Unexpectedly Wed to the Officer--A Historical Romance Award Winning Author by Jenni Fletcher

Author:Jenni Fletcher
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-10-06T17:23:59+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

‘Are we there yet?’ Michael flung his head back against the seat with a loud sigh. ‘We’ve been in this stagecoach for ever! It must be time to stop soon.’

‘I told you the journey would take a few days.’ Henrietta gritted her teeth, trying to sound sympathetic, although if he asked the question one more time, she thought she might open the door and jump out from sheer exasperation. It wasn’t as if she was any more comfortable than he was! In fact, she was undoubtedly a lot less comfortable. Oliver and Peter had both fallen asleep, one on her knee, the other leaning against her shoulder, making it impossible for her to move for the last hour. Belles in biscuit tins were treated better than this, she thought, ironically. At least they came individually wrapped in tissue paper, something she might have used to make the headrest more comfortable. Every part of her ached or was numb with fatigue, but at least Michael was right about one thing. Surely it had to be time to stop soon... ‘Are you warm enough?’

‘Yes.’ Michael scowled at the blanket tucked over his lap. ‘But I’d rather ride up top like Sebastian.’

‘It’s far too cold for that.’

‘It’s not too cold for him!’

‘Yes, well...he’s a grown man.’ Henrietta pursed her lips. She wasn’t particularly happy about Sebastian riding on the roof of a violently swaying stagecoach in the middle of winter either, but unlike her three charges, she had no right to tell him what to do—besides, there hadn’t been any alternative. Between her and the boys squeezed on to one side and a middle-aged couple and their teenage daughter on the other, the carriage was already bursting at the seams.

‘Sebastian said a good sailor doesn’t complain.’ Peter mumbled sleepily across her. ‘I bet he was talking to you.’

‘He was not!’

‘No arguing!’ Henrietta felt as though her temper were hanging by a single, extremely frayed thread. ‘Or we’ll get off at the next inn and go straight back to Bath.’

‘But...’

‘Not one more word until we stop again!’

Incredibly, the threat worked, allowing her twenty minutes of rare, comparative peace, listening to the sound of Oliver’s snoring and looking out at the darkness encroaching over the landscape outside. From what she could see through the carriage windows, Derbyshire had a wild, untamed kind of beauty, filled with wild-looking moors and jagged rock formations. Unfortunately for them, however, it wasn’t Yorkshire, which meant that they still had another day of cramped conditions and moaning ahead before they reached Feversham. Which also meant another day of gradually building trepidation and dread.

It had seemed like a good idea at the time, leaving Nancy and Belinda in peace and giving herself and the boys a holiday, but now she was starting to wonder if she’d taken leave of her senses by agreeing to come. It wasn’t just that she was going to stay in a manor—a manor! She knew Sebastian’s mother well enough to know that she wouldn’t be turned away, no matter what his uncle and grandmother might think of her.

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