Chapter 26
Sophie’s eyes were gritty as she dragged her bag to the bedchamber door and glanced over her shoulder, checking one last time to make sure that she’d packed everything she would need for their journey to Gretna Green.
Many of her dresses still hung in the wardrobe, but she trusted her mother to ensure they got back to London safely. She was bringing with her only those she could put on herself, since she wouldn’t have Betsy to assist her.
Holding her breath, she eased the door open and peered out into the darkness. It was too early for her brain to be fully awake, but she couldn’t see any figures, and there definitely wasn’t any movement, so she hefted the bag over her shoulder and stepped through the doorway.
Hopefully she didn’t encounter anyone because she was wearing her travel clothes, and, combined with the bag, there wasn’t an easy way to explain what she was doing.
She paused outside her mother’s room. Drat. She should have slipped the letter beneath her door before picking up the bag. Now she had to awkwardly maneuver into position so that she could slide the letter through the narrow gap without dropping her bag and possibly waking her mother.
She bent her knees and dropped as far as she could, then shuffled closer and eased the letter out of the neck of her coat where she’d tucked it while preparing to leave.
When she placed it on the floor and slid it toward the gap, she feared it would be too large and not fit through, but fortunately, with a little wiggling and a bit of patience, the letter disappeared underneath the door.
Sophie’s pulse thrummed, and she straightened quickly, aware that the slight scraping noise may have disturbed her mother’s sleep. She hurried along the corridor, puffing slightly because she wasn’t used to carrying anything this heavy.
Nicholas had shown her where the servants’ corridors were, and she tiptoed along one, freezing at the sound of voices up ahead.
She pressed herself to the wall and slowly counted down from ten. The voices moved farther away, and when she was certain they were no longer nearby, she rounded the corner and dashed to the exit.
The butler was still in bed, but the main door was unlocked, so she pushed it open and shouldered her bag through.
A carriage stood at the base of the stairs, a figure in front of it outlined by a flicker of light coming through the carriage window. Nicholas must have put a lantern inside. She glanced at the horses and noted a second silhouette in the driver’s position.
Nicholas strode over to her, his features shadowed and impossible to make out. He ducked to kiss her forehead and then took her bag. He carried it to the carriage—making it look weightless—and pushed it against the far side, then he turned to Sophie and offered her his hand.
“Last chance to change your mind,” he murmured.
She took his hand and followed him inside. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”
He grinned, the expression now visible because of the warm light thrown by the lantern hanging from the ceiling. “I wouldn’t want to.”
He blew out the flame and knocked on the front wall. A moment later, the carriage eased into motion, crunching over the gravel as they began their journey away from Nunhaven.
Nicholas’s body was firm and steady against hers, and she rested her head on his shoulder and intertwined their hands.
“This is more excitement than I expected from a society house party,” she whispered.
He chuckled. “For me too. In fact, it’s all the excitement that my poor heart can endure for a while. Shall we restrict ourselves to horse racing and stealing kisses when no one is looking after this?”
“At least for a few months,” she agreed, closing her eyes as they bumped over a ridge in the driveway. “Next season, you’re escorting me to the races, and I want to experience everything properly.”
“You could ride Blackheart.”
The offer took her by surprise. “Really?”
“Of course.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and she relaxed into the embrace, her eyes fluttering shut since she couldn’t see much anyway. “Not during a race. I have a jockey for that. But there’s no reason why you can’t ride him outside of the racecourse’s working hours.”
“That would be… amazing.”
Her, on a racehorse.
She’d never imagined such a thing.
Her heart lifted, and she snuggled closer to Nicholas. He was giving her so much to look forward to.
“Then I’ll make sure it happens.”
“Thank you.”
They didn’t speak more. Neither of them was particularly fond of the morning, and between the rhythmic motion of the carriage and the subtle scent of lavender clinging to Nicholas, Sophie drifted away into dreams of a handsome man standing opposite her in a small chapel.
She slept well.
When she woke, the light stung her eyes, and she blinked as they adjusted.
A deep voice rumbled, “Good morning, sweetheart.”
She smiled as she rubbed at her eyes and turned to face Nicholas. “Good morning, future husband.”
