In the darkness of the hood, just before she closed her eyes, one more question crept into her mind. If James was prepared to betray his best friend, then there had to be more of a reason for him doing so than simply wishing to help her.
What was he up to?
Chapter Twenty-Six
They kept to the plan for the next change of horses, neither making a move to speak to the other. James bought an oat biscuit at the coaching inn and handed Leah half of it as he passed her on the way back to the coach. He ventured a smile in her direction—a smile which made her blush. She had forgotten his lovely smile. It was a pity she could never forget that kiss.
In the late hours of the evening, the mail coach reached its final destination for the night. The ancient town of Salisbury. To her surprise, James not only had a small travel bag with him, but a full travel trunk which was unloaded from the top of the coach and carried into the inn by two porters. The sight of the travel trunk immediately raised questions in her mind.
It was as if he had read her thoughts and packed to make the journey with her all along. But that didn’t make sense. The only other person who knew of her plans to flee London was Claire, and she had sworn an oath that she would never tell anyone. Had her trust in Claire been misplaced? Had Claire broken her vow of silence and confided in her brother? She hoped she was wrong.
He caught her staring at his trunk, and no doubt he observed the worried look on her face. He shrugged. “I was leaving for Derbyshire at the end of the wedding service and was already packed; it is purely a coincidence that I had my things with me.” James held out a hand to her. “Come.”
She looked at his outstretched hand, unsure as to whether she should trust him. Her worry about Claire and whether she had revealed their secret to James sat uneasy in her mind. Added to that was the fact that she and James had never actually been friends. True they had kissed, but that had been purely an attempt on her part to get him to convince Guy of her lack of suitability as a wife. Much as she had enjoyed the kiss, she wasn’t certain he even liked her.
Yet here he was, being kind to her. Buying her food and drink and offering his help. She looked at his outstretched hand, still hesitant as to whether she should take it.
He may well have provided her with badly needed sustenance, but she still didn’t trust him. When it came down to it, he was first and foremost Guy’s friend. Who was to say that he was not simply keeping an eye on her while waiting for Guy and her father to catch up with them during the night?
That made far more sense than what James had told her. His story of having seen her leave the church and already being packed for a trip to the countryside was too convenient for her liking. The notion that Claire had caved on keeping their secret and confided in her brother on the morning of the wedding, and that James had been waiting at the coaching inn for her to arrive made more sense.
Claire was a lovely girl who had been raised in a family where trust was easily given. Her friend was well meaning, but at times she could be a little too naïve when it came to the true nature of people. It hurt to think she may have betrayed Leah’s trust, but there was nothing to be done about it. James was here. She would just have to deal with whatever came next.
The real worry, of course, was whether she would be able to make it all the way to Cornwall. There was still some two hundred miles to go before she could reach the safety of her grandfather’s house. Who knew what could happen between her and James on the road between Salisbury and Truro?
James scowled at her continued refusal to take his arm. His response was not entirely unexpected. Men. They always thought they could tell a woman what to do; and when she didn’t immediately comply, their pride got in the way.
She was tired and out of sorts. It was the end of what felt like the longest day of her life. She was many miles from home, and in the company of a man she did not entirely trust. And she had just discovered that her best friend had more than likely broken their sacred promise.
“Come on inside, and out of the cold, Leah. We can get some hot supper before retiring for the night,” he said.
She straightened her spine and met his gaze full on. “I am fine by myself, thank you very much, Mister Radley. I did have some of this planned before your unexpected arrival,” she finally replied.
She began to walk away, but when he took a firm grip of her cloak, she was forced to take a hurried step back.
James had dealt with stubborn females all his life. His sisters had minds of their own, and his recent experience of time spent with his cousin Caroline reminded him that it ran in the family. While it was good to see that Leah was capable of making her own decisions, her picking an argument with him in the middle of the yard of a coaching inn in remote Salisbury at this time of the night was not, in his opinion, the wisest course of action. It was likely to draw unwanted attention to them both.
They were well away from London and the protection of her family. Whether Leah liked it or not, he had a responsibility to ensure her safety. Polite society would demand that he take care of her; his lovestruck heart begged him to.
“I am perfectly aware that you are an intelligent young woman, capable of many things. But I am not leaving you here alone in a coaching inn, end of discussion,” he replied.
Blue eyes blazing with defiance stared back at him. What he would give to haul her into his arms and kiss her senseless right now. If Leah thought that by being willful with him, she was taking a stand and making him angry, his hardening body would have to disagree.
“I wouldn’t be alone. I am going to sit and wait downstairs in the ticket office until the coach for Exeter leaves at first light, the night porter will keep me company,” she said.
Damn. While he had been quietly congratulating himself on being one step ahead of her, she had been making other plans. He hadn’t seen that coming. And he didn’t have a ticket to travel on to Exeter. He would need to dip once more into the money his father had given him for the trip to Derbyshire. And who was in Exeter that she was travelling to meet? His mind began to formulate possible answers, most of which he found unsettling.
