Chapter 7
“There you are, miss. That’s much better.” Mrs. Bridges set down her comb and smiled at Allegra. “Your hair was all tangled at the back.”
“I’m not surprised since I’ve been in bed for days,” Allegra replied. “I don’t even remember some of it.”
“You were quite poorly, miss. Your brother was very anxious about you.”
“He’s a good man,” Allegra said.
“He is, indeed. He’s been helping Mr. Bridges out on the farm while he waited for you to recover. He said he’d go mad if he didn’t have anything to do.”
“That sounds like my brother,” Allegra said, as she leaned her head back against the pillows. Pippin was tucked in beside her and was extremely content. Allegra still felt weak, but at least she wasn’t consumed with fever. “He’s incapable of being idle.”
“He was very diligent in his care for you, as well, miss. He’s been in here every evening looking after you while Jane was busy in the kitchen.”
Allegra had a vague memory of Max sitting beside her bed. It was comforting to know that he hadn’t completely abandoned her.
Mrs. Bridges took the bowl of water from the bedside table and prepared to leave. “Mr. Tarleton will visit you today at noon.”
“I hope he’ll say that I am able to continue my journey. My family will be worried.”
“I’m sure they’ll be relieved that your brother was here taking such good care of you.” Mrs. Bridges smiled at Allegra. “He’s in the kitchen. I’ll send him up to see you.”
Allegra patted her hair and rearranged her braid over her shoulder, her gaze on the door. She felt surprisingly shy about seeing Max when he’d seen her in such a vulnerable state. She was amazed that he hadn’t run off screaming.
There was a knock on the door, and he came in. “Are you decent?”
“Of course.” Allegra raised her chin.
“That makes a change.” Max regarded her intently. “You look much better.”
“Thank you.” She returned his interested gaze. “You look quite brown.”
He shrugged. “I’ve been out in the fields helping Mr. Bridges and learning about the intricacies of farming in Suffolk.”
He’d loosened his cravat and abandoned his waistcoat and looked like the pastoral hero in every dreadful country ballad.
“I’m hoping to persuade Mr. Tarleton that I am fit to leave,” Allegra said.
“That would be nice.” Max paused. “Tell Mr. Tarleton that we’ll travel more slowly and make frequent stops so that we don’t exhaust you.”
“Tell him yourself. He’s probably more likely to listen to you.”
“He thinks I’m an over-anxious fool,” Max said. “But I’m willing to try.”
To Max’s surprise, Mr. Tarleton was surprisingly amenable to the idea of Lady Allegra leaving the farmhouse.
“Miss Foster is a resilient woman. As long as you stop whenever she feels tired, then I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Mr. Tarleton said.
“Her wounds are superficial, and healing nicely, and her headache and fever have gone. If she eats properly and regularly, I think she’ll be none the worse for her experience. ”
Max tried to pay the doctor, but he was waved off.
“The Bridges have settled your bill with me. I believe they felt some responsibility for what happened to Miss Foster.”
“Some responsibility?” Max raised his eyebrows.
“Well, you did trespass on their property.”
“To return their dog, whom my sister rescued from possible death.”
Mr. Tarleton grinned at Max. “Good lord, you are quite intimidating when you put your mind to it.”
“It’s a skill I learned from my father.” Max held out his hand. “Thank you for caring for my sister, sir. I appreciate it.”
Mr. Tarleton returned the handshake. “It was a pleasure, sir.”
An hour later, the Bridges family, Jane, and Mr. Coggins were gathered in front of the house to wave Max and Lady Allegra off.
Max had already said his goodbyes when Lady Allegra came out of the house.
He took her large reticule from her and stored it safely under the seat while she shook hands with the men and kissed the women.
He almost missed that Pippin was hiding in her skirts.
The dog seemed reluctant to let her go. Lady Allegra crouched down to pick up the dog and kissed his head. “Good boy. Now don’t go running off again and getting into trouble.” She put him down, and he whined and jumped up at her. “I can’t take you, Pippin. You belong here.”
There was a catch in her voice that made Max look over at her.
Mr. Bridges cleared his throat. “He’s not much use to us if he won’t do as he’s told, miss. Our dogs are working dogs.”
Lady Allegra looked at Max, and he sighed and put his hand in his pocket.
“How much do you want for the dog?”
Mrs. Bridges smiled at him. “Nothing at all, sir.”
“Are you sure?” Lady Allegra’s face broke out into a radiant smile. “I’d love to take him.”
Max lifted Lady Allegra onto the bench seat, handed Pippin to her, and got up himself. He touched the brim of his hat to the assembled family, clicked to the horse, and they were off.
