Page 18 of The Agent and the Outlaw
“Take my arm,” I said somewhat breathlessly. “We’re a young married couple on our way to Provence for our honeymoon and we got caught in the storm.”
Antoine’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open, but he held out his arm and guided me inside the tavern.
Warmth enveloped us as we entered, along with the smell of baking bread and some savory stew. My stomach rumbled again in demand. I cast my eyes around and breathed a small sigh of relief—thankfully, it was nearly empty. A few soggy travelers sat in a far corner, and a robust woman with silvering hair bustled over to us.
“Smile,” I hissed at Antoine through gritted teeth. “We’re newlyweds, remember.”
He smiled and pulled me closer to him, wrapping his arm around my waist. My breath caught involuntarily, and I let out a nervous giggle that was only half faked.
“Bon soir, Madame,”Antoine said. “My new bride and I were on our way to Provence but I’m afraid we cannot make it much further in this weather. Have you any rooms available?”
The woman tutted and handed me a cloth to dry my dripping face.
“You poor lambs! I’ve just the one room upstairs. It’s no honeymoon suite, mind, but it’s warm, clean, and dry.”
“Bless you, Madame!” I said. “We’ll take it. Would it be possible to get some of that delicious-smelling food sent up to us? We’re nearly dead on our feet from exhaustion, and I don’t know that I could sit in the tavern here without falling over. We journeyed all the way from Poitiers this morning and had our things sent on after us, but I expect they’re half a day’s ride behind us.”
“What a journey you’ve had,” the woman exclaimed. “So, you’ve no other clothes or supplies to see you through to Provence?”
“We planned on stocking up here, if that’s possible,” Antoine chimed in with a charming smile. “My wife and I will need some dry clothes and food for another two days. And my horse is out in the stall—he’ll need to be tended to.”
“Of course, of course. Georges! See to the horse outside!” she called to a disgruntled, rail-thin man. “You two, follow me! Dry off and get settled, and I’ll send some food up right away.”
We followed her up a back set of stairs into a tiny gable bedroom. She’d been right. It was cramped to a ridiculous degree—Antoine had to duck down to enter—but there was a fire in the small hearth, and it was clean. She handed us some candles and promised to be back swiftly with a hot meal and some dry clothes.
Antoine went to the window and looked out. The rain lashed against the glass and made it impossible to see very far down the road.
I dragged the moth-eaten armchair in front of the fireplace and collapsed into it.
“Why newlyweds?”
Antoine’s voice sounded soft and distant.
“We’re traveling together without a chaperone, and we don’t look like siblings. Besides, wouldyouwant to disturb a couple of newlyweds in a cozy bedroom of a roadside inn?”
That low, warm chuckle rumbled from directly behind me, and I looked up to see him leaning against the back of the armchair.
“Fair point,” he conceded. “Why Poitiers?”
I shrugged. “It was the first place that popped into my head that’s about a day’s ride away. I didn’t want them to know we’d come from Versailles—or anywhere near Paris, for that matter.”
Antoine dragged another chair toward the fire and sat in it next to me. He stretched out long legs until his feet almost touched the hearth.
“But you say you are not a spy,” he murmured.
I snorted.
“Perhaps you just haven’t met that many quick-witted women in your lifetime. There are plenty of us out there, you know. It doesn’t mean we are all spies.”
“Perhaps,” he said. The ghost of a smile played about his full lips.
They really are fine lips.
There was a loud knock at the door, and we both jumped.
“Only me!” The lady innkeeper said, bustling in with a bundle under her arm and a tray of food in front of her. Antoine jumped up to take the tray and set it on the small table by the window. The innkeeper nodded gratefully.
“I didn’t have much luck finding clothing at this hour, but I found some clean nightclothes for you both. If you’ll remove your own garments, I’ll make sure they’re cleaned and dried for you in the morning.”
