Protecting The Princess - Nadine Millard Page 0,13
Mr. Lauer.
He’d once again managed to procure a private dining room for their dinner when they’d stopped and had even sent in a maid with a jug of fresh water to allow Harriet to freshen up. She would never have been able to enjoy relative comfort without him.
But now that they were mere hours from their final destination, she needed to figure out how to extricate herself from his company.
He was a gentleman, so she guessed that he would never leave without seeing to her safety. And lord only knew how she’d slip away with two heavy bags.
“You should try to sleep, Miss Royal.”
His voice, lowered in deference to the time of night and their sleeping travel companions, had the oddest effect on Harriet. It sounded intimate, and her skin broke out in gooseflesh. All her reactions to him were most inappropriate. And inconvenient.
“Oh, I – I’m not tired,” she lied.
She was exhausted, truth be told. And when they got to Gant, she had to face a walk that would take half a day at least. Alone. And trying to manage her hefty luggage.
It had been easier to be excited about her adventure when she’d been in the comfort of the palace, she thought wryly.
“Tell me, will there be someone to meet you from the coach? A servant of your employers, perhaps?”
“Of course,” she answered swiftly, glad that he’d dropped a solution to her problem of getting rid of him into her lap.
Her heart twisted a little at the idea of getting rid of him and thus never seeing him again. But she ignored that because the heart, she now realised, was a foolish organ.
Look at Christopher. His feelings for Althea Furberg had completely blinded him to the woman’s machinations.
And whilst Lydia and Alex had worked things out, the start of their relationship had been anything but smooth.
Besides, even if she was interested in Mr. Lauer, she was the Crown Princess. Her father would never consent to a match with an untitled gentleman.
She thought back to the tragic tale of Aunt Anya. Harriet used to think it funny that her aunt and her mother shared a name. As a child, she hadn’t noticed anything but that about her deceased aunt.
But having heard that the woman was ostracised completely for falling in love with an English aristocrat, she realised how unyielding a royal life really was. Even a princess, who could never inherit the Crown, wasn’t free to make her own decisions.
And if an earl hadn’t been good enough for Harriet’s grandpa, who’d been king at the time of Aunt Anya’s marriage, then a mere gentleman could never be good enough for Father.
“Miss Royal?”
Harriet started as she realised that he’d been talking to her while she’d been wool-gathering, imagining herself marrying him, for goodness sake! She barely knew him and didn’t even like him half the time.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.”
He smiled, and Harriet’s stomach dipped in reaction.
“I said, I’ll be glad to meet the person sent to escort you onward, Miss Royal. It will put my mind at ease.”
With another grin, he leaned back against the cushioned bench and closed his eyes.
Well, Harriet thought, drat.
She was committed to her lies, that much could be said for her.
Jacob inwardly laughed as he wondered what nonsense she’d come up with to explain her lack of escort when they got to Gant.
He questioned briefly if he should be enjoying himself this much. After all, this was just another job. One he needed expedited so he could return to the palace and do some real work.
Being a spy had no glory, no offers of titles or lands as payment for service. But it was lucrative. And Jacob enjoyed it. Enjoyed the danger, the excitement, the freedom.
Which was why this nannying would fast grow boring. He was sure of it.
And much as he’d rather surprisingly enjoyed the company of Princess Harriet and was vastly amused at her attempts of subterfuge, he knew it could only be a day or two before he grew irritated at playing nursemaid to the girl.
He heard her sigh, and she wriggled in the seat, her leg pressing against his own, and Jacob found himself gritting his teeth against a surge of desire.
That was another thing.
The attraction he felt was more than inconvenient. It was downright dangerous. So, the sooner he could put some distance between himself and the princess, the better.
The carriage rattled and bumped its way along the road as Jacob gave the impression that he was