Lord to Love Again: A Sweet and Clean Regency Romance

by Grace Sellers

  Nelly smiled at this, and Wolfolk was pleased to see her smile.

  “What was he like?”

  Wolfolk’s gaze flickered again to Caroline’s eyes. Should he tell the truth? That Sutherland was an irresponsible lout who drank too much?

  “What most twenty-two olds are like. Foolish, hard-headed, and stubborn. He wore his hair in a ponytail and was called Sir Golden Locks by the rest of the infantry.”

  Nelly smiled at this.

  “Did he have many female friends?”

  “Nelly,” Caroline said softly. “I’m not sure how that is important.”

  “Do you not?” Nelly said hotly, turning her flushed face toward the window.

  Wolfolk pretended he hadn’t witnessed her reaction and made a show of thinking back.

  “Hmmm, the average number, I’d say. Which was not very many. But we were very different men then. Boys, really.”

  Nelly turned back to Wolfolk. “This is before you married, my lord?”

  As always, the topic of his marriage stung.

  He turned back to his paper. “Correct.”

  The carriage bumped over uneven terrain, and Wolfolk smiled at Caroline. There, that should please her; he’d had a nice conversation with the girl. Hopefully, that would go a ways towards putting him back into her graces.

  “My lord?” Nelly asked him a question. She looked at him with her big damp eyes.

  “Yes, Miss Featherton?” He smiled again to keep the mood light.

  “I fear I may need your wise counsel.”

  “You may have my counsel, but I cannot guarantee its wisdom. How may I be of service?”

  She blinked, and he could see that she was quite serious.

  “I think your counsel must be wise because experience is the best teacher, is it not?”

  He glanced from Caroline to Nelly.

  “Yes, I suppose. About what might you want counsel?”

  “Recovering from heartache, my lord,” she said quietly.

  Wolfolk wasn’t sure he’d heard Miss Featherton correctly. But her brow crumpled and her eyes filled with tears, and he realized he had.

  “Nelly,” Caroline said to stop her from saying more.

  “It’s just that you’ve…” Nelly said, tears sliding down her cheeks. “You’ve lost someone you loved. I realize the losses are not equal, as you entered into holy matrimony. But maybe....”

  Nelly’s face crumpled into sobs, and though her comments were impertinent and overly familiar, Alexander couldn’t feel cross with the girl. She was so young and couldn’t know that he didn’t grieve his wife, that he had no good advice for her because he never really loved her. However, anger spread in his gut. But he did want to break Sutherland’s nose the next time he viewed it for hurting the girl.

  Caroline grabbed Nelly’s hand and whispered something to her that he could not hear.

  Her eyes clouded with uneasiness when she looked back at Wolfolk.

  “My lord. I must apologize on Miss Featherton’s behalf. She is not herself today.”

  “It is all right,” he said gently, averting his eyes from Nelly’s tears. He should leave the women alone. He lifted his hand to rap on the roof to tell the driver to stop when the carriage suddenly jostled violently, bumping up and down and landing in a jarring halt that left them slanted on one side.

  “Are you both all right? That felt like we lost a wheel,” Wolfolk said, trying to right himself. He now sat on a slanted seat but was relieved both the women were unharmed.

  Nelly stopped crying for the moment and sat with her white hand clinging to a door handle.

  “I want out,” Nelly said, her voice rising with fear on the last word.

  Alexander leaned over and opened the door so the women could get out.

  “Let me make sure it’s safe.”

  He stepped back into the rain where droplets wet his damp shirt and saw that, indeed, the wheel had come off its axle and the carriage sagged on that side.

  “It’s safe, ladies, but do tread carefully,” he called.

  One by one, he and the driver helped them out of the carriage and deposited them under a large, old mulberry tree to shield them from the rain.

  Then Wolfolk joined the driver and footman back in the rain to fix the wheel.

  Caroline’s feet were wet.

  Her stockings were damp and rolling down.

  Both she and Nelly’s dress hems clung to the grass as they walked. Even her stays felt damp. Her boots were so wet they squished as she walked behind Nelly under the tree to sit on a large rock.

