Chapter 29

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

L eo saw Cyn up ahead of him, talking to Harriet, who was likely explaining what would take place. It would be detailed, as was Harriet's way.

Cyn was on his team along with Fred and standing at the first table, looking confused and adorable. An unsettled Lady Lowell was vastly different to the controlled, aloof one she usually portrayed.

"Do you love that girl, Leo?"

"What?" He spun to face his uncle.

"Of course he does," Alex scoffed. "He can't keep his eyes off her."

"Yes, thank you, Alex, that will do," Leo said.

"Nephew, it is the first time I have felt a lightness in you since I walked into your father's town house many years ago. She is driving your demons away, Leo."

Is she?

"Control is important to you, Leo. Control means you don't have messy emotions. Those you only have when with us," Uncle Bram added. "But I can see you unraveling, and I like it. If Cyn is the reason, then you need to see that. "

"Ellen unraveled me," Gray said, listening shamelessly along with Alex.

"Like the edge of your knee blanket, do you mean?" Alex needled him.

"‘Come forth into the light of things,'" Mavis Johns said from the end of the line, where she always stood. "‘Let love be your teacher,' my lord."

They all stared at her. Mavis never offered a comment and usually only managed a few words if she spoke. She was the only woman who ran with men on the first leg, as she could hold her liquor better than anyone.

"Was that Wordsworth?" Alex asked.

"She substituted love for nature," Mungo said.

"How do you know that?" Leo asked, and the Scotsman's cheeks tinged pink.

"You read Wordsworth?" Alex whistled. "You have hidden depths, Mungo."

"Shut up," he growled.

"Very well said, Mavis," Uncle Bram said. "And accurate."

"I do believe the ground just moved," Leo muttered. "Now Mavis is quoting poetry at me."

"Are we ready?" Mr. Greedy boomed. "Go!"

They ran to the first table, manned by the Alvins.

"Hand that drink to Lady Lowell, Pixie," Mr. Alvin said to his sister. Both looked like Egyptian mummies, as they were wrapped up in so many layers of clothing.

"I should drink that," Leo said.

"Give her the pickled whelk then," Mr. Alvin said.

"Watch Mavis doesn't drink on the run!" Alex roared. Mavis shot him a smug look, then threw back her drink and glared at the young Douglas on her team, who Leo thought was named Todd. The lad swallowed the pickled whelk and then retched .

"I'm not eating that." Cyn wrinkled her nose, and Leo fought the urge to kiss it.

"Fine, don't say I didn't warn you." He handed her the cup and picked up the plate. Exhaling slowly, he swallowed it whole and managed not to gag.

Cyn was still sniffing the contents when he'd finished choking it down.

"Drink and be quick about it. They are getting away from us," Leo said. "It's a race."

Closing her eyes, she threw it back. They shot open, and her face turned red.

"Swallow," Leo ordered.

She did, choking. He then took her hand, and they were running seconds later.

"Wh-what was in that?" she gasped.

"Gin, treacle, and the secret ingredient of mutton fat." She made a gagging sound. "You could have eaten the pickled whelk."

They weren't running fast, as Cyn was sore, but Leo didn't mind. She was here and, for a brief moment, could forget about the hell that had descended upon her.

Fred was waiting for them at the next table, which was manned by the Varneys.

"Hurry it up!" his sister roared. "We would be last were it not for Mungo tripping Gray and him ending up on the ground."

"I'm old enough to drink now," Theo said.

"Very well," Uncle Bram said. "But do not moan tomorrow when your head hurts."

Theo wisely handed the alcohol to Mungo, who threw it back like it was water.

"Cake for Lady Lowell, please, Miss Varney," Leo said to the woman who was baring far too much of her chest and fluttering her lashes at Mungo, who was scowling back at her.

"He's shy," Gray said, finally reaching them. "But lonely, Miss Varney. So do not give up on our favorite Scotsman. He is secretly yearning for love. Secretly yearning for you."

Mungo lunged at Gray, who ducked and hid behind Alex.

"Large bites, Cyn," Fred ordered with her mouth full of smelly kipper as Leo drank the alcohol. "Or we will be here until midnight."

Cyn shoved all the cake into her mouth.

"Nice work, my lady," Leo said. She couldn't reply, as she was attempting to swallow it.

"Let's go."

At the next table, they picked up Anna, who was tapping her foot.

"Now, Cyn, there is not enough to eat or drink, so there will be a task," Leo said.

"Oh dear, r-really?" Her eyes had a look in them that hadn't been there before she'd taken that drink.

"It's a deuced chilly day," Anna said.

"Here, Anna? Really?" Theo sighed.

"Here." The girl nodded.

The Nightingales all jumped in the air twice and then turned in two circles.

"What are you doing?" Cyn asked.

"Deuced is the word of the day," Theo said. "Whoever sets the word sets the actions."

"I have no idea what that means." She frowned.

"I'll tell you later. Right now, choose something off the table."

