“Do you know what I think?”
“What?” She looked at her friend.
“I think you will find happiness and a future with Daniel Dillinger, and in time your bullheaded brothers will come to accept that and even accept him.”
“I hope you are right, because I have no wish to do anything rash to ensure that does happen.”
“That you are willing to is a good thing to my mind. It tells me the depth of your feelings for him.”
Daniel rode past her window, and she thought he looked rather magnificent on his horse. Noble, almost. He caught her eye and smiled. She returned the gesture and he rode on.
“Nobility is not just in a title, Dimity.”
“No, it’s not, Abby. In that you are right.”
The two women sat there in silence, and Abby thought through what it would take to become Daniel’s wife.
Chapter 30
Abby had been scrupulously polite to Daniel this morning, calling him Mr. Dillinger and smiling at him in a way that made his body react. Not a wise thing to do when her brother was nearby.
She appeared calmer today, and yet he could not blame her for last night. She’d been exhausted from the travelling and argument with her brother, and then he’d made love to her, which he should not have done but could not find it in himself to regret.
She smiled at him through the carriage window, and Daniel wondered if she realized what that did to people. One of her smiles was like the sun dawning.
Dear Christ, did I actually just think that? Was he now a man that looked for rainbows? Had she done this to him?
Did he love her? The thought actually made him queasy. It wasn’t something he’d wanted, at least not for many years. Never wanted the responsibility of caring for another other than family. What of children? Did he want those too?
He saw her laugh at something Dimity said, and felt it again, that pain deep inside his chest that he couldn’t blame on indigestion. Yes, he wanted children, but only with her.
Looking at her brother, he wasn’t sure he’d live long enough to make any, however. He had to approach the man with care and consideration, and if that didn’t work, then he’d simply fight him until he conceded.
Would society shun her for marrying him? And yet, Thea wasn’t shunned. Daniel pushed the thought aside to deal with later. He was usually good at that; strange how with Abby, he couldn’t seem to stop thinking about her. The way she felt in his arms, her scent, and softness of her skin beneath his fingers.
If only something about her annoyed him. His sister Kate sucked air through the small gap in her front teeth; it annoyed Daniel excessively. Peter tended to flick his fingers when he was still, which was also extremely annoying. Thinking about his family brought a pang of longing. They may be bloody annoying, but they were his people. They’d been through much together, and they understood him more than anyone. Oliver, too. Daniel now deeply regretted his rash words that day. He should have just kept them inside. No good had come from speaking the way he had, because now Oliver would want to discuss it, which was entirely his wife’s fault. She’d told Oliver he needed to talk about things.
It was strange how the past was not something that bothered him at the moment. It didn’t sit like a heavy weight in the pit of his stomach like it had just a day ago. Abby was now his main concern, and how he could make her his.
“We shall push on to Devon after this stop. I have sent word we should arrive early this evening,” Lord Raine said as they rode into the inn where they would change horses and stop for a meal.
Daniel felt as if he and Raine had had formed another truce today. There had been no sensitive subjects broached as they covered the miles riding together. Horses, buildings, and the inventions taking place in steam power. Which had surprised Daniel. He knew noblemen who did involve themselves in such things. Will and the twins, to name just a few, but most did not speak of commerce and change. Of course, if the earl knew what had transpired in that stable last night, he would likely have taken out his pistol and shot Daniel.
They had only just seated themselves when the door to the parlor they were in opened, and in walked four men. Something about them made Daniel take a second look, but he didn’t recognize any of them. They looked around the room, passing over Daniel and the others. He watched as they sat at a table. For some reason, he kept his eyes on them.
“Do you know them, Dillinger?”
“No.” He shook his head, eyes still on the group. When one of them looked their way, he met the glance. The man nodded; he returned the gesture.
As they ate the meal, he felt their eyes on them occasionally. Was he just feeling on edge due to Abby or was this more?
“I think we should leave now so we can arrive in Devon before night fall,” Daniel said when everyone had finished eating. Lord Raine nodded his agreement.
He was usually a man with a steady temperament. Rarely did he find trouble where it was not. Having been raised in a mining town where turbulence was a way of life, Daniel now relished the peace that usually reigned over his life.
It was her fault that he was feeling uneasy. Abby was playing havoc with his control.
He and Raine mounted up, and soon the carriage was rolling out with them behind it.
“Why did those men make you uneasy, Dillinger?”
“I’m unsure, but every time I looked at them, one of them was looking at us.”
“Which simply suggests they are nosey and that we are in the company of two beautiful women.”
“There is that,” Daniel grunted.
They rode on for another twenty minutes before he
