A Bride for the Prizefighter - Alice Coldbreath Page 0,67

acquaintance, so we shall have to see what can be arranged, shan’t we?”

Teddy flashed her a smile, seemingly satisfied with this. Mina turned and descended back down the steps to the waiting carriage. Colfax extended a white-gloved hand to help her inside and then he swung up on top. Mina leaned out of the carriage and waved to Teddy who was stood next to one of the large stone lions, waving madly. “Goodbye Aunt Minerva!” he shouted.

Mina sank back against the cushions with a sigh. She was not sorry to leave Vance Park with its strange tensions and underlying currents, but she had to confess that Teddy had wriggled into her affections already. Dreadful boy that he was!

12

Mina raised a hand in farewell as the coach swept back out of the courtyard of The Merry Harlot. She heard the door of the inn open and shut behind her and had just started to turn toward it when she heard Nye’s growl.

“Who bought you back?” he asked abruptly, coming to stand beside her.

Mina did a double take at his surly expression. Had he not urged her to go? Why was he now looking so incensed, she wondered? “Colfax accompanied the groom, though I hardly needed an attendant to hand me up and down,” she commented aloud, remembering how Jeremy had failed to assist her on her previous arrival at the inn.

Nye’s eyes narrowed. “Not the likes of him, in any case.”

“What do you mean?”

Nye gave her a sidelong look. “There’s some that say Colfax has been Lady Faris’s lover for years,” he said bluntly.

Mina flushed. “Oh,” she said lamely, remembering how Teddy had claimed his mother had spent the previous evening. “Surely if that was true, Lord Faris would have discharged him long ago.” Nye looked as if he would say more, but then seemed to change his mind. “Teddy told me Colfax and his father are hand in glove,” she prodded and to her surprise, saw Nye’s look of discomfort grow. His eyes shifted away from hers and he cleared his throat.

“None of my business what they get up to at Vance Park,” he said dismissively. “If you’ve any sense, you won’t pry.”

Mina considered this. “Well,” she conceded. “I don’t know that I shall ever visit again.” Nye fell in step beside her as she crossed the courtyard to the inn.

Reaching a hand passed her head, he pushed the door open for her, he followed her inside. “Why do you say that?” he asked.

Mina removed her bonnet and cloak, hanging them on the peg. “Lady Faris made it quite clear she did not welcome my presence,” she explained and patted her hair to make sure it remained in the low chignon bun she had arranged that morning. “Although, I should like to see my nephew again.” She eyed Nye thoughtfully.

“What?” he asked, catching her expression.

“He is your nephew as much as mine,” she pointed out.

He snorted. “I doubt Faris thinks so.”

“Well, that’s where you’re wrong, for he told the boy quite plainly he had an Uncle Nye.” She could see he was taken aback at this, though he said nothing as he followed her along the corridor to the kitchen.

“Perhaps Lord Faris would let him visit us here?” she suggested, lifting the lid of the kettle to see if there was water in it. When Nye continued silent, she set it on the range and reached for the tea leaves in the cupboard. Glancing back, she sat he had propped his hip against the table and was regarding her broodingly.

“This is an inn, Mina,” he said heavily. “And that boy is heir to Vance Park.”

“Did not the old Earl visit your mother here?” she asked boldly, spooning the leaves into the pot.

“No, he did not,” he ground out. “This place was her pay-off after he was done with her.”

Mina flushed. “Oh.” She could not quite bring her gaze to meet with his. “I apologize if I was indelicate.” He gave a short laugh as if such considerations were not necessary. Perhaps they weren’t. “Jeremy visited us here yesterday,” she pointed out. “And Ivy told me he does so frequently.”

“Is it Jeremy or Lord Faris?” he asked tersely. “You need to make up your mind.”

She reached up to take two cups down from the cupboard. “I know,” she admitted. “But I do not yet feel quite comfortable addressing him as Jeremy, so I am trying it out with you.”

His eyes glinted. “Maybe there are other things I’d rather you tried out