to him with a blush. “Good evening,” he said. “I hope you found your accommodations to your liking.”
She nodded. “Our room is lovely. Very comfortable.” She shifted as he helped her to her seat and then retook his own. “I hope the duke and the earl will not be irritated that you chose such a fine inn. I wish I could say I could repay the expense but—”
He shook his head to interrupt her. “Celeste, on this count you must not worry yourself. You are coming to London to assist them in my investigation. This is a small expense and one I would have had to incur whether you came with me or not, as I would have had to stop on my way to London anyway.”
She ignored the fact that he would not have let a carriage, nor had to pay for the extra rooms for their driver or for her and Mabel. He was trying to reassure her and she attempted to be reassured as a response.
“Where is Mabel, then?” Owen asked when she didn’t press the issue. “Coming in a moment?”
“She decided to take a smaller meal in our chamber,” Celeste explained. “She wanted to do some mending of one of my gowns and said she had a book to read. It will only be the two of us tonight.”
Something in Owen’s stare shifted at those words. The same thing that had come into his gaze when they were talking in the carriage earlier, when the air had gotten heavy and a tingle had rushed through her like something was going to happen. He blinked it away swiftly, though, and smiled, popping that dimple in his cheek that was so very endearing.
“Then two it will be.” He motioned for the serving maid to come over and she told them what the kitchen had as options for supper. Once they had chosen and were alone again, he leaned back in his chair, casual and comfortable. Strange how that made her even edgier when he was lounged in his chair like a king. “The circumstances are not the best, but are you pleased to be out of Twiddleport? When was the last time you traveled?”
She worried her lip. He had likely gone all around the country, perhaps even traveled in the wider world. She felt very much like a chawbacon when she stammered, “I-I have never traveled.”
He stared at her a moment. “Never? You never went to London, even with your parents?”
She worried her lip. “I didn’t. My mother had designs for me to wed one of the local gentry, so she focused all her attentions on him when I first came out rather than take me to London to exhibit.”
“What happened to him?”
“He had designs on someone with a higher rank than himself, as is the way. My mother never had a chance. By that time, I had developed a reputation for being a bluestocking who would argue finer points of fact, and that scared off the rest.”
“Was that by design?” he asked, and smiled up at the young woman as she brought their soup.
Once she had gone, Celeste drew in a deep breath of the delicious broth and took a spoonful. She couldn’t help the rumble of pleasure that came deep from her chest. Owen quickly dropped his gaze to his own bowl and began to eat.
She shook herself back to the conversation and said, “It might have been a little by design, yes,” she admitted. “I didn’t want to marry any of those…those boys who didn’t like the idea that I might have a mind of my own. Opinions that didn’t entirely mirror their own. I was resigned to be a happy spinster when they foisted Montgomery upon me.”
He shook his head. “I am very sorry about that.”
“You needn’t be,” she said with a sigh. “It wasn’t your doing.”
“Perhaps not, but I can help make up for it a bit. If this is to be your first trip to London, then you will have to sample all its delights. I have lived in the city all my life and I will be your guide.”
She caught her breath. “You would…you would do so? Won’t you be very busy with your investigation?”
He shrugged. “Yes, but I do have private time, Celeste. A man can’t work all day every day.”
“I hate to intrude upon your relaxation.”
He tilted his head. “If you do not wish to spend the extra time with me, I understand, especially given the circumstances of our…relationship.”