noticed in her peripheral vision, and for the first time since Harriet had known him, he looked unsure, less than perfectly in control.
“Harriet. Sweetheart.”
The pain in her heart at his endearment said in such a pleading tone nearly cleaved her heart in two.
She wouldn’t survive a two-day journey back to the palace with him if she allowed him past her hastily constructed defences, even for a second.
Stiffening her shoulders and her resolve, Harriet turned to face him.
“I am the Crown Princess of Aldonia, Mr. Lauer,” she said, her voice icy and emotionless. “You will address me as Your Highness, or Princess, or not at all.”
Her words froze the air between them, and she could see that they’d hurt him. But it didn’t affect her. She couldn’t let it.
She was a princess, and he was an agent for her brother.
Harriet had known that this little adventure of hers couldn’t last forever.
Foolishly, she’d begun to let herself imagine that it could.
Not hidden away, of course. But she didn’t need to hide away to have an adventure. Being with him forever would have been her greatest adventure. He would have been enough.
They stood and stared at each other for an age. Harriet refused to back down. Refused to break down. Refused to do anything other than give him her haughtiest look so he’d leave her alone.
“I’ll prepare the horse,” he finally said.
“You’re dismissed then,” she said coldly.
And she held onto her tears until he walked out and shut the door quietly behind him.
Chapter Eighteen
She hadn’t spoken a word.
Not one single word.
A couple of weeks ago, Jacob would have been thrilled with that. Now, it just broke his damned heart.
True to her word, Harriet—or Princess Harriet—he thought with a pang, had been packed up within an hour.
She’d come outside the cottage and if the situation hadn’t been so dire, he would have laughed at her carrying those damned bags again. Though she was able to manage them a lot better now, given they were practically empty, they still swamped either side of her.
It seemed a lifetime ago he’d watched her dragging them along the road from the village.
He’d been irritated by her tenacity then. Now, he loved it about her, just like he fiercely loved everything else about her.
He tried to take the bags, of course, but she’d ignored him, walking by with her chin in the air, regal as the princess that she was.
When she reached the tethered horse, she conceded to allowing his help, but instead of passing the bags to him like an adult, she dropped them on the ground.
Jacob gritted his teeth and didn’t comment. He had no idea where things stood between them and he wasn’t going to risk upsetting her further by commenting on her actions.
He’d hoped that she’d be full of questions; he wanted quite desperately for her to interrogate him. To rail against him. To scream. Hit him, even, if she wanted to.
But this quiet, subdued ice princess was killing him. It wasn’t the Harriet he knew. The Harriet he loved.
She was a stranger.
They’d reached the hidden gig in silence. He’d hitched up the horse and packed up their luggage without a word.
She allowed him to help her into the conveyance because she hadn’t had much choice, but she’d done it without uttering a sound, let alone a word.
And now, here they sat. Almost at the village, and she hadn’t even moved her head in his direction.
“I’d like to see about procuring a private coach for your journey home, Harr—Your Highness,” he said quietly. “I don’t want you travelling on the mail coach, if I can help it.”
“I don’t much care what you want,” she snapped back, and Jacob had to bite back a smile.
There she was.
And a sort of devilment awoke inside him. Angering her seemed dangerous and foolish, but it was better to bear the fire of her anger than deal with the iciness of her apathy.
“Well, it’s my job to see you home safely, and the safest way to do that is privately.”
She turned her head now, a renegade sable curl caught on her cheek, and Jacob itched to sweep it back. But he couldn’t be sure his hand would survive the action, so he kept it clenched in a fist instead.
“If you think,” she said through gritted teeth, “that I am getting into a coach alone with you for two days, you are very much mistaken.”
Her palpable anger almost made him nostalgic.
“Princess, be reasonable. You will be far more comfortable in a