plenty of experiencebeing the subject of harsh social gossip. That was why she had escaped to Cumbria to weather out what little she had left of her reputation.
“There will always be another scandal to take the place of yours,” Lily said. She emerged from behind the screen and packed the few remaining things she had. “I will see about getting our luggage taken downstairs and if Charlotte and Mr. Davies are ready.”
She left Kate and walked down the small hallway, then knocked on Charlotte’s door. With no answer, Lily went downstairs to see about the luggage and discovered Mr. Davies in the tavern eating a plate of eggs.
She envied him, eating alone. He sat there with such confidence, content with his own company. Lily loved being alone, but she was also incredibly lonely at home. Charlotte and Kate had plenty to keep them busy, and Lily attempted to make friends with her stepsisters, but they didn’t wish to know her.
As for her father, she’d known for some time that after her mother’s death, he wished not to have a daughter any longer.
Mr. Davies sat in the middle of the tavern, as if he were at the center of the world, full of confidence.
With a deep inhale, she strode up. “Good morning.”
He nodded, taking a sip of his coffee before setting down his cup.
“We are ready to have our luggage moved to the carriage. Is the duchess down here as well?”
