Page 54 of The Time for Love
“And the last thing we need,” Sophy said, “is for Grandmama to send out a search party.” She met Martin’s eyes. “We told them we were chasing Charlie out of town. If I write that we arrived here safely, have spoken with Charlie, and all is well, that should keep them at bay.”
Martin smiled. “You’d better tell them when we intend to return.” He glanced at the other two. “If we wait until this afternoon, that will give my horses a decent rest, given they pulled all three of us here.”
Sophy, Oliver, and Charlie readily agreed.
Martin rose and pulled out Sophy’s chair, and Charlie and Oliver came to their feet.
Charlie glanced at Oliver. “There’ll be newspapers in the library, including some from London. A day or so old, but still. I like to keep up with what’s going on down there.”
“I wouldn’t mind doing the same.” Oliver waved toward the door. “Lead the way.”
The pair stood back and let Sophy and Martin leave first.
Sophy made for the morning room, supremely conscious of Martin prowling at her heels. His gaze lingered on her back; she could feel its banked heat. It took effort not to react by adding a little extra sway to her gait.
She walked into the morning room and crossed to the escritoire set against the wall between the wide windows. “This won’t take long.”
Martin halted before the window to her right. Clasping his hands behind his back, he stood looking out while she wrote a brief note—as brief as she could safely make it—reassuring her aunt and grandmother that they’d found Charlie at the manor and that all was well, and they would be returning to town…
She raised her nib and slanted a glance Martin’s way.
As if he felt her gaze, without turning from the view, he murmured, “This is very pleasant countryside. Do you ride?”
“Not as much as I would like, but in summer, I often go rambling on the moors. Charlie sometimes comes with me. We’ve been doing that since we were children.”
“Not Edward?”
She made a rude sound. “Too much exercise for him to stomach.” Her gaze on Martin, she tipped her head. “I assumed you’d grown up in London.”
He flashed her a grin. “No. In Kent, on a farming estate. Mostly orchards, hops, and grains. Like you, I spent a lot of my summers rambling, although in my case, it was over the Weald.”
“I’ve heard that’s very pretty country, too.”
“It is, but this”—he gestured to the moorland—“is…grander. More dramatic.”
She studied him for a moment more, then dipped her nib in the inkwell and swiftly wrote that they expected to return to town either later that day or the next.
After signing the note, she blotted it, folded the sheet, and set about inscribing her grandmother’s name as well as her aunt’s on the face.
During the night, she’d spent hours thinking and weighing the possibilities and had concluded that she needed to learn more of what he had in mind before she agreed to marry him. She wanted to pursue her thoughts and his so she could make up her mind and declare her decision and seize the moment and all that would follow, and there—now, at the manor—was the perfect time and opportunity to further her goal.
She was determined to follow the path she and he had embarked on to its end; in truth, she seriously doubted anything she learned from him or about him would alter their ultimate destination.
A destination she was anticipating reaching with a keenness she couldn’t remember feeling for anything before.
But she would do the responsible thing and ask and learn and decide and declare.
“There!” She set down the pen, shut the inkwell, swiveled on the seat, and held out the note.
He took it and crossed to the bellpull. When Elliot answered, Martin asked for his men to meet him in the front hall.
Sophy rose and followed him into the hall. Roland, Figgs, and Tunstall soon joined them. The trio appeared ready to leave.
Martin handed the note to Tunstall with instructions to deliver it to Portobello Street, then thanked the three for their help the previous night. When Figgs inquired whether they should continue to watch the steelworks every night, Martin glanced at Sophy and arched his brows.
She lightly shrugged. “If you think there’s value in that, by all means continue.”
He inclined his head. “Better to be certain.” He confirmed his orders regarding the surveillance, then dismissed the three men, who bowed to Sophy before striding off.
