At some point, they would be far enough that he could risk revealing his identity. But as the miles grew, he remained hidden, unsure of what he should say to Leah when he eventually approached her.
In the wildest of his imaginings, he had never thought he would experience this. Had never thought that his prayers for a miracle to help change her future would actually be answered.
A good fifteen miles from London, the coach stopped to change horses. The passengers all alighted. Some of the little group went in to the nearby coaching inn and availed themselves of the facilities.
James bought himself a hot beef pie and a small tankard of ale while keeping an eye out for any sign of Leah venturing in from the stable yard. From the window, he could see her standing close to the coach, her cloak still covering most of her face. She boarded the coach as soon as the fresh horses had been hitched into place. She wasn’t taking any unnecessary risks.
He was proud of her for having planned beyond the mere detail of buying a coach ticket. It was obvious that she had put some thought into the problem of where dangers still lurked even this far from London. If she ventured into the coaching inn, people would see her. And if someone was to enquire, the people who worked at the coaching inn might even recall seeing a young woman in a long black cloak who appeared to be travelling on her own. They may even remember which mail coach she had been a passenger onboard, and where it was headed.
Finally, at Basingstoke, some fifty miles west of London, James decided it was time he spoke to Leah. He would have been content to have remained hidden for a few more miles. The greater the distance from London, the less chance she would panic and flee from him. But the worry that she had not appeared to have eaten or drunk anything since they left town some eight hours earlier now gave him cause for concern.
The mail coach pulled into the mews of the main coaching inn at Basingstoke, and all the passengers alighted. To his relief, and no doubt hers, Leah made her way over to the outhouse.
While she was gone, James went inside and purchased two cold pork pies. Uncertain of what Leah would drink, he also bought a large tankard of watered down cider. He then headed out into the mews.
She was wisely standing to one side of the stable yard, the hood of her cloak partly pulled back. Her gaze shifted constantly as she observed the hive of activity which buzzed around her. There was a steady stream of mail coaches arriving and departing, many of them at a fast clip. In the fading light of the late afternoon, it was a dangerous place for anyone to be wandering about and not paying full attention.
With the scarf still hiding much of his face, James walked calmly over to her. She glanced in his direction. She nodded, then turned away. He was pleased that she was still being cautious.
Standing next to her, her offered her one of the pies. While she looked down at the food, James took the opportunity to remove his scarf and reveal his face.
“Leah, you need to eat,” he said.
Her hand, which was part way to reaching for the pie, suddenly stilled. It was as if she had turned to stone.
James. James Radley. But how?
“Please, Leah. Have something to eat and drink. Then we can talk,” he said.
She lifted her head and looked either side of him, frantically searching for any sign of her father or Guy. All this time she had thought she was making good on her escape, and James had been sitting a mere five feet away!
“Who are you with?” she asked, her voice quivering as panic gripped her.
He shook his head. “No one. And no one but me knows where you are.”
Her hand dropped to her side; the pie forgotten. What was it with this man? He was always crashing into her life when she didn’t expect it. On this occasion, she could only think of one reason why he would be here. He was trying to win back Guy’s trust.
“I can’t marry Guy. I’m sorry, James. I know he is your friend. I beg of you, please don’t make me go back to London. I would rather die than marry that man,” she pleaded.
He laid a hand gently on her arm. “It’s all right, Leah. I am not here to make you do anything you do not wish. I promise, I am not going to send you back to London. The last thing I want in this world is for you to marry Guy.”
She looked at him, unsure as to whether she had heard him correctly. He didn’t want her to marry Guy. If that was the case, then why had he followed her all the way from London?
“Please take the pie,” he insisted.
Her empty stomach growled a second time and she relented. Hunger won. She accepted the pie and took a bite. She rejoiced as the taste of the soft flaky pastry and cold pork meat hit her taste buds. It tasted like heaven. When she had finished the first mouthful, James offered her a large tankard.
“Drink this; you must be parched. I haven’t seen you drink anything since we left London.”
She accepted the tankard and took a sip. Sweet cider kissed her dry lips. She then took a long drink. After taking a second bite of the pie and chewing it, she washed it down with more of the cider. Eventually the pie and a good amount of the cider was gone.
“Thank you. I was absolutely famished. I’ve been sneaking looks at that box of cakes which that elderly gentleman has been nursing on his lap all this time,” she said.
She handed him back the tankard. James drank some more of the cider, before passing it to a nearby stable boy who then wandered off toward the inn, downing the last of the drink as he went.
They were now alone in the stable yard; the driver of their mail coach and his assistant were still inside the inn, along with the rest of the Salisbury-bound passengers. Now was the time for her to ask James the first of a number of pertinent questions. That first question being, how the devil had he come to be on the mail coach with her?
“You were already on the coach when I climbed aboard in London. How did that happen?” she asked.
