Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, Laurence said, “Soon we will stop for a few moments rest and hopefully, we’ll receive another message.”
“How many men do you have out searching?”
He wasn’t sure, but answered her confidently, “At least eight. That way, one can ride on while another finds someone to send back notes.”
“You surprise me.”
“Why is that?” He already knew what she would say next, but didn’t know how to turn the conversation to another subject.
“I thought you were a lecturer and amateur scientist. The way you’ve taken over this endeavor to find one man makes it seem as if you’re so much more.”
“I’m merely a man who is organized and cares enough to try to assist in whatever way I can.” Laurence squirmed on the seat. This was getting too hard to discuss. He’d almost said he was a man who wanted to help a friend, but was he really helping if he had her father arrested?
She laughed. “I don’t know about that. Sounds more like you should be working as a spy.”
Chapter Sixteen
“Why, what’s wrong? You look as if you’re going to be ill. Does a long carriage ride make you queasy?” Hetty asked Laurence. He’d gone white and his hand on his knee clenched in a fist so tight it looked ready to explode.
“No, that’s not it at all. I have a sudden pain in my head. Would you think it terribly rude of me if I closed my eyes for a little while and we sat in silence?”
“Of course not. I’m sorry you’re feeling ill.”
He nodded and shut his eyes. His hand didn’t relax and she worried he might be sicker than he indicated.
She sat quietly and thought about his refusal to share his note. What else could be in it to make him reluctant to let her read it?
Mulling over all that had occurred in the hours since her father disappeared along with the monotony of the conveyance rolling down the path made Hetty drowsy. She almost nodded off twice, but made herself stay awake.
Eventually, she must have fallen asleep because she woke when the carriage came to a stop.
Laurence sat up and peered out the window. “Let’s get out and walk around for a while. You must be as stiff as I am from sitting.”
The conveyance shook as the driver leapt down. He opened the door and Laurence exited. He turned and held his hand out to Hetty, but drew it back quickly. “Sorry, I can’t be seen assisting my servant out of the carriage.”
Hetty had forgotten she was in breeches with her hair tucked under a hat.
Looking down at the steps and gauging how she could manage to make her way to the ground without assistance and without falling on her face, she tentatively put her foot on the first step.
“Tsk. Wait.” Laurence moved close to the side of the conveyance and slipped a hand under her elbow in such a way that someone standing on the far side of the yard wouldn’t notice. “We can’t have you falling and breaking a bone.”
Once she was down, she glanced up at his face. “Thank you. I was sure I would fall.”
She strolled around for a few minutes while he spoke to the driver.
When he came back, he said, “We’ve decided to stay here. Since the coachman drove all night and most of the day, he’d like to get some sleep and I agreed. We’ll all be better tomorrow after a full evening’s rest.”
“I confess, I like that idea. I’d also like to change into my gown for the morrow. If we think we’re going to find my father, I cannot be dressed as a boy.”
“Hopefully, I’ll get another missive while we’re here.”
“Will your friends know about this place?”
“They should since it’s a large coaching house.” He turned toward the entrance. “I’ll go in and get rooms.”
Hetty stared at him for a moment. Suddenly terrified. She’d never stayed overnight at such a place and certainly not on her own. How would she get through the whole night without being scared? Weren’t there all kinds of highwaymen and brigands in such establishments?
Wanting to berate herself for not thinking about this very eventuality when she was in her mother’s parlor, Hetty stood as if some gardener had planted her right there in the soil under her feet.
She was still in the same spot when their coachman came by. “Best to come on inside, lass. This isn’t a place for either young lads or girls disguised as such to be standing about.”
Since she completely agreed with him, Hetty fell into step behind him as he entered the building.
Laurence came toward them. To the coachman, he said, “I got you a shared room in the back as well as dinner.”
“Thank you. I’ll see you in the morning then.” The driver walked away.
Turning to Hetty, Laurence said, “I’m sorry to tell you, but we have to share a room.”
Hetty’s knees buckled. She almost went down, but Laurence must have sensed it realized it because he reached out for her. “I’m really sorry, but they had only one room left. It seems there’s a local gentleman having a ball, but he doesn’t have enough space in his home to house everyone he invited. All the accommodations here have been taken less one. I even had to accept shared space for our driver.”
“How can we share a room? We will both be ruined for sure.”
“I think we can manage it. You’ll remain dressed as a boy, obviously.”
“But what if I know some of the guests who’ll be here?” She wanted to disappear or better yet, never to have left home.
“We spirit you up to the room and have your meals brought up. You’ll see, it’ll be fine.”
She didn’t want to tell him she was terrified about the entire experience. Never having been in such a situation, she didn’t even know how to voice all the concerns flooding into her head.
He took her by the elbow. “Come on. We’re causing too much interest by standing here. We can talk upstairs.” Leading her to the staircase, Laurence said to the man at the newel post, “My lad seems to have been taken ill. I’ll be back down for my meal soon. I’d like something sent up for him. Maybe soup with some bread will make him feel better.”
