don’t ’ave to say that, Your Grace. I’m already grateful for all you’ve done. I’m in your debt for rescuing me. Now you’ve gone out o’ your way to escort me when a man like you must ’ave more important things to do—”
“Your wellbeing is of the utmost importance,” he said.
“Why? I’m no one special,” she blurted. “And Bea ’as already decided on Mr. Murray—”
His brows lowered into a foreboding line. “You think I am escorting you to impress Lady Beatrice?”
“You did ask me to be your, um, ally,” she said uncertainly.
“Let me make myself clear: my concern for your welfare is not for anyone’s sake but your own.” His jaw tautened. “I have not been a gentleman if that is what I have led you to believe.”
“You’ve been a perfect gentleman,” she protested. “Kind and gallant—”
“I cannot claim to be either of those things. I can assure you, however, that you are safe with me. I will protect you, Miss Sheridan, have no doubt of it.”
His speech, delivered in cool, dispassionate tones, affected her the way a fervently uttered sonnet would. Her heart pounded giddily. Despite her promise to turn over a new leaf and let go of her silly fantasies, her infatuation was getting worse. The prince of her dreams was close enough to reach over and touch…yet he was forever out of her reach.
Fancy slipped her hand into the skirt of her pocket. With mingled guilt and furtive delight, she caressed the button she had snipped from the jacket he’d lent her that day on the riverbank. She’d rationalized her small theft by telling herself that his valet surely had a spare. For her, this would be the only part of Knighton she would ever have. A keepsake that she would treasure all her life.
“Deny it if you must, but you’re a true ’ero in my eyes,” she said with quavering emotion.
The intensity of his gaze gathered like a storm. His nostrils flared slightly.
“I am no hero, Miss Sheridan,” he averred, “but I would like to ask you a favor.”
What favor could I possibly do for ’im?
“Yes?” she asked.
“I would like for us to start anew. If you could find it in your heart to forget my fumbling words on the riverbank, I should like for us to be friends.”
Friends. With Severin Knight. It wasn’t her faerie tale dream, but it was more than she’d thought possible. His offer cemented her belief that he was a decent man and not the seducer Bea feared he might be.
If I think o’ ’im as a friend, Fancy said to herself, then maybe I’ll stop thinking o’ ’im in other ways. Ways that a tinker’s daughter should never think o’ a duke.
“I’d like that, Your Grace,” she said shyly.
“In that case, let us do away with formality. Call me Knight.” He sat back, his gaze steady.
“If I’m to call you Knight,”—her tongue curled around his name, the intimacy causing her tummy to flutter—“then you ought to call me Fancy.”
“Fancy.” His eyes held a faint smile. “That wasn’t so difficult, was it?”
“No, it wasn’t.” She meant to smile back, but to her mortification, she yawned.
“You must be fatigued,” he said gently.
Since the attack, she hadn’t slept well. She’d been plagued by terrifying dreams. As a result, she was tired, the dull ache at her temple making the rest of her head feel as heavy as an iron pot.
“I think I could use a nap,” she admitted.
“You are safe with me. I’ll keep watch. Rest now, Fancy.”
Lulled by the warmth in his grey eyes and the smooth motion of the carriage, she closed her eyes and slipped into a healing sleep.
9
“We be almost there, guv!” Tommy, the youngest Sheridan, exclaimed as he looked out the window at the passing wooded landscape. “Ain’t no camping spot sweeter than this one in all o’ Cumberland, I reckon.”
Severin nodded and cast a meaningful glance at Fancy, who was dozing. Getting the message, Tommy piped down, although he kept his nose pressed against the glass like an eager pup. Having travelled with the Sheridans for five days now, Severin was used to the exuberant ways of Fancy’s kin. Liam had bragged about the amenities to be found in Severin’s carriage, and since then the other brothers had jockeyed for the position of riding with Fancy.
To Severin’s surprise, he found himself liking the lads who had a cheerfully adaptable approach to life. They didn’t seem to be bothered by sleeping in a different place each night, be