  Fortunately, it was a warm rain, so they weren’t shivering. But they would need to change soon. And that would slow them down, she knew.

  Caroline eyed Nelly, who wiped her tears as they sat down on the cold rock.

  The rain didn’t stop. Caroline and Nelly were covered under the large tree with its wide leaves that acted as makeshift umbrellas, but they could see Wolfolk and the driver in the rain, making every attempt to repair the carriage wheel.

  It didn’t look like it was going well.

  For one thing, the carriage had stopped at a low point on the road, and the ground filled with muddy water. The driver, now dismounted, could not remove the broken wheel. He bent over it, pulling at it mightily, unable to straighten the wheel or set it at the right angle. Wolfolk joined him as the horses nervously threw their heads and pawed the ground. After several minutes, they made no progress. Then the skies rumbled, and lightning flashed across the sky.

  Someone needed to hold the horses and calm them.

  Another bolt of lightning cracked across the sky, and the horses startled. The lead horse reared up as much as it could in the gig, and Caroline was afraid it would break out and bolt.

  She handed her reticule to Nelly.

  “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

  “What?” Nelly blinked at her.

  “Blast,” Caroline said aloud as she stepped out into the rain again and dashed to the horses. Almost instantly, she was completely soaked. She slowed as she approached them to keep them calm.

  “What are you doing? Go back under the shelter of the tree!” Wolfolk shouted at her from the tilted coach. She ignored him and walked steadily to the lead horse, who danced in its harness and whinnied. The poor thing was scared to death.

  “Hello,” she said calmly to the horse, a tall bay whose ears were pinned back. “I know you’re all wet and jumpy in this rain, but it’s all right.” Caroline reached out and grasped the leather bridle attached to the horse.

  “You want to be home in a warm barn and not out here in the rain, don’t you?” Caroline continued talking, letting her voice and presence calm the jittery animal as she moved next to it. “It’s all right. Yes. My, you’re quite a tall beauty, aren’t you?”

  She reached her hand and patted its muscular neck. She pulled off her soaked glove, and the horse sniffed her bare hand. Its ears flicked forward in curiosity.

  “Good boy.” She scratched the white streak on its nose. The other horses seemed to calm as well. She looked back and saw Nelly standing alone under the tree through the downpour.

  “Have you gone completely mad?” She felt someone grab her arm and turned to see Wolfolk staring down at her, water dripping off his chin.. “Have you completely lost your mind?” His face was white with anger. Why was he yelling at her? The horses finally calmed, and he was scaring them.

  “Shush, you’ll scare them again. Fix the wheel while I hold them.”

  Wolfolk frowned but went back to aid the driver. Rain spattered Caroline’s face and fell in her eyes. The water made his shirt cling to every muscle on his upper body, making him look almost naked from his waist up. His biceps and shoulders tensed as he pulled the wheel until it finally came off.

  She hadn’t known he was quite so muscular. He turned and bent down.

  “The axle is broken,” he said to the driver, who nodded and pulled out an iron tool.

  He leaned over, his back muscles
flaring as he moved. She stood transfixed. She hadn’t known men had so many back muscles. Thankfully, the horses quieted. The rain pulled his breeches taut over his thighs. This close, she could see just how big and tight they were. Her heart pounded. She couldn’t tear her eyes away.

  Wolfolk turned back to her, water flew from his hair.

  “Are you all right?”

  “Yes,” she nodded impatiently but quickly averted her eyes. “I’m fine.”

  She quite forgot herself but realized she stood with her hand still on the horse’s neck.

  He turned back to the coach, and she pressed her forehead against the horse’s neck and breathed in the warm animal smell to steady her racing pulse.

  The lady’s companion was mad.

  Running to untested, skittish horses in a lightning storm. And she didn’t seem particularly worried. It was madness. He should dislike her if she were an irrational creature, but she otherwise seemed quite sensible to him. It didn’t make sense. But then, women often didn’t.

