The next morning Nellie stood on the platform of the small local railway station and anxiously waited for the early morning train that would take her back to London.
It seemed fleeing from Dominic Lockhart was becoming a habit, but it was a habit Nellie was going to have to break. This would be the last time she would flee because she would never see him again. Leaving Lockhart Estate last night had been the most sensible thing she had done in a long time. She knew that if she had seen Dominic again her firm resolve might have unravelled. Especially with his kisses still fresh on her lips, her skin still aware of the caressing touch of his hands, her body still burning for him.
Last night the coach driver had been reluctant to take her into the local village so she could find lodgings for the evening. He didn’t want to go to the trouble of hitching up the carriage in the middle of the night and was no doubt looking forward to his bed after a long day’s work. It was only when she reminded him that he had been instructed by Mr Lockhart to do exactly what Nellie wanted that he had resentfully relented.
Then she had spent a restless night in the rooms above the local inn, tossing and turning without sleeping. It hadn’t been the sound of revellers in the tavern below that had kept her awake, she was used to sleeping in a noisy city, it was the thoughts in her head, going around and around.
She looked along the track and willed the train to hurry. She was emotionally shattered and wanted to return to the refuge of her business and her own rooms.
The uniformed station master walked past, looking at his fob watch. ‘Not long now, ma’am. The early train to London is never late,’ he said proudly, as if he was personally responsible for the efficiency of the train service.
Nellie looked up at the station clock. Five minutes to go until the train was due. Five anxious minutes and this would all be over.
She paced the empty station. No one else was getting on the early morning train. It would be stopping to pick up one lone passenger and the trollies that were piled high with goods and the bulging bags of mail waiting on the station to be loaded on board.
She turned to pace her way back along the station and was stopped in her tracks. She wasn’t alone after all. Dominic was running along the station and he didn’t look happy.
‘Nellie, what are you doing?’ he shouted, still halfway down the platform. ‘Were you going to leave without speaking to me? We need to talk after what happened between us.’
Nellie anxiously looked around the station. Was there anywhere she could flee to? No, she was being ridiculous. Soon the train would arrive. Then she could go back to London, back to her real life, but for now she was going to have to endure one more conversation with Dominic.
He stopped in front of her and grabbed her arms tightly. ‘Nellie, you can’t leave, not now, not like this.’
She drew in a shaky breath and looked up at him. The dark smudges under his eyes, his unshaven face and the grey tinge to his skin suggested he, too, had spent a sleepless night. And it was all her fault. Thanks to her he had lost everything. Lady Cecily had presumably given him his marching orders and how could Nellie blame her? There would be no connection to the Ashmores, no presentation at court for Violet and Emmaline, no royal balls, no dukes coming a’courting for his sisters, and all because Nellie Regan couldn’t resist this irresistible man.
And he was wrong. She could leave without speaking to him and that was exactly what she had planned to do. But that was now an impossibility. She was going to have to have one last, painful conversation with him, one that would end everything between them, one from which there would be no turning back.
She shook her head, lifted her chin and forced down all silly emotions, all unwanted desires. She hadn’t been strong last night, but she had to be strong now. ‘There’s nothing to say, Dominic, so don’t waste your breath.’
He reached down for her hands, but she placed them firmly behind her back. ‘Nellie, you can’t leave me, not without discussing what happened between us last night. Last night changed everything for us. We have to talk about it.’
She shook her head again. Last night had changed everything and that was why it should never have happened, that was why she had to leave. And Dominic needed to understand that. They had both succumbed to their passions, but in the cold light of day, she knew there was no future for them.
She forced herself to give a light laugh. ‘There’s nothing to discuss. We had a quick kiss and a fumble in the library. It wouldn’t be the first time that had happened between a master and a servant and I doubt it will be the last. There’s nothing more to talk about.’
Further colour drained from his already ashen face and he recoiled as if she had slapped him. The hands that were reaching out to her dropped to his sides and he took a step backwards. Nellie wanted to take him in her arms and soothe away the pain that was written on his face. She wanted to tell him that was not how she saw him, that she loved him. But her cruel words had the intended effect. They had made him see that he was better off without her in his life, causing him constant problems.
He had to realise the truth. There was no
