Lady in the Mist - Laurie Alice Eakes [85]
She should have been angered. She wanted to weep.
“I can’t marry you until I’m free, and that looks like it’ll be too far off.”
Four years with only a hope and perhaps nothing at the end, waiting for another man, a man who would leave.
“Yes, four years is too long.” Regret constricted her heart.
“But perhaps it could be sooner.” He stroked the side of her throat. “If you help me.”
She stepped back. “I won’t help you run away. The consequences are too great.”
“And I would be a rascal to ask such a thing of you. But—” He glanced toward the house, where yellow light reached through the mist. “Kendall has left for Norfolk for a few days. May I call on you . . . in the daylight?”
“Noon tomorrow. The tide will be coming in. We can do some crabbing.”
“Letty would like that.” He kissed her again, lightly this time. “Trust me, please.”
“That’s probably asking too much right now.” She smiled to soften her words.
He didn’t smile back. “Perhaps you should forgive Raleigh for abandoning you at the altar, so you don’t tar us all with the same brush.”
“I’m not—”
But maybe she wasn’t trusting anyone, wasn’t trusting God, isolating her heart from caring too much. Even falling for Dominick was a way to protect herself. He was impossible to form an alliance with, since she knew he would leave eventually.
She had fallen for him, though. Fallen hard enough to hurt every time she looked at him, though that was such a pleasure.
A shiver raced through her. “Perhaps I am.”
“That’s my girl.” He retrieved her bag and gestured toward the house. “After you.”
She preceded him into warmth and the fragrance of brewing coffee and baking sugar buns. Three pairs of eyes turned toward her, flashed to Dominick, then back to her. One of the identical blonde girls clapped her hand over her mouth and emitted a giggle. Tabitha realized why. Dominick had pulled down her hair.
“I—I just came from a lying-in,” she stammered.
“I encountered her while delivering eggs and cream, dear Letty.” Dominick kissed the cook on the cheek. “I hope this means something delectable for our supper.”
“You should go to bed without any, naughty lad that you are.” She turned her green eyes on Tabitha. “Did he tell you what happened last night?”
“I promised her coffee—and the tale before she walks home.” Dominick drew a chair out from the table. “Sit, Madam Midwife, and I’ll do the honors.”
While the two young women watched and hid snickers behind their hands, he brought Tabitha a cup of coffee and a sugar bun. Before he sat, he gave the twins a stern look. “Don’t you two have dusting or something useful to do?”
“No, Mr. Cherrett,” Dinah said. “Not with the mayor gone.”
“What about your sewing?” Letty turned from the fire and a bubbling pot of something savory. “You have only a week until the festival.”
“Ah, the fete.” Dominick sighed. “My dear Tabitha, I regret to tell you I am no longer allowed to go. It was part of my punishment.”
“I’m so sorry. All the young ladies will miss you.”
And she wouldn’t attend now either. She could go with Raleigh or on her own, but the idea of the festivities without Dominick there to flirt with her, lead her into a reel, or walk her home through the night, left her flat.
“Least of all you?” His dark eyes dared her.
She laughed. “Least of all me, as I won’t be there.”
“I am gratified.” He reached for her hand beneath the table and squeezed her fingers. “Now then, I’ll tell you what happened last night after I left the Trowers’ house.”
He told her of running into Wilkins, of the brief scuffle he allowed Wilkins to win so as not to compound his crime with striking a free man, of being locked in his chamber the rest of the night. He told her the details of his punishment.
“And I know which side my bread is buttered on, where the mayor is concerned,” Letty put in. “He will be locked up at night.”
“She is such a trusting soul.” Dominick’s gaze fell on the older woman. “She knows I’ll acquiesce like a lamb.”
“You will or pay the consequences,” Letty said.
“I’m glad, Dominick.” Tabitha held her cup. “If you’re confined,