Page 10 of A Wild English Rose
It was late when the coach finally drew to a halt in the stable yard at the George Hotel in Huntingdon.
As Thomas helped Cecily down from the coach, he leaned in close. “We will have to pretend you are my sister. The hotel owner is a man known for his strict morals. If he thinks he has an unmarried couple staying under his roof, he may not give us rooms.”
Cecily nodded. She followed him into the hotel and stood quietly beside him as Thomas stepped up to the reception desk.
“Lord Thomas Rosemount. We require . . .”
“A room please. My darling husband and I are so tired from the long journey up from London. Also, could we possibly trouble you for a bath and some soap?” interjected Cecily.
Thomas gritted his teeth. Cecily might be comfortable playing dangerous games, but he was not.
The landlord took the required amount of coins and they followed him upstairs.
As soon as the door had been closed behind them, Thomas fixed her with a disapproving look. “And just what was the purpose in doing that? I was going to arrange for two rooms. Now we have to share a bed, unless you plan to sleep in the chair,” he said.
The look on her face had him immediately feeling like a scoundrel. “I thought it might be fun to play at husband and wife. I’m sorry, I completely forgot about the fact that the room would only have one bed,” she replied.
“Alright. I will go back downstairs and see about getting you your own room,” he replied.
He was back within a few minutes. In the time since their arrival, a coach heading for Edinburgh had arrived and all the vacant rooms in the hotel had been taken.
“There are no more rooms available tonight. So, thanks to you, we will have to sleep fully dressed, and I will take the chair,” he said.
Cecily came to him, and as much as he was annoyed with her, he didn’t resist when she took hold of his hand. She raised it to her lips and placed a tender kiss on his fingertips.
“I am sorry, Thomas. I didn’t think how this would play out. I will sleep in the chair; it is only fair.”
“No. Don’t do that. You shouldn’t be punished for being spontaneous. It’s just that it has been a long day and I am tired,” he replied.
“Well then, let us agree that we sleep with our clothes on and we share the bed. That way we will both get some sleep.”
“Agreed.”
Cecily woke in the middle of the night. Her ever-present dream filled her mind. She tried to sit up but found that Thomas’s arm was draped over her. His soft snores echoed in the room.
Her reoccurring dream had always been the same. She was standing on the side of a road while watching a coach disappear into the distance. In her hands, she held a small posy of yellowcowslips. She understood the meaning of being abandoned, but the flowers still remained a mystery.
Thomas shifted in the bed behind her and snuggled in close, their bodies spooning. She closed her eyes and lay her hand over his. A warm, soft kiss was placed on the back of her neck.
“Go to sleep, Cecily. I will keep you safe.”
An unbidden tear trickled down her cheek and onto the pillow. What was she doing in an inn, in the middle of England, sharing a bed with a man she barely knew?
Her mother, father, and even Thomas were right; she was too impetuous for her own good. She was risking a life of guaranteed wealth and privilege, all for the faint hope of finding something else.
If she had any good sense she would go to Rosemount Abbey and see the breeding stables, then return to London and marry Lord Horsham. It was what her parents wanted, and it was what a dutiful daughter would do.
And in the years to come she would remember this night, and Thomas Rosemount, as nothing more than a brief but pleasant momentary indulgence. A quiet, horse-breeding man such as him would never want a woman like Cecily for his own.
But as she felt the warmth of his breath on her neck and the rich scent of his cologne filled her senses, her heart spoke. What if Thomas was the right man for her? Was she brave enough to risk her entire future on a gamble?
She fell asleep again and dreamed of a brown-eyed man who picked wild cowslips and presented them to her on bended knee, saying, “I love you.”
Chapter Ten
The following morning presented Thomas with a new set of problems: that of trying to eat breakfast in the main dining room of the hotel whilst keeping a low profile.
The hotel manager had inexplicably expressed his wish to celebrate Lord Rosemount’s recent nuptials with all the fanfare they deserved. On the table before them sat a large bouquet of sweet peas and two champagne glasses.
