Compromised for Christmas by Charles Jane

Author:Charles, Jane
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: regency historical france england tenacious trents jane charles
Publisher: Jane Charles

The wall opened and sunlight streamed into the room. John raised his arms to block his eyes from the sudden daggers of light.

“Good morning,” the young man chirped.

“Good morning.” Elizabeth sounded just as happy in her greeting.

John groaned. His eyes were heavy and he was certain he only slept an hour, if that. “What time is it?”

“Almost noon.” The boy put a tray on the ground. “I have tea and biscuits.”

“Thank you.” Elizabeth sat up and stretched.

“I’ll leave the door open for now. But if we see another ship, I will have to close it.”

John nodded his head in understanding and stretched his arms above his head. Almost noon? He had slept close to twelve hours. Well, he did need the sleep, as did Elizabeth. He turned to look at her. Most of the color was back in her cheeks, though they had lost some of their roundness. “How are you feeling?”

“Oh, I feel marvelous, finally.”

He doubted she felt that well, but anticipated her recovery would be quick once the fever had broken.

“And I am famished.” She lifted her skirts up, crawled across the bed to the tray of food, and poured two cups of tea. There was no milk or sugar, not that he cared. He was too busy staring at her ankles. If anything, these days had led them to become quite comfortable in one another’s presence.

John sat and accepted a cup and biscuit from her.

“How soon before England?”

“I don’t know. It will depend on the weather, how far out of the way they have had to go to avoid the French. The trip could take two days to a week, depending.”

“A week?” Elizabeth squeaked. “What day is it?”

“The fourteenth. Why?”

“We can’t be in the Channel a week.” If it were possible, John suspected Elizabeth would pace. Her agitation grew with each lapping wave outside the cabin window. “Grandfather expects me in Yorkshire by the twenty-fourth.”

He had forgotten the message she’d received that started this whole escape off in the first place. Had they still been working in their previous roles, she would have not gone. He supposed now that they had to return to England, there was no reason for her avoid the holidays with her family.

“And he expects me to bring my husband. Oh dear, what am I to do?”

John stared at her. Should he offer? No. If either he or Elizabeth wanted to continue in this work, the fewer people who know who they really were, the safer they would be. “I would offer but I can’t.”

Disappointment flashed in her eyes, but Elizabeth smiled instead. “I understand. I would insist if we were going back, but we aren’t. I will think of something to tell Grandfather.”

John placed his cup back on the tray and reached over to grab her hand. “It isn’t that I don’t want to, and I would, but I can’t be recognized.”

She frowned and her eyebrows furrowed. “Someone in my family would recognize you?”

A smile pulled at his lips. Since that letter, he had known who she was but he’d never revealed his own name.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.