  After a few moments, when the horses calmed, Wolfolk turned away from her and back to the carriage, and he shook his head to himself. Maybe she was a witch who could tame animals. She certainly had some kind of odd effect on him as well.

  He snuck looks at her as she stood drenched in the rain holding onto the four large beasts without complaining. The fact that she had dove into the rain to help astounded him. He didn’t know many women—ladies or otherwise—who would know how to make themselves useful and have the gumption to sacrifice themselves in a storm to do so.

  She stood, her dress clinging to her hips and waist, small and yet strong. Her hair came loose and clung to her head and neck. He was torn between wanting to make sure she was safe and realizing she was utterly competent, maybe more so than he was. It was a queer feeling. She didn’t need him, and he didn’t know what to make of that. At the same time, he was starting to realize her circumstances were not what they appeared to be. She had the manners of a lady but was penniless and had to work. She had a brother, yet was employed and traveled as though she were independent. She had the air of a lady, but didn’t mind jumping into the rain to calm livestock. He realized she was a very unusual kind of woman.

  Trying to reconcile these contradictions on an empty stomach made his head pound and his stomach growl. He realized they couldn’t go on like this. He needed to get the ladies to a dry inn and get them all a meal.

  The driver tried to use the tool one more time, but with no luck.

  “Sorry, my lord. Don’t think this wheel can’t be fixed here. We’ll have to have a specialist come out. I can stay with the horses. There’s a town about three miles down the road.”

  Wolfolk nodded, leaned back on his heels and sighed. Finally, he stood and stretched and walked to Caroline and the horses.

  “We need to get out of the rain,” Wolfolk said brusquely as he took the reins from Caroline. “Particularly Miss Featherton.” He sounded gruffer than he meant, but he wanted to distance himself from her now that he’d spent the last quarter hour staring at her figure. Fortunately for him, the rain dampened his body’s reaction to her.

  Caroline nodded and pushed her wet hair off her face. But it still clung to her cheeks and neck in a way he found unexpectedly compelling. He had to stop himself from gently lifting a strand away from her cheek. He forced himself to look away again.

  “We’re going to have to walk. The next town is about three miles away. We can put Miss Featherton on my horse.”

  17

  Nelly was less than happy about walking.

  “We have to walk in the rain? Aren’t there any more coaches that come this way?” she asked when Caroline rejoined her under the tree.

  “No, and the sooner we get to town, the sooner we can dry off. You may ride on Wolfolk’s horse.”

  Nelly sniffed, saying nothing. At least she wasn’t crying about Sutherland, Caroline reasoned. She quickly took one small bag with a change of clothes for Nelly and other necessities from the coach, and Wolfolk attached it to his horse’s saddle.

  The rain pooled in muddy puddles on the road as they set off from the coach. Nelly sat sullenly on Wolfolk’s mare and wore a bonnet to keep the rain off her face. Wolfolk lead his horse and Caroline followed. She estimated that they would be at the next town in about an hour, and she told Nelly that she could stand one last damp one.

  Wolfolk was silent as they walked. He seemed as though he didn’t want to make conversation, so Caroline focused on the rhythm of the horses’ hooves and ignored the rain hitting her in the face. She hoped some exercise would help raise her spirits, despite the rain.

  “The rain seems to be letting up a bit,” Caroline finally spoke several minutes later. “Maybe we can make up some time.”

  “Yes,” was all Wolfolk said as he squinted skyward.

  Instead, she tried to engage Nelly.

  “That’s a good sign. Isn’t it, Nelly?”

  Nelly sighed wearily from her perch on the horse but said nothing else.

  “What is the next town called?”

  “What?” Wolfolk seemed to be woken from a fog.

  “The name of the next town?”

  He shook his head, saying nothing.

  Well, this was going to be an enjoyable ride.

  Finally, Wolfolk muttered something.

  “Sorry, my lord?”

  His eyes were stormy.

  “You know that was very stupid to go to the horses in a storm. You could have been killed.” His voice was low and tense.

  “Are we still discussing that?” Caroline said. “Because I wasn’t killed, you know.”

