Lord Melvedere's Ghost by Rebecca King Page B

“As you seem to be my
self-appointed protector, I would just like to make one objection
to my treatment.” Cecily had no idea where this emboldened side of
her was coming from, but didn’t really care at that moment, and
merely turned inelegantly to glare upward at him. She heard the
snigger Jonathan tried to hide around a loud cough and merely
smiled obliquely at a glowering Jamie.
    “ Objections, my lady?” Jamie drawled.
    “ Yes. Unless you want me to start chewing the squabs in here,
can you throw this mere peasant some food? Assuming you have some
food left, that is.”
    Jamie
shared an askance look at Jonathan, who was busy hiding his
laughter in the folds of his coachman’s cloak.
    “ She is going to be the death of me,” Jamie growled, rummaging
through the saddle bag at his feet. His own lip curled at the sight
of the flattened, slightly furry bread he drew out and he threw it
in disgust at the hedgerow. “We need to stop.”
    Jonathan
rolled his eyes. “We are going to get our throats cut,” he
muttered, hearing his own stomach rumble.
    “ I don’t know what you are finding so bloody funny,” Jamie
grumbled, snuggling down into his own cloak and blithely ignoring
the loud slamming of the window below them.
    “ She is funny. I like her,” Jonathan threw his friend a
commiserating look which was wasted by his chuckling. “She is going
to be good for you.”
    “ I’m not bloody keeping her,” Jamie snarled, shaking his head
at his own stupidity. “She is rude, argumentative, stubborn
–”
    “ Pretty, clever, strong,” Jonathan countered, turning the
carriage toward the main street and the coaching inn at the far
end.
    “ A pain in the preverbial. Stoic, too bloody kind hearted for
her own good.”
    “ Exactly.”
    “ She is a fishwife!” Jamie snorted in disgust.
    “ Exactly. Perfect for you.” Jonathan retorted, making no
attempt to hide his mirth.
    “ Thanks for that, friend, really. I appreciate your
support.”
    “ I am just saying that you need someone who is strong willed at
your back. You need someone like her. Someone who isn’t afraid to
stand up for what she believes in. She may be a bit naive when it
comes to keeping herself safe, but she is fiery enough to keep you
on your toes. That is just what you need. I cannot imagine you
settling down to a life of boring matrimony,” Jonathan snorted,
wondering why anyone would be stupid enough to want to commit to
anyone, especially when there were so many willing, and available,
females around.
    “ I am not going to -” Jamie sighed. If he was entirely honest,
that was exactly why he wanted to take her to Melvedere.
    “ Look on the bright side,” Jonathan sighed, frantically
thinking of any bright side to Jamie’s disquiet. “Simon and Hugo
didn’t seem to be the marrying kind either, but look at them. Simon
keeps wandering around grinning like an idiot, and if Hugo’s brood
gets any bigger they are going to have to build yet another
extension. His list of nannies will soon be bigger than the Star
Elite.”
    Jamie
threw his friend a grin and shook his head. He couldn’t help but
think about the rigmarole both Hugo and Simon had been forced to go
through in order to secure their ladies’ hands in marriage, and
shuddered at the thought of his own situation with
Cecily.
    “ Yours isn’t that bad,” Jonathan murmured quietly, sensing
Jamie’s thoughts.
    “ How do you do that?” Jamie shifted uncomfortably. He had never
been entirely comfortable with Jonathan’s ability to read another
person’s mind, it was unnerving.
    “ It is a gift.” Or a curse, I am not
sure which , Jonathan thought bleakly. It
was something he had never spent too much time thinking about
before. His strange ability had served him well throughout his time
with the Star Elite, and had saved his life on more than one
occasion, even though it unnerved those around him. He wasn’t sure
where it came from, but he was very rarely wrong when he did