Saved by a Rake by Em Taylor

Author:Em Taylor
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Em Taylor
Published: 2014-07-12T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Rebecca sat up straight as the carriage pulled into the courtyard of a rather shabby looking inn. She had awoken to a strong shaking motion, a few shouts and another couple of shudders. She looked around, somewhat disorientated as Daniel leaned over to look out of the window.

“Is it time for dinner already?” she asked. She had not planned to sleep and chided herself for not keeping her husband company.

“No, it is only mid-afternoon.”

“Oh good. I have not slept the entire journey.”

“No, though I do wonder what is going on.”

As soon as the carriage stopped, Daniel got to his feet, opened the door and jumped down, not waiting for James to lower the step.

“What the devil is going on? Why are we stopping here?”

“Need t’ change horses, m’ lord. This poor thing has a stone or sommat in her hoof. Luckily, it happened just sixty yards from the entry to the courtyard. Poor thing nearly stopped and caused us to over-turn. But she seems a clever thing and managed to limp. Enough steps to allow the others to slow down and for me to get them under control. It is maybe not so bad but it does need seen to.”

The ostlers had hurried over and were now dealing with the horses as the carriage shook again, telling Rebecca that the coachman had jumped down from atop his box.

Rebecca peered out the door at the rather drab-looking inn and bit her lip. Was she really expected to go in there? The windows were covered in grime, the courtyard seemed to be coated in horse manure and the thatch of the roof had definitely seen better days.

Daniel came to the door and smiled.

“It looks as if we are stuck here either until the horse is changed or until the horse is feeling better. I suggest we have a refreshment, at least.”

“Are you sure? It looks rather grubby.”

Daniel chuckled.

“You are with me, and James is here too. I’ll slap a glove in the face of any man who looks at you in an impertinent manner.” There was a twinkle in his eye and she blushed, knowing he was teasing her. “Come on.”

He held his hand out to her and she took it before he handed her down onto the courtyard. As they walked towards the door of the inn, neatly side-stepping the piles of manure, she clung tightly to his arm. He placed his other hand over hers and rubbed it, silently reminding her of his protection.

Was it her imagination that he walked nearer to her than usual? What she really wanted was him to throw his arm around her. But she lifted her chin just as a couple of young men staggered out of the tap room door. One of them looked bleary-eyed at Rebecca before attempting to straighten. He staggered against his friend, but the two men managed eventually to steady themselves.

Rebecca froze, clasping Daniel’s hand. He merely raised an eyebrow and waited.

“Begging your pardon, m’ lady. My friend here was just celebrating the birth of another young ‘un.

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.