Dorothy didn’t respond. She simply walked past him, heading back the way she came, and Lucas watched her go. He wanted to run after her and escort her back, but if the earl and countess caught sight of him, there would be questions. Lucas was ready for that just yet.
“That didn’t go well, did it?” Frederica asked.
Lucas hadn’t noticed her move alongside him. He sighed.
“I don’t know. Maybe we shouldn’t have ambushed her so soon after returning.”
“We needed to do it at some point.” Frederica looked up at him. “What do you want to do?”
“I know what I want to do, but I think Dorothy might object to it.” Lucas looked back at Pierce, who was standing behind Frederica. “We’ll take our leave for now and head out to our Wales excursion. Once we return, we’ll look for an answer. I think that sounds fair.”
“Do you think you can cope being away from her for that long?” Pierce quipped.
Lucas ignored him, focusing on Frederica.
“Will you look after her?”
“Of course. I’ll stay for longer if necessary.” Frederica touched his arm. “Don’t worry. She’ll come around. I know she will.”
Lucas didn’t reply. Dorothy’s friend sounded more confident than he did right now. Even though he knew he wouldn’t be backing down, waiting for the answer would be difficult.
Chapter 14
Dorothy didn’t wait for Frederica to join her. She made her way through the woods, down into the garden, and the house by the side door. That way, she could creep up the stairs and into her bedchamber without anyone noticing. At least her mother wouldn’t notice.
She didn’t want to explain what was happening and why she was back this quickly. Frederica could figure out an excuse; Dorothy wasn’t going to do it.
Getting into her room, Dorothy kicked off her shoes and climbed into the bed, pulling the sheets and blankets over her head until it was dark. It helped calm her distress, but it didn’t slow her mind, racing over and over what had just happened.
Dashwood really wanted to court her? That didn’t seem real. Surely, she would wake up any second now and find that she was still in the carriage, trundling through the countryside on the way home. This couldn’t be happening.
But it was, and Dorothy felt like she didn’t know which way to turn.
Panic, confusion, and tiredness all warred together in Dorothy’s head, and they dragged her under. She slept, unable to do anything except give in to what was yanking her out of the real world. But everything was just pitch black. Comforting, wrapping around her and holding her close.
Dorothy’s last thought before she finally passed out was she had never had sleep do this to her before.
When Dorothy finally opened her eyes, she found she had shoved the sheets off her at some point, and now they were tangled around her waist. Her gown and undergarments had twisted around somehow, not fitting anywhere they were supposed to. One of her breasts was on the cusp of falling out of its confines.
Groaning, Dorothy wriggled around, moving her clothes back into place. Her dress was going to be crumpled and creased, but she didn’t care. Given what she had just been through, a creased dress was the least of her worries. She lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling as she let her bearings come back.
This was really confusing. Dorothy had told herself she would be glad never to encounter her ex-betrothed again, yet she was sad when Dashwood was gone. And when she saw him again, she didn’t know whether to be happy or upset.
At the time, being upset had won out, and Dorothy had clung onto it. She didn’t want to be ambushed in what was her territory, and with the help of her friend as well. She was certain that Frederica had something to do with it; how else would she know they were there?
Her friend had a lot to explain.
A knock on the door made Dorothy flinch. That hurt a bit more than she anticipated.
“Who is it?”
“It’s Frederica. Can I come in?”
It felt like someone had been listening and decided they should help out. Dorothy sat up and shuffled back on the cushions.
“Yes, come on in.”
The door opened, and Frederica stepped into the room. She gave Dorothy a gentle smile as she crossed to the bed.