His own grin widened, his dark eyes still a little hazy with sleep, as hers no doubt also were. His hair had come free from its knot and hung around his shoulders. She reached up and ran her fingers through the silken strands. So soft.
“Have you been awake long?” she asked.
“Only a few minutes.” He motioned to the window. “We’re passing through a town, although I’m not sure which one.”
She shuffled over and looked out, instinctively flinching against the brightness of the light. The clouds were gray overhead but not in a way that made it any darker. In fact, they only seemed to add to the glare.
The town he’d mentioned was more of a village. There were a few small buildings along the side of the road, including one that was clearly an inn and another that might be a bakery.
Her stomach gurgled, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten breakfast. “Can we stop at the bakery?”
Behind her, Nicholas sighed. “I’m afraid that wouldn’t be the best idea. I want to cover as much ground as possible today so that no one can catch us.”
Sophie’s heart punched against her rib cage, and she spun around, turning her back to the window. “You think someone might chase us?”
He shrugged. “It’s possible.”
“And it didn’t occur to you to mention this when we were discussing the options yesterday?”
Another shrug. “I doubt they’ll bother, considering the letters we’ve left behind, but it can’t be ruled out.
If they were to send a rider after us, they probably wouldn’t take the time to prepare for a multiday journey, so as long as we put as much distance between us and Nunhaven as possible, we should be safe. ”
Should be?
Sophie wasn’t certain she liked the sound of that.
She wished she’d considered that they might be pursued. It wasn’t a matter discussed in polite society so the possibility had never crossed her mind.
Nicholas’s features softened. “Besides, I asked the driver to take less popular routes wherever possible, as long as it doesn’t add significant time onto the journey because anyone pursuing us would assume we’d opt for the most direct route.”
She drew in a deep breath and released it in a gust.
All right, this was fine.
She was fine.
Everything was fine.
Only moments ago, she’d been blissfully snuggled against Nicholas, enjoying the intimacy of closeness and the excitement of their adventure. This didn’t change that. It just added a new aspect that they needed to keep in mind.
“Do you have something we can eat?” she asked, assuming that if he’d thought ahead that much, then he might have also brought provisions.
He reached under the seat and pulled out a picnic basket. Opening the lid, he revealed a selection of bread, scones, fruit, and cured meat, along with a glass bottle of water.
“I told the kitchen staff that I wanted to take you on a sunrise picnic, so they had this prepared last night,” he said, lifting it onto his lap and gesturing for Sophie to take whatever she wanted.
She picked up a scone and smiled when she realized that jam and butter had been sandwiched in the center. She bit into it, and though it was cold, it filled the empty space in her belly, and, as always, she delighted in the sweetness of the jam on her tongue.
Nicholas helped himself to a wedge of cheese and a piece of cured meat and ate one after the other, then chased it down with a gulp of water from the bottle.
He passed it to her, and she felt warm and tingly inside as she drank too.
There was something ridiculously intimate about putting her mouth where his had just been.
When they finished breakfast, Nicholas returned the basket to its place beneath the seat, and they chatted about things they saw out the window.
She grew restless quickly but didn’t ask to stop.
He was also fidgeting. After riding to Nunhaven on horseback, being cooped up like this must be difficult.
“What will happen with your horse?” she asked, realizing only now that the gelding obviously wasn’t one of the horses strapped to the carriage.
“I paid rather handsomely for one of the stablehands to ride him to Blackwell Estate, and I made sure to inform Lord Wembley in the letter I left for him so the boy wouldn’t suffer any consequences for not turning up to work for a few days.”
Sophie nodded, relieved that the horse hadn’t been forgotten. She’d have felt terrible if he’d been left at Nunhaven and they had to come up with a plan to retrieve him.
As the sun rose higher in the sky, the carriage grew hotter and hotter. It had been quite pleasant at dawn, but by noon they were sweltering. Even with the window open as wide as it could go, sweat beaded at Sophie’s hairline and dampened the small of her back.
She thanked her lucky stars that she didn’t get sick from riding in carriages like Betsy did because the heat combined with nausea would be too much to bear.
