Chapter Four #2
“Don’t you worry, missus,” the tiger spoke. “The master’s a prime ’un. You won’t tip over with ’im in charge.”
His words were barely comprehensible to Cat although she got the gist.
“We don’t even know your name,” she said, as her hand was clasped by his. His fingers were strong and warm through her glove, and he seemed to have no trouble supporting her weight as she made the climb up to the seat beside him.
“I don’t know yours either,” he said teasingly. “Let me introduce myself. Mr. Robert Sutherland at your service, Miss . . .?”
He gave an awkward bow from his seat beside her. Cat settled herself—it was a long way up!—before she held out her hand, “How do you do, Mr. Sutherland. I am Lady Catriona MacKenzie, and these are my friends, Lady Prudence Snowden and Lady Harriet Snowden.”
He blinked, probably at meeting so many ladies at once. “I am privileged, Lady Catriona,” he said quietly, his gaze on hers.
Cat wasn’t sure what that meant, although his eyes seemed full of admiration and something more that made her face heat.
Luckily, they were interrupted by Prudence and Harriet being helped up into the seat beside her with the assistance of the coachman and the wheelwright.
Cat found herself squashed between them on one side and Mr. Sutherland on the other.
Having grown up with three brothers, she was not at all uncomfortable when it came to the company of males, but there was something different about Mr. Sutherland, and not just because he was not related to her.
As he spoke, explaining that he had purchased the phaeton from a very large man, and it had been designed for his girth, so the seat was wider than most, she pretended to listen, but at the same time she was letting her senses take him in.
His carefully knotted neckcloth was a little limp now after his night out, and fair whiskers, a little darker than his hair, were beginning to show themselves along his jaw.
His thigh within his pantaloons pressed to hers, the muscles moving as he moved, and there was something about that she found . . . well, exciting and novel. But there was no way she could move farther away to a respectable distance, not with the four of them crammed in together.
He seemed unaffected by the situation, calling down to the tiger.
“I don’t know if we should be doing this,” Harriet murmured uneasily, her eyes wide. “Hugo might not like it. He seems easygoing, but he can get tetchy if he thinks we might cause a dent in his consequence.”
“We have no choice,” Prudence hissed a reminder. “If he had mended the carriage earlier, then we wouldn’t be in this fix.”
The tiger stood away from the horses’ heads and the vehicle sprang forward, with him leaping into his place at the back. It was all neatly done.
Cat gasped as the pace quickened. Her bonnet fell back, still held on by the ribbons, and she gave a laugh.
It was all very exhilarating. When she turned to Mr. Sutherland to tell him so, she saw that he was looking at her again.
For a moment she stared into his green-flecked eyes and wondered what he was thinking.
Yes, there was certainly admiration there, which was nice.
But she had been admired by other gentlemen, and usually she dismissed it.
This time it seemed different. As if a little fire had been lit inside her chest and was burning away.
“What will we do about the Master of Armytage?” Harriet asked her in a loud whisper.
“I don’t know.” Cat frowned. “Let me think about it.”
“Why is this man stealing your home?” Mr. Sutherland spoke up. “Are you able to explain it to me, Lady Catriona? I will understand if it is a private matter.”
Cat considered. She could say it was private, but then she decided there could be no harm in telling him.
Besides, Harriet had already disclosed their reason for being here.
So she took a breath and explained what was happening.
He listened to her in silence while at the same time guiding his horses with a firm but light hand.
They turned into a busier thoroughfare, and as they passed a coach with what seemed only a couple of inches to spare Harriet covered her eyes with her hands and Prudence hung on to Cat’s hand with a painfully tight grip.
Unlike the two girls, Cat was not fazed. To her this was exciting. More exciting than anything that had happened to her in London so far.
“You are very good at this,” she told him with a breathless laugh.
“Thank you,” he said gravely. “I have had much to do with horses since I was a boy. But I interrupted you. Carry on with your story. You were at the part where you decided to travel to London to beard the lion in its den.” His lips twisted on the last words, as if they struck him as amusing in some way.
Cat carried on, explaining how she had planned to visit the Master and appeal to his better self. “I thought if I spoke to him, then surely he would see how wrong it all was and persuade his grandfather to agree to more reasonable terms.”
Mr. Sutherland seemed deep in thought and passed a slow-moving wagon before he spoke again, “Lord Armytage sounds like the kind of man who will not listen to anyone else. You say your father is presently fighting him through the courts?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.”
“I’m afraid the Master will turn out to be just as horrid as his grandfather,” Prudence interrupted, clinging so hard to Cat’s hand as they turned a corner that it began to go numb. Then Harriet added, “Perhaps you should do as I said, Cat, and seek out Mrs. Dove-Lyon?”
Mr. Sutherland’s grip on the reins tightened and for a moment the horses jerked nervously, until he quickly righted the situation. “My apologies,” he said. “What is this about Mrs. Dove-Lyon?”
“Do you know her?” Cat asked curiously. There was something in his voice that made her think he did. “We have heard that the Master spends a great deal of his time at the Lyon’s Den, which is a gaming house owned by Mrs. Dove-Lyon. Would we be able to find him there, do you think?”
“Quite possibly,” he said quietly. “It is very popular with a certain type of gentleman.”
Cat saw then that they had turned into Aunt Jennie’s square.
Mr. Sutherland slowly drew up in front of her house when Harriet pointed it out to him.
The lad riding behind them sprang down to hold the horses again, and then Mr. Sutherland leaped down just as easily.
He held up his hands and soon ensured that all three ladies reached the ground safely, if a little windswept in appearance.
Cat retied her bonnet as she smiled up at him. “Thank you, Mr. Sutherland. We are most grateful for your kindness.”
He was taller than she, broad shouldered and with a lean power. There were plenty of men of impressive physic at Bonnyrigg and surrounds, so many that she barely noticed them, and yet for some reason she noticed this man.
“My pleasure,” he said, returning her smile with watchful eyes. “I will ensure your carriage is repaired and returned. If you will furnish me with your address, Lady Prudence, Lady Harriet?”
Prudence and Harriet did so and dropped curtsies. Cat held out her hand. “Perhaps we will meet again one day, Mr. Sutherland?”
He took her hand and held it for a moment, before bending over and pressing his lips softly against her glove. “I hope we will,” he said.
The next moment he had returned to his perch on the phaeton, his tiger taking up his position at the back, and they were gone.