by Jen Turano
“You could have told me Thor was veering into traffic.”
Jeffrey grinned. “True, if I’d actually been paying attention. I don’t think you noticed, but there was a delightful-looking young lady walking down the sidewalk. Since I foolishly forgot for a brief moment that you possess abysmal driving abilities, I was giving her my full attention instead of diligently looking after our lives.”
That didn’t deserve a response.
“You’ve landed yourself in what appears to be a fine mess,” Jeffrey said cheerfully, causing her state of grumpiness to increase. “Why, I can’t recall a time when Mother’s been so distinctly put out with you. Makes for a nice change of pace, don’t you think? She normally reserves her ire for me.”
“She’s never annoyed with you.”
“Except for when she’s nagging me to find a wife and lamenting the fact that I’ve apparently allowed so many fine catches to slip through my fingers.”
Felicia wrinkled her brow. “Who did you allow to slip through your fingers?”
“Well, first there was Eliza, whom, if you must know, I found completely delightful, until Hamilton stole her right from under my nose; and then there was Arabella.” Jeffrey released an exaggerated sigh. “She’s entirely too beautiful and intelligent for her own good, which was why I was somewhat hesitant to approach her, but then Theodore swooped in and swept her off her feet, and now, well, I’m left with slim pickings. Not that Mother seems to understand that, as she nags me on an almost daily basis to choose a wife.”
“She just wants to see you happy.”
“I think she wants grandbabies to dangle on her knee. Since you haven’t been kind enough to oblige her on that account, she’s turned her full attention to me.”
“I would have been perfectly content to settle down as a wife and mother by now, but . . . apparently I was completely misguided as to whom I should set my sights on. Now I’m quite certain the only mothering I’ll ever get to experience will be to the dozen cats I keep seeing slinking around my feet in my future.”
“My, my, you are feeling sorry for yourself today, aren’t you? And just to remind you, you loathe cats, so I don’t think that picture you keep seeing of yourself in the future will actually ever come to pass.”
Felicia felt her lips curl ever so slightly. “Yes, well, I’m in no mood to contemplate my murky future at the moment, so let us return to your dilemma of securing yourself a wife so Mother will stop nagging you. What about Agatha Watson? She’s charming, and I would adore having her as a sister-in-law.”
“Agatha is indeed charming, but there is that pesky little problem of her being in love with Zayne Beckett. I’m not keen on pursuing a lady who has firmly placed her affection on another gentleman.”
“I wasn’t aware so many people knew about Agatha’s affection for Zayne.”
Jeffrey smiled. “I’m not certain many people are, but I took note of Agatha’s interest in Zayne at Mother’s Christmas ball.”
A thread of discomfort sliced through her. She’d had no idea Jeffrey had been interested in Eliza, Arabella, or even Agatha, for that matter. In fact, she couldn’t really remember a time she and Jeffrey had exchanged anything other than simple pleasantries over the past four years. Glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, she was shocked to discover he had distinct traces of white mixed in with his golden hair. She turned toward him, reached out her hand, and yanked one of the hairs out, bringing it closer to get a better view.
Jeffrey rubbed his head. “Honestly, Felicia, what’s gotten into you? That hurt.”
“I thought I saw some white in your hair.”
“Of course you did. It’s been turning white for years, but even though some take issue with white hair—you apparently included with that bunch—I prefer leaving it on my head, if it’s all the same to you.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ve come to believe the white lends me an appearance of distinction.”
She was shocked to realize she no longer knew Jeffrey, or truth be told, any of her brothers. How could she have possibly allowed that to happen? Granted, none of her brothers lived in the family mansion anymore, but they were frequent visitors, and they went to the same society events she attended.
Was it possible that she’d allowed her pursuit of Reverend Fraser and her charitable endeavors to stand in the way of establishing true relationships with everyone, including her own family?
For someone who’d made the staunch claim numerous times that she was a devoted woman of God, her actions did not lend much credence to that particular claim. God could hardly be pleased with her at the moment, considering her quest to obtain her own selfish desires had resulted in the dreadful neglect of her family and friends.
It was past time she corrected that situation and past time she began living a life that would actually allow her to become the faith-filled woman she’d been portraying herself as for years.
She closed her eyes for just a moment to send God a prayer, asking Him for forgiveness and assistance as she vowed to rectify her life and strive to do better in the future.
She opened her eyes and felt them widen in horror when she saw a man step directly in Thor’s path. Before she could even think, Jeffrey wrenched the reins out of her hands and yanked them to the right, which resulted in Thor giving a single toss of his head right before he came to an immediate stop.
Felicia winced. “Oh dear, that was not well done of you. You’ve insulted poor Thor most grievously, and I doubt we’ll be able to prod him into motion anytime in the foreseeable future.”
“I wouldn’t have had to do anything if you’d been paying attention. Really, Felicia, what could you have been thinking, closing your eyes while in the midst of driving? It wasn’t the appropriate time to take a little snooze. And as for insulting Thor, I did no such thing.”
“I wasn’t sleeping, I was praying, and you insulted Thor by taking the reins. He only lets me drive him.”
