Everything and the Moon (The Lyndon Sisters #1)(65)

“Do you have anything you would like me to take down for you, my lady?”

Victoria was of half a mind to correct him and tell him that she wasn't anybody's lady, but she just didn't have the energy. Robert had probably already told his servant that they were as good as married anyway. “No,” she replied. “His lordship didn't give me very much time to pack, if you recall.”

MacDougal nodded. “Verra well, then.”

Victoria took a couple of steps toward the door, and then she remembered the blue nightgown lying on the bed in the next room. She ought to leave it behind, she thought spitefully. She ought to have torn it into shreds the night before. But that artfully cut piece of silk gave her an odd sort of solace, and she didn't want to abandon it.

And, she rationalized, if she did, Robert would probably come up to retrieve it before they departed.

“Just one moment, MacDougal,” she said, dashing back to the adjoining room. She bundled up the nightgown and tucked it under her arm.

She and MacDougal made their way downstairs. The Scotsman steered her toward a private dining room, where he said Robert would meet her for breakfast. Victoria was surprisingly hungry, and she put her hand against her stomach in a vain attempt to stop it from grumbling. Good manners dictated that she wait for Robert, but she doubted that any etiquette book had ever addressed the particularities of her uncommon situation.

Victoria waited for a minute or so, and then, when her stomach let out its third grumble, she decided not to bother with good manners, and reached for the plate of toast.

After a few minutes, two eggs, and a tasty slice of kidney pie, she heard the door open and Robert's voice. “Enjoying your meal?”

She looked up. He looked friendly, polite, and impossibly cheerful. Victoria was instantly suspicious. Wasn't this the same man who had forcibly ejected her from his room the night before?

“I'm famished,” Robert declared. “How is the food? Is it to your liking?”

Victoria washed down a bite of toast with some tea. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

“I like you.”

“Last night you didn't,” she muttered.

“Last night I was, shall we say, misinformed.”

“Misinformed? I suppose you stumbled on a wealth of information in the last ten hours?”

He grinned wickedly. “I did, indeed.”

Victoria set her teacup on its saucer with slow, precise movements. “And would you care to share this with me? Your new fount of knowledge?”

He looked at her intently for a split second and then said, “Would you be so kind as to pass me a slice of that kidney pie?”

Victoria's fingers curled around the edge of the pie pan and she pulled the dish out of his reach. “Not just yet.”

He chuckled. “You play dirty, my lady.”

“I am not your lady, and I want to know why you're acting so bloody cheerful this morning. By all rights you should be frothing at the mouth.”

“By all rights? Then you think my anger last night was justified?”

“No!” The word came out a touch more forcefully than Victoria would have liked.

He shrugged. “It's no matter, as I'm no longer angry.”

Victoria stared at him, dumbfounded.

He motioned to the pie pan. “Would you mind?”

She blinked a few times and then snapped her mouth closed when she realized it was hanging open. With an irritated little exhalation she pushed the pie pan in his direction and spent the next ten minutes watching him eat his breakfast.





The ride from Faversham to Ramsgate should have taken about four hours, but they had barely begun when Robert's face suddenly took on a what-a-marvelous-idea expression and he banged on the front of the carriage to signal MacDougal to stop. The carriage rolled to a halt, and Robert hopped down with what Victoria deemed rather irritating energy and good cheer. He exchanged a few words with MacDougal and then reentered the carriage.

“What was that all about?” Victoria asked.

“I have a surprise for you.”

“I rather think I've had a few too many surprises this past week,” she muttered.

“Oh, come now, you must admit that I have made your life more exciting.”

She snorted. “If one calls being abducted exciting, I suppose you have a point, my lord.”

“I prefer it when you call me Robert.”

“Pity for you, then, that I was not put on this earth to cater to your preferences.”

He only smiled. “I do love sparring with you.”

Victoria's hands clenched at her sides. Trust him to find joy in her insults. She peered out the window and realized that MacDougal had pulled off the Canterbury Road. She turned back to Robert. “Where are we going? I thought you said we were going to Ramsgate.”

“We are going to Ramsgate. We are just making a slight detour to Whitsable.”

“Whitsable? Whyever?”

He leaned forward and grinned rakishly. “Oysters.”

“Oysters?”

“The best in the world.”

“Robert, I do not want oysters. Please take me directly to Ramsgate.”

He raised his brows. “I did not realize you were so eager for a few days alone with me. I shall have to instruct MacDougal to proceed to Ramsgate posthaste.”