“Oh, Hugh,” she murmured.
The shop assistant stopped in front of them and bowed low. “Welcome to Butlers. How may I be of assistance to you today?”
Hugh turned and smiled at the man. “Good morning, I am Lord Hugh Radley, and this is my friend Miss Mary Gray. Miss Gray is staying with my family at Strathmore Castle for Christmas. As her wardrobe is more suited to the warmer climes of England, I was thinking she might need kitting out with a full Scottish wardrobe. What do you think?”
Mary’s mouth opened, but Hugh ignored her attempted protest.
The shop assistant held his hands together tightly; a nice Christmas commission would come from such a sale. “I could not agree more, my lord. May I suggest we begin with a pair of tackety half-boots to ensure Miss Gray has a sure footing in the snow, and then move on to the woolens section?”
“Perfect.”
Mary’s cheeks continued to burn until they finally left Butlers several hours later. In that time, Hugh had spent, in her opinion, an outrageous sum of money on a new wardrobe for her. Her second attempt at protesting over his extravagance was ignored by both Hugh and the shop assistant; they were too busy deciding on the color of the hat which was to go with her new coat.
But it was not just the amount of money Hugh had spent on her which had Mary’s heart racing. It was the brief and often light touches of his hand whenever he drew near. When he handed her a pair of kid leather gloves, she felt the heat of his fingers as they brushed against hers. She trembled at his touch.
When he reached out and tucked a wayward curl behind her ear after she had finished trying on a hat, Mary didn’t know where to look. A pair of piercing blue eyes met her gaze. The smile which accompanied them took her breath away.
“Since you cannot choose between the forest green one and the chocolate brown one, I think we should take both,” he said. He was so close to her that she caught the hint of musk and jasmine. Hugh was wearing the cologne she had given to him.
She pretended not to look at the price tag of the hat, having already been gently scolded for wincing when she looked at the price of the coat Hugh had chosen for her earlier. He was determined to spoil her, and she knew nothing that she said would have the slightest effect on him completing his mission.
When they returned to the inn later that afternoon, Mary’s faint hopes of hearing Adelaide censure her brother over his prodigality were immediately dashed.
“Oh my, aren’t you the kick!” exclaimed Adelaide, her gaze moving up from Mary’s green coat to her matching hat.
Mary was tempted to pinch Hugh when she saw the sly smile which sat on his lips. He seemed so very pleased with himself. Happiness made him even more handsome.
“It took the combined efforts of myself and an enthusiastic shop assistant at Butlers to win the day, but I think we all did well. Including Mary,” he said.
“Yes, you did, and Mary, you look wonderful. I must confess I was going to go through the tall cupboards at the castle and see what spare winter clothes we had so that you would not freeze. It is hard to eat supper when your teeth are continually chattering,” said Adelaide.
Charles appeared in the room, carrying a smiling Will. Adelaide hurriedly scooped her son up into her arms. “Did your papa rescue you from a long sleep?” she cooed.
“Actually, we both had a very long sleep. I put him down and went to have a five-minute sieste on the bed; the next thing I knew, it was three hours later,” replied Charles.
Charles looked at Mary and her new attire, then looked back to his wife. Mary caught the slight raise of an eyebrow as he and Adelaide exchanged a knowing look.
“Well, that is good. It means you will be able to get up to him in the middle of the night and I might get some sleep,” replied Adelaide.
Hugh cleared his throat. “Speaking of sleep, I thought we might like to have an early supper this evening so we can be on the road at first light. I have reserved a private dining room.”
If his efforts at shopping earlier in the day had been a surprise, the fact that Hugh had made arrangements of any sort was a revelation to Mary. He was forever forgetting to eat, so much so that she suspected the toast she regularly made for him in the evenings was the only meal he ate some days.
The Hugh Radley who now stood beside her was revealing himself to be a different man to the one she had thought she knew over the last two or so years. There was something in his manner that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. It intrigued her.
She had developed a habit of chancing a look in his direction every so often, continuing her ongoing private study of him. But over the past few days, there had been several occasions when she had turned to Hugh, intent on sneaking a glance, only to find him looking at her.
Just as he was doing this very moment.
She forced herself to look away, fearful that if she continued to hold his gaze that he may finally see what she was certain was written all over her face.
She was hopelessly and irretrievably in love with him.
Chapter Eight
Mary had lived a sheltered life. Her knowledge of the world, and even England for that matter, came mostly from books. With her father devoting his time to the university, there had been little opportunity for them to travel outside Cambridge. She had been to London once, but that had been for a series of lectures
