The Wayfarer: A Time Travel Romance (The Wayfarer Series Book 1)

by Jennifer L. Hayes

  Within moments the lieutenant had returned and handed me a glass of wine. “Would you like to get some air, Miss Clayton?” He held out one white-gloved hand to me.

  “Sure, why not?” I got up with his help and allowed him to steer me out towards the patio.

  “It’s a beautiful summer evening, isn’t it?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “These are the very stars I love to gaze upon when I’m at sea.”

  “Ah…” I wasn’t really sure what else to say. “Have you spent a lot of time at sea?” I tried to make conversation. He ignored my question and kept to his train of thought.

  “You know what my favorite thing about being on a ship is, Miss Clayton?” He stared up at the stars. “It’s the sense of adventure.” He said this like it was some great reveal. “Going to far-off lands and taking in the uncivilized customs and cultures is a most fruitful venture.”

  “I’m sure it is.” Political correctness was not the lieutenant’s strong suit.

  “I’ve had so much excitement in my life thus far, yet…” He turned to me and took my hands in his. “I still long to find the right person to share those stories with.”

  “I imagine that would be nice for you.” I felt a bit awkward and not entirely sure where this was going. “You know, if you found the right person.”

  He had a handsome face but when I looked into his eyes, it was like staring into a giant abyss. An empty space. He pulled my hand to his lips and kissed it, letting his lips linger that extra moment.

  Something caught my eye and we both looked over towards the house. Lord Henry stood in the doorway watching us. With lightning reflexes, I pulled my hands away from the lieutenant’s as quickly as if I’d been burnt on a stove. Lord Henry turned and walked through the milling crowd.

  “Looks like we’ve been discovered.” Lieutenant Walker said with mock sheepishness.

  What did he mean by that? Discovered doing what? What could Lord Henry possibly have seen or overheard? I started to feel guilty, but had I done anything wrong?

  “Should we go back in?” I said, glad for the interruption. “I think Isobel will be looking for me.”

  “Yes, of course.” He didn’t seem thrilled to have to share me, but appeared determined to act the perfect gentleman. “I suppose I have monopolized you long enough.” He forced a smile and led me back into the house.

  Isobel came to my rescue.

  “Lieutenant, may I just steal my friend for a moment? We have much to discuss.” She giggled and without waiting for a response snatched me right out of his arm. “Oh, do tell me what the lieutenant said to you, Emma.”

  She reminded me so much of April. Never missed a thing and always wanted the download right away. April’s greatest pet peeve was to hear you say, ‘Oh, remind me to tell you what happened.’ She needed it right away. She was the kind of person who made small holes in the wrapping paper so that she could see what her presents were at Christmas.

  “Not much. He talked about being on ships and his faraway adventures. That’s pretty much it.” I played it down for fear she might cause some sort of scene if I mentioned that he was looking to settle down.

  “But I saw him take your hands, Emma.”

  Busted. Had everyone noticed that?

  “Oh, right. Did he?” I was never very good at acting but maybe ignorance could work too.

  “Are you really immune to flirtation, Emma? I wager the lieutenant will call on you again.”

  I really hoped not but she looked so excited by the prospect that I didn’t want to crush her spirit.

  “How about you? How was your dance with Lord…” I could not remember what he was lord of—they all sort of sounded the same at this point.

  “Lord Waverly.” She looked underwhelmed. “Father would never approve a match like that. His family is on the verge of financial ruin, everyone knows it. Poor boy. It was pleasant enough.”

  “Do you wish William was here?” I whispered in a confidential tone.

  “Who?” Isobel’s nose scrunched up when she was confused or didn’t like something.

  “You know, from the other night?” I was still trying to be subtle.

  “Don’t be silly, Emma, he’d never fit in here.” Her expression smoothed.

  It was amazing how quickly she changed her tune. Just then a waiter passed with a tray of wine glasses and her attention shifted to grabbing us each a glass. I had to remember to pace myself or I’d be spending the rest of the night with my face in my chamber pot.

