Chapter Eight #2
He cursed beneath his breast. Hugo was well-mannered, but scared, and in unfamiliar surroundings, there was no telling what sort of damage he could cause. To himself and anyone around him.
‘Which way did they go?’ he asked.
‘Into the park. I lost sight of them. He was running so fast. The boy on his back was trying to hold on, and the other two were chasing after him.’
Twisting about, Drake kept one arm around her and started walking towards his house. ‘I’ll find him. I’ll take you to my house first and have George take you home.’
She planted her feet firmly on the ground, stopping their movements. ‘No, we have to go now! We have to hurry!’ She gestured towards his horse standing in the street. ‘I can ride with you.’
‘Mr Taylor? Is everything all right?’
Recognizing George’s voice, Drake scanned the darkness and saw the man standing on the front lawn of his house.
‘I’m going with you,’ Meridith stated.
Forcing her to go with George would only cause more problems, therefore, Drake replied to the man, ‘Hugo has escaped from the zoo. We are going to find him. Please deliver a message to Lady Meridith’s family, letting them know that she’s with me, looking for Hugo.’
‘Right away, sir,’ George replied.
‘My family is at the theatre,’ she said, ‘but our butler, Mr Kent, will be worried.’
‘George will let him know,’ Drake said, quickly guiding her towards the horse. A few steps later, he lifted her onto his horse, then mounted the animal himself.
Once settled behind her, he sent the horse into a quick gait. ‘Tell me exactly what happened, and where you last saw Hugo.’
She repeated the story as they rode, including how she hadn’t gone to the theatre with her family, had taken a walk in the park, and ended up at the zoo, just as the elephant escaped.
He asked a series of questions, and her answers made him believe it was older boys with Hugo, and as she’d said, most likely up to no good. Still, he hoped that none of them were injured. Falling off a running elephant could do more than break a few bones. Especially if Hugo turned on them.
Meridith was sitting in front of him on the horse, with both legs hanging over one side, and he kept one hand around her waist and his thigh beneath her knees, holding her in place, as the horse galloped towards the park.
With so much to worry about concerning a scared elephant, there shouldn’t be room in his mind to be thinking about her.
About how much he’d missed the smell of her rose water, and how good it felt to have his arm around her.
He’d never wanted to touch someone as much as he did her.
To just hold her hand or touch the small of her back was thrilling. Had been since they’d first met.
‘That way!’ she said as they entered the park.
Within no time, they found Hugo’s trail, and it was easy to follow. Flower beds and hedges were left in complete disarray. Before long, they also came upon a bobby who was clutching the shirt collar of a boy who appeared to be fifteen or sixteen.
‘Is he hurt?’ Drake asked.
‘A few bruises,’ the bobby replied. ‘Fell off an elephant.’
‘What about the other two?’ Meridith asked.
‘Are you the lady who went to fetch someone to stop the elephant?’ the bobby asked.
‘Yes, she went to fetch me,’ Drake replied. ‘We’ll find him.’
‘Others are looking for him, too,’ the bobby replied.
‘Following his trail of destruction.’ Nodding to the boy at his side, he continued, ‘This is the only lad we caught. The other two are nowhere to be seen. He says they just wanted to ride the elephant and decided to do it on their own rather than waiting for the zoo to open. I’ll be taking him to his home, where his father can deal with his misdeeds. ’
With a nod to the bobby, Drake urged his horse forward, following the route that Hugo had created through the park.
It was good to know that the boys hadn’t been hurt, but Drake was still worried about others.
Hugo was running scared and anyone in his way was in danger.
Serious danger. He was as tall and wide as a covered coach, but weighed five times more.
That was a lot of mass and weight, moving fast.
‘Where do you think he’s going?’ Meridith asked.
‘I have no idea, and neither does he,’ Drake replied, wishing elsewise.
They encountered other bobbies in the park, who were also following the destruction, but as of yet, no one had seen the elephant.
Though his eyes were searching, his ears alert, and his mind chasing thoughts of what might become of Hugo, Drake was still fully aware of Meridith sitting before him and kept his arm firmly around her.
She was practically sitting on his lap. His thigh tingled at the connection of her legs resting atop it, and the blood in his veins was pulsing with the familiar heat of desire.
‘Why didn’t you want to go to the theatre tonight?’ he asked, needing some sort of distraction before certain sensations got away from him.
