Leah shook her head. This was much more fun than they would have with a driver. James was beyond handsome when he laughed, and she wanted to keep seeing his smiling face. She already looked forward to the next time he would have to help her into the carriage.
“We shall manage,” she replied.
The journey through to Exeter from Salisbury would take them several days longer than if they had travelled by the fast-moving mail coach. Ninety miles was a long way in a barouche which at top speed would hit somewhere around five miles an hour. James looked up at the grey sky as they turned out of the mews of the inn. Foul weather would impede their progress even more.
To James’s delight, he found Leah to be even more good-natured in real life than he had imagined in his secret daydreams. Her reaction to him placing his hands on her rump and pushing her up into the carriage had been better than expected. Instead of an angry rebuke for his overfamiliar handling of her body, he got soft giggles. Giggles which had his mind immediately thinking about where else he would like to touch her.
Leah was temptation. She got to him in ways he was only beginning to understand. The next few days held the promise of more delightful discoveries and of struggling to keep his lustful body under control.
Thoughts of her smile sat in his mind long after they had quietly settled side by side on the driver’s bench and left the inn.
A little way out of town, Leah turned to him. “Yesterday, you said you were going back to Derbyshire. Was it in order to visit Caroline and her new husband at Newhall Castle?”
“No. I was going to paint. My father has agreed to support me in my endeavors to become a professional landscape artist. I have two large pieces of work which I am hoping to complete and sell in the next few months. If I can find a buyer for them, then I won’t have to go back to university. I have some preliminary sketches, but I need to go back into the woods in order to get the right sense of light for the paintings themselves.”
She fell silent for a moment, then placed a hand on his arm. “Could you please pull over to the side of the road?”
With a gentle tug on the horse’s reins, James guided the carriage over to the grassy edge where they came to a stop. When he looked at Leah, he saw that her face was set in a perplexed frown.
“James, if you come with me to Cornwall, there is a good chance you won’t be able to reach Derbyshire before the roads become impassable due to the winter snows. By trying to help me you are putting your career in jeopardy,” she said.
The moment he decided to chase after Leah in central London, James knew he was risking more than just incurring the wrath of Guy Dannon. He was putting his love for her ahead of his dreams of being a painter. “I suppose you could put it that way, but I don’t regret coming after you. As I see it there will likely be other ways for me to make my art pay, but there was only ever going to be one chance for me to come to your rescue.”
Leah sat; head bowed. “You are not who I thought you were, James. I am beginning to think I may have misjudged you.”
Her words added another spark to the burning flame he already carried for her. He had long suspected she wasn’t the pliable little miss Guy thought he was marrying. He’d seen clear evidence she was a young woman with a spine. There were deeper more intricate layers when it came to Leah. She was much like Caroline in that they both had substance about them, but Leah had a certain warmth that Caroline did not. Her concern for him and his future held a kindness which went straight to James’s heart.
He had never met anyone like Leah before, and he doubted he would ever find another woman who made him feel the way she did.
“I think we may have both misjudged one another in the past. I, for one, am glad of the opportunity for us to get to know each other a little better. Who knows where that might lead?” he replied.
She patted his arm. “Yes, I think you are right in it being a time for the both of us to reevaluate our opinions. At least we are starting out as friends. Who knows what will happen between here and Cornwall?”
What did happen was the arrival of a tempest which blew in from the North Atlantic and across the English coast. The gods of fair skies had abandoned the travelers. By day’s end, James and Leah had wasted hours sheltering from the fierce rain and winds of an early winter storm. Leah spent her time huddled under her cloak. Their horse did not take kindly to the weather either, which meant James had to carefully handle him the whole way. It was a long and arduous day on the road.
By the time they reached the small village of Mere, it was almost night. The plan of them staying somewhere more out of the way was quickly set aside. James, the horse, and Leah were all exhausted and wet.
When the white Tudor period George Inn appeared in sight, James’s shoulders sagged with relief. “I don’t know about you, but I need a hot bath and a comfortable bed. We shall just have to hope that if anyone is following us that the weather has also impeded their progress.”
“Agreed. I need to get out of these wet clothes and eat a hot supper. I hope they do a stew. The one last night in Salisbury was absolutely delicious,” replied Leah.
“And buttered bread,” he added.
They both sighed with longing. There was nothing better than buttered bread dipped into a hearty stew, all washed down with a crisp ale or cider.
When the carriage drew to a halt in the yard, James handed the reins over to a stable boy and jumped down. Leah held out her hands to him and let him catch her as she dropped to the ground.
The innkeeper of the George Inn was a tall, gangly man with a wisp of a beard. He gave James and Leah a suspicious once-over as they stepped inside. His gaze dropped to Leah’s hand and then to James.
An unmarried couple arriving on an innkeeper’s doorstep in the middle of the night might not be the sort of custom that was welcomed in this neck of the woods. The look was not lost on James.
“My wife and I would like a room for the night. Your lad has already taken our carriage and horse around into the stables,” said James.
Leah once again proved herself to be in possession of a sharp mind. Instead of countering James’s lie, she simply slipped her hand in his and smiled sweetly at the innkeeper.
The aroma of roasted pork drifted in from the nearby kitchen. “Are we still able to procure some supper? That smells like the best roast in the county, doesn’t it, darling?” she said. James nodded to her.
The innkeeper’s demeanor changed. The question of whether his newly arrived guests were married or not, was quickly set aside as the man showed his obvious delight at hearing Leah’s words of praise.
