"I"m just saying," Johnny continued, "he looks familiar. Like one of them cabinet ministers of Prinny"s or something."
"Where"ve you seen a cabinet minister?"
"I took a horse down to Tattersall"s last year for Sir William. All the dashers was there. Him, too, I think."
Josefina clenched her hands into her dress. Oh, for heaven"s sake, one look and she could relax again. But if it was some cabinet minister, he might recognize her. She closed her eyes, trying to steady her breathing. No cabinet minister, no n.o.bleman, would expect to see Princess Josefina Embry riding on the top of the north-bound mail stage.
With a last deep breath she turned her head and looked over her shoulder. Fifty yards behind the coach and easily keeping pace with the lumbering vehicle rode a lean, dark-haired man. Her heart stopped.
It wasn"t a cabinet minister. It was the Duke of Melbourne. And he looked right back at her.
"Oh, dear."
Chapter 23.
"Y ou know who that fellow is, Miss Grimm?" Tim asked.
Swiftly Josefina faced forward again. What had she done wrong? How had she given her plan away? She hadn"t told a soul, for heaven"s sake. And why the devil was he just following her, instead of storming the coach? All three men seated with her were looking from her to Sebastian in a blatantly curious fashion, and she gulped a breath. "What is our next stop?" she asked, her voice wobbling.
"Biggleswade," sheep man answered promptly. "Near an hour from here."
"You think that bloke means to follow the coach all the way to Biggleswade?" Johnny gazed at their pursuer again.
She couldn"t see Sebastian giving up and turning around, when he"d clearly been behind them since London. "I think he might," she conceded.
"So who is he?"
"He make some sort of trouble for you, Miss Grimm?"
Apparently the two men who"d been ready to steal her luggage earlier were now her staunch defenders. For a brief moment she considered it. But even if they did manage to stop Melbourne"s pursuit, he now knew she was heading north. For a shilling or two Red Jim would undoubtedly be happy to reveal that she"d purchased pa.s.sage to York. Chances were, he already had. Aside from that, she had no wish to see Sebastian pummeled.
"I don"t suppose one of you would be willing to marry me," she muttered, twisting to look behind her again. He hadn"t fallen back, nor had he moved any closer. He was torturing her, d.a.m.n it all, trying to force her to make the next move.
"I already have a wife, miss," sheep man offered. "Bess has a temper, but she"s a good la.s.s for all that."
"He wants to marry you?"
"It"s very complicated, Johnny, but yes, he says he wants to marry me."
"He done you poorly, then?"
"No. I"m afraid I"ll do him poorly." She already had. "As I said, it"s very complicated."
"Aye, it sounds a mess." Johnny elbowed Tim in the ribs, and the two of them began muttering to one another again.
Josefina sank lower onto the hard seat. And she"d thought the hack had been a rough ride. So much for her grand plan. All she could hope for now was that if given enough time to follow her, Sebastian would realize how much easier it would make everything if he simply turned around. Failing that, she supposed she could wait until they reached Biggleswade and attempt to explain it to him-though the thought of speaking with him again made her tremble. And then there was the third alternative, that he would tire of playing his waiting game and stop the stage.
"You know how to darn stockings and such?" Tim asked abruptly, eyeing her hands as though looking for callouses or something.
"What? Of course I know how."
"Then I reckon I"ll take you. I could stand to have a hot meal waiting for me when I come home. And you"re pretty enough."
Oh, good G.o.d. "Tim, I"m grateful for your kindness, but-"
"Willie, lad," Tim interrupted, turning to nudge the driver in the back, "stop this hack."
"I ain"t stoppin" every time you need to take a p.i.s.s."
"I"m gettin" married. Just need to tell the lady"s other fella to get himself back to London before he gets hurt."
Willie guffawed, then turned around to see the rider behind them. "h.e.l.l, I can"t miss this," he said, and hauled on the reins. "Whoa, lads. Whoa, there."
Blast it all. "Perhaps we should continue on," Josefina urged, her voice squeaking.
"Na. I know his kind. Soft-handed dandy. I"ll b.l.o.o.d.y "is nose a bit, and he"ll turn tail. So what"s your given name, girl?"
Josefina flung up her hands. "Mabel."