‘Because I didn’t want to be introduced to any more eligible men.’
He had wondered about that with practically every passing thought the past week.
What her brother had said had made sense, yet, at the same time, he couldn’t help but wonder if, with all the men they were introducing her to, Meridith would eventually meet someone who she would fall in love with and marry.
That was what she wanted, and he should want her to be happy.
‘They would have acted like it was an accidental encounter,’ she continued, ‘but I know them better than that, and I’m tired of it. Not going to put up with it any longer.’
‘Have there been any more introductions over this past week?’ he asked.
‘Remarkably, no, but prior to the theatre tonight, there haven’t been any events for them to set up convenient encounters.’ She let out a sigh. ‘And I most definitely did not accept any invitations.’
‘What invitations?’ he asked.
She smoothed her hair over one shoulder and held it there, to keep it from whipping about as she looked up at him. ‘Those that continue to arrive every day, from men I met in the past who think that marrying me will make them wealthy.’
Those eyes. That adorable face. He’d missed seeing them. Shouldn’t have, but had. He shouldn’t be torn about her finding a husband, either. He had no right. While she had every right to obtain the life she wanted.
He tried to find solace in the fact that she was being particular about it. The truth was, he hated thinking about her marrying someone who would disappoint her.
If that was an option, he’d marry her himself.
That silent confession shocked him. It had come out of nowhere. Quickly, he changed the subject. ‘Besides going to the zoo, what else have you done this week?’
She scanned the area around them as she answered, ‘Nothing really. I helped Mr Ratnam provide rides the other day, and today was my regular visit to enter the donations into the ledger books.’
‘I didn’t know you helped with their accounting,’ he said while glancing about. They were travelling through a grove of trees, which made it darker, but broken branches, high above the ground, indicated they were still following Hugo’s trail.
‘I have for over a year now. Mr Andrews doesn’t have the best penmanship, and the board has appreciated how much easier the ledgers are to read since I volunteered to enter the income and expenditures. What have you been doing this past week?’
‘Much the same as you, as it happens. Going over the shipping company ledgers.’
‘Has Peter determined if he’s interested in a partnership yet?’
‘He told you about that?’ There was no reason for the duke not to have mentioned it, but for some reason, Drake had assumed that Meridith hadn’t known about it.
‘No, but it wasn’t hard to decipher. You’re a ship captain. He owns a shipping company. It would only make sense that you were interested in doing business together.’
‘True, and no he hasn’t made a determination yet.’
‘He will soon.’
‘How do you know that?’
‘Webster mentioned that he’d talked to you at the docks and was wondering when he’d make a decision. Peter said soon.’
Drake withheld any comment, because they’d exited the grove of trees, and nothing but a large section of manicured lawn lay before them. The grass was cut so short it was impossible to see signs of elephant tracks. He momentarily drew the horse to a stop to scan the area.
‘Where to now?’ she asked.
‘Straight ahead is my guess,’ he replied upon not seeing anything to indicate they had veered off the elephant’s trail. ‘After so much running, Hugo is going to be thirsty.’
‘The lake is in the other direction,’ she said. ‘Towards my house.’
‘I know, but the canal is up ahead and he probably smelled the water.’ He pulled her closer against him before he urged the horse into a fast pace due to the wide open space ahead of them.
They arrived at the canal, where there were no signs of Hugo.
‘Do you think he crossed the bridge?’ Meridith asked.
‘I have no idea.’ Drake removed his arm from around her waist. ‘Here, hold the reins, I’m going to get down and have a look around.’ He’d really expected Hugo to stop for a drink and hoped to find sign of that.
She laid a hand on his thigh. ‘Wait. Look over there. Across the bridge. It’s a crowd of people. Perhaps they know something.’
Wrapping his arm back around her waist, Drake nudged the horse forward. ‘Let’s hope so.’
Her hand remained on his thigh, leaving the skin beneath his britches fiery.
A perfect match to how other parts of him felt.
He’d thought being separated from her would give him time to get his thoughts in order, but it hadn’t.
Seeing her again had intensified the things he’d been feeling for her to the point that not even a lost elephant could override them.
They crossed the arched stone bridge and followed the road to an area filled with terrace homes. A good half dozen men stood together on one street corner, and Drake steered the horse up beside them.
‘You best be careful,’ one man said. ‘We just seen us an elephant.’