Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
“What the devil!” Charles exclaimed as the horses whinnied outside and men began to shout.
The carriage stilled, tipped back on one side so he and Marie were pressed firmly against the side wall and back seat.
“What happened?” she asked, her voice filled with fright in the darkness.
Charles looked out the window, but all was black. “The carriage must have thrown a wheel.”
Sure enough, a moment later, the footman came in with a harried expression. “Forgive me, Mr. and Mrs. Shepherd. The carriage lost a wheel.”
“Any chance of fixing it tonight?” Charles asked, attempting to lean forward.
“Mr. Lloyd is looking into it, sir.”
But the groom could not fix the damage with the darkness so thick, nor could he when Charles and the footman came to help.
Sorting through the options, Charles returned to Marie, who he’d encouraged to remain inside the carriage.
“We cannot stay here in the darkness and cold all night, so we have two choices. We can continue attempting to fix the wheel—though there isn’t much hope as none of us are particularly versed in carriage mending.
Or we unhitch the horses, and the four of us walk back a mile to where we passed a small inn not long ago. ”
Marie’s brows knit together. “What do you prefer?”
“I believe our best option is the inn. We’ll be dry and warm there. Tomorrow morning we can look into finding the nearest stagecoach.”
“Very well,” she agreed.
“I should warn you, though. The inn...might not be what you are used to.”
Charles, himself, had stayed in many uncleanly living quarters on his journeys around the country and throughout Europe. He was fine with such despondent circumstances, but to subject a lady to such—to subject his wife to such—was not something he wished to do.
Marie looked concerned for a brief moment, then brushed it aside with a smile. “Our next adventure, I suppose.”
Charles had never been more attracted to her.
He took her hand, and together they walked through the darkness toward the inn, the groom and footman leading the two horses behind.
Upon arrival at the Blind Goose, the groom and footman found a place for the horses in the stables at the back, then took seats with a pint each.
Charles, however, had hoped to give Marie some rest. Of course, no such rest was had as the barman told them the only room available was shared with only one bed remaining.
He chewed on his lower lip. He wouldn’t allow Marie to be alone in a shared room with who-knew-what sort of men—nor would he wish her to sleep upright all night with drunken men down here. So what was he to do?
His nerves were settled when she reached forward and placed a comforting hand on his arm, addressing the barman first. “We’ll take the bed, thank you.”
Charles’s gaze whipped toward her.
“We are married, Charles,” she whispered. “We shan’t cause a scandal if we share a bed.”
A scandal was the least of his concerns. Sharing a bed, however...
They reached the room a few moments later, four beds lined up in a row. The first three were occupied, large lumps under dark blankets, so they made their way to the final one, tucked beneath a window with a large crack in it that allowed a heavy draft to blow about the room.
“Now we know why there was one left,” Charles muttered under his breath.
A snorting occurred in the bed next to them, and a lump tossed back and forth before settling again. Marie watched them warily, as well.
“I’m sorry about this,” Charles whispered.
She merely shrugged. “You warned me. At any rate, now when you speak of your ship tossed about at sea, I shall be able to speak of a night spent at a potentially duplicitous inn beneath a broken window next to three snoring, adult men.”
Charles couldn’t help but grin.
“And,” she continued, “at least we do not have to deal with any great stench hulled up in that corner.”
“Right you are.”
And yet, when they faced their sleeping arrangements, he still hesitated. Compared to the inn’s mattress, Woewood’s beds had seemed fit for a king. This one was hardly large enough for the both of them—and there was no chance they would be able to share it without touching.
“I’ll sleep on the floor beside you,” he offered in a whisper.
“You most certainly will not. It’s covered in mud.”
He eyed the smears of muddy footprints strewn about the floor, visible from the light of the moon pouring in from the window. “But the bed isn’t large enough for the both of us.”
“As I said before, we are married.”
“But our arrangement...”
“The annulment?” she clarified.
He couldn’t care a lick about the annulment any longer. He merely wished for Marie to have the option, should she still wish for it.
Please, do not let her wish for it.
“Yes, the annulment,” he replied.
“As if we are in danger of risking that here, surrounded by all of these men. Now stop your protesting and share a bed with your wife.”
Her eyes twinkled, and his heart skipped a beat.
She removed her gloves, bonnet, and boots, setting them at the end of the bed on the floor before climbing onto the lumpy mattress first, fully dressed as she scooted up against the wall.
