Chapter 2 #2
“If you must.” Max was already moving to the door. “But I don’t see the point.”
“I wish to make sure I see the wreckage in the light of day so that when I report you to the authorities, I will be able to give them all the salient details.”
Max held the door open for her as Mrs. Lacock looked on, with all the vicarious delight of someone involved in a scandal. “I should’ve known you’d be the one Musgrove who is a stickler for the proprieties.”
She swept past him. “Then you’d be quite wrong. You should meet my real brother. He’s far worse.”
Mr. Lacock awaited them with his horse and cart.
Two of his dogs jumped into the back and settled into the straw.
Max picked Lady Allegra up, deposited her on the narrow bench seat, and hopped up beside her.
It was quite a squeeze with the three of them.
The cart lurched as it started off, and Max instinctively put his arm around her, making her flinch.
“I can assure you I have no amorous intentions, my lady,” Max said. “I simply have no desire to end up in another ditch.”
“Mr. Lacock is far too careful a driver to do that to us,” Lady Allegra said, her posture as stiff and unyielding as a board. “And I am quite capable of looking after myself.”
Max didn’t contradict her, but he didn’t remove his arm, either. They rattled down the rutted track to the farm gate. Max got down to open and close the gate and rejoined them on the other side on what appeared to be the junction to the main hedge-lined road.
“Which way did you come from?” Mr. Lacock asked.
“From the right,” Lady Allegra said.
Mr. Lacock looked at Max for confirmation, and Max shrugged. “You’ll have to take the lady’s word for it. I have very little recollection of any of the journey.”
They turned right. The sun was rising over the flatness of the land, which was sparsely decorated with trees displaying the last of their summer greenness. Sheep grazed across the landscape, but there was little sign of habitation.
“Not many neighbors, Mr. Lacock?” Max asked.
“No, which is just how I like it.”
“Do you keep sheep?”
“Yes, sir. For meat and for shearing.”
Max nodded as if he knew all about rural farming.
In some ways, he did, because as the heir to vast estates, he’d regularly been taken around his father’s lands.
He’d never been encouraged to ask questions of his own, and the farmers were too intimidated by the presence of either his father’s land agent or the duke himself to answer him honestly anyway.
In his youth, he’d yearned for the opportunity to get truly involved, but it had never been allowed and, in the end, he’d taken his cues from his father and simply nodded and asked the blandest questions possible.
His father wasn’t really interested in his tenants, as he expected his land agents to do their jobs.
On the one occasion, when Max had dared to ask why half a village had cottages that needed fresh thatching, he’d been sent to his room and disciplined.
“There it is.” Lady Allegra pointed down the road. “On the left.”
Max let out a whistle as they approached the wreckage. “Good lord. It’s remarkable that we got out relatively unscathed.”
Mr. Lacock stopped the cart, and Max assisted Lady Allegra to the ground. She thanked him briefly and walked away to view the smashed-in side of the carriage. It was on its side, one door hung off the hinges, and the driving seat was cracked in two.
“I’m glad the door flew open and that we were able to roll out.” Her clear voice carried back to him.
Mr. Lacock cleared his throat. “What happened to the driver?”
“I don’t know,” Max said. “One has to assume that he left the scene with some haste.”
Which was typical of his so-called best friend, Landon—a man who regarded life as a huge jest and who never considered the consequences of his actions. Max winced. He was beginning to sound like his father, but in truth, he was getting tired of Landon’s childish behavior.
“I need to take a look inside the carriage,” Max said.
“Be careful,” Lady Allegra warned him as he came to stand beside her. “I’m not sure if it’s safe.”
He climbed in and searched the interior for his missing purse and found nothing. Undeterred, he followed the tracks of devastation back to when the coach first came onto the verge and looked through the grass and mud.
“Damnation,” he muttered.
“There’s no need to curse,” Lady Allegra said.
“There is when I can’t find my purse, which means I have no money to see you safely home.”
Lady Allegra shot a warning glance at him.
“I’m sure we’ll be fine, brother. Mr. Lacock can store the carriage in his barn until you can arrange for it to be taken back to London, and we can stable the horses at the nearest inn and rent a gig to take us on our way.
” She turned to the farmer. “Do you think you have the necessary space to take care of the carriage for us?”
“Yes, miss.” He paused. “For a small fee.”
“Naturally,” Lady Allegra said, nodding. “We can come to terms when we return to the farmhouse.” She looked over at Max. “Is there anything you wish to add?”