  “But you could have been,” he shot back.

  She studied his sullen profile. He was staring straight ahead.

  “But I wasn’t. I calmed the horses. If you plan to be angry with me the entire walk, tell me now, and I will not bother you.”

  He halted and glared at her without blinking.

  “Don’t you understand? You could have been hurt. Or killed. What would we have done if that happened out here in the woods with no carriage? What about Miss Featherton?” His voice shook on the last word.

  Caroline swallowed and took in his words. Her behavior had been foolhardy, and she hadn’t thought at all about Nelly.

  “But I knew I wouldn’t be, my lord, I’ve been around horses all my life…”

  He cut her off. “And you control everything? Don’t you understand that accidents happen?”

  She drew in a sharp breath.

  Accidents happen. Yes, she knew that well enough.

  “You are right. But I knew…”

  He raised a hand to stop her from talking. “You once accused me of being reckless. Your actions were reckless.”

  Caroline looked down at the ground. She almost felt as though she’d been struck.

  He silently turned and began walking again. Ironically, the rain was finally slowing. She stayed by Nelly and the horse and said nothing more during the rest of their walk.

  Wolfolk was shaking, but he walked ahead so Caroline couldn’t see it.

  He shouldn’t have called her reckless, but his anger got the best of him. And he didn’t mean to shout at her as though she were a child. Something broke loose in him when she ran to the large, jittery horses in the storm. An image of her lying motionless flashed in his head. Even now, his hands trembled. He swallowed and willed himself to calm down. Fear and sorrow churned in his center, and he wasn’t sure why. He walked quickly ahead of the horse and the ladies for a moment.

  They were approaching a thick part of the forest with low foliage that nearly overtook the path. Wolfolk ducked to pass under the branches and still got slapped in the face with wet leaves.

  “Miss Featherton,” he called back to the ladies. “You may need to lie on the horse to pass through this section.” He stepped under a branch and stopped to hold it for the horse to pass under. He waited a for moment. But when he turned back, he didn’t see his horse or the ladies
through the leaves and mist.

  “Miss Holland, Miss Featherton?” The mist had grown thick as though a veil of gray covered everything.

  Then he heard voices.

  Male voices.

  He plunged back down the path.

  Behind a large shrub were Nelly and the horse, while Miss Holland stood near two men in rough clothes.

  He recognized the men. The same highwaymen who had tried to rob them a day ago. The ones Mrs. Ruffalo had shot.

  “What do we have here?” One of them said as Wolfolk appeared. “The Charming Prince came to save the ladies.” He and the other highwayman laughed. “I wouldn’t try any fast moves, my lord if you don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

  Moving closer, he could see that another man held the horse on which Nelly sat.

  “Oy, this be the lord in the coach that shot Hector,” the other highwayman said to his partner. He pointed to Caroline. “And she was there too.” He turned back to Nelly. “But you wasn’t there before. I’d have remembered you.”

  Wolfolk inhaled and tried to control his rage. He wanted nothing more than to knock the heads off these men, but he only had a knife in his boot and couldn’t reach it without notice. Out of the corner of his eye, he looked at Nelly and Caroline. Nelly cried quietly from on top of the horse, but at least neither of the men could directly reach her. However, Caroline’s arms were pulled behind her by the first highwayman.

  Hellfire. He ground his teeth in rage. This wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t walked ahead of the group in his righteous anger. He had to get them out of this. Unfortunately, there was no sharp shooting Mrs. Ruffalo to pick the bandits off.

  “I demand you take your hands off her,” Wolfolk said to the man holding Caroline.

  He laughed. “And I think you, my lord, aren’t in the position to tell me what to do.”

  Caroline’s eyes stared at the ground silently. She wasn’t crying, which was somehow comforting. He wondered how long it would take for him to grab his knife, rush forward, and to plunge it into the man who held her. But there was still the man who held Nelly’s horse. What if Wolfolk missed and accidentally stabbed Caroline, whom he held in front of himself? Wolfolk clenched his fists.