Chapter Thirty
Hugo paced in front of the Harrows’ shop, not caring if he looked like a disturbed madman. It wasn’t far from the truth. If he had to wait any longer… He looked at his pocket watch again. Three minutes until midnight. Exactly a minute and a half since the last time he had looked.
He took a deep breath, his gloved hands clenching into fists as he forced himself to slowly release it.
She would be there. She would come. He knew it.
Hoped it. Prayed for it? He hadn’t ever considered himself an overly faithful man, but if praying would help in this moment, he was game to give it a try.
A rustling from beyond the corner drew his attention. His head snapped up, his gaze fixed on the cobbled street just out of his sight. Every muscle in his body tensed in expectation. And dread.
Finally, a figure appeared—a slight figure in a dark cloak, skirts hitched above serviceable boots as she strode toward him. The face beneath the hood was half-shadowed, but he knew the curve of her cheek, the determined set of her shoulders.
The tension drained from his body, leaving him nearly shaking with relief. He hurried toward her, and she stopped short, breathless, trembling as much as he. For a moment, neither spoke. And then he let his lips spread in a slow smile, and she flung herself into his arms.
“You came,” he murmured, voice raw as he held her tight.
“How could I resist a request from my Mayhem?” she said, her voice unsteady. A sheen of tears glimmered in her eyes, but her smile warmed him to his soul.
The world narrowed to the press of her body against his, her hands clutching his lapels.
One small tug was all it took, and his lips brushed hers.
Her quiet gasp made him pull back. Their gazes locked.
Their breath mingled in the cold night air.
And then she wrapped her arms about his neck, drawing him back to her with a quiet sob as she crushed her mouth to his.
He tightened his arms about her, shielding her from the world, as he lost himself in the feel of her soft lips.
He didn’t know if it was minutes or hours later when they finally broke apart, dragging in ragged breaths. He rested his forehead against hers.
“Are you certain?” he asked, voice low. “There will be no turning back.”
She pulled away enough to meet his eyes, a playful smile on her slightly swollen lips. “Are you trying to dissuade me, my lord?”
“I should.” He smiled and shook his head, brushing his thumb across her cheek. “If I were a better man, I would. Then again, if I were a better man, I would never have proposed such a scheme.”
She pressed her fingers to his lips, stopping his words. “There is no better man, Hugo.”
He chuckled and pressed a kiss to her fingers. “Now I know for certain you are in no state of mind to be making such monumental decisions. I should return you to your family immediately.”
Adaline scoffed and slapped him lightly on the shoulder. “You will do no such thing. Besides, if you had not broached the idea, I would have.” She retrieved her satchel from where she had dropped it, and he took it from her, brows raised.
“Is that so?”
“Yes.” She stepped closer and placed her hands on his cheeks. “I am finished with setting aside my happiness in favor of everyone else’s.”
“And I will make you happy?” he asked, hardly daring to hope she truly meant what she said.
Her gently amused smile soothed the last bit of doubt from his mind. “Despite all odds and both of our attempts to thwart just such an occurrence, yes. You vex me, undeniably. Frustrate me. At times infuriate me.”
He chuckled, and she pressed a quick kiss to his jawline, sending his heart racing. “And yet still, I come away from each encounter with you with my heart soaring and a smile upon my lips.”
He pulled her closer and kissed the lips that smiled for him. She rose on her toes, deepening it with a tiny moan that brought an answering one from his own throat.
The horse pawed at the ground and shook his head with a snort that brought the reality of their situation crashing back.
Hugo pulled away reluctantly. “As much as I would love to explore all the many ways I plan on making you happy,” he said with a wicked grin, “we shall never get the chance if we do not make haste whilst the world yet sleeps.”
“Well then, my lord. Let us depart.”
He quickly stowed her satchel. “My lady,” he said, taking her hand to help her into the curricle. Once he’d settled in beside her, he gave her one last questioning glance.
“Second thoughts, my lord?” she asked with a teasing grin.
He chuckled. “Never.” The sturdy chestnut gelding shook his mane when Hugo flicked the reins, and the carriage lurched forward, rattling over the rutted lane. Adaline’s hand found his in the dark, her grip steadying him.
