Belmary House Book One by Cassidy Cayman Page B

down next to the tray and frowned up at him. He really did look quite pained.
    “Go ahead,” she said. Her appetite was ruined but she stabbed a sausage with a fork and tore into it. He covered his mouth and she saw with fury that he was once again trying not to laugh. “Is something funny?” she demanded.
    He shook his head. “I came here with sincere intent, I promise you I did. But you looked so savage—” he stopped abruptly, eyes widening. “Never mind that right now. You’ll probably kill me in my sleep if I continue that thought.”
    “I’m going to kill you right now, while you’re awake, if you don’t say what you came to say. Weren’t you in a big hurry a few minutes ago?” He cleared his throat again and took a step toward her, but stopped when she held out her hand. “I can hear you perfectly well from where you’re standing now.”
    “Very well.” His eyes sparkled like black diamonds and she stabbed at a fried potato. He pressed his lips together before continuing. “I gave some careful consideration to your words last night and came to the conclusion that I owe you an apology.”
    She paused with the fork halfway to her lips. “Really?” She could barely believe it, and waited patiently. Finally putting the fork down, she prompted, “Well?”
    He nodded and sat beside her so quickly, he almost knocked over her breakfast tray. His weight made her sink toward him, his body heat going straight through her velvet robe as she brushed against him. She grabbed onto the handle to keep the teapot from sliding off the tray and looked at him. The intensity in his eyes made her look away at first, but drew her back. He pushed the teapot to a safe spot and took her hand.
    “I am truly contrite, Miss Jacobs. I treated you abominably for my own gain. I admit I am sometimes thoughtless, but my behavior towards you went beyond the pale. The breakfast was indeed a bribe, so I apologize for that as well, but I hope you’ll still enjoy it.”
    He wiped his brow as if he’d run a marathon and even though his words were stilted, his sincerity shone through his dismal expression. Her heart broke a little at how difficult it seemed for him to be able to express his feelings. She looked at his hand that still held onto hers and sighed.
    “That was a pretty fancy apology,” she said begrudgingly. Even though she forgave him, she wanted him to work a little harder.
    He ran his thumb across the back of her hand and smiled crookedly. “One of my father’s biggest disappointments in me was my inability to get a point across.” He let go of her hand and stood. “I meant it, though. I won’t treat you that way again. I’m sorry.”
    “Okay,” she said simply, taking her fork. “Let me finish this and then I’ll get dressed.”
    He glanced at his pocket watch and frowned. “I’ll send Nora up straight away. You have ten minutes or we’ll leave without you.”
    She shrugged as he made his way to the door, unphased that rude Ashford was back. His awkward but sincere apology told her that there was a nice man underneath it all.
    “If you leave I’ll just find myself a new benefactor,” she said.
    He turned to glare at her with such ferocity before storming out that she got dressed in a hurry, making it downstairs with seconds to spare.

    ***

    Tilly woke with a start when the carriage went through a rut in the seemingly endless road to Scotland. Mortified to find she’d flopped halfway onto Ashford’s lap, she saw he looked equally embarrassed. Clearly not wanting to wake her, his hand hovered in the air as if he’d been trying not to rest it on her while she slept.
    She wondered how long she’d been out and how long he’d been sitting there with his arm raised. It was sweet that he’d let her sleep though, and hadn’t dumped her onto the carriage floor. Getting back to form, he began ignoring her and she stretched and looked out the windows. Surprise, surprise. More hilly countryside.
    “Can we