Chapter Ten

S he waited in a daze. She tried to go about her usual duties, speaking with the staff, checking on the kitchen, or assisting the maids. They needed new supplies for cleaning and a part of Elizabeth knew the thing to do was pass the information along to Mrs. Dawson.

After all, she was the one who held the purse strings for supplies.

Every interaction in the house left another layer of bitterness over what she already felt. Had the previous supplies been purchased with her money? When Mrs. Dawson ordered a new dress in London and refused Elizabeth, had she used Elizabeth's money?

Had the extravagant assortment of food at the breakfast table been there because of her estate?

Normally, she let most of Mr. Thompson's unwanted glances and caustic remarks slide off of her because she had little choice but to do anything else. Today, she had wanted to spring from the table and fling every insult back at him.

He had shoveled in a large bite of eggs and she chose that moment to bring up that she had heard one of the chickens was ill. She hoped the eggs hadn't been mixed up.

Mr. Thompson opened his mouth and let his bite fall out of his mouth in a disgusting waterfall of chewed food.

She worried there was something in her manner that gave away her riot of feelings because Mr. Dawson kept glancing at her with a shrewd wariness, his mouth pursed and his eyes assessing. By the third silent calculating look, Elizabeth started to worry that he would be a problem when she tried to leave tonight.

She had to stay calm. She had to stay meek. She had to remember how to be the woman she had been yesterday.

But she wasn't. She had known, from studying with her father, that knowledge was a powerful thing, but it was staggering how much of a difference a lack of knowledge could make.

It was empowering to know what was truly happening around her and she cursed a world that had left her in such a situation.

Even if her highwayman had only told her about her inheritance and not offered to help, the knowledge of it gave her a renewed vigor for life. She felt she had options she had never had before. She would do anything now to leave, to find her way to her father's solicitor, to her property.

She would find a way.

Which left her wondering what to do about her highwayman.

So far, she had lived within the confines of what others expected of her. Not that she regretted how safe she had been with her father, but it had been easy to follow along with what he wanted. And she assumed she wanted to carry on with what he had been doing because that was what felt safe and familiar.

It wasn't that she didn't want to become a woman of science. Exploring and adding to what she knew compelled her. Now that she had voiced certain desires, she didn't want to let them go.

But her highwayman was not the safe path she had always envisioned for her life. He was unknown, someone interesting and a little bit dangerous, someone she could explore.

Packing her spare chemise and her tooth powder into a bag, she felt a blush heat her cheeks. She wanted to explore all of him. He had an interesting mind that planned and plotted. He decided to do something and then he set about doing it.

But the things he did struck her as wild. He had gone to extremes to get what he wanted and he made her wonder how far she could push herself to change her own life. If he could do it, then so could she.

She was done with sitting around, letting life happen to her and around her.

Which led her to seriously question what she wanted.

Truthfully, she wanted her highwayman. That blush blossomed a little higher into her cheeks as she remembered the feel of his long body against hers. Kissing him had been worlds apart from a quick kiss from a boy behind a building. His physical attentiveness to her had felt like a sensual smoke curling throughout her body. Just like the scent of a smoky fireplace could hang onto clothes, passion now lingered within her, an ever-present reminder of what she desired.

Him.

He was a risk, but choosing him couldn't be worse than staying with the Dawsons. Ever since he had entered her life, it had felt like fate.

He happened to hold up their carriage just as her one-year mourning period was over. She knew the Dawsons were going to press her into marriage. But her highwayman had stolen, of all things, a chest of papers that held vital information that he had given to her. It was all so much of a coincidence.

She couldn't say if it was love at first sight, but from the first moment, he had stuck in her mind in a way that wouldn't be ignored.

It was almost as if life was finally giving her an answer and she, despite being a logical woman of science, didn't feel she could refuse the signs that this was her moment to make changes.

So she would go to her highwayman. She would meet him at the inn. She would let him take her away from here.

A little thrill raced through her body. Her future was so uncertain but she refused to look at the days ahead of her with anything less than hope.

She only had to leave the house undetected.