“Yes, sir. Right away.” The man walked away seemingly set on fetching the food Laurence ordered.
Once they were in the room with the door firmly shut behind them, Laurence tossed his gloves and hat on the table beside the fireplace on the far wall opposite the door. He walked over and poked the small fire, bringing it to life.
Hetty took in their surroundings. It was larger than she thought it would be but there, right in the middle of two windows was what she feared. One bed. With a slouchy mattress. How in the name of God was she going to share that with the man beside her who suddenly seemed too large for the space?
She turned her back on the offending structure thinking she would worry about the sleeping arrangements later. Not that anything was going to change between now and time to go to bed.
“I’ll wait here for the maidservant to bring your meal then I’ll leave you to rest for a while.” Laurence sat in one of the chairs by the fire.
Hetty chose to remain on her feet. Being in one position in the carriage for so long had made her stiff. “Do you think you’ll have a note delivered here?”
“I hope so. If not, we’ll have to move on tomorrow morning unsure of our direction. I feel sure someone will be riding back to let me know what news they’ve learned.”
“Do you think I should send a message to my mother to let her know where we are?”
“Didn’t you leave one before you got on my carriage?” Laurence leaned forward as if he couldn’t believe she would have come away from her mother’s home without telling her where she was going.
“Of course I did. It’s just that she may be worried since I’ve been gone for a second night now.”
“No. It’s best we leave it alone until we can find your father.”
Not understanding why he didn’t want her to communicate with her family, she started to ask the question, but was interr
upted by a knock on the door.
Laurence nodded at her. “You should answer that since you’re supposed to be my servant.”
She opened the door to a young boy carrying a tray with a crock of soup and some bread.
Stepping aside, Hetty let him pass and he placed the meal on the table.
Handing the boy a coin, Laurence stood. “Thank you, lad. I’ll go down with you and have my meal.” He turned to Hetty. “When you’re finished, place the crockery outside the door. We don’t want any of the good landlord’s staff catching ill along with you.”
The boy cast a fearful glance at Hetty then hurried out to the hallway.
Hetty suppressed her laughter, grateful for Laurence’s words since they would serve to keep any intruders out of the room while he was gone.
As soon as she ate, Hetty couldn’t resist a few moments of rest. She’d slept very little since leaving home and was so exhausted.
Worrying a little again about what would happen when Laurence returned, she only argued with herself for a few moments before climbing onto the mattress. She closed her eyes and soon was dozing off, wishing she were home in her own bed that wasn’t anywhere near as rickety as this one. One thing she learned on this trip was never to take home for granted again.
Laurence sat downstairs eating some very tender goose. The inn might not have the best accommodations as evidenced by the room upstairs, but whoever was in the kitchens knew how to roast a fowl. The ale was also nicely aged and tasty.
He gave a moment’s thought to maybe the food and drink seemed excellent because he was so hungry and tired. The strain of being in close quarters with Miss Hale—Hetty—as well as concerns about her reputation, to say nothing of his mission, all combined to make his head ache. These moments alone were helping him to restore his sense of purpose.
As the maidservant came by and placed another mug of ale on the table in front of him, one of his colleagues arrived and sat across from him. “Good evening, Fortescue.”
“I hope you have some good news for me, Prescott.” Laurence wiped the corner of his mouth with his serviette.
“I do indeed.” Prescott snapped his fingers in the direction of the maidservant and indicated for her to bring him a meal as well.
“Don’t leave me in suspense. What news?”
“The ones we seek are less than a day’s ride from here. They’re in a manor house owned by a relative of Talbot. We’ll move in on them tomorrow evening and have them back to London on charges as soon as the end of the week.”
“Are we sure we have the evidence we need to charge them with treason?” Now that they were so close to getting their prey, Laurence wondered if they had enough to actually have them convicted of the vile acts they were suspected of. He didn’t want to ruin the mission by moving too soon.
“We’ve been assured there will be some papers in their possession that will incriminate them. We need to act decisively.”
“I’ll be ready.” Laurence stopped talking as Prescott’s food was delivered. “I have someone with me that I’ll have to bring along. They will stay in the carriage, but I can’t leave them here.”
“It’s most peculiar and irregular. I’m not sure how our superiors will feel about that.”
“It cannot be helped.” Laurence knew he could get in a lot of trouble for having Hetty with him, but he couldn’t have left her on the side of the road, could he? And he hadn’t had time to take her back to Oxford either. He’d done the best he could with the situation he was faced with. And he couldn’t leave her here alone either.
“You’ll have to take the punishment yourself. I’m not going to be part of the plan to bring someone else along. Be sure you tell everyone I tried to talk you out of it.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll have no blame. I’ll take it on. It’s my responsibility.”
“I don’t know why you would’ve brought someone along on the mission. Doesn’t seem like something you’d do. You’ve always been so conscientious in your work.”
