Page 14 of How the Duke Saved Christmas

She didn’t find that comforting. Ignoring Michael, she pressed her case with her brother. “We’ll take the carriage as we planned and travel later into the day to make better time.” She gestured at her travel outfit with its heavy wool outer coat. “My bags are packed and waiting to be brought down, and I’m ready to depart.”

Her brother nodded toward the large windows that overlooked the lawn. Beyond the glass, the world had been blanketed in white during the night. Thick drifts of snow lay across the park and the fields beyond, and barren patches of white between stands of cement urns were the only indication of where the wide drive curved its way away from the house to the park’s front gates.

“A carriage isn’t going to make it out of the park let alone all the way to Kelso,” Anthony pointed out.

She whispered, her voice pathetically distraught even to her own ears, “Please don’t leave me behind.”

His shoulders slumped in a moment ofweakness, only for him to stiffen his spine with a shake of his head a moment later. “I won’t risk your safety by taking you out into this cold.”

“I will be fine.”

His expression turned to exasperation. “You won’t even go riding through the park in London because you always claim the weather isn’t right for it. How do you expect to handle the northern dales if we become snowbound?”

She looked away in shame at her feeble excuse to remain in the house instead of going out into London where people might stare. But he also wasn’t wrong. Whatwouldshe do if they become stuck in the snow?

“It’s only for a fortnight at most,” he explained. “Once I’m at Raleigh and know that all is well there, once the cold spell and storms have passed—”

Once he was certain she could make the rest of the trip, he meant.

“—then I’ll come back for you.”

“The holidays will be over by then,” she reminded him quietly. “And Marie will have had the baby.”

“It can’t be helped. Besides, Wakefield will take good care of you.” He exchanged a grim look with Michael. “I’m counting on you to make her happy.”

“I’ll do my best,” Michael drawled, seemingly not at all happy himself at the idea. “I promise you.”

Clara frowned. She’d heard what passed between the two men, yet she suspected far more to their communication. God only knew what the two of them had spent last night discussing over their port and cigars. Or what plot they’d hatched, including Anthony’s surprise departure this morning.

“Then I need to be off.” Anthony tugged anxiously at his coat sleeves to settle into place the layers of his jacket, shirts, and undergarments that would protect him from the worst of the cold. “I want to arrive in Kelso well before sunset.”

“Of course,” Michael agreed quickly before Clara could protest again. “You might even be able to reach Stichell before then if the roads north of the river aren’t too badly drifted.”

Anthony’s smile seemed forced. Perhaps he wasn’t as certain of his plan as he seemed.

“If they are,” Clara reminded him, “you can always turn back. No one’s sending you away from Northbourne.” She pointedly looked past him at Michael. “Are they?”

Michael gave her the same forced smile as her brother. “Not at all.”

Hmm…thatwasn’t at all believable. She bit her bottom lip. What were those two scheming? And why had they wrapped her up in their plans?

“Goodbye, then.” Anthony came forward to place a kiss to her cheek. Before he pulled away, he whispered into her ear, “Remember that Wakefield only has your best interests at heart.”

She very much doubted that.

He hurried toward the door and tugged on his gloves as he went. When he passed Michael, he pulled at the brim of his hat, but the solemn gesture appeared not at all indicative of a happy departure.

Clara watched through the drawing room’s open double doors as he strode through the entrance hall to the front door. Eads swung open the door with a shallow bow, and Anthony walked out of the house and into the winter morning, across the portico, and down the steps to where two horses waited for him and Michael’s groom. She could just see through the front door’s side lights as he mounted his horse. The two men set off, down the drifted drive and out of sight.

“He’ll be fine.” The deep voice snagged back her attention.

Michael leaned a shoulder against the doorframe, and her belly clenched at the sight. She’d forgotten how wonderful he looked in the morning when he was freshly shaven and dressed, when his eyes sparkled with all the possibilities for the new day. Even now, a lock of misbehaving hair fell rakishly across his forehead and only added to the visceral allure of him.

Her eyes darted toward the front door. Anthony was gone and not coming back for at least a fortnight, while she would be here with Michael.

She was in serious trouble.

“Gordon is one of the best riders I’ve ever met,” he commented. “He’ll make certain they don’t overtire their horses or themselves, and he won’t let your brother ride in conditions that aren’t safe. I trust him.”