moment her eyes were as deep and clear as the summer sky at twilight, not cold or reserved at all.
“You always look so surprised when I kiss you,” he murmured. “Do you not like it?”
She flinched as if she’d just been accused of some terrible crime. “I—I don’t know.”
Gerard smiled a little. He couldn’t help it. “Don’t worry, love. You will.” He turned away to collect more for her valise, and in the mirror caught sight of her reflection. She stood very still, then raised one hand and hesitantly touched her lips. His eyes narrowed; what the devil was she thinking? But then she looked up and met his gaze in her mirror. Her hand fell, and she turned away.
He stole a bemused glance at her over his shoulder. No man with any sense in his head made the mistake of thinking he understood women, but he was utterly mystified by this one. She had asked him to marry her but didn’t expect him to touch her. When he did, she responded with alacrity—shy and inexperienced she might be, but there was a thread of yearning in her kiss. The instant he released her, though, she acted as violated as a nun.
Well. They had years to sort that out between them. Today he intended to finally escape London and begin his pursuit of the blackmailer before the scoundrel did any more damage to his family’s name. Personal pleasures would have to wait a while.
Chapter 9
Not until they were bundled into the hired coach did Katherine have time to really think about what had happened. Birdie kept yawning behind her hand until she finally dropped off to sleep two miles or so out of London. That left her in peace, finally alone to contemplate the consequences of her actions. The captain was riding his horse, and she could see him if she sat forward and craned her neck out the window. She’d already done it twice and refused to do it again. There was little reason to. He was stuck with her now, and she with him.
She had never seen anyone manage her mother quite as well as he did. When the captain told her they planned to leave within an hour of arriving in Portman Square, Mama laid out every excuse Katherine expected. Normally people, particularly men, were so moved by Mama’s pleas that they gave in at once, or certainly once she began weeping so beautifully and so sadly. Somehow Captain de Lacey made Mama smile instead—mentioning a grand ball at Durham House was a master stroke—and got them out the door in exactly an hour. The same carriage they had ridden in to the church had evidently been hired to take them wherever he was going. After a detour through Holborn, where Mr. Tyrell wished them happy and duly recorded their marriage, the carriage turned west, driving past Hyde Park Corner and out of London. Katherine was sure she’d left behind a hundred things she would need, and Birdie seemed permanently outraged by his peremptory behavior; but somehow Katherine felt more relief than anything else. As expected, Lucien was no match for the tall and confident captain. Her new husband was like a force of nature. And just like that, she was being whisked away from her old constrained and quiet life to a new life, one of which she had absolutely no conception.
It was a little unnerving, she supposed. Part of her was increasingly worried she’d gotten herself married to someone so different from herself that they would never understand each other. But she couldn’t deny that part of her was breathless with hope. He smiled at her, and kissed her, even when he didn’t need to for appearances’ sake. He called her Kate. He could be everything she hoped for . . .
No sooner than this thought crossed her mind, Katherine reminded herself not to presume. Above all, theirs was a practical marriage. Their real future wouldn’t become apparent for weeks and months, when the novelty and first rush of gratitude had worn off on both sides. Lord Howe had been a kind husband in the beginning as well, no doubt from being so flush with cash again. She would do well to remind herself how he’d been after a few years of marriage, when he couldn’t wait to be off to London without her and looked bored and impatient every time she opened her mouth.
The miles rolled on. It was just after noon when they