A Royal Secret

CHAPTER EIGHT

HER FINGERS TREMBLED.

Stealing a glance once more at Rose that evening, Jeffery couldn't help but notice her trembling fingers as they lay on her knees. She sat silently beside him, shoulders slouched, her gaze fixed on the moving cobblestone roads outside the carriage.

He was uncertain, but he imagined the slight trembling of her fingers was as a result of the chilly weather. One glance at the gray skies above and he knew it was only a matter of time before the rain came pouring down.

Shrugging his coat off, he held it out to her. "Here," he said. She turned to him then, a slight frown on her face. "You're cold." He motioned to her trembling fingers. Her gaze drifted briefly to her hands before shifting back to him. "Put this on before you catch a cold."

"What about you, Jeffery?" She motioned to his white cotton shirt. "Surely you're not immune to catching a cold yourself?"

Jeffery smiled; Rose was unlike any woman he had ever met. Rather than accept his kind gesture with exaggerated modesty, she seemed genuinely concerned about his own health.

"You run a greater risk, Rose," he urged.

She opened her mouth as if to speak, but just as quickly, shut it again.

Jeffery frowned. "You may speak plainly before me."

She raised a brow in question, and he nodded. "Very well, Jeffery," she turned fully to him, "pray tell, why is it you believe I am more at risk of catching a cold than you are? Perhaps it is because I'm a woman?"

It was true, he thought, nodding; she was a woman, and even more so, a fragile woman.

"What is it about a man that makes him immune to something as infinitesimal as a cold, yet quite susceptible to death?"

Jeffery ran his tongue over his bottom lip, speechless. She was right; he was as much at risk as she was. Still, offering her his coat was the gentlemanly thing to do.

"Very well, Rose—" he placed the coat around his shoulder, holding open the other end—"since we are both at risk, it is only fair that we share, lest we both die of something as infinitesimal as a cold," he teased. She stiffened, hesitation flashing in her eyes as she stared at him.

It must have been an entire minute before she closed the space between them in the carriage. Her knees brushed his, searing through the fabric of his trouser and warming his skin. He wasn't certain what his reaction to her closeness was, but he found he wanted more of it.

Shifting closer to her, he draped his arm over her shoulder until the coat was properly around her. He felt her head settle on his shoulder, and he tightened his hold on her.

"Thank you." Her warm breath tickled his neck, filling his entire skin with warmth.

Jeffery didn't speak, for he couldn't. He couldn't do anything but sit there and examine the strange new emotions he was experiencing as he held her close. He liked how her small frame fit so effortlessly beside him; he liked the lavender scent of her hair as it grazed his jaw; and he liked the feel of her freckled warm skin against his fingers as he clung to the singular jacket that was burdened with keeping them both warm.

The ride from his father's estate back to his was quite a distance, and tonight, it seemed even longer as Rose's soft snores began drifting to him.

Placing his chin on her head, he drew her small frame further against himself and closed his eyes.

~*~

Chara felt the surrounding darkness fade as her fingers brushed against a hard surface. She opened her eyes. The blurry image before her gave way to an even clearer image, and with it came the memory of what seemed like only a minute ago.

Releasing a soft gasp, she withdrew her hand sharply from where it was pressed to Jeffery's chest, and raised her gaze, shocked to find that not only had she fallen asleep in his arms, but that he still sat beside her, asleep with his chin pressed slightly to her forehead.

She stared at his clean-shaven chin, wondering what was expected of her. Was she to pull away and risk waking him up, or perhaps she was to give in to her own desire to stay in his arms and take pleasure in his closeness?

No—she mentally scolded herself, her eyes falling to her knees—she couldn't take pleasure in his closeness. She would remain in his arms, not because she enjoyed it, but because it would be cruel to rudely wake him up. She would let him sleep, and to rest that mind of his that always seemed at work.

Glancing up once more, she stared at his chin, her lips only inches from it. For the briefest second, she considered closing the space between them and kissing his cheek. But her thoughts were quickly interrupted by a sound that pierced through the silence.

Jeffery jolted upright in that second, releasing his hold around her. He turned to her. "Are you alright?" Concern creased his brows.

Chara nodded, numb, as the carriage slowed down.

Jeffery turned to the window and stuck his head out. "What seems to be the problem?" he called.

No response followed his inquiry until the carriage came to a complete halt and the door was pushed open. Jeffery climbed down, turning to her long enough to request that she remain seated, before walking away.

Chara stuck her head out of the door, a deep frown claiming her face as she watched Jeffery and the footman make their way around the carriage. Shifting close to the window on the left, she peeked out.

"Looks like we lost a wheel, Mr. Hendrix," the footman was saying to Jeffery as he crouched down to examine the wheel.

"Looks like it." Jeffery glanced up at the gray pregnant skies. "The rains will come in a short while; we cannot wait until it is fixed. I must get Rose home."

Chara was uncertain if her slowed heartbeat was because of the tenderness of his voice or the weariness of his features as he spoke of her.

"Of course, Mr. Hendrix. Take the horses and I will find my way home," the footman said.

Jeffery turned from the wheel then, and Chara leaned back into the carriage, afraid she would be caught eavesdropping. She listened to his footsteps make their way to her until he appeared at the door.

"Rose, it is unfortunate, but we have lost a wheel and must ride the remaining distance home on horseback. You shall take a horse and I, the other."

Chara hesitated, embarrassed because she could not ride a horse.

"We must go now before the rain starts." He held out his hand to her.

Nervous, she took it and allowed him to help her down the carriage. She saw, once she was outside, that the footman had unhitched the horses.

"Come now."

She turned to Jeffery, who beckoned her to follow him to where the horses stood in front of the carriage.

"Jeffery, I cannot ride a horse," she admitted. She had never handled a horse on her own growing up and when she had become old enough to handle one, her uncle had sold her for a few bottles of spirit.

Fully expecting Jeffery to express his disappointment, she was surprised when a small smile tugged on the edges of his lips. "Then you shall ride with me."