“No, my dear one, you seem to have sorted everything out perfectly.”
He took her hand and tugged her aside as Mr. Lacock walked back to the cart and the patient dogs.
“How much money do you have?”
“Not much,” she admitted.
“Enough to pay for mail coach tickets?”
“Probably not.” She met his gaze. “Once we get to a reputable inn, I’m sure we’ll think of something.”
“I admire your optimism. Especially since everything’s been going so well for us, hmm?”
“Your continued sarcasm is not appreciated.” She glared at him. “I am doing my best in an intolerable situation, which is entirely your fault.”
“I’m sure you are, but let’s be honest, we’re in something of a mess, aren’t we?”
“Oh! You’ve finally realized that. Congratulations.”
After leading her to the cart, he placed his hands around her waist, lifted her high in the air, and dropped her onto the bench seat.
To her credit, she didn’t shriek, but the look she gave him when he climbed up next to her meant his sins had been added to his already growing catalogue, and he would pay for them later.
After consulting with Mrs. Lacock, Mr. Lacock announced that he’d be taking one of his farmhands to retrieve the carriage later that afternoon and that he would store the wreckage securely in his barn.
He also offered to take Allegra, Max, and the horses to the nearest coaching inn, where they could ask about hiring a new vehicle.
Allegra thanked him profusely and negotiated a payment that depleted her small store of coin. She hadn’t anticipated being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no transport and with an annoying companion, but luck had never been her ally, and she’d just have to make the best of it.
Mrs. Lacock offered her a new woolen scarf to replace the one she’d used to lead the horses, and she took it gratefully.
They ate a quick meal of bread, cheese, and ale, and left the farmhouse with Mrs. Lacock waving goodbye from the front doorstep.
The journey wasn’t fast, as they had the two carriage horses attached to the back of the cart.
There was little to see except endless high hedges, flat fields, stone walls, and the occasional dwelling place.
At one point, Allegra found herself almost falling asleep, her head on Max’s shoulder as his arm cradled her back.
It was the closest she had ever been to a man she wasn’t related to and, to her surprise, she didn’t find the sensations unpleasant.
On the contrary, he smelled of soap, ale, and damp tweed cloth, which for some reason was very comforting.
Allegra estimated they’d been on the road for almost two hours, as the sun was directly above their heads when Mr. Lacock pointed at a huddle of buildings at the bottom of the hill.
“The Queen’s Head.” There was a substantial white-and-black-timbered two-storied building with a sloping roof and several outbuildings surrounding it.
“It looks delightful,” Max said.
Mr. Lacock made an unintelligible noise. “Watch your belongings.”
“Are you quite certain this is a good place for us to stop?” Max asked Mr. Lacock.
“It’s as far as I’m willing to bring you, sir,” Mr. Lacock said. “I have to get home to my wife.”
The closer they got to the inn, the more Allegra’s doubts grew. It was nothing like the places her family usually stopped at on their journeys. It looked rundown; ivy grew up most of the walls, and the chimney stacks were definitely leaning.
When Mr. Lacock pulled up, no one came out to greet them. He got down and started untying the horses. “I’d best be going.”
Max glanced over at Allegra and drew Mr. Lacock to one side. “Are you quite certain this inn is safe for my beloved sister?”
“I’m sure you’ll look after her, sir.” Mr. Lacock stomped back to the front of the cart. “Let me know when you can come and pick up that carriage.”
Max stared after the rapidly departing Mr. Lacock and then glanced at Allegra. She stood with the horses, holding their heads.
“I don’t suppose we have much choice in this matter.” He gestured at the entrance to the stable yard. “Shall we?”
They went under the arch into a cobbled courtyard with stabling on two sides. A hay loft and a small dwelling occupied the third side. A short, elderly man emerged from the stables and blinked at them, his gaze traveling up and down as if he couldn’t quite believe they were real.
“What do you want?” he asked.
“To speak to the owner of the inn and find stabling for our horses,” Max said, with far greater patience than Allegra feared she would’ve shown.
“They’re fine beasts.”
“Yes.”
“Where’s your vehicle, then?”
“It overturned on the road.”
The man nodded and stared at them expectantly.
“May we speak to the innkeeper?” Max asked again.
“He’s in there.” He pointed at the inn.
“The head ostler, then?”
“That would be me.” The man grinned. “I’m Billy.”
“Can you take charge of the horses while we go and speak to the landlord?” Max asked.