Page 57 of A Game of Scandal

“I guessed you’d be starving,” Ash said, gesturing to the table. I dropped into the seat across from him, my fingers already grasping a slice of generously buttered brown bread, which I shoved hastily in my mouth.

“Yesh,” I said thickly, too hungry to worry about good manners.

Ash gave me his lopsided grin, although I thought it didn’t quite reach his worried eyes, then he poured me a large glass of water and began piling meat and cheese and tiny pickled vegetables on to a plate for me. When he cut into a golden-crusted pie filled with fragrant cured pork, I let out a whimper that had that false smile of his looking more real.

After several minutes of dogged eating, I looked up to find his watchful gaze on my face, as if carefully cataloguing every detail.

“So,” he said, leaning back in his seat and clasping his hands on his stomach. “It seems that I have kidnapped you, Felicity Vane. Care to tell me why?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

“I’m not sure it can be called kidnapping if you knew nothing about it,” I said, taking a sip of water, my movements less frantic now the mean edge of hunger and thirst had been tempered. “Actually, I think I should be considered more of a stowaway.”

“I suppose I should be grateful I wasn’t sailing off to the Americas,” Ash said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the silver coin I had seen before, rolling it along the top of his knuckles in an absent gesture. “You’re quite intrepid enough to have smuggled yourself aboard.”

“What a nice thing to say. I don’t think anyone has called me intrepid before. I like it.” I paused, glancing at him. He looked back steadily and I knew I could trust him with the whole truth. “Although, would you be disappointed if I confessed that when we arrived here I wasn’t feeling very intrepid?”

His expression softened. “Felicity, when you emerged from the carriage looking half dead, I wasn’t feeling very intrepid either.”

I exhaled. “No, I expect it was a bit of a shock.”

“That’s one word for it,” Ash replied dryly.

“Only it’s frustrating, you know,” I rubbed at my arm where the bruises ached. “I’ve always wanted to be brave and adventurous, but I’ll admit that so far this particular endeavour hasn’t been much fun. I’d almost rather be at one of Mother’s awful social events.”

Ash made a sound that was something like a laugh mixed with a sigh. His eyes were glued to the spot that I was rubbing on my arm and the muscles in his jaw tightened. “That’s a damning assessment indeed,” he said, finally. “But I’d like to know the whole story. What exactly prompted you to stowaway in my carriage?”

In between bites, I told him everything that had taken place since the last time I saw him. His face gave nothing away, but there were several moments when that coin stopped its fluid movement across his fingers. The first was when I told him about Laing’s proposal. The second was when I revealed that the man he and Davey had spoken to outside the Penny was the one who had tried to kidnap me.

“I didn’t show myself then, because I didn’t want to drag the pair of you into it,” I explained. “I couldn’t let you get hurt.”

He went utterly still, and I saw a brief glimpse of something wild and dangerous in his eyes, but it was gone in a moment, replaced by his usual lazy grin.

“Davey will be disappointed he missed the opportunity for a good brawl,” was all he said.

Patty came over to clear some of the plates from the table, replacing them with platters of fresh fruit and a bowl of sweet, whipped cream. Ash tucked the coin back in his pocket and selected an apple from one of the plates in front of him, cutting a slice out of it with a knife, his movements swift and economical. “So what do you want to do now?”

I was surprised. I’d assumed that Ash would want to take control of the situation. I should have known better, that he would treat me as a rational, intelligent person, because he always had.

I sat back in my own chair, pleasingly full, though I accepted the fruit that he prepared for me, the slices of crisp apple, a bright ruby of a strawberry that I dipped into the cream.

“Where exactly are we?” I asked.

“We’re in a small village called Pebton in north Hertfordshire,” Ash replied promptly.

“And this isn’t your final destination?”

He shook his head. “No, I was planning to drive up to Cambridge. It’s still a couple of hours’ ride from here.”

“Cambridge?” I sat up straighter in my seat. “Cambridge Cambridge?”

“I’m not sure what that means, but there’s only one Cambridge I know of.”

“I didn’t know you were from Cambridge,” I said.

Cambridge was a city that had loomed large in my imagination for a long time.

“What makes you think I’m from there?” Ash frowned, folding his arms.