Jeffrey let out a grunt. “While I am not opposed to prayers, you might want to reconsider praying in the middle of a street while you’re trying to drive. I’m not sure God will look too kindly on you running people over willy-nilly, even if you’ve done so because you were deep in prayer.”
“Hmm, you might have just a wee bit of a point.” Felicia reached over and took back the reins, gave them a wiggle, and then sighed when the wiggle did absolutely nothing to coerce Thor back into motion. “He’s definitely annoyed.”
Thor tossed his head as if he were in full agreement and then pawed an ancient hoof against the street.
“You’ll have to apologize to him if you ever want to get him moving again.”
“I most certainly will not. I did absolutely nothing worthy of an apology.”
“Then prepare yourself for a long wait.”
Jeffrey considered her for a moment, then turned his attention to Thor. “Sorry.”
Thor tossed his head again but remained stubbornly still.
“You’ll have to do better than that. Maybe you should get out and croon to him a bit, or you could try whistling in his ear. He loves that.”
“I should have ridden home with Mother,” Jeffrey muttered before he jumped off the seat, moved to Thor’s head, and began crooning a bit of nonsense into the pony’s ear.
“What is he doing?”
Felicia jumped in her seat, lifted a hand to her chest, and then raised her head to meet the gaze of the ferocious-looking guard Theodore had insisted accompany her home. “Good heavens, sir, you scared me half to death.”
The guard didn’t so much as blink or acknowledge that she’d even spoken. “You need to get out of the middle of the street. You’re beginning to attract attention.”
“That’s a lovely suggestion, to be sure, but Thor has other ideas.” Felicia summoned up a smile. “Perhaps you have an idea as to how to get my pony moving, Mr. . . . er . . . ?”
“Blackheart.”
“Is that really your name or is it one you’ve assumed t
o lend credence to your frightening demeanor?”
“Do you really think now is the appropriate time for idle chitchat, especially since it appears Mr. Blackheart is in no mood to appreciate your odd sense of humor?” Jeffrey asked as he moved from Thor’s head and climbed back into the cart.
“I must beg your pardon, Mr. Blackheart. I realize you’ve been given the daunting task of watching out for my sister—not that I claim to even understand why that’s necessary—but I’m afraid we have no control over this animal at the moment, or ever, for that matter. Because of that, I’m afraid we’re going to draw unwanted attention for some time to come, unless we can figure out a way to get the decrepit beast moving.”
Mr. Blackheart, not speaking a single word, edged his horse up beside Thor. He leaned over, slapped Thor soundly on the behind, and ignoring Felicia’s sputters of outrage, eased his horse to the side. Thor let out a snort and jerked forward, his short little legs moving at a remarkably fast clip.
“Just wait until I get ahold of Theodore,” Felicia said as she tightened her grip on the reins. “What could he have been thinking, assigning me such an unpleasant chap? Poor Thor will require weeks of rest and special oats to get over this trauma.”
“Thor will be fine, as you very well know, but since he is almost moving at what some might call a gallop, I do believe we’ll reach our destination sooner than I anticipated. Perhaps it would be prudent, before we meet up with Mother again, if you could explain to me a few things, such as why you’ve been given your own personal guard.”
“I don’t really know.”
“Should I assume it has something to do with that brawl in the pub? Are Theodore and Grayson afraid you attracted someone’s interest there and are simply being cautious regarding your welfare?”
“Well, I definitely attracted interest from quite a few gentlemen in that pub, but considering Grayson dispatched all of them, except for the one I hit over the head, I hardly think it’s likely any of them were physically capable of following me off Mott Street.” She blew out a breath. “I think I’ve been assigned the guard because of the Chinese men who came into the pub after Grayson had finished the fight.”
“You’ve lost me. What do Chinese men and Grayson Sumner have in common?”
“Far too much from what little I’ve been able to understand.”
Jeffrey shifted on the seat. “I’d forgotten he’s recently returned from China. It almost sounds as if . . .”
“His past was somewhat disturbing?” Felicia finished for him.
“Exactly. I doubt we’ll be able to sufficiently puzzle the mess out though, considering the limited facts we’ve been given. I’ll try to track Theodore down later on today or tomorrow and see if he’ll be able to explain matters to satisfaction, but until then, let me return to you.”
“I don’t believe that’s necessary.”
Jeffrey continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “What in the world were you thinking, going into a pub on your own? I mean, it’s evident you’ve decided to make some changes in your life ever since Reverend Fraser got married, but I don’t think spending time in a pub—especially one on Mott Street—is exactly the way you should go about it.”
“I didn’t plan on going into a pub when I started out today.” Felicia took a moment to steer Thor back to their side of the street before she shot a glance at Jeffrey, who was watching her with one brow raised. “If you must know, I only went to Mott Street to drop off some of my old clothing at the Rogue Theater.”
“And the members of that theater convinced you to go have a drink with them?”
Felicia rolled her eyes. “Of course not. Those gentlemen were too busy trying on my clothing when I left them to even think about extending me a drink.”