In an attempt to distract herself, she climbed onto Nicholas’s lap and kissed him. His eyes widened, but he returned the kiss enthusiastically, holding her securely in place and stealing her breath and her thoughts.
Unfortunately, they had to stop when they got too sweaty and the embrace became unpleasant.
They sat on opposite sides of the carriage, giving each other plenty of space, and Sophie was grateful for that as the afternoon stretched on because she certainly didn’t smell as fresh as she might want to.
Long after the sun had dipped below the horizon, they entered the town of Market Weighton.
Sophie ached with weariness. Both her bottom and her back were sore from sitting all day, but restless energy crawled beneath her skin, and she couldn’t stop jiggling her leg. How was it that she was both tired and restless simultaneously?
Either way, she desperately needed to get out of the carriage.
She looked out the window, watching the blocky brick buildings pass by. The road was wide here and smoother than in the country. Few people were out and about, but the lights of an inn drew her attention.
“Are we traveling much farther tonight?” she asked, hoping the answer would be no even as she knew it would likely be yes.
A large hand settled on her thigh. “No. We’ll stop here for the night.”
She dropped her head back and sighed, the tension draining from her. “Thank God.”
Nicholas stuck his head through the window and called to the driver to stop at the inn.
As soon as the carriage came to a halt, Sophie threw the door open and spilled out, her legs as weak as pudding after not being used all day.
She stumbled, righted herself, and turned as Nicholas exited far more gracefully than she.
A stableboy ran up to them, and Nicholas slipped him a coin to take care of the horses after the driver disconnected them from the carriage.
Then, he grabbed his bag in one hand and Sophie’s slightly larger one in the other.
She started to reach for it, determined to help, but he stopped her with a look.
“I’ve got this,” he said, bouncing the bags up and down, showing just how little the weight bothered him. “Why don’t you tell the innkeeper that Mr. and Mrs. Thompson need a room for the night while I bring our bags in?”
She snorted. “Mr. and Mrs. Thompson?”
He raised an eyebrow. “What? If we want to share a room, then we must be married, and if either of us uses our actual name, it might be recognized.”
She shook her head, knowing he was right but amused regardless. She rolled her shoulders, then discreetly stretched out each of her legs before marching to the inn’s front door.
A friendly gentleman greeted her, and she kept her hand in her pocket as she asked for a room. She didn’t want him to notice that she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring.
He showed her upstairs into a rather plain room with off-white, unadorned walls, a wooden floor, a bed that would only just be large enough for both of them to fit, and a small table upon which a pot of tea and two cups already awaited.
Someone must have noticed them arriving and informed the kitchen.
“Dinner will be brought up in about an hour,” the innkeeper told her, backing toward the door and almost bumping into Nicholas.
“Thank you,” Sophie said, looking about in search of a tub. “Is there…?”
She wasn’t sure how to phrase the question without being indelicate. She was more accustomed to asking female servants to prepare a bath for her than strange men.
When she trailed off, Nicholas glanced at her and seemed to read her mind.
“Is there anywhere we can bathe?” he asked. “As I’m sure you can imagine, it got rather hot inside our carriage.”
The innkeeper nodded. “There’s a washroom on the ground floor, beyond the foyer but before you reach the dining room. I’ll have them prepare the tub for you.”
“Excellent,” Sophie breathed.
The innkeeper left, closing the door behind himself, and she watched as Nicholas set their bags down. She was tempted to flop onto the bed but wanted to be clean first.
“I think we made good time today.” Nicholas rested his hands on her hips and kissed her. “Thank you for being patient. I know it was difficult to be confined to the carriage for so long.”
The corners of his eyes were creased in a smile, his dark eyes fond as he gazed down at her, and her heart filled to bursting. The Sophie of a week ago would never have dreamed she’d be about to spend the night in an inn with Nicholas Blackwell while eloping.
It was inconceivable, and it thrilled her. She hadn’t thought it possible to be so happy.
“You’re welcome.” She stretched onto her toes and kissed him. “Thank you for running away with me.”
He chuckled. “There’s no one I’d rather have as my partner in crime.”
Her insides warmed. “I feel exactly the same way.”