Lord Braybrook's Penniless Bride. Elizabeth Rolls

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      She smothered a yawn. Such a warm day…rocking…like a cradle. No, that was the coach. It was beautifully sprung and she felt much better now, facing forwards. Far less disconcerting to have the breeze from the open window in her face and see the world spinning towards her and away, rather than just spinning away in front of her…rocking, rocking, rocking…

      Later, some time later, she was vaguely aware of being eased down to the seat, gentle hands removing her bonnet and spectacles, tucking a rug around her, a light touch feathering over her cheek…a dream, a memory, nothing more. Christy slept, cradled in dreams.

      She awoke in near darkness to a touch on her shoulder and a deep voice saying, ‘We are nearly there, Miss Daventry.’

      Dazed, she sat up. Strong hands caught her as the coach swung around a turn. Coach? Where…? Blinking sleep away, she clutched at the strap hanging down, and the hands released her. Some of her confusion ebbed. This was not Bristol. She was in a coach, with Lord Braybrook and his valet. Why had she been lying down with a rug tucked over her? And where were her glasses? Everything was blurred.

      Worried, she felt along the seat. They must have fallen off while she slept. And how dreadful that she had dozed off in front of Lord Braybrook and been shameless enough to lie down! And her spectacles were probably broken if they had fallen to the floor.

      ‘Miss Daventry—is something amiss?’

      She flushed. ‘My spectacles must have fallen off. I can’t see without them.’

      ‘Of course.’

      He reached into his pocket and drew out a small object, offering it to her. Confused, she reached for it and he placed it in her hand. Immediately her fingers recognised her spectacles, wrapped in a handkerchief.

      ‘I thought they were safer in my pocket,’ said his lordship.

      Her fingers trembled slightly as she unfolded the handkerchief, shaken by a memory of gentle hands making her comfortable. Had her dream not been a dream? Had he laid her down on the seat and removed her spectacles and bonnet? And tucked the rug over her? She swallowed. He must have. But the caressing touch on her cheek had certainly been a dream. Hadn’t it?

      ‘Thank you, my lord,’ she said, putting the spectacles on. The darkening world came back into focus. ‘You are most kind.’ She schooled her voice to polite indifference. His noblesse oblige again. If she remembered that, good sense would prevail. Not the foolish dream of tenderness. She handed him the handkerchief.

      He pocketed it. ‘Not at all, Miss Daventry. We shall be at the house in a few moments. Your bonnet is on the seat.’

      His cool tones revived her wilting common sense. She retrieved the bonnet, and attempted to tidy herself, securing stray tendrils of hair with hairpins before replacing the bonnet. She thought that she must be sadly rumpled after the day’s journey and sleeping in the carriage, but there was little she could do about it.

      Julian dragged his gaze away from her to look out of the window. He could see the house now, lights glimmering in the dusk, its bulk dark against the deepening sky. Home. Concentrate on that. Not the impossible softness of her cheek under his fingers as he removed the bonnet and spectacles, not the jolt to his gut as he finally saw the colour of her hair, a rich tawny brown, rigidly scraped back and confined with a battalion of pins. Nor the queer protective sensation he had felt watching her sleep, her mouth relaxed and soft. Definitely not the odd pang he had felt when she awoke and sat up, clothes and hair askew, and that vulnerable sleepy look in her eyes.

      She was in his employ, a servant to all intents and purposes. He had no business feeling anything for her beyond a sense of general responsibility. Indeed, to judge by her cool response to him, that was precisely what she expected and preferred.

      She would neither expect nor wish him to be thinking about a little girl left at school in Bath. It was none of his concern. It should not come near him, let alone touch him. Ridiculous to feel sympathy for that long-ago little girl. He had gone to school himself at eight…memories poured back. His confusion at his first return for the holidays to find his mother gone. The servants’ evasions of his questions. His father’s bitterness and refusal to explain and the slow realisation that there was to be something scandalous, and expensive, called a ‘divorce’. That he probably wouldn’t see his mother again. And he hadn’t. After the divorce she had married her lover and lived on the Continent, dying when he was fifteen. By then he had understood. His father’s attitude had been quite clear when he married Serena as a matter of convenience to breed a couple of back-up heirs. Better to marry for reasons less likely to sour on one than love—property, connections and duty. One needed to like and respect one’s spouse. Anything more was damned dangerous, and passion and desire were best served by taking a discreet mistress.

      Still, he remembered the child’s sense of abandonment and loss. Worse for a girl, of course. Boys were better able to cope with such things. Look at Davy, longing for the day he went to school. Not until he was ten, though. Serena had insisted and, since he knew his father had agreed, that was that. Besides which, he liked having Davy about the place. All of them, in fact.

      Christy sat up straighter as they bowled up the avenue, the horses finding a second wind so close to their stable. They rattled over what appeared to be a stone bridge, under an arch into a narrow passageway and out into what must once have been a castle forecourt. Obviously someone had been watching for them, because as they drew up at the front door several people and a dog raced down the steps.

      To Christy’s startled eyes Lord Braybrook appeared to be surrounded by a mob as he stepped out of the coach into the light of the carriage lamps. She had the oddest sensation that thick glass reared up, allowing her to see, but slicing her apart from the bright circle.

      ‘Did you bring us anything?’

      ‘Why didn’t you come back sooner? You said you would be back yesterday!’

      Lord Braybrook fended off the barking black-and-tan setter, swung a small boy up into his arms and said, ‘For heaven’s sake, be still, you three! Get down, Juno. Anyone would think I’d been away for a month! How are you, Davy? Have you behaved yourself?’

      ‘Yes.’ The small boy nodded vigorously.

      ‘Liar!’ said an older boy of fifteen or so. ‘He’s been a little pest, Julian. He glued himself to the front steps last night so he wouldn’t have to go to bed until you came home! The bottom of his nankeens is still there!’

      ‘Yes,’ chimed in the girl. ‘And Mama made us pull him out of them when they wouldn’t unstick! She said it was our fault he got the glue because we were supposed to be minding him!’

      In the dusk, Christy had the distinct impression that his lordship was trying to preserve a straight face. Laughter bubbled up inside her.

      ‘Davy?’ His lordship’s voice was mild enough, but something about it hinted at tempered steel.

      ‘Well, you said you’d be back!’ muttered the little boy.

      ‘Hmm. I was delayed. Next time go to bed when you’re told.’ A stern voice, one to be obeyed, but affectionate. Caring.

      ‘Oh, very well. That’s what Mr Havergal said. Did you bring us something?’

      ‘Who is Mr Havergal?’ asked his lordship.

      Davy shrugged. ‘Just a friend of Mama’s. Don’t you know him? He calls quite often.’ He tugged on his brother’s lapel. ‘Did you bring us anything?’

      ‘No. I brought your mama something instead.’

      ‘Mama?’ came the chorus from three throats.

      Lord Braybrook put the little boy down, patted the dog, an elegant bitch, and turned back to the coach. ‘Permit me to assist you down, Miss Daventry.’

      Christy stood up, and discovered herself to be appallingly cramped from the long journey, her legs barely able to hold her. Carefully