  Another suitor arrived to ask Isobel to dance and she handed me her glass before she was whisked away.

  Once out of sight, I decided to beat a quick retreat before the lieutenant descended on me again. I started for the stairs until I noticed the countess holding court with a small group. The last person I wanted to be noticed by was her. Instead, I slipped out the front door, which had been opened to allow some fresh air to dilute the overpowering smell of sweaty bodies.

  Both wine glasses still in hand, I made my way to the stables. Carriages lined the road away from the house, waiting to whisk the partygoers home. Dull chitter-chatter could be heard as the drivers gossiped amongst themselves and shared sips of whiskey from small flasks. Tall oil lamps lit the path. They looked like the old-fashioned version of tikki lamps. The music from the orchestra could be heard echoing through the rolling hills outside.

  It was a relief to breathe in the fresh air. My head was swimming from all the fumes. I wasn’t sure what was worse, the strong body odors or the even stronger perfumes people wore to mask them.

  One lamp burned at the far end of the stable. As soon as I walked in the horses stirred and some of them whinnied. A couple of them even kicked at their stall doors, thinking that it was time to be fed.

  “Shhhhh, it’s not breakfast,” I said to no horse in particular.

  Angus heard my voice and called out.

  “Okay, okay, I’m coming.” I grabbed a blanket with gold stitching from the tack room, balancing the two wine glasses in one hand, and then slid into his stall. This big puffy dress was not ideal, so I managed to wiggle out of a few petticoats before sinking down on the blanket to drink my wine. The straw made it comfortable. Angus poked around and searched me for treats, but sadly I hadn’t thought to bring any. My only thoughts had been of escape.

  The wine was a delicious treat and the first glass, which was more like a goblet, was done in no time. My idea was to wait out the party and sneak in just as the guests were leaving. However, after two large glasses of wine my will to move had lessened. When my eyes closed I told myself I would just rest for a second.

  I woke with a start.

  Right away I knew the energy in the barn had changed because the horses seemed anxious. Angus’ ears were perked forward and he looked straight out his stall door. I didn’t move a muscle but tried hard to listen for any indication someone had come in. It would be a bit awkward to be found in a horse stall, so I decided to wait it out. It was still dark outside and I could hear the faint music from the ballroom going strong so at least I knew I couldn’t have fallen asleep for too long.

  Then feet shuffled on the stone floors. My heart started to race. The footsteps faded into the tack room. A second set of footsteps came scurrying into the barn.

  “Hurry up. Someone’s coming,” the second man said in a stage whisper.

  “The blanket’s not here. I don’t know which one.” The first man matched the urgency. “How do I know which one to cut?”

  “It’s the black one.” I could sense the exasperation in his voice. The second man clearly felt like his friend was the village idiot.

  “Most of them are black.”

  The second set of footsteps approached and disappeared into the tack room. “He said the one with gold stitching. Look, try this one and quick.”

  I could hear a slight rubbing sound.

  “Let’s go. Through the tunnel.” Two sets of footprints scurried over to the trap door. I heard the wooden door shut and knew
they were using the bat tunnel.

  What on earth had happened? Obviously I had taken the blanket in question, but what was it meant for?

  Before I could think about it I heard another set of footsteps in the barn. The horses did not seem alarmed this time. One of them kicked his stall, but I couldn’t tell which one. The movements of the new person sounded bigger than a boy’s, so I doubted it was Jamie checking on the horses.

  “Shhh, boy,” said the man in a soft voice.

  Lord Henry.

  I closed my eyes and mentally cursed my bad luck.

  Chapter 23

  A Fight

  Angus, convinced that another horse was getting treats, started banging on his stall door until the whole thing vibrated, threatening to come off its hinges altogether. I tried to distract him, but he was having none of it. His hooves simply pounded with more enthusiasm until Lord Henry walked over.