“Are we going all the way to Scotland in your gig?” she asked, her tone implying more than her words her skepticism at traveling for several days in such a light vehicle. “And will your family not notice the gig and horse are missing?”
“Eventually,” he conceded with a chuckle.
“But the gig isn’t used much. I’m sure my family will simply assume I have returned to my previous habits and will return eventually.
And no, we will only be going a few hours up the road to the next post inn.
We will need a fresh horse by then in any case.
We can rent a sturdier conveyance with fresh horses at the inn, and I will pay someone to return this handsome gentleman and the gig.
After a measured delay, that is. With luck, we shall be well on our way before either of our families have realized we are gone. ”
“You have thought of everything.”
“I have. I am quite proud of myself, truth be told. I have absconded with a beautiful lady, and no one is the wiser.”
She laughed, as he’d intended, and snuggled into him. “The Marquess of Mayhem, indeed. You are certainly living up to the name.”
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, drawing her into his warmth. “I must prove my worth to my Millie, mustn’t I? Give her a reason to follow me into mischief.”
She shook her head, though her smile did not fade. “You have nothing to prove to me, my lord. And I hope my being here now proves I will follow you anywhere.”
He met her eyes, his throat tightening at the way she gazed up at him. He nodded and swallowed hard against the emotion. Then pressed a gentle kiss to her lips.
Then another, his blood pounding when she melted against him.
He pulled her closer, their lips moving feverishly together.
For a moment, nothing else existed but the two of them.
He forgot where they were, what they were doing.
Everything but the feel of her in his arms. The soft sweetness of her lips giving way to his.
He had dreamt of holding her so since the moment he’d read her first letter.
Since the moment she’d berated him in that hat shop.
Even through the anger and the mistrust and the doubts, he had always been drawn to her. Intrigued by her. Captivated.
And the feeling had only grown more intense the better he’d gotten to know her.
Now? Now, he was willing follow her over a cliff, just to be there to try and cushion her fall.
How he ever got lucky enough to have her fall in love with him as well, he’d never know. But he’d never stop trying to prove that he deserved her.
His hand moved from her shoulder, up the slender column of her neck to tangle in her hair.
He cupped the back of her head, angling her so he could explore her mouth more fully.
She wrapped one arm about his neck, pressing her body against his.
The hand that was trapped between their bodies, she laid on his thigh, and he groaned, sorely tempted to—
The horse snorted and tossed his head, and the curricle’s wheel bounced hard over a large rock on the side of the road. Adaline gasped, and Hugo scrambled for the reins he had dropped.
“My apologies,” he said with a sheepish chuckle once he’d guided the horse back to the smoother middle of the road. “I must have been distracted.”
He fixed a heated gaze on her, fire rushing through his veins at the slow smile she gave him. God, but the woman was perfection.
“It is I who should apologize,” she said. “I shall try to keep my hands to myself.”
“Perish the thought!” he said, flashing a properly horrified look at her.
He wrapped his arm back around her and drew her as tight to his side as he could.
“You shall sit right here and do whatever wicked things you would like to do to me. And I shall endeavor to keep the horse on the path whilst you do.”
She laughed and shook her head, keeping her hands firmly tucked inside her cloak. But she did not move away. He would accept that as a consolation. For now. Once they got to the inn however…perhaps they would stop to rest for the night.
His body tightened at the thought, even as he knew it wasn’t possible.
They needed to put as much distance between them and London before daybreak as they could.
It might be afternoon or even evening before his family would think to wonder where he was.
But Adaline, he had no doubt, would be missed much more quickly.
If they weren’t wedded and bedded by the time their families caught up to them, it was very likely they’d never be permitted to see each other again.
Or…he’d be staring down the dangerous end of a pistol held by her brother at tomorrow’s dawn.
They rode in companionable silence for a few moments, though Hugo kept an anxious eye on the gathering clouds obscuring the moon. A few drops began hitting the hood of the curricle. Not a huge concern, as long as the rain stayed light. And didn’t last long.
Adaline did not complain, but he couldn’t miss her slight shivering with her body tucked up against his. He wrapped his arm more firmly about her.