As the coach pulled away from the cottage, she turned to Rayne at once. “I gather Ackerby agreed to sell you the necklace?”
“Yes. You needn’t worry about him any further, Madeline. He means to drop the entire matter.”
“He did not appear too happy about it.”
“He was not,” Rayne replied dryly. “Particularly since I warned him that if he dared to threaten you or your brother again, I wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet through him. But I gave him a signed vowel, which he will redeem as soon as he returns to London.”
“How much did you offer him?”
Rayne hesitated a moment. “Ten thousand pounds.”
Swallowing a gasp, Madeline gazed at him with regret. He had paid an outrageously exorbitant price so that Gerard could gain approval for his marriage. “I wish it had not cost you so very much.”
“It was worth it to free your brother from his difficulties. And before you protest your increased debt to me, you should know that I consider the necklace our wedding present to Gerard.”
She felt a rush of gratitude toward Rayne. She had wanted to give her brother a chance for happiness, but Rayne had made it possible. If she hadn’t fallen in love with him before, his generosity would have won her heart irrevocably.
Still, she knew her own chance for happiness had grown depressingly more dim. At the moment she couldn’t read a single emotion on Rayne’s face, but she couldn’t forget his ugly suspicions about her. Without even basic trust between them, she doubted he would ever return her love.
His tone, however, was rather quiet when he spoke again. “I suggest we return to the inn to pay your shot and collect your clothing. And I need a word with James before we return to London.”
Madeline looked a question at him. “We?”
“Yes,” Rayne replied. “I’ll discharge your hired carriage so that you may travel with me. I have urgent business to attend to in London, so I must be on my way as soon as possible.”
She felt uneasy at his plan. With their marriage on such precarious ground, she didn’t know if she could bear so many hours in a closed coach with Rayne. Yet after all he had done for her, she had no right to argue.
When they arrived at The Blue Boar, Madeline dutifully went upstairs to collect her valise. Then, while Rayne attended to the other matters he had spoken of, she returned to his coach to wait for him.
She was deep in her morose thoughts when Mrs. Pilling came hurrying out to the yard, carrying a large basket, which she handed inside to Madeline. “His lordship ordered victuals for you, my lady. And some hot bricks for your feet.”
It was considerate of Rayne to think of her comfort, Madeline admitted, even though his thoughtfulness was likely driven more by mere courtesy and his particular brand of chivalry toward the fair sex than by his desire to succor her specifically.
The bricks were very welcome, considering how chilled she was. But that, too, was a measure of her despondency, since she suspected her shivers were not solely caused by the brisk weather.
When eventually Rayne settled beside her on the velvet squabs, the feminine places in her body reacted as they always did to his nearness, with heat and longing. Yet other parts of her—her stomach especially—responded by tightening. This was the moment she had been dreading. She couldn’t face any more of Rayne’s damning accusations just now, not when her defenses were so frail.
As the coach began to move, they stared at each other for a long drawn-out beat, the tension rife between them.
Then Rayne surprised her by handing over her pistol. “James professes his thanks for its use.”
To her further surprise, Rayne’s mouth quirked with a semblance of his former humor as she tucked the weapon safely in her reticule. “Isn’t this how we first met? At an inn, with me returning your pistol after you brandished it at me
?”
Madeline, however, could not bring herself to smile at the memory, or argue that she had never actually brandished the weapon at him. Just now she could only regret that first unexpected meeting with Rayne. If not for that, she would never have fallen headlong in love with him and made herself so pathetically vulnerable to crushing heartache.
When she remained silent, Rayne indicated the basket on the floor. “Why don’t you see what Mrs. Pilling supplied? You need to eat.”
She was not particularly hungry, despite the fact that the danger to her brother had passed. But eating offered a distraction from her conflict with Rayne, so she inspected the contents of the basket, finding bread and cheese and cold meats, a bottle of wine, and a flask of hot tea.
Madeline partook of the food without enthusiasm, while Rayne settled for a glass of wine. Eventually he broke the silence.
“I am fully aware that I owe you an apology, Madeline. Several in fact.”
At his quiet admission, she went still, scarcely believing she had heard correctly. Her gaze flew to his face and remained there while he continued.
“You should have come to me when you first realized your brother was in trouble, but I should have been more accepting of your reasons. I regret the accusations I made, sweetheart. I should have known you would not be trysting with a lover.”