The coach rolled to a halt, and Sebastian drew even with them. He was surprised; he could have ridden them down an hour ago, or stopped her before she ever climbed aboard. It seemed more important to discover what she intended to do rather than to impose his own will on events. Hopefully the stop signaled that Josefina had come to her senses and realized that whatever she was up to wouldn"t succeed.
"h.e.l.lo," he said, looking up at her.
"h.e.l.lo yourself, mate," one of the large men seated opposite her returned. "You got no business following us, so go on home."
Sebastian kept his gaze on Josefina. "A friend of yours?" he asked her.
"Me and Mabel is to be married. So you get yourself back to London, old rip."
She rolled her eyes, giving a slight shake of her head. Mabel. Not Princess Josefina. "Mabel can"t be marrying you, because she"s marrying me," he stated, crossing his wrists over the pommel of the saddle.
"Sebastian, go home," she finally said, her voice unsteady. "I know what I"m doing."
"Marrying...What"s your name, my good man?"
"Tim. Timothy Boots."
"Marrying Mr. Boots is your solution to our dilemma?" he continued.
"That"s right, me rum cove. Me and Mabel Grimm. Don"t make me come down there and wallop you."
"Well, sir, I think you will have to come down here and wallop me, because otherwise Miss...Grimm is leaving with me."
"Sebastian, don"t. This is ridiculous."
"I agree." In the coach everyone was hanging out the window, listening to every word being spoken. Whatever happened, people would hear of it. Everyone would hear of it. And he didn"t give a d.a.m.n. "Why don"t you explain to me what you"re doing sitting on the roof of the mail coach bound for York?"
"I"m removing myself from the equation," she returned. "No one will have me to use for leverage. I won"t need protecting from anything, because I won"t be there."
Mr. Boots climbed over the edge of the roof, balanced on one of the wheels, and then dropped to the ground. "That"s right. She won"t be there."
Blowing out his breath, Sebastian dismounted and led Merlin to the coach, where he looped the reins through the left front wheel spokes. "I told you I had a plan," he said, shedding his coat and dumping it across the saddle.
"Now you don"t need a plan. Tell the truth."
"I like my plan better. It leaves me with more options. Come down here, and I"ll tell you about it."
"You stay up there, Mabel. I"ll be done with this jack-a-dandy in a minute."
Evidently they were going to fight. Timothy Boots had probably two stone on him, but he looked like a brawler rather than a fighter. "I"m not leaving without you, Mabel," Sebastian said, his attention shifting to the circling Mr. Boots.
"Can"t you understand that this is best?" she countered. "I"m setting my life, my place in the world, to where it belongs."
"Where you belong," he retorted, "is with me."
"You"re just...you"re just lonely. You"ll find someone else. Someone who doesn"t surround herself with chaos and misery."
Boots lunged at him, but Sebastian sidestepped and the blow missed him. "You hear what you"re getting, Mr. Boots? Chaos and misery. Now me, I like chaos. And the misery is a matter of opinion." He risked a glance up at Josefina. She"d crawled across her bench mate to peer over the edge at him. "And yes, I am lonely. Every time I say goodbye to you."
"That doesn"t make sense."
"Of course it does." Boots swung at him again, and he blocked the blow with his forearm, twisted, and tripped the man. "Before I met you, I wasn"t lonely. I was alone. And content with that. You woke me up, Jo...Mabel. I"m alive again. And now, without you, yes, I"m lonely. Aren"t you?"
Timothy Boots pushed to his feet and came at Sebastian again with a roar. Taking the hit in the chest, Sebastian winced as they thudded into the side of the coach. For G.o.d"s sake, it was difficult enough to declare his feelings in private. Doing so in front of strangers, and while keeping a giant from smashing his head in, was insanity. And fitting, he supposed.
"I don"t understand," Josefina wailed.
Growling, Sebastian threw Boots off and turned to look up at her. "It"s not complicated, Mabel. I love you. Do you understand that?"
A hard blow thudded into his chin, and he buckled. Scrambling forward, he crawled under the coach and stood up on the far side. Boots came charging around from the rear. This time Sebastian met him with a hard punch to the face. He followed that with a jab into Boots"s gut, and the fellow collapsed.
"Get me down, help me down!" he heard coming from the left side of the coach.
Staggering and shaking the cobwebs from his head, he made his way back just in time to see Josefina jumping down from the rear wheel and landing in a rather ungainly sprawl. He took her arm and helped her to her feet, and she thudded into his chest, grabbing onto the back of his waistcoat and holding him tightly.
