Silence No More

15. Lilly the Ravishing Rogue

"Her brother is in the house, and he will deal with you!"

Mental images appeared in my mind of how exactly Mr Rikkard Ambrose would "deal" with me if he got the chance. On my lips, I could still feel the tingle of his kiss.

I had the sudden urge to shout "I'm here! Arrest me!"

Instead, I ducked my head and slid farther into the bushes.

Please don't notice me! Please don't notice me!

"Close the window!" came the gruff, cold voice of an older man.

"But..."

"No buts! Come back to bed. It's probably just a deer."

"R-really?"

Yes, really! I nodded fervently. I'm definitely a dear! You even call me that yourself sometimes, remember?

"Yes! Now close the window and come back to bed already. We have a busy day before us tomorrow."

Oh, you have no idea.

"Very well, darling. I'm coming."

There came the soft thud of the window closing, and I breathed a sigh of relief. First stage of Operation Crossdress successful! Now...

How to untangle myself from this bush?

In retrospect, maybe I should have divested myself of my skirt and half dozen petticoats before climbing out of my window in the middle of the night.

Half an hour of bush-wrestling and silent cursing later, I finally managed to untangle myself and proceeded down the driveway, taking care to keep to the shadows of the trees that lined the gravel path. I didn't have to walk far before the shape of a simple, black-painted coach emerged from the darkness. A young man was waiting right beside it and jumped to attention the moment he caught sight of me.

"Good evening, Mr...um, I mean Lady, err..."

I watched the man desperately search for suitable appellations, my eyebrows twitching. "Why not just call me Shady or Blister, while you're at it?"

The man brightened. "Would that be suitable in these circumstances?"

Threateningly, I raised my parasol. "Get on the coach! Now!"

"Yes, Blister! Right away, Blister!"

And the bugger was gone before I could get my hands on him. Grumbling, I climbed into the carriage and, soon after that, we were off. From behind us, I heard the thumping of hoofs. A glance out of the window showed me two dozen riders appearing out of the shadows, forming an escort on both sides of the coach.

A smile tugged on the corners of my mouth.

Of course! Of course that granite-headed son of a bachelor wouldn't let me out of his sight without sending half a platoon of heavily armed guards along.

That still wouldn't save him from the baby pictures, though.

Two hours or so later, when the moon was already high in the sky, we reached a cosy little inn by the side of the road. We had already passed two others before, but I guess Mr Rikkard Ambrose wanted to make really sure that I didn't accidentally run into the Battlewood butler or something like that.

Or he may just have realised it was best for me to arrive late at night, a thought flitted through my mind as I caught sight of the sleepy innkeeper, who was hardly able to keep his eyes open, let alone pay attention to my face.

"E-evening, M'lady." He yawned.

"One room, please. For one night."

"Aye, M'lady. Right away, M'lady."