Chapter Twenty-Six
In the mews near his bachelor’s rooms, Tristan eyed his new phaeton and broke out into a sweat. He hadn’t driven since the accident that claimed Appleton’s life, and nearly his own. The horses stood as if awaiting his courage. Tristan had been driving since he was barely out of leading strings. One accident should not leave him quaking.
To take his mind off his almost paralyzing fear, he rubbed the noses of his new team. Their soft nickers soothed him. The gelding, Willow, gave Tristan’s neck a lippy kiss, the hairs of the horse’s chin tickling. Tristan ran a hand along their necks and backs. He checked the harness, and continued down the side of the carriage, admiring its graceful lines. The phaeton, built to his exact specifications, gleamed shiny black despite the dull light. New paint combined with leather and the warm scent of horses created a heady aroma.
He swallowed. He could do this.
After taking a bracing breath, he climbed inside the carriage and settled in the cloud-soft seat. Another swallow. He picked up the reins. Perspiration trickled down the side of his face. Dancer stamped and blew out her breath. Right. Get on with it.
He threaded the reins through his fingers, and took a firm hold. Another breath. He clicked to Willow and Dancer, and flicked his wrists. The horses stepped forward in near-perfect unison. As he guided the team onto the street, a rush of panic shot through him. The team responded to his tension by side-stepping.
“Easy,” he said. “Go easy.” He might as well have been speaking to himself.
The horses swiveled their ears back to listen to him. He drew another breath and relaxed his arm muscles, his shoulders. “We can do this, Dancer. Work with me, now, Willow.”
The horses fell into a comfortable walk. If Tristan hadn’t been so terrified, he would have shaken his head at the thought of him walking a team hitched to a beauty like his new phaeton. One step at a time. Literally. So early in the morning, a few people and the occasional cart rumbled along the street. He drove without a direction, following the streets to get a feel for the team and carriage. He calmed. He could do this.
He urged the team to a trot. They responded, matching their strides to one another. In the well-sprung conveyance, the bumps in the road were of little consequence. Exhilaration shot through him. How long he drove, he could not have guessed, but the roads soon filled with other carriages and riders on horseback, many heading toward Hyde Park. The team trotted with matched strides, responding to his guidance, and ignoring the chaos of the London streets around them.
He had to show Leticia. He arrived at Mrs. Tallier’s house as Leticia stepped out of the front door, accompanied by a familiar-looking woman and a brawny footman.
He pulled up in front of the house and called out, “Where are you bound so early today?”
Leticia’s expression lit up and she waved as she descended the steps. “To the school. Is that your new rig?”
“Do you like it?” He puffed out his chest.
“It’s beautiful!” She moved up alongside the carriage. A teasing glint entered her eyes. “I’m surprised it’s black. How understated.”
He grinned. “You expected bright yellow with red wheels, no doubt.”
“Something like that.”
After securing the reins, he leaped down and gestured. “Well, I did get green seats. Too dark to match your eyes but…”
“Very elegant.” She walked up to the horses and rubbed their faces, missing his comparison.
Actually, ever since he discovered her eyes were green, he’d begun choosing that color more and more often. How had he not noticed the particular beauty of the color green?
She cooed at the horses. “Are you going to introduce me?”
“The mare is Dancer and the gelding is Willow.”
“They’re charming.”
Willow gave her a nibbly-horsey kiss. Leticia giggled.
“Oi!” Tristan pretended to scold the gelding. “For shame, Willow. You can’t go around kissing every pretty girl you see.”
Leticia grinned at him as she rubbed Willow’s nose. “Why? Are you the only one who can do that?”
“Leticia, Love, if I kissed every pretty girl I saw, I would have kissed you years ago.” He rested an arm against Willow’s back and eyed her.
She laughed, but did a double take as if searching for his sincerity. Her green bonnet brightened the green of her eyes, and little curls next to her cheek and temple framed her face. She was so lovely. She sobered and looked back at the horse as if unprepared to see the admiration in his expression.
