Page 2 of One Jewel-tide Scandal (Singular Sensation #10.5)

So why the devil was he leaving London and the club to spend Christmastide with his own personal family, ones who thought him less than or not good enough?

When he huffed out a breath, it fogged the window glass.

To be honest, he simply needed a break from everything in an effort to find an elusive calm, but being with family wasn’t that answer.

However, it was an obligation, and he hadn’t seen his siblings for a while.

Could he endure the incessant questions and criticisms merely to keep the relationships intact?

An ominous cracking sound infiltrated the interior of the vehicle and wrenched him from his thoughts.

The beagle lifted his head with a low whine.

Before Alex could inquire with the driver, a louder snapping sound rang in his ears.

The traveling coach tilted wildly to the left, causing him to slide over the bench and crash into that wall.

His valise tumbled to the floorboards. Charlie bounded up with a concerned bark.

“What the devil?” Quickly, Alex gathered the dog in his arms to prevent further jostling. “Sam! What happened?” Due to the extreme leaning of the coach, he couldn’t stay upright, and there would be no chance to open the door on that side since it was jammed half against the snow-covered ground.

“I apologize, Sir Alexander, but we must have broken an axle, and the wheel has no doubt snapped as well. Terrible treacherous the roads are in this snow. We’re not going further this afternoon. I’ll have you out soon.”

Alex frowned at his dog. “What are we going to do out on the road, pray tell?”

A soft woof of worry was his only answer.

Seconds later, the door on the right side was flung open. Sam removed the folded steps, for they weren’t needed just now.

“You’ll have to climb out,” the driver advised. “Hand me the dog.” Then he thrust an arm into the leaning vehicle.

Without hesitation, Alex gave the beagle into his driver’s care. “Is the wheel and axle fixable?” He grabbed his valise and handed it to the driver when he returned from presumably depositing the dog on the ground.

“I imagine the wheel might be mended, but the axle will need replacing.” Sam offered a hand to and pulled him up as Alex scrambled out of the coach.

He swung his legs over the side. Charlie, poor soul, stood to one side of the incapacitated vehicle with the snow up to his back.

“What do we do now? We can’t both pull the coach to safety or shelter, even if we knew where that was.

” With a glance around, all he saw for miles was white snow filling the gray skies.

His breath clouded around his head. “Sadly, I’m not too familiar with this area. ”

“No, we won’t be pulling the coach.” Sam jumped down and then waited for Alex to do the same then he gave him the valise. “Best we can do right now is abandon the vehicle.”

“What of the luggage?”

Sam shrugged. He was a big, strapping man, but Alex refused to order him to carry or drag a trunk through the snow. “It can wait until we find shelter. Setting up to be a bad storm, I’ll wager.”

“I’m afraid you’re right.” Again, he glanced about the area.

No one on foot, horse, or vehicle had passed this way in some time, for the blanket of snow lay undisturbed.

He shivered, and the cold was felt to his soul.

Buggar winter! “We can take the horses. Cover more ground that way, and if worse comes to worst and we find a barn or abandoned shack, they’ll provide a bit more warmth. ”

“That they will.” As the driver moved around to the front where the horses were struggling to remain upright, he made soothing sounds to the animals.

“Been through this way a few times in my life. I remember there being a manor house somewhere in the vicinity, but it’s been a while.

I think it belonged to an earl, but the name escapes me, as does the exact location.

The snow will get us turned around faster than anything. ”

Alex stamped his feet. He was no help in knowing where each peer’s country seat was, for he had the appalling talent of forgetting a man’s name seconds after being introduced.

Keeping titles and properties straight in his head was a nightmare.

If he had to be out in society, usually his valet prepped him with a list of notes.

But that fortunate man had contracted a head cold and had opted not to accompany Alex on this visit.

Already, the accumulated snow went halfway up his boots.

Feeling bad for his dog, he reached down and picked up the beagle, holding him beneath his free arm.

“What a coil. We should never have set off from London.” Had he not embarked on this adventure, he could have been enjoying a fire in his own parlor with a bottle of brandy at his side and Charlie curled in his lap.

“It’s best not to dwell on the could haves of life, my lord.” As Sam worked at unhitching the horses from the vehicle, Alex frowned. “It’s fortunate the animals weren’t injured. That works in our favor and will make finding shelter that much easier.”

“Indeed.” When the beagle whined, Alex sighed.

“We’ll get out of this weather as soon as we can, mate,” he told the dog.

Another shiver lanced down his spine, for it was deuced cold.

Already, snowflakes covered Sam’s hat and the dog’s back, and they hadn’t been out in the elements for very long. “I suppose time is of the essence now.”

“Will be dark in about an hour,” the driver agreed. “Hope you’re comfortable riding bare back. Didn’t think to bring saddles.”

“How could you know they’d be needed?” Damn, but he hadn’t ridden without a saddle in ages. If nothing else, it would help hone his riding skills. “Better than nothing, though, and will keep our feet decently warm and dry.”

Finally, Sam freed the horses. He gave the reins of one to Alex. “Best go now. The weather isn’t going to let up. Been a while since we’ve had a bad storm.”

Alex huffed. “We don’t usually have this type of weather in London, with the exception of two years ago when we didn’t have a summer.

” In 1816, the whole bloody year was fraught with weather phenomena caused by some buggar of a volcano thousands of miles away.

Those clouds had blotted out the sun for half the year, and everything froze to death or withered.

Everything went wrong that year, but he was glad the ramifications from that terrible year were mostly behind them.

“Let’s hope we don’t experience something like that again. Wasn’t good for the country after being beaten up in the war.” Sam shook his head. He met Alex’s gaze for a second. “Can you ride with the dog?”

“I’ll manage.” But he handed the driver the beagle.

“Let me mount first.” After temporarily resting the valise on his horse’s back, Alex used the front of the disabled coach to support himself as he mounted the bay mare, and once he was firmly planted on her back, he took up his valise, wound the reins about the handles, and then accepted Charlie back into his arms. “Sit here, boy. Hopefully we’ll find shelter soon. ”

“Keep him warm, my lord. I’ve known dogs bigger than him to freeze in this weather,” Sam warned as he mounted his own horse.

“I will.” Alex unbuttoned a few buttons on his greatcoat then stuffed the dog inside. “The sooner we’re out of this damned snow, the better.” If it were up to him, he’d stay put at the next waypoint until the spring thaw. That’s how much he despised the winter.

Bloody, bloody Christmastide.