Laurence didn’t like the way the conversation was going. He’d always worked hard to prove himself worthy of the calling to help his country remain safe from its enemies. Prescott’s words inferring he was shirking his duty hurt and hit him right in the stomach where suddenly that goose didn’t sit quite so well. “I do what I need to do in order to perform my duty. Don’t you worry about that.”
“I know you do. It’s just surprising to hear you brought a companion along.”
“It wasn’t by choice, but now that it’s happened I must see it through.” Laurence sipped the last of his ale and tossed his serviette on the table. “Let me know where I’m supposed to meet you tomorrow and I’ll be there.”
“I’ll draw you a map.” Prescott pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket as well as the nub of a pencil. He scrawled some lines on the sheet. “Here it is. We’ll all gather at six p.m. It’s a hard ride, but you should be able to make it if you leave early.”
“Thank you for this.” Laurence folded the map, put it in his waistcoat pocket and stood. “I will see you tomorrow evening.” He walked to the staircase and up to his room.
When he opened the door and saw Hetty on the bed sound asleep, he let out a small groan. What was he going to do with the girl?
Not only did he have to worry about what he was going to do with her while the mission was carried out the next evening, he had the more immediate problem about where he would sleep. He wished he’d thought of asking the landlord to bring an extra blanket so he could bed down on the floor, but he hadn’t thought of it at the time. Being too focused on receiving news from one of his allies, he’d not even considered that there was only one bed in the room.
Laurence thought through the consequences of calling down now and decided he couldn’t risk it. Since there were so many people of their station expected to stay at the inn due to the local house party, there would surely be gossip if the landlord came up and found Laurence’s servant in his bed.
He shrugged. There was nothing to do but share the bed. She hadn’t taken off her clothing when she got on the bed so he didn’t either. He loosened his cravat and set it beside his hat and gloves.
Taking off his boots, he eased himself onto the mattress. She barely moved. He presumed she was as tired as he was and hoped she’d go on sleeping without realizing he was there.
Laurence closed his eyes, but his mind didn’t stop. He worried about everything that could go wrong the next day and was also distracted by the small girl beside him. She slept on in seeming ignorance of him which he supposed was a good thing. He wished he were in as deep a sleep. As it was, he didn’t think he’d ever get any rest. Something else to cause distress as he needed to be at his best for the events of the following day.
Eventually, he must have fallen asleep because the next thing he knew, a body pressed against his. Warmth suffused his limbs and, once he realized Hetty had rolled over and lay against him, he jerked away.
His movement clearly woke her as she sat up immediately and gasped. “What?”
“Sorry, I was trying to make sure we were on opposite sides of the bed. I think you must have rolled over too far.” Laurence hoped she wasn’t one of those women prone to screaming at improprieties. He didn’t think so as she’d been sensible about most things in the past, but he was afraid she might call attention to them. “Please forgive me for sharing the bed, but there was no other option.”
“I understand. It’s not proper at all but nothing we’ve done in the last two days has been proper, has it?” She smiled ruefully.
“You’re right.” He stood, walked over to the window and looked out. It was still full dark. Turning back to her, he said, “We need to leave right before dawn, but it seems we have several more hours before that where we could get more rest. Is that acceptable?”
“You have news of my father?”
“Yes.”
“And that’s why we need to leave early?” She was so adorable staring at him with her h
air in disarray. The braids she’d fixed her hair in were falling down and wisps of hair covered her forehead and cheeks. His desire inflamed, he turned back to the window.
Over his shoulder, he said, “Yes, and we should catch up to him and his captors tomorrow if we leave early enough.”
“Then we need to get some more sleep so we’re refreshed at dawn. I’ll wear my gown tomorrow.”
“No.” He faced her again. “We must have you leave here as my servant as there will be a number of people downstairs who may recognize you or me. If they see us together, your reputation will be in tatters.”
“As will yours.”
“Men seem to be forgiven easier than woman for these transgressions. We must protect you as well as we can.” Laurence was beginning to think the lady needed protection from him as well. She seemed to be growing more charming and desirable by the moment. Miss Hetty Hale was certainly not a temptation he needed. Not at all.
“We haven’t done anything wrong.” She ran a hand over her hair. “I mean wrong in the sense of crossing the line of propriety.”
He barked out a laugh. “My dear Miss Hale, you are in a coaching inn far from home and sharing a room with a man to whom you are not married.” Pointing at the bed, he added, “Not only in the room, but in the man’s bed. Surely you see how you’ve been compromised. Even if we both have been fully clad the entire time, we’ve slept in the same bed.”
Her face went white. “When you say it that way, it makes me sound wanton.”
“Never wanton.” He closed the space between them and sat on the side of the bed. “Rash and impulsive, maybe, but not wanton.”
Lightning Strikes Twice (The Heart of a Hero Book 4) Page 16