Chapter Nine #2
Meridith encouraged the horse to move forward and divided her attention between guiding her steed towards the end of the alley and watching Hugo’s progress.
His first steps were so wobbly that she gasped and stopped the horse, her heart leaping into her throat, because she thought Hugo would fall down and Drake would get crushed beneath him.
Thankfully, that didn’t happen, and Hugo kept walking forward. His head was hanging low, as if he wasn’t feeling the best, which he probably wasn’t. He seemed to consider the man walking beside him his saving grace; he kept reaching his trunk around and rubbing Drake’s shoulder.
Meridith could relate. Drake had been her saving grace the night of the Montgomery ball. Did that mean more than she’d thought? Did he mean more than she thought?
She couldn’t hear any words, but was certain Drake was talking to Hugo, and she felt more than pride. A massive warmth had filled her chest. She’d never known a man who had more compassion and patience than Drake. He was truly one of a kind. Loving him would be so very easy.
Two bobbies met her at the end of the alleyway. ‘We’ll mount up and lead the way to the zoo,’ one said. ‘Make sure that any traffic or crowds stay clear.’
‘Thank you,’ she replied, her mind becoming even more tangled.
It was slow going, and there were indeed traffic and crowds waiting. They cheered and clapped as the small parade travelled along the route back towards the park: first the bobbies, then Meridith on the horse, then Drake and Hugo, followed by many of the men from the public house.
Word of an elephant on the loose had spread through London, and Meridith wasn’t overly surprised when Peter’s coach appeared on one of the streets. One of the officers had stopped the coach, and Peter climbed out of it and jogged over to her.
‘What on earth are you doing?’ he asked.
‘I believe that is obvious,’ she said, not letting the horse stop.
‘Get down and get in the coach.’
‘No, I’m going to see Hugo gets back to his enclosure. Then I’ll be home.’
‘Do you have any idea what sort of talk this could create?’
‘I truly don’t care, Peter.’ She didn’t.
She had too many other worries. Nodding towards the road ahead of her, she said, ‘Unless you plan on walking beside me all the way to the zoo, you should return to your coach. The park is round the next corner.’ Ironically, the public house hadn’t been too far away from the park.
It had just seemed further because they’d ridden along so many side streets.
Peter shook his head, then jogged back to walk beside Drake for a few moments, and Meridith wished she knew what they were saying, but it didn’t matter.
She wasn’t embarrassed by what she’d done tonight.
In fact, she was overwhelmingly happy that she’d been a part of finding Hugo.
Overwhelmingly happy to have spent so much time with Drake.
She just didn’t know what she was supposed to do about all these new thoughts and feelings. They were quite overwhelming.
Peter jogged back to his coach, and she followed the bobbies, who cleared aside onlookers as they entered the park.
Once again, she took note of the damage that would need to be repaired, becoming more determined to find out who those boys were and put them to work.
That was something she could do, and she tried to focus on that all the way to the main gate of the zoo.
Another crowd was gathered there, including newspapermen with their tripod cameras set up. A flash startled the horse, and though she easily maintained control of him without a mishap, she did turn about to see how Hugo was reacting.
He didn’t seem to care one way or the other, but Drake did. He shouted at the men not to take pictures before calling to Meridith. ‘Are you all right?’
‘Yes, the flash startled him,’ she replied, referring to the horse. ‘But he’s fine now.’
‘Good job handling him.’
‘Thank you.’ The lingering warmth inside her grew a bit more. She was rarely complimented on anything, but more than that, she’d rarely been a part of something as extraordinary as finding a lost elephant. It truly had been an adventure.
Drake was an adventure, and she didn’t want to lose his friendship.
Peter had arrived at the entry to the zoo, too, and was standing by his coach. She acknowledged him with a nod, but kept moving the horse forward, through the gates and straight to the elephant enclosure.
Mr Andrews and Mr Ratnam, as well as several newspapermen were at the enclosure. As soon as Meridith dismounted, the reporters started asking her questions, but she simply shook her head, thinking more about getting Hugo settled than answering.
However, as soon as she tied up the horse, Peter was at her elbow.
‘I’ll take you home now,’ he said.
‘I want to see that Hugo is settled,’ she replied.
‘You can see him tomorrow,’ Peter insisted.
Everything inside her seemed to crash together, and as confusing as it all was, she knew one thing. ‘I know I can, Peter, and I will, but can’t you see that I need to finish this? That I need to be something besides the baby of the family?’
