While You Were Roguish by Samantha Grace

Author:Samantha Grace [Grace, Samantha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HOLO Publishing

Eight

Julius slowed the four person sleigh at the crest of a hill. His cheeks were pink from the thrilling ride, and his eyes held a feverish gleam. He was in his element.

“Have you ever driven one of these?” he asked Bess.

She shook her head.

His younger sister Octavia groaned in the back seat. “Here we go, another lesson.”

Calliope, who was two years younger, shushed her.

“No heckling from the back”—Julius tossed a wry smile over his shoulder—“or you will receive a lesson in mucking stalls when we reach Ammie’s house.”

Octavia scoffed. “You are full of empty threats, as usual.”

Bess chuckled. She admired the girl’s gall and hoped it served her well once she was unleashed on Society in a couple of years.

Bess hadn’t expected to see much of Julius once they arrived at Everly Manor. The morning after their kiss and her embarrassing fall, he had been in a somber mood when he announced the roads were safe for travel. He certainly hadn’t been the same jovial man who worked without complaint alongside her at Davensworth Cottage or chased away her cousin’s blues with his antics.

Any hope of furthering their association had been quashed when he chose to ride on the box with the driver.

He is angry with me, she’d confided to Gemma on the journey to Everly Manor. Perhaps I should return once you are settled at the party.

Lord Julius is not one to harbor a grudge, Bess. You will see once you know him better.

Bess had believed her cousin’s view of men was naive, a consequence of her unique upbringing. In her own experience, men were fragile creatures who sulked when their pride was bruised, or blustered when outright insulted. Even Lord Hadley, who’d been a good and decent husband, stopped talking to her for hours whenever he felt slighted.

Julius shattered all of Bess’s preconceptions about men. Whatever had been bothering him vanished after his audience with his parents, soon after their arrival. With his good humor quickly restored, Julius and Bess had resumed their friendly banter.

“Tell me you’ve at least driven a buggy,” he said.

Bess shook her head again. She’d never had cause to learn. If she needed transportation, she always had a coach at her disposal.

Julius’s sigh was dramatic and noisy. “What are young ladies being taught these days?”

“How would I know? I’ve been out of the school room for years,” she said.

“It couldn’t have been a very long time.”

“Oh, but it has. I am twenty-six.”

“Egads, twenty-six?” He clucked his tongue. “Before you know it, your hair will be grey and you’ll need an ear trumpet. We should get on with it before it’s too late.”

“Get on with what?”

“Your first lesson.” He draped his arm on the back of the seat they shared. “Every lady should know how to drive a sleigh.”

“Are you serious?”

He extended the reins. “Hold the ribbons firmly. Do not allow any slack.”

A giddy laugh bubbled at the back of her throat as she accepted the leather straps. “Throwing a punch. Driving a sleigh. You have unusual thoughts on what skills a lady should acquire.

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