She paused, eying the grey pillow with a slight wrinkling of her nose, then tried to hide her hesitance with another smile.
“Here,” Charles said at once, removing his jacket and placing it face down on the pillow so she might sleep on the inside of it.
Relief filled her expression instantly. “You don’t have to do that,” she protested, but he insisted.
She laid down on her side, then patted the spot next to her.
Charles didn’t move an inch. For the last few nights, he’d longed to lay down beside her, to hold her, caress her soft skin, but the wall between them—though paper-thin—had provided a strong enough barrier.
How was he to manage tonight?
“What’s the matter?” she asked. “Do you need more room?”
He shook his head. “I do not think this is wise.”
“I promise to keep my hands to myself,” she teased.
“That’s hardly what I’m concerned about.”
“Then what are you concerned about?”
“That I won’t...” he began.
She didn’t respond, seeming to catch his words in an instant. “Charles, are you—”
“Quiet down over there!”
Marie jumped at the man shouting from the corner.
Charles scowled at him, though he knew he wouldn’t be able to see it. He had a mind to tell the man off for shouting at a lady, but when he caught Marie’s smile, he stopped.
“You’d better get in this bed now before we are kicked out of the room altogether,” she said in a voice barely audible.
Charles sighed, knowing she was right. He didn’t want to subject her to a night of sitting in an upright chair downstairs, so he set aside his reservations and climbed into the bed.
He first tried lying on his back, but his shoulder hung halfway off the frame, so he shifted to his side away from Marie. The bed, however, had no support in the center, so he naturally sunk toward her.
With a heavy sigh, he resigned himself to his other side facing her, holding himself away with a hand between them that rested on the inner lining of his jacket. Her hand also relaxed between them, a mere inch from his.
“Comfortable?” she asked, clearly amused with his movements.
“Indubitably.”
She stifled a laugh.
“You?” he asked.
“I’ve been better.”
He eyed her hand next to his, her long, slender fingers against his jacket.
A lady as lovely as this ought not be subjected to such sleeping arrangements—in the inn or with the man who’d promised to give her an annulment if she wished for it.
How could he ever live with himself if he made it so the annulment was not possible, if he trapped her within a marriage she didn’t want?
He winced. “I’m s—”
His words were cut off by her finger against his lips. “If you attempt to apologize one more time for any of this, I shan’t forgive you.”
Their eyes met. He didn’t say a word. Her eyes focused on his mouth until she gently slid her finger away, caressing his bottom lip in the motion.
His breathing shallowed.
Think of something else. Anything else besides those lips so close to your own. Think of the three men in the room with you. Of seeing your mother tomorrow. Of Marie wanting an annulment.
Please, Heaven, do not let her want the annulment.
“How did you know I was going to apologize?” he asked, their voices far softer now.
“You have this look in your eye,” she explained. “Regret, I believe. It came when I mentioned that I overheard your conversation with your parents, and that day at the church.”
Charles had no idea he was so expressive. “Well, at the risk of offending you, I am sorry. A lady like you ought not be subjected to sleeping like this.”
“I thought you said I needed adventure?”
“I’m far too opinionated. Surely you know that.”
“That is the first thing I learned about you.” Her eyes swept across his features.
“And that you do not hesitate to take charge when something is wrong. That is why you need not apologize. With you, I do not have to worry if a carriage wheel falls off. Just as I do not have to worry about sharing this bed with you now.” Her eyes softened.
“Because you are as honorable a man as they come, Charles.”
If she could only read his thoughts—how desperately he wanted to pull her toward him, to place his lips to hers in a kiss that ended with both of them agreeing to remain wedded.
That was his greatest desire, and there was no point denying it any longer.
How he cursed the fact that he ever presented the option of an annulment to her.
“Do you know what I used to call you?” she whispered dreamily, her eyelids heavy as she blinked, as if she were half asleep already.
“What is that?”
“Childish Charlie,” she whispered. “Though it was only ever in my thoughts.”
Charles didn’t know whether to laugh or grimace, for he’d definitely earned the title. “That is not the most flattering name I’ve received,” he replied. “I was hoping for something more along the lines of Handsome Charles or Charming Charlie.”
She smiled, her eyes on his mouth. Her hand raised, hesitating a moment before sliding the tip of her finger along his bottom lip once again. “Now, I am more apt to call you My Charlie.”
His heart rapped against his chest, desperate to break free and join Marie, but he held it back.
He would not lose his control around the woman, no matter his heart’s desire.
He loved her too much to risk it now.