She seemed out of reach today, as if the connection between them had been stretched. He dropped the flirtatious guise and settled for some honesty.
“Today is the first time I’ve driven since the accident,” he said quietly.
She touched his arm, looking into his eyes. “Are you…well?”
Her hand on his arm warmed him by degrees all the way to his heart. “It took a bit of courage at the beginning, but it feels comfortable now.”
She removed her hand and ran it along Dancer’s perspiring back. Lucky Dancer. “You’ve been driving for a good long while, now.”
Tristan nodded. “Since early this morning. I wanted to get the feel of the team and carriage, see how they handled, before the traffic started.”
Leticia glanced over her shoulder at the young woman and a footman who murmured to one another, sending darting glances at Leticia.
“I’m keeping you from your plans,” Tristan said. “Can I give you all a ride? There’s enough room in the footman’s seat if they are willing to sit close.”
“Thank you.” She gestured to the pair. “Mr. Barrett will give us a ride, if you don’t mind squeezing into the back. Oh, forgive me; Mrs. Harper, have you met Tristan Barrett?”
Mrs. Harper nodded. “I have, indeed. Thank you for all your help with the school,” the teacher said in a cultured accent at odds with her position and plain attire.
“My pleasure.” Tristan helped the teacher up and stepped back to let the footman climb in.
Mrs. Harper gestured to the footman. “This is Peter. He’s been kind enough to watch over us at the school.”
Peter touched his forelock. “Sir.”
Tristan nodded a greeting at the footman and offered a hand to Leticia. Leticia climbed in, somehow managing to make it look graceful despite her skirts. “The lower height certainly makes it easier to get in.”
“Would you believe I decided to lower it for that very reason—so you could get in easier? And it’s safer.” If Tristan’s plans played out, she would be the only woman who ever rode next to him in his new carriage.
Leticia smiled. As she settled on the seat, she gave a little bounce. “Oh, my, I don’t recall ever sitting in such a soft seat.”
He grinned. “I’m glad you like it.”
As he drove, Leticia’s presence comforted him. His tension faded and his confidence strengthened. Dogs barked, vendors called, men strolled, and carts rattled, all in a familiar orchestra of the symphony of London. Mrs. Harper and Peter sat in the back, conversing.
He glanced at Leticia sitting in comfortable silence next to him. “Does Mrs. Harper double as a chaperone for you when your aunt or Elizabeth are not with you?”
“My aunt approves. Mrs. Harper is very respectable and genteel. Circumstances have…not been kind to her of late.”
“Young.”
“Widowed.” She glanced sharply at him and he could almost hear her condemning thoughts.
He’d once had a preference for widows, but now he had eyes for Leticia alone. Time would prove his intentions to her.
“Why do you need someone to watch over the teacher?” Tristan asked.
Leticia’s brows lifted before a light of understanding came into her expression. She glanced at the footman. “To ensure her safety.”
“Has there been trouble?”
Her gaze slid his way. “Nothing we couldn’t handle.”
“Tell me,” he coaxed.
She waved her gloved hand in a dismissive gesture. “Someone…” she glanced anxiously at him. “Well, a man waved a knife at me and told us to close the school.”
A cold bolt shot straight through him. “What!”
The horses danced and sidestepped. He swallowed and relaxed his shoulders.
She touched his arm again. “I’m sure it was nothing more than the idle threat of an ignorant man who fears what he does not understand. Still, Elizabeth and I felt it prudent to have Mrs. Harper stay with me and to send someone to keep watch over her in case there’s any real trouble. Really, it’s nothing.”
The idea of someone threatening Leticia twisted his gut. He opened his mouth and then snapped it shut, censoring the first thing he wanted to shout at her. He fought to keep his voice steady. “You are unharmed?”
“Yes, of course.”