He looked at her for a stilled moment, then nodded. ‘I’ll be outside when you’re ready to leave.’
‘Thank you,’ she said, and ducked to climb between the big metal poles of the fence and entered the enclosure.
It was odd, but finding an elephant had made her realise what she needed. She just wasn’t sure if it had helped her find it. Or what might.
Because Drake, Hugo, and the others walked around to the enclosure’s gate, by the time they entered, Meridith had already collected a squash and placed it inside Hugo’s house, where a full hay basket and water bucket also awaited him.
Hugo went straight to his bucket. Drake stopped next to Meridith, placed an arm around her shoulders and tugged her up against him. ‘Well, that was fun.’
A unique sense of contentment filled her, and she leaned her head on his chest. ‘Actually, it was fun.’
He laughed.
She laughed, too, and then lifted her head to look at him, understanding the source of at least a portion of the joy inside her. ‘Thank you. Thank you for letting me go with you tonight instead of forcing me to go home.’
He brushed hair away from her face and tucked it behind one of her ears. ‘That would have been a waste of time, because you wouldn’t have stayed there.’
‘That’s true,’ she admitted, while wondering how someone she’d met such a short time ago knew her so well.
He nodded. ‘Now, it is time for you to go home. Your family was quite worried when they learned you were tracking an elephant through town.’
‘They were just jealous because they’ve never done anything as exciting as that.’
Mr Ratnam entered the room. ‘The reporters have questions that Mr Andrews can’t answer. If you don’t mind speaking with them, I’ll see that Hugo is settled.’
‘All right,’ Drake replied. ‘Make sure he drinks plenty of water. Poor fellow may be experiencing a hangover come morning.’
With his arm still around her, which felt incredible, she walked with Drake into the side room that held the squash and other special treats for Hugo. ‘I do hope he doesn’t feel too bad tomorrow,’ she said.
‘He’ll recover quickly. I hope you won’t be too exhausted tomorrow.’
She stopped walking before they reached the outside door and looked up at him. ‘I won’t be. This was the best night of my life.’
He smiled at her and nodded. ‘Mine, too.’
All the sensations and feelings she experienced while riding on the horse with him returned tenfold, and the idea of kissing him renewed itself. She couldn’t pull her eyes from his, couldn’t look away. Something between them was too powerful, holding her captive.
Drake wasn’t moving, either, just standing there, looking at her with an expression she couldn’t read, but could feel, deep inside her.
Her breath lodged somewhere in her throat, as did her heart, as she stood there not knowing what was about to happen, but wanting whatever it might be more deeply than she’d ever wanted anything in her life.
One of Drake’s fingers touched her beneath the chin as his head dipped forward.
He was going to kiss her!
The thrill that shot through her made her giddy and light-headed. Her eyes fluttered closed and her toes curled inside her shoes as she drew in a deep breath.
She would know then. When they kissed, she would know if she was truly falling in love with him.
A moment later, she felt his lips, soft and warm, touch her forehead. The air in her lungs slowly seeped out.
That certainly wasn’t the kiss she was hoping for, that she’d needed.
It had taken every last bit of control Drake had to keep himself from grasping hold of Meridith’s arms, pulling her close and kissing her in the way a man kissed a woman when he wanted more.
When he was so filled with desire that he couldn’t see straight, and when he was on the brink of losing all good sense.
Right now, Drake felt all of those things, but luckily, still had enough sense to realise that he couldn’t act upon any of them.
Yet he had needed a consolation of sorts, so he’d kissed her forehead.
Then he took her hand and led her out of the storeroom to the gate where her brother was waiting for her. Along with a plethora of reporters.
‘My apologies again,’ Drake said to Chesterfield. He’d already apologized once to the man while walking Hugo home. ‘I assure you, she was never in danger, but was indeed a great help.’
Chesterfield gave a slight nod, before he quietly said, ‘I would appreciate it if you could keep her name out of the papers.’
‘I will do my best,’ Drake replied. But he’d already seen the way Meridith’s eyes flashed at her brother’s request and knew that would be impossible.
A moment later, he was proven correct, because as Meridith and Chesterfield turned to leave, she addressed the crowd of reporters. ‘My name is Lady Meridith Downs. That’s spelled M E R I D I T H. Downs. D O W N S.’