A Duchess a Day (Awakened by a Kiss #1) - Charis Michaels Page 0,27
something. The moment stretched, suspending in the damp air like a swinging rope at the top of its arc. No words came. He bit off his glove and put his hand to the list in his pocket. He paused—
And then suddenly Nettle was there, helping Girdleston into the carriage. The coachman clicked to his team. Grooms scurried to take positions.
The rope began its downward fall, taking the opportunity with it.
Declan swore and leapt onto the runner of the third vehicle.
There will be another time, he told himself.
If nothing else, at least his participation today was not nearly as bad as what he’d done last night.
Today amounted to a report that hasn’t yet happened, he thought.
Today was shite bad timing.
Helena Lark is not my problem.
When the carriages lurched from the alley, Nettle dispatched Declan to the center of Brook Street to stop traffic in both directions. The rain increased, and he stood in the cold downpour, ignoring drivers and riders as they shouted profanity. When at last he’d managed to stop traffic, the carriages bounced into road-blocking positions before Lady Canning’s front door.
Ten minutes later, the rain abated, and Lady Helena and her family clipped down the steps with heads ducked and skirts raised to avoid the mud.
Declan was careful to give the lead carriage a very wide berth, allowing other grooms to form the necessary phalanx of umbrellas and outstretched hands. Lady Helena, thank God, was obscured. It was better if he couldn’t see her. Instead, he stood stoically in the splash of passing carts, soaking to the bone, and didn’t look.
“I should like to ride with some of my gifts . . .”
Her voice rose above the drum of raindrops.
Declan squeezed his eyes shut.
“Do not bother yourself, Mama,” she could be heard saying. “I prefer a moment alone after the crush of a party.”
No, Declan thought, slinging rain from his eyes and squinting through the mist. Five yards away, Lady Pembrook and her daughters scrambled to the front carriage amid lingering rain. All daughters, save one.
Lady Helena picked her way to him in the wet street. Another groom darted after her, trying to shield her with an umbrella. Declan swore and met them halfway, taking the umbrella handle like a baton in a race. Lady Helena huddled close.
“I want,” she said lowly, “my list.”
Declan scanned the street, checking the location of her family, the other grooms, and Girdleston, who appeared to be tucked tightly inside the dryness of the second carriage. A cold wind had begun to churn the last spitting drops of rain. The street was a slurry of mud and dancing horses. The wind yanked Lady Helena’s skirt, sending it twisting and dancing; raindrops speckled the indigo with dark dots. Her coiffeur was rapidly dissolving in the rain.
“Give it to me,” she demanded, holding out an insistent indigo-gloved hand.
“I mean to tell Girdleston,” Declan said, hustling her to the door of the carriage. He whipped it open and extended the steps. “Get in.”
“No,” she said, crossing her arms. “Shaw—no. Let us come to some agreement, make a deal. In exchange for the list.”
“No,” he said again. “Get inside the carriage.”
“Give me the list, and I will make it worth your while,” she said. Something like panic had begun to creep into her eyes. He looked away.
“It was ruined in the rain,” he said. “We’re going.”
“I don’t believe you. Let me see it.”
“We cannot stand in the muddy street and quarrel about it, get in.”
She ignored him. “You’ve already recorded the names. Why do the work of writing it all down only to refuse me now? Shaw—please. I’ll not trouble you again if you simply hand over the list.”
He swore and glanced over his shoulder. The second-to-last sister was being gingerly loaded into the front carriage. There was no time for this.
“At least listen to what I will trade,” she pleaded.
He was shaking his head.
“I . . . I’ll keep a prudent distance from you,” she vowed. “No more garden parties. I’ll not ask you to do anything a groom would not ordinarily do. I’ll not impose on—”
“You’ll not impose, and you’ll not ask for more. You will keep your distance regardless.” He took her by the elbow. “This is over, my lady.”
She sucked in an outraged breath, but Declan cut her off. “I can save my job by giving him the list. He’ll not understand it and you’ll not be punished.”
“Except every day for the rest of my life,” she cried.