Tuesday, March 22, 2022

Teaser Tuesday - A Season for Smugglers


 

Lily

Staring out the window at the rolling greenery outside of London, Lily heaved a sigh of relief. Across the barouche-landau, on the opposite bench, her maid looked up at her with an inquisitive brow before deciding Lily had not actually been trying to catch her attention and looked away again. Thankfully, Chastity was used to Lily’s preference for quiet reflection over constant chattering.

The lady’s maid had been a gift from the Duchess of Frederick, Lily’s godmother, during the Season, but they had rubbed along well, so Lily had asked if Chastity would extend her employment and accompany her to the country. It was a special boon because Lily had left for Derbyshire several days before her parents, permissible only because she had her lady’s maid to travel with her as an erstwhile chaperone. As there was no need to spend the night at an inn, she did not need a more formidable one.

Sighing happily again, Lily leaned back against her bench seat, inwardly smiling when Chastity ignored her this time. Several years older, Chastity’s sober demeanor was a good match for Lily’s quiet, bookish ways.

If she never had to go to London for the Season again, she would be perfectly happy. The only reason she had done so was her friend Evie had asked her and her other two best friends. Josie had thrived on her first foray into Society, and Mary had deftly dealt with her second Season, but Lily had hated every moment.

Gentlemen, she had discovered, did not like a woman with their own mind. At least, not the nincompoops she had been introduced to. Several had been drawn in by her relationship with the Duke and Duchess of Frederick, but they had not stayed after realizing Lily was the type to speak her mind. Which was a relief, even if it was lowering. She had always imagined marrying and having children, but if that was what London had to offer…

Unfortunately, the options in Derbyshire were not much better. Perhaps she would become an aged bluestocking spinster, firmly on the shelf, playing doting auntie to her friends’ children. After her first Season, Lily found the prospect far more appealing than she would have countenanced at the beginning.

Granted, she had not gone into the Season with high hopes, knowing well she was not what many considered ‘sociable,’ but whatever hopes she’d had were quickly crushed underfoot by the general attitudes of the ton. Her very first week out in Society, she’d heard the incredibly handsome Lord Broderick—with who she’d thought she’d had a very interesting conversation—remark to one of his friends that the only way she would find a husband would be to sew her mouth shut.

After that, to gauge the gentlemen’s reactions, Lily had become even more outspoken about her views and opinions. Like Lord Broderick, they were polite enough to her face, but she saw through their facades and overheard some of their comments, enough to know those gentlemen were assuredly not for her.

The carriage came to a sudden, jerking stop, tumbling the occupants about. Chastity cried out, flinging her arms wide as she was thrown forward, and Lily opened hers to catch her. They fell back against Lily’s bench, shocked by the abrupt halt.

“Stand and deliver!”

What? A highwayman? Lily and Chastity exchanged disbelieving looks before Lily quickly released her maid and knowing she was being a perfect twit, leaned out the window to see a man on horseback, wearing a long black cape and mask, pointing a gun at the carriage.

Botheration. This was the last thing she needed today.

“I said, stand and deliver!”

“We’ve already stopped,” Lily called back waspishly. “What do you want delivered? And how?”

“Miss, get back in the coach,” the driver ordered. Lily scowled. She was not out of the coach. Not truly. “I will deal with this blaggard.”

“No-“ But her protest was cut off and she watched in horror as her driver lifted his own arm, gun in hand, only to jerk back against the seat. The sound of the highway man’s gunshot seemed to echo across the fields and her entire body went numb with shock. The driver slumped and fell down to the ground, startling the horses and Lily was flung back painfully against the window’s edge, causing her to fall back into the carriage as the horses lurched forward.

Her maid screamed, but the movement was over almost as soon as it began, and through the ringing in her ears, she could hear the highwayman shouting something.

He stopped the horses from running away with us.

Is that good or bad?

They were not in a runaway carriage, but that meant they were now at the mercy of the highwayman.

He killed the driver.

And Lily did not even know the man’s name. Had not asked. A fact which she now felt wildly guilty about. The man had meant to defend her, and perhaps he had gone about it foolishly, but to pay with his life and she had not even known his name…

This is not a constructive line of thought and you do not have time to dwell. You can find out his name later. Right now you need to get you and Chastity out of this alive.

The door to the carriage was yanked open, and Chastity screamed again, quickly covering her mouth with her hands as a gun was leveled at them. The highwayman was dressed completely in black, his face mostly hidden by a black scarf wound around the lower half of it and the hat pulled down atop his head, but she could still see his cold, dark eyes as his gaze flickered back and forth between her and Chastity.

Fear for her life, the first time she had ever felt such a thing, paralyzed her.


*******

Make sure to get your copy now and receive the special preorder price!

Amazon   Apple   Kobo   Nook   All Other Retailers

Google Play not yet available

No comments:

Post a Comment