Regency Romance Collection From Christina Courtenay Read Online Free PDF

him again. ‘Go to sleep and I will wake you when it is time for breakfast,’ he added, his voice somewhat gruff.
    She was inclined to argue at first, but she was too tired to keep it up and ev entually succumbed to slumber. James put his arm around her and simply held her, the strange feeling of protectiveness filling him once more. He wondered at it anew, but it felt good, so he simply closed his own eyes and went to sleep.
     

CHAPTER FIVE
     
    They travelled all night, heading north through the Cotswolds, and stopped only once to change the horses. They passed by Cheltenham, James preferring to break their journey only at smaller towns so as to put anyone following them off the scent. There wasn’t much likelihood of this, but he also thought it would be wise to avoid the larger places where there was a possibility of meeting acquaintances out travelling as well. Finally, they came to a halt at a country inn late in the morning and he shook Amelia gently to wake her up.
    ‘ Time for some breakfast, or perhaps lunch? I’ve asked for a private parlour.’
    ‘ Thank you, that would be wonderful.’ Amelia followed him into the inn. She felt slightly flustered when the landlady addressed her as ‘her ladyship’, but James sent her a warning glance and she played along with this. He had said he thought it best that they pose as a married couple.
    Their ruse brought it home to her more forcibly just what she was doing – eloping with a complete stranger who could be a wanted man for all she knew. The tension of the previous day returned as she wondered whether Bernard had somehow found them out after all. Was he on their trail despite their subterfuges, thundering north to stop this marriage? And what of her aunt? By now she would have read the note Amelia left, and no doubt was in a fearful temper at having lost her unpaid servant. Amelia shivered involuntarily and took a deep breath. She must stop thinking about it and hope for the best. No one knows where I am except Bootle and he won’t tell.
    In order to calm down, she went to freshen up and w hen she returned, James was already seated at a table groaning with food, looking for all the world as if this was just a normal day. Amelia decided to follow his lead. There was no point in worrying now, the die was cast. She sat down and joined him, tucking in with gusto. She had always had a hearty appetite, even when under pressure.
    ‘ You do not seem to subscribe to the popular idea that young ladies should eat virtually nothing,’ he commented, glancing unobtrusively at her waistline. ‘Although I must say, I prefer ladies who don’t look as though they would blow away in a gust of wind,’ he added, obviously anxious not to insult her.
    Amelia only smiled and replied airily, ‘Oh, I like to eat a lot at breakfast time to sustain me through the day, but then I usually take quite a bit of exercise one way or another.’ She had not forgotten that she was still wearing the padding, but unfortunately she could not discard it yet as all her dresses had been made to fit this larger shape. Besides, it might be a good thing, she thought, if he did not see her true figure until after they were wed. After all, if James married her looking like this, she could be sure he wasn’t as shallow as Bernard.
     
    James hid a frown and privately doubted whether the exercise Amelia claimed to take was enough, judging by her plump figure, but he was too polite to say so. And he had not chosen her for her looks after all, or had he? He looked at her again, observing the pretty face with hyacinth blue eyes that sparkled in the morning light. Her hair was still dreadful, but perhaps with a little help from a hairdresser she could be quite presentable. He shook himself mentally. What does it matter?
    They were soon on their way again and time p assed quickly in conversation. Amelia was eager to hear everything James could tell her about the places they were passing through, and he