  “Angus, what’s wrong with you?” he said in a voice reserved for animals.

  When I heard the familiar sound of a hand on the latch of the stall door, I buried my head in my arms, wishing myself invisible.

  “Oh, Angus, what a fine petticoat you have. I hope you’ve behaved like a perfect gentleman.”

  My body convulsed with laughter. It was such an unexpected joke that it was impossible not to. When I looked up Lord Henry met my gaze with a quizzical expression. He was the image of pure innocence.

  “Am I interrupting something?” He looked at the empty wine glass and I laughed a little harder.

  “As a matter of fact, you are. You’ve ruined my perfectly good hiding spot.” I started to get up and smooth out my dress.

  “Well, I suppose you’ve also ruined mine. So that makes us even.” He looked a little drunk. It was refreshing to see him a little more relaxed.

  “You? What on earth are you hiding from?”

  “Life, responsibility, the watchful eyes of my stepmother…” He paused. “You.” He chuckled a little to himself. “Take your pick.” He slid Angus’ door open so that I could come out, but stood blocking my path.

  “Why are you trying to hide from me? I mean, I get your stepmother, but…” I felt a familiar flutter in my belly as I squeezed past him.

  He took the blanket and wine glasses from me and put them in the tack room. When he walked back out he had composed himself completely, all humor gone. “It would be imprudent for us to be discovered here alone. Let me escort you back to the house.”

  My heart sank. I wanted to stretch out this moment alone with him as long as I could because I knew it could easily be our last. Clearly he didn’t feel the same way and that stung.

  “I can take myself when I’m ready.” I turned away, tired of being told what to do and not feeling in control of anything. Nothing seemed clear anymore. Didn’t I have a fiancé myself? Why was I so conflicted about Lord Henry? Why did I find myself searching for him every time I walked into a room? Why did it feel so good being near him?

  “You know I can’t allow you to go wandering alone in the dark,” he said as if it were written in some etiquette handbook. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if it was. There seemed to be rules for everything.

  “Of course you can. I’m a big girl. I’m not afraid of the dark.” Now I just wanted to be left alone.

  “I would worry for your safety.” He wasn’t used to being challenged, certainly not by a woman. His arms were crossed and he looked like he was sizing me up in case he needed to throw me over his shoulder and haul me away.

  “Well, you don’t need to. What could possibly happen to me here? I am more than capable of taking care of myself.”

  “I don’t doubt that for a moment,” he agreed under his breath, “yet I feel obligated to…”

  “Obligation.” It felt like a bad word. I wanted to lash out at him. The effects of the wine were making it hard to stop myself. “I am not your obligation. Where’s Jane, anyway?”

  He closed his eyes like I’d just sucker-punched him. “She’s gone back to the inn with her family.” I’d clearly hit a nerve.

  “Oh,” I said, but it was a loaded ‘oh’ and he knew it too.

  “That’s not fair,” he said, bristling with indignation. “Must I explain myself, Miss Emma? Well, here it is. Our estate will more than double with this union and it has been in the works for quite some time. Jane’s fortune will secure our family’s future and therefore it is my duty to marry. Believe me when I say it was not my doing.” He shook his head. “I didn’t know that it was going to be so soon.”

  He watched me, waiting for me to respond or maybe agree, but I did nothing.

  “I tried to explain to you,” he continued.

  “After you kissed me?” I shouldn’t have said that but I couldn’t stop myself. He didn’t owe me an explanation. Nothing had really happened between us, but why did it hurt anyway?

  “You kissed me!” His face was red and his eyes full of accusation.

  “Oh, is that how you see it? You weren’t exactly putting up much of a fight.” I’d really thought it was mutual, but maybe I had misread him.

  His mouth was open, ready to say something, but he shut it as he must have thought better of it. The truth was, it didn’t really matter. I was just looking for someone to take my frustration out on. There was another emotion I was feeling, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

  “Well, you seemed to have bounced back with some ease. Perhaps you are overly generous with your affections.” He had reined in his anger.

