Chapter Sixteen #2
He nodded to a footman to open the door and turned his attention back on Daphne. “We should arrive home sooner than planned.”
“I can’t wait. I am growing quite fond of my new home,” she replied.
“I’m glad to hear that. We could leave in the morning if you like.”
Daphne arched a brow. “You don’t have any more business meetings?”
“No, I’m through,” he replied. He took her gloved hand in his and raised it to his mouth for a kiss.
“It’s still early in the day. Could we leave today?”
Barking out a laugh, Arthur squeezed the hand he still held. “Today? You certainly are in a hurry.”
“Yes, I am. I want to go home and spend time without interruption with my husband.”
“You do?”
“Yes. In fact, I thought we could be naughty on the ride home.”
Arthur snorted. “My wife seems to have turned into a wanton woman since we married.”
Sam flapped his wings from behind the drape. “Wanton. Wanton,” the bird mimicked.
“I really don’t know how we can make love with Sam present. I’m afraid he’s going to learn inappropriate words and sounds,” Arthur said.
“You are right. He picks up on everything. He has enough of a bad vocabulary without us teaching him more.”
Arthur pulled out a book he’d purchased in London and made himself comfortable in the corner. “Why don’t we see how he acts once we’re out of London?”
“That sounds like a good idea. Perhaps he’ll get bored and fall asleep,” Daphne replied.
“We can always wish,” Arthur said with an arched brow. “Would you like to lie down? You can put your head in my lap.”
“Yes, but not until we’re out of London.”
“Very well.”
He opened his book and began to read. The book was about the newly rich Americans who’d made their fortune in things like railroads, banking, land, steam ships.
There were quite a few of them. Arthur had always wanted to visit America.
See places like New York City and Boston.
Maybe Daphne might be interested and would agree to taking their wedding trip there.
It would be a trip of a lifetime, something they’d always remember and talk fondly about in years to come.
Glancing over at his bride, he was surprised to find her asleep.
He pulled out a blanket to cover her. She didn’t move or make a sound as he made sure she was covered from the cold.
The sun had been out all day, but it hadn’t warmed up.
Warmer days such as that were going to be few and far between for the next few months.
Arthur liked the brisk days. His horses were frisky from the cold, and before long it would be time to visit the tenants.
It had been a long-standing tradition to give them a Christmas fowl and other needed items to help them get through the winter.
But they still had plenty of time to plan everything.
Feeling his eyes grow heavy, Arthur closed the book and leaned back against the squabs and closed his eyes.
His mind slipped to riding across the estate with Roddy, exploring every square inch of the land.
The next thing he knew, he was being tossed around.
Immediately, he knew it was a broken wheel.
Daphne was awakened suddenly. Arthur kept a grip on her arm.
Sam’s cage hadn’t moved, but it was heavy and sturdy.
The carriage came to a halt. Arthur jumped out to assess the damage.
A back wheel had broken, most likely from a hole in the road.
The spokes had come apart as well, rendering the wheel even more useless.
They weren’t far from a coaching inn. He could send a couple of the men to see if there was a wheelwright close by, and if not, if there was a carriage he could hire to take them the rest of the way.
His men could stay with the carriage and see about having the wheel replaced.
He didn’t want to have them staying at an inn this close to home, and moving Sam around in the cooler weather would not be the best for him.
Sticking his head back into the carriage, he saw Daphne sitting on the other seat next to Sam’s cage, speaking lowly to him. “Is he all right?”
“Yes, just a little shook up at the abruptness of the wheel coming off.”
“I’ve sent a couple of men to the coaching inn to see if there isn’t a carriage we can hire and to see if there’s a wheelwright close by.”
“I guess if there’s no carriage, we’ll have to stay at the inn.”
Arthur shook his head. “No. If there’s no carriage available, I’ll send someone to the estate to bring another carriage.”
“Good, because Sam doesn’t need to be out in this cold. The cover is thick, but he needs to get in somewhere warm.”
Daphne wrapped her cape around her tighter. He felt bad, but the broken wheel had been unavoidable. His carriages were all carefully maintained. But even with all that care, things were bound to happen.
“If there’s no carriage for hire, perhaps we can use a wagon and move you and Sam inside the inn until one of my spare carriages arrives.”
