Mama was off, and Ned knew better than to try and interrupt her. She did mean well, for all that she could sometimes be a bit too boisterous in the way she presented herself. Instead he observed the young woman, with particular attention to the subtle dance she seemed to be executing under her skirt to get herself back into her shoes. He was amused but trying not to smile (lest his mother notice and ask what had been so funny) when the mention of kidnapping caught his ear. A fate worse than murder, apparently. At that he felt he was justified in a proper smile, because even Mama had to realize that she was being a touch ridiculous.
"Oh, we weren't much inconvenienced," he reassured her (despite his mother's demeanor very much implying the opposite). "But we are very relieved you weren't kidnapped. Imagine if you had gotten into the wrong carriage. You might have been halfway to Somerset by now."
His mother raised an eyebrow — Somerset was not the area she'd said she was going back to, nor was it particularly known for being the home of kidnappers who lurked in empty carriages, so she clearly thought she had missed some important context. For his part, Ned was watching the young woman and wondering if she would have caught it — Guinevere, when she had been waylaid in the woods, had been kidnapped by the evil king of the Summer Lands — generally understood to be modern-day Somerset. It was an obscure reference, though, and he wasn't sure if she'd even read the book that she'd handed back to him or whether she'd only glanced at it when she found it in the carriage.
"We should probably go, Mama," he pointed out, to forestall the question he could feel her about to ask.
"Oh, we weren't much inconvenienced," he reassured her (despite his mother's demeanor very much implying the opposite). "But we are very relieved you weren't kidnapped. Imagine if you had gotten into the wrong carriage. You might have been halfway to Somerset by now."
His mother raised an eyebrow — Somerset was not the area she'd said she was going back to, nor was it particularly known for being the home of kidnappers who lurked in empty carriages, so she clearly thought she had missed some important context. For his part, Ned was watching the young woman and wondering if she would have caught it — Guinevere, when she had been waylaid in the woods, had been kidnapped by the evil king of the Summer Lands — generally understood to be modern-day Somerset. It was an obscure reference, though, and he wasn't sure if she'd even read the book that she'd handed back to him or whether she'd only glanced at it when she found it in the carriage.
"We should probably go, Mama," he pointed out, to forestall the question he could feel her about to ask.
Set by Lady ♡