If he ever got his hands on that despicable villain who dared pull a knife on a lady—on his Tish…
He drew another breath. “When did this happen?”
“Oh, a few weeks ago.”
“And you didn’t see fit to tell me?” His attempt to keep his voice down failed.
Her tone turned defensive. “You were hurt, and had other things on your mind. And then later, well, an opportune moment never presented itself.”
He let out a sigh. “Oh, Tish. Don’t wait for an opportune moment to tell me something like that.” He glanced at her. “Please.”
The brim of her bonnet hid her face too much for him to see her expression. “I’m sure nothing more will come of it.”
“Still, don’t keep things like that from me.” Anger and hurt knotted in his gut. She must have been terrified when it first happened. Yet, she had failed to tell him.
Softly, she said, “I didn’t want to add to your worries.”
“True friends don’t keep secrets.”
“I wasn’t keeping it a secret…oh, very well. I see your point.” Again, that touch. “I’m sorry, Tristan. Please don’t be angry. Don’t worry; nothing has happened since. I’m sure that’s the last we’ve seen of that man.”
His anger dissipated, but the hurt remained. Had she told Bradbury? Kensington? Did everyone know except him?
He pulled up in front of the school and helped her out. The teacher and footman leaped out and mounted the steps, leaving Tristan alone with Leticia.
She put a hand on his face, her expression apologetic. “I wasn’t shutting you out.” As she lowered her hand, her mouth curved upward, part rueful, part sad. “Do you remember that summer you were so angry and hurt that I wouldn’t let you inside the tree house?”
A faint memory surfaced of standing at the bottom of the tree calling up to her and being denied admittance. The sting of rejection had cut him. He nodded.
“When I went to apologize, I offered you a piece of peppermint candy, but you didn’t truly forgive me until after I had hugged you.”
“Sometimes I wish we were still children.” Perhaps he could arrange another balloon ride so as to once again have her in his arms.
She took his hand and tugged. “Come inside.”
He gestured to the horses. “I can’t leave the cattle standing. They’re tired and need a rubdown.”
“I will be but a moment.”
He allowed her to lead him inside. She closed the door, removed her bonnet, and turned to him. The voices of the teacher and footman echoed to them from another room. Leticia threw her arms around him and held him. The air rushed out of his lungs. Her soft body pressed against him, creating alternating hot and cold tingles racing down his backbone. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close.
The sweet, pure pleasure of holding Leticia shone light deep inside his soul. Dark, shriveled parts of his heart opened up to receive her light.
He could no longer resist. He loved Leticia. Loved her! He would do whatever he must to ensure her happiness, her safety. If he ever lost her, every good and wholesome part of him would surely perish.
He swallowed. “If something ever happened to you…”
She pressed a hand to the nape of his neck. “I’m unharmed.”
With her comforting, intoxicating scent enfolding him, he squeezed her, basking in her touch, the sensation of her arms around him, her body pressed against him, filling him with hope.
“Um, Tristan? I can’t breathe very well.”
He loosened his grip.
She stepped back, her breath unsteady and her cheeks flushed. He cocked his head. There it was again; signs that Leticia felt an attraction for him as a man, and not merely as a friend.
She glanced up at him with enlarged pupils and her breathing sounded like a series of sighs. Yes, she wanted him. Satisfaction curled inside. They’d taken a step in the right direction.
“Forgiven?” She offered an unsteady smile.
He shrugged. “I might need another embrace to make sure.”
She swatted his arm. “Don’t leave poor Dancer and Willow out there too long.”
The horses. Right. But the thought of leaving her side… “I’ll take them home and return.”
“Oh.” She blinked. “Very well. I should be done with the music lessons by the time you return. In fact, after luncheon, we will have our first dance class. Do you think you could help us teach a country dance? We could use some males to act as partners.”
“I would be honored.” After bidding her good bye and promising to return soon, he danced out to the gig and sang all the way home, mentally penning sonnets to Leticia.