Did Leah have a secret paramour in the west country? Was that the real reason behind her reluctance to marry Guy? The sudden thought that she had already given her heart over to another man pulled him up sharp.
“What is at Exeter?” he asked, trying to hide his concern.
“Nothing. It is just a stop. I have a ticket right through to Bodmin with the mail coach, after which I will take the local coach to Truro, after which I shall wait for the cart to take me to Mopus Passage, after which I shall walk,” she replied deadpan.
James blinked at the long list of place names as Leah rattled them off. Mopus Passage. What sort of a name was that for a town? He had never heard of it. He could only pray it was not some small out-of-the-way fishing village where Leah intended to take a boat from England. He held fast to her cloak, steeling himself for the answer to his next question.
“What is in Mopus Passage and who is waiting for you there?” he asked.
She huffed. “Mopus Passage is the hamlet near where my maternal grandfather, Sir Geoffrey Sydell, has his estate. His home is at Mopus Manor. He will give me sanctuary.”
Thank God. Leah had an actual plan. She wasn’t running blindly from London or into the arms of another man; she was headed to the safety of family. He smiled with relief.
The journey west would take several more days. Truro was a long way from London, if memories of his schoolboy English geography lessons served James right. But if Leah’s plans included sitting up each night and not taking a room at the various inns along the route, it meant she must be low on funds. Her reluctance to spend money on food and drink on the journey from London now made sense.
It also gave James the perfect opening.
“I am going to take lodgings here at the inn tonight. You may as well come up to my room and sit in a safe place, away from prying eyes. Just think, Leah; if I was able to fol
low you, who is to say that someone else didn’t see you get onboard the coach in London? Your father could be arriving here at any moment,” he said.
It was a dirty trick, and he promised himself that he would feel shame about it later. There was also a grain of truth to it. If someone in London had bothered to ask at the Gloucester Coffee House about a young fair-haired woman travelling on her own, it wouldn’t have taken much to discover where Leah had gone. He was as keen as she was to avoid the two of them being discovered.
“Please,” he added.
To his relief, her shoulders relaxed. A brief nod of her head saw him let go of her cloak.
“Thank you, Leah,” he said.
After securing a room for the night, they followed the coaching inn porters with James’s travel trunk up the narrow flight of wooden stairs. When they stepped into the tiny room, the porters had to squeeze past both James and Leah in order to make it back out and onto the landing.
The room itself could only have been described as tiny. Small would have been too generous a word. The roof was so low that it barely cleared James’s head once he had stepped through the door. Apart from a double bed and a small chair and table which sat by the fire, there was no other furniture. James’s travel trunk was squeezed in between the bed and the barely-there window.
“Could we please have some supper sent up? Whatever is on the menu. Also, some cider or ale,” James said to the head porter. Once the two porters had gone back down the narrow staircase, James closed the door.
Leah stood and surveyed the room. “This is very cozy; I think my wardrobe at home is bigger than this. There might be more space downstairs in the waiting room after all,” she noted.
His gaze followed hers around the room. She was right; it was little more than an oversized cupboard. “Yes, but you are not sitting in public view up here and there is a lock on that door. While you remain hidden, I stand a chance at being able to protect you. Leah we can make it work. We shall just have to make allowances for one another tonight. I will do everything in my power to see you safely to your grandfather. In return, all I ask is that you trust me.”
Leah looked utterly exhausted. James could only imagine what today had been like for her and the toll it must have taken on her nerves. He craved for her to now let him bear that worry.
“Alright,” she replied.
As she slumped down onto the bed, her whole body seemed to crumple in defeat. Her chin dropped and she began to cry. Big, fat tears rolled down her cheeks and a mournful sob escaped her lips.
“Oh, Leah.” James sat down next to her, placing a comforting arm around her shoulder. At that moment, nothing else mattered. His stupid lovestruck heart wasn’t important, and nor were Guy Dannon and Tobias Shepherd. All that mattered was that Leah was safe, and she knew someone gave a damn about her.
His chin rested gently on the top of Leah’s hair. The scent of her perfume made his heart ache. Today had been one of the most challenging days of his life, so full of twists and turns that at times he had struggled to keep up. Yet sitting here, holding her in his arms, he knew without a single doubt that he was exactly where fate had decided he should be.
They sat for a time, the only sound in the room being Leah’s soft sobs. James stroked his hand gently up and down her back. Leah slipped a hand around his waist.
Today had been hard enough for him; for her, it had been life-changing. A day where she had cut the very ties which bound her to her family and home. After today, her old life would be forever behind her. She could never go back.
She pulled a handkerchief from out of her cloak pocket and wiped her face. “I expect that whatever your reasons were for following me from the church this morning, you thought they were the right thing to do. But considering our somewhat checkered past, you cannot be surprised that I am not willing to place my trust fully in you at this moment. I don’t know you well enough, James.”