"You'll enjoy this, my lady," Mr. Douglas said, nudging a cup toward her.

"It's molasses whisky," Fred said. "Hurry it along, Cyn."

She took a sip and then smiled, making a sound in her throat that he thought he'd like to hear from her when she was naked and beneath him, which he should not be thinking about right now.

She threw back the contents while he ate the cake and Fred recited the alphabet backward.

Gray stumbled into Alex, with Ellen attempting to right him.

"It's truly pathetic that a hard-nosed detective like you cannot hold his liquor," Leo said, righting his brother-in-law. "And yet at every games, you insist on drinking."

Gray just smiled, and Ellen rolled her eyes.

"Can you manage him, sister?"

"I can."

Chester was bounding along beside them, looking happy with himself as people lobbed food at him.

At the last table, Cyn was now considerably more talkative but not completely foxed. He'd stopped her from drinking by shoving food at her. Leo was used to the games, but even he got lightheaded by the end. But this was his favorite table.

Fred got the cinnamon biscuit, and Tabitha Varney, who had joined into their team so she could continue flirting with Mungo, took the cake. Anna was currently reciting the poem on the paper she held while skipping.

"What's that?" Cyn asked, pointing to a plate of food that was wobbling.

"Aspic jelly."

"Absolutely not," she said slowly. "I refuse to eat that."

Leo picked it up and held it before her face. She gagged.

"This or the alcohol?"

She shook her head. Leo looked around to see who had eyes on them, and no one did, so he lobbed the contents of the plate over his shoulder.

"Smack your lips and say yummy," he whispered .

She did loudly, and her yum was convincing.

"Good girl." Leo drank a mouthful of spiced rum. "Try this. It's very nice."

She sipped and then took another mouthful. "It's very good."

Leo threw the rest back. "And we are done."

Cyn frowned. "It's over?"

"We lost," Anna and Fred said, scowling.

"Well, you both need to try harder next time," Leo said. They rolled their eyes and ran off holding hands.

"I was enjoying myself. There is so much laughter here," Cyn said, turning in a circle.

"There is, but I think it's time I took you home," Leo said.

She sighed. "Yes, you are likely right. This is not my life." The words came out tinged with sadness.

But it could be. However, he kept that thought to himself.

After a long goodbye to his family and Mungo had collected the carriage, he put Cyn inside.

"Are you safe to drive, Mungo? You are not seeing two of everything, are you?" Leo said, taunting the Scotsman, as was expected of him.

"Get inside before I thrash you," Mungo replied.

Laughing, Leo did just that. He took the seat next to Cyn.

"I like your family very much, Leo."

"They like you too." He took the hand she had on her knee and laced it through his fingers.

"Can I ask you a favor, Leo?"

"Anything."

"Can I have my cuff link back?"

Rolling up his cuff, he removed the one he'd taken back from her that night he'd saved her from the water.

"Thank you." She closed her fingers around it on a sigh. "It has been through much with me." She then leaned on his shoulder. Minutes after the carriage had rolled out of Crabbett Close, she was asleep.

What did he do now? What did he want with this woman? He felt a slither of panic that he forced down. Before he could make any decision, he had to make sure she was safe. That had to be the priority.

He woke Cyn as they stopped. "We are here now," he said, easing her head off his shoulder. She opened her sleepy eyes, and he felt that weight heavy inside his chest.

"Come." He helped her from the carriage.

"Go home now, Mungo. I will take a hackney."

"You'll have a care with her?"

"I will."

"And yourself," Mungo said. He then clicked his tongue, and the carriage was rolling away.

Leo opened the door, as there was no sign of the butler. Cyn took off her things, and he placed his hat and coat beside them. She then staggered slightly.

"Where is your room? I will help you there," Leo said.

"I-I'm just weary."

"I know. Let me see you safely to your room, Cyn, and then I will leave. You are exhausted."

They both knew she could simply call her staff, but instead, they climbed the stairs and reached her room. Cyn opened the door and stepped inside.

"I will leave you now," he said, standing in the doorway.

She turned to face him and then leaned in to kiss him. "Will you hold me, Leo?"

"It is not right that I am even standing here in your doorway, Cyn. But to enter and?—"

"I care little what people think. Right now, I want you to hold me, because then I feel safe. You make me believe everything is going to be all right. "

"That's the alcohol talking," he said, reaching for her. Just a kiss, and then he'd leave.

"No, it's me talking." She grabbed his hand and pulled him inside.

Leo kicked the door shut and took her in his arms. Their lips met in a long, heated kiss.

"Cyn," he whispered.

"Don't leave me."

"Do you know what you are asking from me?"

She nodded. "Make me feel, Leo. No one has ever done that for me before."

Her husband was a fool if he had not cherished this beautiful woman.

"Be sure," he said, moving closer.

"I am," she whispered against his lips.

"Your staff?"

"Will not enter my room without permission. I am a widow, Leo."

"And therefore, the rules differ from other women?"

She nodded, and that was enough for him. He locked the door.