AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My hands found their way to my hips once more, and I scowled at him.
Benedict ignored my petulance. “You’ll carry your own valise and another of my bags if you can manage. I know you won’t like it, but do try to remember you are my servant until we reach Chelton. It will protect both of our reputations.”
“So long as you do not take advantage of the situation, I will play my part.”
His eyes narrowed. “Try to remember you are male.”
“I will play my part,” I repeated in a decidedly lower tone.
Benedict turned away, but not before I saw the hint of a smile touch his lips.
Benedict Bradwell foundsomething I saidfunny? Apparently I was still dreaming. Or having a nightmare, rather.
He helped me gather my things, then held my bag toward me. I took it from him and followed him meekly from the room and outside to the awaiting carriage. A man sat atop the driver’s perch in a long, dark coat, not much older than me if I had my guess.
Benedict offered me a hand to assist me into the carriage, then immediately stole it away again, as though remembering that I was a servant and not a lady.
I pressed my lips together. If he so easily forgot I was meant to be a boy, was it obvious I was in costume and acting a part? I climbed inside and settled in my seat, waiting for Benedict to join me after speaking to the coachman. He sat across from me and closed the door, then rapped his knuckles on the ceiling and we took off.
“We have four travel days ahead of us. Three, perhaps, if the roads are smooth enough and the horses frequently changed.”
I nodded and looked out the window. The sky was still dark, and silence enveloped us. I rocked along with the motion of the carriage and sighed. This was bound to be a long journey. Four days alone with a man who could not abide my company. Four days to pass in his scrutiny and bake in unpleasantly thick silence. My skin prickled with the awareness of eyes upon me, and I lifted my gaze to find Benedict watching me with a dark, troubled look, his face cast in shadows from the early morning dimness.
“What sort of misdeed have you done to deserve such a punishment, Benedict?” I asked, my voice a quiet caress in the sharp silence.
His thick eyebrows knit together. “What punishment is that?”
“To be forced into a carriage with no company but me for the next few days. Surely some misdeed of yours has led to this unsavory point.”
“Do not worry on my account, Thea. I’m certain my reward in heaven is growing by the minute.”
“Hmm.”
“You can practice calling me St. Benedict now. For I’m certain my sainthood is coming.”
“Blasphemy.”
“Just rewards, rather,” he muttered.
For putting up with me.I could not fault his teasing, not when I had been the one to incite it.
Silence weighed on us like a thick quilt until Benedict spoke again. “Most people enjoy my company. Perhaps I am not the issue here.”
My chest constricted. He could not know his words touched a tender place in my fears. I shoved them down, not allowing my mind to traverse the path toward misery and unpleasant memories. It would take a magnitude of patience on both of our ends to reach Chelton without accruing a great deal of battle scars, but I was determined, after Benedict’s comment, to prove myself. I was notsolelyto blame for our discord.
The little wriggle in the back of my mind, that there might be some truth to his words, that my inflammatory attitude was at fault, gave me pause, but I shoved the thought away and squared my shoulders. By the time we reached Chelton, he would admit his role in our tumultuous relationship. I might be the servant, but in the cause for why we did not get along, he would submit to me.
Chapter5
BENEDICT
It was quickly becoming clear over the course of the day that Charlie Drool, the man I had hired from Upper Trumby, was not a skilled driver, but hecoulddrive fast. If given the choice again, I would have hired him to convey us to Chelton, merely because he cut down our time on the road by a decent margin, even if he sent us jolting from one side of the carriage to the other from time to time. Just after nightfall, we reached the inn where we intended to rest the horses and stay the night. Charlie managed the conveyance and found his own lodgings while I went inside and ordered Thea and I two rooms.
“We only have the one,” the woman said from behind the counter. She shrugged. “Sorry, I am. I’d give you two rooms if I had them.”
Thea stood beside me, her gaze directed at the floor so the woman would only see the top of her cap. It was wise of her to assume that pose, and I was impressed by her quiet deference. But when the woman explained that her inn was full except for the one room, I’d sensed Thea tense, her shoulders betraying her discomfort.
We’d have to share a room. It appeared that hard wooden planks and a thin blanket were on the menu for my sleeping arrangements tonight.
