Free In Pursuit of a Scandalous Lady by Gayle Callen Page B

and trousers and white shirt, like a working-class man taking the train to another working-class town, perhaps Birmingham or even farther to Manchester. But from her window she could see him watching her, even as he stood back near the third-class carriage. There were no seats in that carriage; they’d only recently put roofs on the cars to protect the passengers from the elements. He didn’t enter, as if he were waiting to see if she’d run for it now that she’d seen him.
    He was shoulder to shoulder with another man, sherealized with dismay. They even spoke together; they wanted her to see she was outnumbered. Had the second thief been waiting near Madingley House and together they’d followed her?
    Did that mean that the earl wasn’t involved with the attempted robbery and kidnapping? She didn’t know what to think. There were always a rare few of the nobility who believed that their title allowed them to do anything in their own interest. Just then, she saw Lord Parkhurst leave the railway booking office, ticket in hand. She wasn’t certain he could see into her compartment, but he walked right toward her. Only six people fit in each carriage, and there was already a family seated in hers: mother, father and two children. Their clothes displayed a rather open wealth, and she imagined they were of the newly rich industrial class since they didn’t seem familiar.
    There was one extra place on the bench, directly across from her. She gritted her teeth as Lord Parkhurst opened the door and leaned in.
    â€œIs there an open seat?” he asked politely.
    The man already inside went a little wide-eyed on seeing the earl. He must have recognized him, for he nodded and said, “Of course, my lord.”
    Rebecca wanted to ignore them all. She wanted to chew her fingernails; instead she plastered her face to the window to see what her two shadows were doing. Surely they were waiting until the last possible momentto board their carriage, just to make certain she did.
    She had led them away from her family—what was she supposed to do now? She could hardly go all the way to Aunt Rianette’s home and put even more family in danger. She had hoped something brilliant would occur to her. It didn’t. She put a hand to her upper chest, where beneath her cloak and gown she could feel the outline of the jewel, warm against her flesh.
    She could hear Lord Parkhurst settling in, even as the train whistle sounded. Porters hurriedly loaded the last of the luggage above the train carriages, those that hadn’t been sent with the earlier goods train, as hers had been.
    She had no other clothing but what she was wearing. She pressed her lips together, still feeling a little hysterical amusement.
    And then something brushed her foot and, startled, she was forced to stop looking out the window. Lord Parkhurst’s great legs were sprawled before her, his knees almost reaching hers, his feet beneath her skirts. He was watching her, a faint smile on his broad mouth. She hastily dropped her hand from the hidden diamond.
    At last, with a jerk and a shudder, the train began to move, heading north out of London. She turned to look out the window again. She didn’t want to talk to the earl, didn’t know what she could possibly say to himwithout revealing their strange connection to the small family traveling with them.
    At least he seemed to realize the same, for he didn’t speak to her either. Yet she could not forget him, for the rumbling and vibrating of the train sometimes let their legs briefly touch—or was he instigating it? She wouldn’t put it past him as he tried to unnerve her.
    At last the father of the little family, Mr. Seymour, struck up a conversation with the earl about the expansion of the railways, and Rebecca felt a bit of her tension ease. She huddled within her cloak, wishing she had a rug across her lap as each member of the little family did. It was always