The Viscount's Runaway Wife by Laura Martin

Author:Laura Martin [Martin, Laura]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781488087073
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2018-11-01T19:51:42+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

‘I need to get away from here,’ Lucy said as she hurried down her father’s front steps, her whole body shaking.

‘Where would you like to go?’

‘Somewhere quiet, somewhere private. Will the carriage be ready?’

‘If we hire fresh horses.’

‘Please, Oliver.’

He realised that although she’d asked many things of him in the weeks since their reunion, this was the first time she truly needed his help. Quickly he organised and paid to hire fresh horses and have them secured to the carriage and within half an hour they were on the road, weaving their way through the progressively quieter streets of Brighton and along the coast road. Lucy was deep in thought and for a while he left her to her own contemplations.

She’d revealed probably more than she’d meant to with her outburst against her father. He knew now she had a brother she’d never mentioned, a brother with some sort of handicap. Certain this was part of the reason she had reacted so mistrustingly when she’d realised their son was going to face difficulties in life, Oliver was determined to ask more about this brother, but knew he had to give her time to calm down a little first.

* * *

After a brief stop for Lucy to give directions to the coachman, they slowed as they entered a small town.

‘Seaford,’ Lucy explained as they stopped at one end of the promenade.

Not as upmarket or popular as Brighton, Seaford was just a small settlement, but the houses were smart and well-looked-after and the people seemed well-to-do. It had a long promenade that was above the natural beach and to one end the chalky cliffs rose away from the town.

‘How long until dark?’ Lucy asked.

‘Three hours, maybe four.’

‘Plenty of time. I don’t mind if you want to stay here.’

‘Where are you going?’

She indicated a small path worn into the chalky cliff, close to the edge. There was no way he was allowing her to wander off up the clifftop unaccompanied. It might be dangerous, with falling chunks of cliff, and he didn’t want her going anywhere alone in the emotional state she was in.

‘I’ll join you.’

They walked, climbing briskly, the wind whipping around their heads and slowing their progress, but providing a welcome cooling breeze on their faces. There were stunning views in every direction, but Oliver’s eyes kept being drawn out to sea, the water a deep grey with crests of white foam as the waves crashed as they broke. It was dramatic and beautiful at the same time.

‘Isn’t it magnificent?’ Lucy said as they reached the top.

The view was more than magnificent. Rolling hills with white cliffs stretched off into the distance, and closer, down in the valley between this set of hills and the next, a snaking blue river emptied out into the sea. The sky was overcast, but the moody greys and deep purples just added to the atmosphere up on the clifftop.

‘Tell me about your brother,’ Oliver said as they slowed their pace, strolling now they had reached the top.

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