Jeffrey grinned. “I’m not even going to ask why that occurred.”
“It does sound odd, but they’re soon to be performing a farce, which I think is why they were so pleased with my clothing, but I digress. When I got back to Thor, he turned obstinate and refused to move, and in the past, if I walked away from him and allowed him to believe I was going to abandon him, he was much more apt to cooperate when I finally returned to his side.”
“So you went strolling down Mott Street in order to get Thor to turn from obstinate to accommodating? Have you lost your mind?”
Felicia lifted her chin. “I’ve been traveling around the city, and the seedier parts of the city at that, for years. I’ve never run into a problem. In fact, most of the time it appeared to me that people, especially gentlemen, went out of their way to extend me a wide berth.”
Jeffrey simply stared at her for a moment, the intensity of his gaze causing her to return her attention to the road—not that she really needed to do so, considering Thor was seemingly running out of energy and was now barely moving.
“Felicia, I do adore you, and I hope you’ll remember that when I tell you that the reason gentlemen gave you such a wide berth was because, well, given your peculiar fashions over the past four years, I’m afraid you’ve caused people to believe you’re a little insane.”
Her lips began to curl. “I didn’t look that bad.”
“I’m afraid you did. But now, since you’ve abandoned those atrocious fashions, and you’re wearing hats—well, when you haven’t misplaced them—that allow a person to see your face, you’ve once again become the beautiful lady you were always meant to be. That means no more traveling around to the seedy parts of the city unescorted.”
Tears caused her vision to go a little misty. “I do think that’s quite the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
Jeffrey placed his hand over hers. “I’m sure you’re mistaken, but that’s neither here nor there. Getting back to the pub, what possessed you to go in there?”
“It was all very innocent.”
“I somehow doubt that, but continue.”
All traces of tears disappeared in a flash. “While I was waiting for Thor to come to the belief I’d abandoned him, I saw an elderly gentleman get his cane stuck in a hole, and then he stumbled and fell to one knee. I couldn’t leave him like that, could I?”
“If you were on Mott Street, certainly.”
“Anyway,” Felicia continued, “I went to his assistance, and then he insisted on purchasing me a drink after I helped him into the pub. It would have been rude to disappoint him, and he was looking at me ever so hopefully that I just couldn’t refuse him, and . . . that’s where Grayson found me.”
“He just happened to be in the same derelict pub that you found yourself in?”
“No, as I told you and Mother—although it seems you might not have been paying attention to me—Grayson had been following me.”
Right then and there, Jeffrey turned into the consummate older brother. “It appears I’m going to have to have a little chat with Grayson and find out exactly why he would be following you around.” His eyes narrowed. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed that he watches you as if you’re a tasty treat he wants to snap up.”
She would not allow herself to consider why that notion caused pleasure to course over her. “He most certainly does not.”
Jeffrey’s eyes narrowed another fraction. “You watch him the same way.”
Felicia opened her mouth, intent on arguing that ridiculous point, but then snapped it shut. Did she look at Grayson as if he were a tasty treat? Granted, he was incredibly handsome, and his good looks did cause a person to look at him every now and again, but Theodore Wilder was incredibly handsome as well, yet she knew for certain she’d never looked at him as a tasty treat.
What was it about Grayson that caused her to watch him so consistently? It had to be something other than his looks.
Maybe it was simply because he’d come to her rescue more than once, which, if she were honest with herself, made him incredibly appealing, almost as appealing as . . . cake. She adored cake, especially chocolate—loved the taste of it, and it definitely was a treat—but did she look at Grayson the same way?
Felicia blinked. “I beg your pardon?”
“He suits you, strange as that may seem, suits you in a manner Reverend Fraser never did.”
All lingering thoughts of cake evaporated in a split second. “I thought Reverend Fraser would suit me well because he possesses such a strong faith.”
“You don’t need to set your sights on a minister to ensure you end up with a gentleman of faith, Felicia. Why, if that were the case, there’d be very few Christian ladies actually married.”
“I don’t think Grayson possesses any faith.”
There. She’d said it, out loud. She hadn’t even realized that had been bothering her, but evidently it had been lurking in the back of her mind all along, mixed in with her somewhat concerning attraction for the man.
“You might be right, but have you even asked him what he believes?”
“Well, no.”
“Then I wouldn’t simply make the assumption he has no faith. Many people, myself included, aren’t comfortable discussing matters of faith on a regular basis. Perhaps he’s the type who just keeps his thoughts about God to himself.”
“But . . . he’s no Reverend Fraser.”
“It would be difficult for any gentleman to live up to the esteemed Reverend Fraser, but the man is no longer available, and forgive me for being direct—he was never meant for you. You would have driven the poor man batty within weeks of spending any great amount of time alone together.
“Miss Hampton, or rather, Mrs. Fraser, is a demure young lady, whereas you . . . you’ve played a rather convincing role of it over the past few years, but you’re not demure, Felicia. Even though you’ve disguised it well, within you lurks the soul of an adventurous lady, and you’ll never be happy until you embrace that.”