He turned out onto the main road and headed inward, away from the coast and toward their eventual destination in Norfolk. They’d have to spend one more night on the road, but at last he could see the way to getting Lady Allegra safely home.
What might happen after that, he hardly dared think about.
All his instincts told him that there was a scandal brewing.
If it had just been about him, he wouldn’t have cared, but the implications for Lady Allegra’s future reputation might be insurmountable.
Which wasn’t fair, but when had society ever cared about that?
If it came down to it, his father might stir himself to save his family from embarrassment and ensure that Max survived the worst of it.
But the Musgroves were already considered an oddity in society, and no one would rush to save them. …
For the first time in his life, Max considered someone else’s future other than his own, and he had no idea how to help.
“Is there something wrong?” Lady Allegra asked. “You look rather grim.”
“I’m contemplating what a terrible mess I’ve made of things,” Max said frankly. “In truth, I’m worried about you.”
“Me?”
“You’ve been missing from your home for several days now.”
“Thanks to you.”
“I am aware of that.” Max stopped the gig. “I don’t know how to fix this mess.”
“It’s quite easy,” Lady Allegra said. “You take me home, leave me to explain things to my family, and go on your merry way.”
“How do you expect me to be merry when I’ve destroyed your reputation?”
“Oh, for goodness’ sake, Max, it was already destroyed by Carenza’s latest scandal.” She reached over and patted his clenched fist. “I have no intention of returning to London, and I’ll have plenty to occupy me at home, so nothing has really changed.”
He met her amused gaze. “You are being far too kind to me.”
“I’m not trying to be. Things were already bad, Max.” Her voice gentled. “I’m more worried about you.”
“Don’t be.” Max glared at her. “We both know that behaving atrociously will simply enhance my reputation as a rake and that any little unpleasantness will be smoothed over by my father.”
“How very nice for you.”
“It doesn’t feel pleasant, Allegra, I can assure you of that.” He set his jaw. “I owe you an apology.”
Her smile was sweet. “Thank you.”
“I also owe you much more, but I don’t know how to help.”
She regarded him seriously for a long moment. “I have some thoughts on that, but I’d prefer to discuss them when we stop at the next inn.”
“Of course.” Max clicked to the horse, and they moved off. “This is hardly the place to be talking about anything.”
Mr. Tarleton had recommended that they stop at an inn called the Crosskeys, on the Suffolk-Norfolk border, close to the River Waveney.
It was a small place at a crossroads and catered for the humbler traffic coming down to the coast. Max stabled the horse, had a word with the ostler, and went into the entrance hall, where he met Mr. Jones, the publican.
“We only have the one room, sir. Your sister said that would do nicely.”
“Yes, thank you.” Max followed Mr. Jones up the stairs. “Did she tell you that we lost almost all our possessions in a carriage accident?”
“Yes, she did mention it,” Mr. Jones said. He knocked on a door and went in. “Here’s your brother, miss. Dinner will be served at six in the kitchen if that suits you, or I can have it brought up to you.”
“We’ll come down,” Max said. “We don’t wish to put you to any trouble.”
Mr. Jones departed, and Max closed the door and leaned against it. Lady Allegra had taken off her bonnet and cloak and sat at the dressing table, examining her reflection.
“I look like a hag.”
“You certainly look rather tired,” Max said. “But that is to be expected.”
She sighed. “There’s no need to agree with me. I’d heard you were charming to women.”
“I can be under certain circumstances.” He strolled over and looked down at her. “And this is definitely not one of them. Why don’t you sleep for a while? I’ll take a walk along the river and stretch my legs. I’ll return in time to take you to dinner.”
“Yes, I think I’ll do that.” She turned on the seat to look at him. “Will you sit down for a moment? I have something I wish to propose to you.”
He obliged with some suspicion and considered her carefully. “What is it?”
“I was thinking about things you could do to make this up to me.”
“Such as?”
She took a visible breath and held his gaze. “I want you to sleep with me.”
“That’s already a given. There’s only one bed, and I have no intention of sleeping on the floor.”
Her cheeks went pink. “I meant I’d like you to make love to me.”
Max stared at her for what felt like a full minute. “What bizarre notion is this? I’ve already as good as ruined you, and now you want to make it worse?”
“Not at all. You need to think about this from my point of view. I was already ruined; I have no chance of making a good marriage. I think it’s only fair that you make up for that by giving me the sexual experience I will never have.”
“You’re insane.”
“If you agree to seduce me, I won’t mention your name to my family.”
Max went still. “That’s blackmail.”