“I understand. I hope over the next few days that you and I will get to know one another better. I wish with all my heart that you willingly come to place your trust in me. Leah, I care about you. I shall do whatever I can to keep you safe,” he replied.
Now was not the time to get into a discussion about how he truly felt for her. In fact, that time may never come. On the road to her grandfather, he would make sure she slept in a warm bed every night, and that whatever Leah needed, she would have. And if in the end that was the only way he could show her his love, then so be it.
The hint of a wry smile appeared on her lips. She didn’t believe him. “I used you to try and convince Guy not to offer for me. I lured you into a room and then kissed you with the sole intent of making you go and tell him that I was not suited to be his wife. You obviously decided I was a foolish chit who did not know what she wanted. I wonder if you even told him about the kiss.”
“I tell him about the kiss, but it clearly made no difference. And I have never thought you a foolish chit. How about we put the worry of what we think of one another aside for the time being. All of those conversations can wait. First, we need to eat. Then we should discuss what is to be done tomorrow,” he said.
She released her other arm from about his waist. James felt the pang of regret as Leah moved away.
“What is happening tomorrow is that I am getting onboard the coach for Exeter,” she said. She rose from the bed, and after crossing the floor, took a seat in the small fireside chair. “I shall sleep here tonight,” she said. Her fingers tapped the hard arms of the chair. She softly nodded, looking for all the world like she was totally convinced she could actually sleep in such an uncomfortable place. There was little chance she would get any rest there.
James shook his head. “If anyone is going to sleep in the chair, it is me. My mother would have my guts for garters if I left a young lady to sit in a chair all night.”
He suspected they could argue that particular topic for hours if he allowed himself to get dragged into it. But sleeping arrangements were not important at this moment. Before they sat down to supper, he wanted to know more of Leah’s plans. To decide how best he could help her. “Where exactly is Mopus Passage?”
“Mopus Passage is a tiny village on the Tresillian River, right where it meets the Truro River. When I say village, I mean it is a collection of houses and a tavern—nothing more. Truro is the nearest town, some two miles away,” she replied.
“Won’t your family know to look for you there?” he said, stating the obvious.
She nodded. “No doubt they will eventually, but my grandfather is a powerful man. My father hates him, not the least because he knows Sir Geoffrey has the wealth and political connections to be able to stand up to him. I am certain that my grandfather will do everything he can in order to save me from having to go back to London and face my father’s wrath.”
Her words were heartbreaking. While James had been concerned about her family pressuring Leah to return to London and marry Guy, she was more concerned with the threat of retribution from her own father. It was truly awful.
Leah sat with her head bowed, her gaze cast down to the floor. When she looked up at James, more tears filled her eyes. “You think that I jilted Guy because I didn’t love him. That is only part of the truth. Did you know that he planned to use me to seduce his political allies and opponents? The fact that my father knew of his intentions only serves to make it that more repulsive.”
“Leah, I am so sorry. I was aware that Guy planned to use you to further his political ambitions, but I had no idea he intended to corrupt you. I tried to talk him out of marrying you because I thought the two of you were ill suited. But he simply wouldn’t listen. I cannot believe that your father approved the marriage. I only wish I had done more to save you.”
Leah shrugged. “My father was complicit in Guy’s plans, so there was nothing you could have done. My mother was no better. She told me to accept my lot and submit to Guy’s wishes,” she replied.
James was close to tears, his body shaking with b
arely suppressed fury. He had abandoned her. While he had been with his cousins in Derbyshire and worrying about his own future, Leah had been fighting a battle for her soul.
How could he profess to love her when the truth of Guy’s plans for Leah had been staring him straight in the face all along?
You failed her.
“I must admit to having been more than a little shocked when I saw you after I returned to London. I was a fool in thinking that you were resigned to your fate. I failed you, Leah, and for that I shall always be sorry. But I swear that from now on, I shall protect you. No one will take you back to London against your will,” he said.
“Don’t make promises you cannot keep, James. My father has ways to make people suffer long after they think they have gotten the better of him. He specializes in revenge.”
James got to his feet. It was another three or so days of travel to the west country—time during which Tobias Shepherd could catch up with them and attempt to snatch his daughter back. James had to concentrate his mind and efforts into keeping Leah safe.
A knock at the door tore him from his thoughts. He motioned for Leah to hide on the floor on the other side of the bed. Once she was hidden from view, he opened the door.
“Ah, food. Good, thank you,” he said.
A maid carried a tray into the room and set it down on the table. The heady smell of hot stew and freshly baked bread filled the cramped space. The maid looked down at Leah where she lay on the floor and raised an eyebrow.
“Have you found it, dearest?” asked James.
“Not yet, but I am certain I dropped it over here somewhere,” replied Leah.
The ruse worked and the maid gave a bob of a curtsey, then left the room. Leah climbed up off the floor and hurried over to the food. Picking up the knife which had come with their supper tray, she began to cut the half-loaf of bread into generous slices. She handed James a piece, then dipped her own slice into one of the bowls of stew. She stood with her back against the wall while she quietly ate.
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