He closed his eyes, hugging her hard. More than her actual flight, the desperate way she held onto him told him how close he"d come to losing her. If he"d missed seeing her climb into that hack, he would have had no idea where to find her-and clearly she hadn"t intended to return.
"You love me?" she whispered brokenly, running a shaking hand along his cheek.
She sounded so surprised. When they"d first met, he"d thought her so sure of herself. Sebastian looked hard into her deep brown eyes. "I love you," he repeated. "Nothing in heaven or on earth could convince me to marry you if I didn"t." With that, he kissed her.
The crowd in the coach gasped. So the fight was perfectly acceptable, but the show of affection was scandalous. And even if these people knew what the two of them had gone through, their reaction probably wouldn"t change. He kissed her again.
Mr. Boots stumbled around the back of the coach. d.a.m.nation. Sebastian turned, putting Josefina behind him, but she pushed back in front. "Tim, Mr. Boots," she said, "I sincerely apologize, and I thank you for standing by me. But I made a mistake. I love this man, and if he still wants me, then I will marry him."
A slow, satisfied smile curved Sebastian"s mouth. He couldn"t help it. "You love me," he whispered into her hair, sliding an arm around her waist and tugging her back against his chest.
He knew women wanted him, wanted his name and his power and his money. Josefina found those things about him difficult, and she loved him. He"d never thought, hoped, or wanted a woman to say that to him ever again. Hearing her say it, he felt...content. And more happy than he"d ever expected to be again. The idea that he could remain that way stunned him.
"I got me nose bloodied for you," Boots growled at her. "That"s hardly a fair return for a promise of marriage."
In his arms, Josefina stiffened. "I did not-"
"Perhaps I could pay your pa.s.sage north," Sebastian interrupted. "I can"t have you luring Mabel away from me again."
"Take it, Tim," the other large fellow on the roof urged, "before he beats you all the way to Sunday."
"Ah, it ain"t natural," Boots said, spitting into the dirt. "You"ve had training."
Sebastian nodded. "Yes, I have. What is the price of a seat these days?"
"Three quid."
That sounded fair. Boots hadn"t even exaggerated the amount. "I"ll give you five pounds, if you give me your word not to try to find Mabel Grimm ever again."
The big man stuck out his hand. "You have my word."
Sebastian shook hands with him, then gave over five pounds. With a last, jaunty grin at Josefina, Boots circled to the back of the coach to untie her portmanteau and toss it at her feet. As he climbed back up to the roof, Sebastian freed Merlin, and they backed away from the coach.
With a whistle the coachman sent the horses forward again. In a moment the vehicle was out of sight behind a row of oak trees, as if it had never been there at all. If he"d arrived at Branbury"s house a minute later than he had, she would still be on it.
"Sebastian Griffin," she said, dusting dirt from his sleeves and his hair, "why did you follow all this way instead of stopping the coach back in London?"
"Because half the fun is seeing what you"ll do next."
"But how did you know I was on the coach at all?"
"Well, Mabel Grimm," he returned, taking her hand, "four years ago I cursed G.o.d, and told him to leave me be. I think this morning he gave me a last chance to change my mind. I went riding, and decided I wanted to go by Branbury House. You were climbing into a hack."
"You loved your wife very much," she stated, turning her back to pet Merlin.
"I did, and I still do." He started to pull his coat back on, then changed his mind and led her and Merlin off the road, past a pretty stand of elm trees, and into a meadow full of yellow and purple wildflowers. "I need you to know something."
"After what I"ve put you through-am still putting you through, I don"t know why you..." A tear ran down her face, and she brushed it away. "I don"t want to share you, but I certainly can"t resent-"
"Stop it."
"But I-"
"No, Josefina. With your help, I discovered something about myself. I"m trying to explain it." At the creek which ran through the meadow, he pulled off Merlin"s bridle and let the bay drink. They had a long ride back, and the fellow could use a rest. As for him, he wanted Josefina. Badly. "I thought I"d finished with it. With love, marriage, all of that. Charlotte was quiet, and thoughtful, and very witty. She filled my heart. And when she died, my heart...froze. All of me froze. Then I met you, and I feel warm again. My heart grew again, like a tree, I suppose. I don"t think she has to leave it for you to have the new parts. All of them. Does that make sense?"