The Mad Baron’s Bride (Ladies Least Likely Book 4) by Misty Urban

Author:Misty Urban [Urban, Misty]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oliver Heber Books
Published: 2024-08-06T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

Leda’s heart gave a small kick against her ribs as Jack clicked to the horses and the market cart rolled away from Holme Hall. It took her a moment to place the sensation: excitement. The sky stretched broad and blue gray above them, dotted with birds swooping along the shoreline and feeding in the marshes, their calls echoing in a continuing musical chorus. The scent of salt braced her senses with its bouquet of sand and cordgrass and seaweed, the wind scraping her skin. She hadn’t felt this wild and alive since she sailed toward Bristol and saw if she kept going she’d reach the wide sea, leaving behind everything she’d known. Norfolk unrolled before her in the same way, like an enamel box opening to reveal treasures nestled within.

The man beside her in the driving seat had something to do with her excitement. Being near Jack brought her to attention, as if she were an instrument being tuned by a skilled hand.

“My mother took me to market in Snettisham with her all the time,” Muriel announced. The girl sat between Jack and Leda, her back straight and determined, hands clasped around the small cloth pocket she carried, which she had not attached beneath her dress. The fabric, scraps of silk brocade in an elegant weave, were held together by knotted thread and showed the wear and dirt of steady use. Leda had never seen the girl without it.

“What is your favorite part of the market?” Leda asked lightly.

Muriel set her tiny chin. She was a small child, built like a reed, with her slender limbs and tufts of hair red as the bands of stone that lined the cliffs. There was no doubt she was Jack’s child, with that hair, and something about her chin suggested his features as well, but her fair skin and green eyes came from her mother, or so she had informed Leda. In the two days since they had been introduced, Muriel’s mother fell constantly from her lips. Leda knew it was a challenge and reminder, the girl’s one defense against this stranger whom her father had brought, without her knowledge or permission, into their home.

“A peddler would sometimes come, and my mother liked to look at his buttons and pretty ribbons and pins.”

“What do you want from market, Mere?” Jack asked, glancing down at his daughter.

His look sliced Leda’s chest. There was something protective and hopeless blended in it, inviting her confidence, and doubtful he would be gifted with knowing the secrets of her heart.

Muriel did not return his look, but rather studied her pocket with great attention. The cart dipped into a rut into the road, and the girl stiffened and pulled away as the motion tipped her toward Leda. The slight stung. Leda was accustomed to people trusting her within moments, sometimes on sight. Muriel would not be easily won.

“Would you also like a ribbon, Muriel?” Leda asked. Not that she meant to woo Jack’s daughter with treats.

The girl’s attire was frightfully plain, a simple cotton frock of dark blue with only one ruffle on the short sleeves.

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