  “What is that supposed to mean?” It came out slow and clear.

  “Are we all so interchangeable to you, Miss Clayton?” He was now pacing in front of me. His manner was cutting, delivered with such indifference it felt like a knife through my heart.

  “What are you implying?” Part of me wanted him to say the words but at the same time I willed him not to go there.

  “Well, if I’d not interrupted your inappropriate conduct with the lieutenant, who knows how far that might have gone as well.”

  “How dare you! And you consider yourself such a gentleman! You’re the one who’s to be married. I’m surprised you even took the time to notice,” I spat back.

  “How could I not?” He was shouting at me now. “Everyone else in the ballroom did too. A woman of good breeding wouldn’t dream of being so demonstrative with her affections with someone she hardly knew.”

  My body physically recoiled from his comment. Good breeding? Was I some sort of animal now?

  “What, are you jealous?” I matched his tone. I was not about to show a chink in my armor. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me, I urged myself to believe. But his words did hurt and I hated him for it.

  “Jealous?” He said this like it was the most absurd idea.

  “Yes,” I hissed through gritted teeth. “Jealous!” I took a step closer to him and stood defiantly with my arms crossed and my heels in the ground. If I could have looked down on him it would have been great, but he was much taller than I was so I settled for raising my chin.

  “How could I be? The lieutenant is far less discriminating with the women he chooses for companionship. He’s the type of man who boasts about the numbers of whorehouses he’s visited throughout his travels.”

  My head burst into flames and I lashed out and slapped Lord Henry hard across the face.

  I’d never in my life done that before. The sound was not quite as satisfying as it was in the movies. My palm stung from the impact. His face contorted sideways from the blow.

  Neither of us saw that coming.

  He grabbed both my wrists to stop me from belting him again. My face must have signaled that that was my intention. All I saw was red. He had to hold me tight because I was struggling so much to free myself. I was enraged at being compared to a whore and I wanted to inflict as much pain on him as he had just inflicted on me.

  An eye for an eye.

  The more I struggled the harder he held me. He gripped with enough force
that I thought my wrists would snap. At some point tears started falling from my eyes and when I looked up at my assailant he loosened his grasp only a little, but something else had changed too.

  His lips came down on mine with such force that I thought it might have split my bottom lip open. His tongue forced in. The metallic taste in my mouth combined with the salt of my tears and the wine on our breath.

  I wanted to slug him again, but my body had turned traitor. Instead, it gave up the fight and responded to him. Our kissing was turbulent at first, with increasing urgency. We were like starving animals having food for the first time. Nipping, tasting, exploring. It reminded me of those French movie romances when a physical fight always led to some passionate liaison. My brain was flashing ‘danger, danger’ but my body was acting independently.

  When his grip loosened on my arms I swung them around his neck. My fingers ran through his thick dark hair, pulling him closer. We couldn’t even come up for air. He picked me up so that my legs were straddling his torso. One hand slipped under my bum and the other tangled in my hair, and we staggered back, pinning me against Angus’ stall door.

  His lips pulled away to kiss along my neck, sending goosebumps traveling over my entire body. I squeezed him between my thighs and he gasped. His fingers pressed and dug into my flesh as if he wanted to rip me apart. When his body pressed harder against mine it released a flutter deep in my belly.

  He pulled back only inches from my face to search my expression. His eyes were such a clear, ocean blue and I wanted to lose myself in them. In him. I held his gaze and then dove in. Opening myself to him completely.

  He lowered me down but kept me pinned against the stall. Both hands now cupped my face. The metal latch dug into my back but I didn’t care. I bit his lower lip with my teeth and his whole body shuddered. He in turn nipped me at the base of my neck and I almost buckled at the knees. His lips brushed along my exposed shoulder until I wanted to burst.