A Fine Gentleman by Eden Sarah M

Author:Eden, Sarah M. [Eden, Sarah M.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: LDS, Love, army, Mormon, Gentleman, French, Romance, London, Spain, Clean, battle, Jonquil, war, Napoleon, Regency
Publisher: Covenant Communications, Inc.
Published: 2017-03-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Only by sheer force of will did Mariposa keep the tears from falling. After everything she’d done, she deserved to be abandoned, left to her own devices in a mail coach at some unknown stop on an English road. She was hardly entitled to Jason’s support, but losing it dealt her a blow from which she doubted she would soon recover. He had said he would remain with her, but there she was, alone. Just as she had promised Santiago she would not leave him, yet they were apart. Perhaps this was her punishment for failing her brother.

“You crossed Spain on foot,” she whispered to herself. “You can certainly ride a coach to Scotland.” She would survive. She always did. Survival, however, felt like a rather hollow accomplishment.

The coach door opened. Mariposa turned just enough to peek, doing her utmost not to let her hopes get too high. She did not recognize the man who entered, likely close to two decades her senior. Remembering all too vividly the bounder who’d accosted her only the day before, Mariposa kept her face turned away from this newcomer. She tied her bonnet firmly on her head and pulled herself into the far corner, determined that the man take little notice of her.

She closed her eyes and tried to fill her mind with thoughts of more pleasant times. When she was very little, her mother used to sing to her a song about a butterfly in a field of flowers. If she concentrated hard enough, she could almost hear Mamá’s voice singing it again. She had sung it to Santiago when his fear and confusion had left him nearly inconsolable. There had once been a time when she and her family had been happy. All she’d wanted since the start of the war was to have those times back again.

She felt more alone than ever.

Mariposa heard another passenger climb in. It was the first stop of the morning and the one most likely to see more travelers get on board. Being unobtrusive was decidedly the safest approach. She kept to her corner and, when she opened her eyes, did not allow her gaze to stray from the window.

The coach lurched as it resumed its journey. With fresh horses pulling, their speed significantly increased from what it had been on the last leg. The inn yard quickly disappeared.

Silently Mariposa bid Jason farewell and, in her heart, thanked him for seeing her as far as he had. Not since her father’s death had someone taken the time to look out for her.

The other passengers were blessedly quiet. Perhaps everyone would keep to themselves and the journey could be undertaken without incident.

Mariposa nearly jumped out of her skin when something was, without warning, laid on her lap. Her eyes darted in the direction of the delivery. She could not say what she’d expected to see, but the sight of two scones lying inauspiciously on a napkin caught her entirely by surprise. Who had put them there, and why?

She raised her eyes enough to look at the passenger next to her on the seat.

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