Page 53 of The Lovers (Echoes from the Past #1)

It was now midafternoon, and the gate was bottlenecked with wagons leaving the city, the farmers having made their deliveries of produce, meat, and dairy and ready to return home to the outlying countryside.

Elise could see several coaching inns from the window.

One or two appeared closed, but the ones that were open seemed to have little business.

The shutters were closed despite the hour, and the yards seemed deserted.

Several doors had some type of proclamations nailed to the wood.

“They’ve closed them to keep the pestilence from spreading,” Peg said knowledgeably.

“Does it help?”

Peg shrugged.

It took the better part of an hour to finally get through the gate.

Elise noticed the bishop’s miter built into the gate as they passed underneath.

It grew momentarily dark, and then they were on the other side, but it wasn’t a great improvement.

Elise sucked in her breath as the stench assaulted her.

Piles of refuse had been dumped outside the city gates, left to rot in the hot summer sun.

Clouds of flies buzzed above the mound, and the stink was so evil that it made Elise’s eyes water.

She covered her nose and tried not to take deep breaths until they finally passed the dump.

The road was congested, but the farther they got from the city gates, the faster they were able to proceed.

She suspected that James wouldn’t want to travel through the night.

It was dangerous on the roads after dark, and she was sure he was worn out after traveling from Suffolk the day before.

She expected him to stop when they approached roadside inns, but the carriage kept moving, rocking from side to side as James whipped the horses.

As darkness settled around them, the air in the carriage grew cooler and fresher.

Peg and Barbara were slumped against the side of the coach, asleep, but Elise stared outside, even though she couldn’t make out anything in the darkness.

She spotted candlelight occasionally, coming from a farmhouse window, but otherwise, everything was quiet and dark.

Elise hadn’t been able to eat before, but now she was starving.

She reached into the bundle of food and tore a chunk of bread from the loaf.

There was some cheese and a bit of sausage.

She had some and washed it down with ale, gulping it directly from the leather flask.

Despite the heat of the day, the ale was cool, and she felt marginally better.

James must be hungry, she thought. He hadn’t eaten anything at all.

Elise suddenly realized that she desperately needed to relieve herself.

It had been hours since they left, and she had been holding it in without realizing, fearful of stopping.

Elise wasn’t sure how to alert James, so she knocked on the side of the carriage closest to the bench.

She hoped he’d hear her. The carriage didn’t stop, so she knocked again and again, waking Barbara, who stared at her in blind panic.

“It’s all right,” Elise assured her as the carriage finally slowed and came to a stop.

James opened the door and peered inside. “What’s wrong?”

“I need a few moments of privacy,” Elise said, amused by her own choice of words. This was no time to be delicate.

“Of course.” James looked tired and irritable, but he’d pulled down his kerchief and taken off his hat, dragging his fingers through his damp hair, which had come loose from its binding.

“James, there’s some food and ale. You must eat.”

James shook his head stubbornly. “Not now. We still have a few miles to cover tonight. I’ll take a drink though.”

James gulped down the ale as Elise set off, holding Barbara by the hand. She was too frightened to go far, so she chose the first bush and squatted down behind it to do her business, urging Barbara to do the same. Peg joined them in a moment.

“I’m fit to burst,” she said as she lifted her skirts. “Are we to keep going, then? ”

“I think Master James has a destination in mind,” Elise replied as she adjusted her clothing and walked back to the carriage with whatever dignity she could muster.

James gave her the empty flask and helped her into the carriage before climbing back up onto the bench.

Peg came back with Barbara and reached for the bundle of food, offering bread and cheese to Barbara first. Barbara didn’t seem impressed by the offering but took it all the same, and she chewed the food with all the enjoyment of eating dirt, her expression never changing.

They traveled for another hour or so before the carriage finally stopped.

A small inn was situated on the side of the road, the ground floor windows alight.

A young boy came out of the stables as soon as he heard the carriage draw up and smiled up at James, revealing several missing teeth.

“Shall I see to the ’orses, sir?”

“Yes. And take the carriage out back,” James instructed as he threw the boy a coin. The boy caught it deftly and took the reins, ready to walk the horses toward a dark building behind the inn. He would unharness the horses for the night and feed and water the poor beasts. They’d earned their rest.

James escorted the women into the inn. “Good evening to you, Rupert,” he said to the man who came out to greet them. “We need a room for the night and a hot meal.”

“I’ve kept a room back just as ye requested, Master James. Shall I send the food up or would ye like to eat down ’ere?”

James glanced at Elise. She shrugged, indicating that she didn’t care either way. And she didn’t. She was so tired, she could have sat down right where she stood and gone to sleep, with or without eating.

“We’ll eat down here, if it’s all the same. I’d like some hot water sent up after the meal.”

“Of course, sir. ”

Fatigue notwithstanding, Elise ate with relish.

She was starving despite having a bit to eat in the carriage, and she was very thirsty.

The stew wasn’t half-bad, and the bread was fresh and slathered with butter.

She drank three cups of ale and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, making James chuckle.

He ate like a man who hadn’t eaten in a week.

Elise wondered what he had been up to these past few months and what made him come for her now.

James barely said anything as he ate, and she didn’t press him.

He was obviously exhausted, so questions would have to wait.

James waited downstairs while Elise, Barbara, and Peg used the warm water to wash.

They undressed and climbed into the narrow bed in their chemises, their bodies pressed against each other for lack of space.

When James finally came in, he bedded down on the floor with an extra blanket and went to sleep immediately, seemingly unaware of any discomfort.

Elise’s back ached from hours of jolting, so she stretched out and tried to carefully massage her back without elbowing Peg, who was already sound asleep.

Elise’s mind was teeming with questions, so she began to hum a mellow tune in order to calm her mind.

It worked, and she began to feel drowsy, her body sinking into the thin mattress as it began to relax.

Elise closed her eyes and smiled. She was surprised to discover that despite everything, she was suddenly happy.

Her melancholy had lifted, and she was eager to find out what tomorrow would bring.

Elise rested her hand on her belly and waited for the baby to kick, pleased that it obliged.

“Good night to you too,” she whispered and fell into a dreamless sleep.