A Trick of Fate by Stella Riley

Author:Stella Riley [Riley, Stella]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romantic comedy, scotland, fraud, road trip, love at first sight, second chance romance, titian, rockliffe, border weddings
Publisher: Stella Riley
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

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CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Max was awoken shortly after midnight by the sound of rain lashing against the window. He didn’t bother getting out of bed to look. It would either stop or it wouldn’t. The roads would either be passable or not. There was no point in concerning himself about it now. He had wished for Frances to have a day of rest and it seemed possible that wish might be granted. He would have preferred, however, that that day could have been spent in some other town and at some other inn. His bed was clean but not remotely comfortable and last evening’s dinner of boiled mutton had been barely edible. So he sighed, turned over and drifted back to sleep without wondering what the morrow might bring.

What it brought was a continuation of the deluge. Before joining Frances for breakfast, Max went directly to the taproom and sought out his coachman.

Miller didn’t wait for the obvious. He said, ‘You don’t need me to tell you. There’ll be no going anywhere today – or maybe even tomorrow, neither.’

‘No,’ agreed Max. ‘It was to have been back to Hawick, by the way – about the same distance we came yesterday but on a different road. However, if we can’t travel, the chances are that Grey may not be able to either and, in most senses, the delay is welcome.’

‘The horses be glad of it, at any rate – and the stabling isn’t bad here.’

‘That’s something, I suppose – because the rest of this place isn’t up to much.’

‘You never used to be finicky.’

‘And I’m not finicky now. I’d just prefer a bed that wasn’t a foot too short and a half-way decent bottle of wine with my dinner.’

‘Take ale instead like the common folk,’ recommended Miller, with a grin. Then, ‘I reckon I’ll spend an hour washing the mud off the carriage. It’ll likely be as bad as ever again when we are able to travel but at least it won’t be three layers thick.’

Finding Frances about to sit down at the breakfast table, he bade her good morning and added, ‘You will not be surprised to hear that we are to get that day of rest I spoke of – which only goes to prove that one should be careful what one wishes for.’

‘You’d rather we were able to press on?’

‘No. I’d rather we were spending the day at an inn that offered a private parlour for your use – but there’s little choice in that. I won’t risk us being stranded in the middle of nowhere or the carriage sliding off the road or one of the horses suffering an injury. And I’m certainly not going to let Joe spend the day getting soaked to the skin. So here we stay.’

Frances handed him a cup of coffee, saying serenely, ‘The private parlour doesn’t matter. With the weather as it is, this room is likely to be private enough. But surely the real problem is

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