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“I promise to get us separate rooms at the next inn,” he continued.
So you can bed some willing woman. Evie finished his sentence in her head. The thought shouldn’t have bothered her so. There was a reason she’d struck this deal with him. If he never bedded her, she wouldn’t grow even more attached to him. She needed to let him do his business with other women. If she allowed him an inch, he would take over not only her heart but every corner of her mind.
Just like he said, he was used to bedding various women every night. Expecting him to behave differently on this trip was setting herself up for disappointment. She had been in love with him for as long as she could remember, and she always knew who he was and that her fairytale love match was doomed.
But no, she’d promised her grandfather to marry for love, and she’d do it even if it killed her. And it very well might. Somehow, when Gabriel was just a distant figure passing at the edge of her life, it was easier not to pay attention to his trysts. Now that they were traveling together, it was painful to even contemplate. And she was about to marry him.Oh, Evie, what are you getting yourself into?
“Good,” she said and nodded for emphasis. She walked up to the chair that held her clothing and started pulling on her gown. She heard the rustle of bedsheets. Gabriel was probably up and getting dressed as well. She kept her back turned as she dressed and arranged her hair, trying to ignore the sounds of Gabriel putting on his clothes, shaving, and walking around the room.
“I am going to order us some breakfast and then get the horses ready. Meet me downstairs.”
Gabriel left, and Evie sagged against the wall. Her lips curled downward, her brows furrowed. Why did she always have to suffer? Why did she have to fall in love with the least attainable man in London? She heaved a sigh, pushed off the wall, and proceeded to collect the rest of her things. Whatever the answers were to her questions, she wasn’t going to find them in this old inn.
They started their journey right after breakfast. The carriage was slow because the roads hadn’t dried out as much as they’d anticipated, and it jostled even worse than before in the thick mud. Still, Evie didn’t want to waste any more time than necessary. The faster they got to Scotland, the faster she’d be married and free of the Montbrooks. She wouldn’t have to worry about them catching up with her and dragging her kicking and screaming back to Carlisle. Or worse. What if they caught up with her at the border? They could marry her off to their odious son right then and there. She shuddered at the thought.
“Are you cold?”
Evie directed her gaze to the tired-looking viscount sitting in front of her. Despite the weary lines about his eyes, he looked as bored and elegant as ever. She imagined she looked green from wanting to cast up her accounts, weary from the jostling, and overall tired from the journey. Oh, how she wished to be on horseback right now instead of this.
“No,” she answered and returned her gaze to the horizon. The more her gaze wandered from the window, the worse she felt.
“Are you certain?” His voice took on a genuinely worried lilt.
“I am.”
Gabriel drew his breath to say something more when the carriage suddenly and violently drew to a halt. Evie flew from her seat and right into his arms with a grunt. He held her close, his arms locking around her body. Evie inhaled his comforting scent and inwardly cursed herself. Even as simple an action as holding her when she fell caused her to melt.
He gently set her aside, looking her over with a wandering gaze. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m—” She blew a loose tendril of hair from her face, feeling heat climb up from her neck. “What happened?” She looked around the unmoving carriage.
“I shall go check,” Gabriel said and exited the vehicle.
Evie looked out from both of the windows, but she couldn’t see anything. After a few minutes, the door flew open, and Gabriel poked his head in.
“An axle broke on one of the wheels.”
Evie’s eyes grew wide. They were stuck on the muddied road in a broken carriage.
“We are already several hours away from the last village, and if the memory serves our coachman, there’s another village, Forton, some ten miles ahead.”
Evie absorbed the information, trying to understand what he was telling her.
“There are two ways out of our predicament,” he said. “One, we send our coachman to Forton, so he can get help. On horseback, it’ll take him about an hour to get there, maybe an hour and a half in this mud. Fetching another carriage to get us and coming back for us will take longer, though.”
“We’ll be stranded here for hours,” she finished his thought.
“Exactly.”
“What is another option?”
“We can leave the carriage here. We both have just small valises with us. We can load them up and travel to the village on horseback. Then send some people to fix our carriage and bring it back. But either way, we’ll have to spend the night in the village.”
A delay she possibly could not afford. But there was nothing they could do about it now.
“We’ll have to share a horse too,” he said with an apologetic smile. “Our coachman will take another one. We don’t have any valuables in the carriage, so it doesn’t make sense to leave him here alone.”
Another hour in his arms. Another opportunity for her fanciful thoughts to get away from her. She sighed with resignation.