She nodded. “That would be acceptable, wouldn’t it, Sam?”
“Yes, Sam likes.”
“He didn’t really understand what you said to him, did he?”
“Of course he does. Sam’s very smart for a parrot. You’ve even said as much.”
He grinned. “I suppose I have. We’ll get you somewhere warm as soon as possible, Sam.”
There he was, talking to a parrot again.
Marrying Daphne had him doing all sorts of things he never thought he’d do.
She had made him into a lovesick puppy. He imagined she knew it too.
Life with her was never going to be dull.
She was adventurous where the majority of women simply wanted to live a quieter life.
Daphne wanted to discover what life had to offer.
She didn’t want to hide behind other matrons, spending her time going to have tea and listening to all the gossip.
That wasn’t her and might explain why she had few close friends.
The ones who were married were having children and making their husbands look good.
She wanted all that, but on her terms. Together they wanted to get to know each other.
Too few couples actually knew their spouses’ idiosyncrasies because no matter how things were changing in the world, men still thought women, even their wives, were not their equal.
Fortunately for Daphne, Arthur was not like that.
After what seemed like an eternity, a shiny black carriage appeared. By the coat of arms on the door, it belonged to his brother-in-law, Graham. As soon as it came to a halt, Graham jumped out.
“I heard the Duke of Hightower’s carriage had a broken wheel,” he said, walking over to assess the wheel. “Roxanne and I were enjoying a meal at the coaching inn before heading home.”
“You couldn’t have come at a better time,” Arthur replied.
“Let’s get you both to the inn. You can get warm, have a meal before we all leave. Your man can take care of your carriage.”
Arthur patted his friend on the shoulder. “That’s the best thing I’ve heard all day. By the way, we have Sam with us, and Daphne’s not going to let him out of her sight.”
“The more the merrier!”
“Graham, you’re a lifesaver,” Daphne exclaimed, looking out the open door.
He smiled warmly. “Happy to help.”
Moments later, the four were in Graham’s carriage and headed to the coaching inn. Daphne sat next to Sam, lifting the cover to check on him.
Upon seeing Daphne’s face, Sam squawked. “My pretty!”
“Sam, behave. We’ll be home soon.”
“Sam good.”
“That’s good to know. We’ll get you to a warm spot and get you some fruit.”
“Sam love.”
Graham chuckled. Not having spent any time with Sam, it hit him as funny that Daphne and the parrot could seem to have a conversation between themselves. “He certainly is opinionated.”
“He is that, and he’s on his best behavior.”
“I don’t even want to know when he’s not.”
“That’s easy. He swears a lot,” Daphne replied.
Graham barked out a laugh as the four of them started back to the coaching inn.
The ride wasn’t that long. It was where Arthur had wanted to take a break even without the wheel incident.
Two of Graham’s men carried Sam’s covered cage into the inn.
Aside from squawking from under the cloth, Sam managed to stay calm.
They found Roxanne seated at a table near the fire, drinking a hot cup of tea.
She peered up from the table and broke into a smile at the sight of her brother and his bride.
Looking like a cat that had just licked a bowl of cream, she put her hands around the hot tea.
“Hello, brother, Daphne. I take it that’s the notorious Sam under that cover,” she said, cupping her hands around the warm cup.
“Yes,” Daphne replied.
“Come, sit down,” Roxanne said, pointing to a chair next to her. “We’ll get you something to eat before we head home.”
“I’m so grateful,” Daphne said. “If you hadn’t been here, I’m afraid we would have been spending the night here.”
Roxanne nodded, looking at her brother with a grin. “Everything turned out for the best.”
A young girl placed a bowl of stew in front of both Daphne and Arthur, returning with a basket of warm bread.
Arthur began to eat, realizing he was hungrier than he thought to be.
He normally abhorred stew of any sort, but this had extra seasonings that brought out the flavor of the beef.
He picked up a loaf of the bread and tore a piece, then slathered it with butter.
Sometimes, simple food beat anything to be found.
Looking at his wife, he noted that instead of taking care of herself first, she was feeding apple slices to Sam.
People were watching Sam with amazement.
It was the first time anyone had seen such an animal. And a bird that talked no less!
“Daphne, put some slices in his cage and eat. He can eat them on his own.”