First Comes Scandal
With equal parts trepidation and curiosity, Nicholas ascended the steps to the carriage, only to be met with the sight of—
“Is that a hammock?”
Georgie nodded excitedly.
“For the cat?”
“It’s my design. But of course I could not have put it together without Sam’s help.”
Nicholas turned and blinked at the heretofore unnoticed groom, who was crouched at the far end of the carriage, looking inordinately proud of himself.
“It was all her idea, sir,” the groom said modestly.
Nicholas could only stare. First at the groom, then at Georgie, then at the orange cat, who was suspended in a loose webbing of rope.
“I think he likes it,” Georgie said.
Nicholas wasn’t so sure about that. It was true that Cat-Head sounded almost content, but he looked ridiculous.
And ridiculously uncomfortable. All four of his legs had been poked through holes in the webbing and hung down like furry twigs. Its face was squished but visible through another gap, a thick piece of rope supporting its chin.
“Is he going to choke?” Nicholas asked, looking over at Georgie with concern.
“No, I think he’s comfortable. Feel him.” She grabbed his hand and placed it under Cat-Head’s belly. “He’s purring.”
Nicholas looked at Sam. Why, he wasn’t certain. But surely someone still possessed a shred of sanity. “Are we certain it’s not just indigestion?”
“No, no,” Georgie said, “that’s definitely a purr. Although you do bring up an important point. He will need to relieve himself at some point.”
“We will all need to relieve ourselves at some point,” Nicholas said, somewhat dazedly.
“Yes, of course. It’s just that it’s a bit, er, complicated to get him into it.”
“And out of it, as well?”
“I haven’t yet made the attempt,” she admitted.
“Let’s hope we figure it out before his needs become urgent.”
Behind him, Sam let out a little snort of amusement.
“But what do you think?” Georgie asked.
He thought she’d gone mad, to be honest, but she was so damned proud of herself he was never going to say that.
“I think it’s ingenious,” he said. Which was also true. It was ingenious and she’d gone mad.
“I wasn’t sure if he would like it,” Georgie said with palpable excitement and pride. “And I still don’t know what will happen once we start moving, but it was worth a try.”
“Indeed.”
“After all, you looked so comfortable in your hammock this morning.”
“Me?”
“I didn’t want to disturb you. Everyone said you worked so hard last night. You’ll have to tell me about it later today.”
“You modeled this on me?”
Cat-Head made an odd noise, but it wasn’t a howl.
“He sounds …” Nicholas searched for the correct descriptor. “Not happy, exactly.”
“But better than yesterday,” Georgie said brightly.
“Absolutely.” Nicholas said this with utter conviction. It couldn’t possibly be worse.
Grrrmphamow.
Nicholas moved his head for a better look. It was possible that the cat’s change in volume may have been due to a simple inability to open its mouth. But as long as it could breathe …
“Shall we be on our way?” Georgie said.
Sam scooted to the door. “Yes, ma’am.”
But no sooner than he had hopped down, Marian appeared in the doorway.
“Are you riding with us today?” Georgie asked.
Nicholas gave the maid a long, hard stare.
“Er, my things are here,” Marian said, nervously motioning to a small satchel on the rear-facing bench.
Long. Hard. Stare.
“But I can ride in the other carriage,” Marian said very quickly.
Nicholas gave the maid an almost imperceptible nod.
“Are you sure?” Georgie said. “I think the cat will be better behaved than yesterday.”
“I … ah …”
Nicholas did not take his eyes off Marian’s face. She, in turn, was trying very hard not to look his way.
“I think … I think I had better …”
Marian accidentally caught his eye. His brows rose.
“I should like to get to know Mrs. Hibbert better,” Marian blurted out. “And Marcy and Darcy.”
“Oh,” Georgie said. “I suppose that makes sense.”
“Also”—Marian cast a wary eye toward Cat-Head—“that looks unnatural.”
Georgie frowned. “Technically speaking, I suppose it is unnatural.”
Nicholas looked at the cat. In all honesty, it was hard to look away.
Meow.
“Time to go,” Nicholas announced. Someone had to make a decision. He handed Marian her bag. “We’ll see you at the next stop.”
And then, before anyone could make a noise of protest—even Cat-Head—he shut the door.
“Gah, finally,” Nicholas muttered.
“Is everything all right?” Georgie asked. She sounded … not nervous exactly. Maybe curious.
“Nicholas?”
Maybe a little nervous. “You should sit down before we start moving,” he said.
“Oh. Yes. Of course.” She sat, although not where he’d wanted her to.
“You don’t get sick riding backward?” he asked.
“What? Oh. No. Not really.”
“Not really?”
They started moving. They held their breath, but Cat-Head didn’t make a sound.
“Not much,” Georgie amended.
“Then sit over here.” He reached out, took her hand, and pulled her over to the forward-facing seat. “I don’t bite.”
He didn’t let go of her hand.
She blushed. “I thought you’d want room.”
“There’s plenty of room.”
She gave a little tug, and he reluctantly let go of her hand; he supposed she needed it in order to get herself settled.
They moved slowly through the village, Nicholas and Georgie both keeping a wary eye on the cat.
But it didn’t make a sound.
“Unbelievable,” Nicholas murmured.
“I wasn’t sure it was going to work,” Georgie admitted.
“You may very well be a genius, Mrs. Rokesby.”
She turned to him and smiled.
And again, all he could think of was the sun, and the way he felt happy when it broke through the clouds on a long gray day.
“Georgie?”
Her eyes lit with curiosity.
“I’m going to kiss you now.”
Because honestly, it was past time.
Chapter 16
In a way, Georgie knew what he was going to say before he said it. There was something in his eyes, in the way he looked at her and covered her hand with his before he spoke. And of course it was crazy that they hadn’t kissed, not properly.
They were married. They were supposed to kiss each other.
Georgie just wasn’t sure it was supposed to feel …
Or that she was supposed to feel …
She looked at him.