A Time for Honour

Chapter 30

'Cass,' Damien said tenderly, 'are you awake?'

Cassie murmured sleepily, as she slowly lifted her head and smiled at him. The gentle rocking of the carriage, to and fro, as it made its way briskly along the country lanes towards London, had lulled her to sleep. When she had been woken by Damien's gentle voice calling her name, her body had been leaning against him, and her head had been resting on his shoulder. 'Are we stopping to change the horses?' She said as she stretched out her arms in front of her to relieve the tension that had built up in her neck and shoulders. It was now late morning, and Cassie realised that they must have been travelling for several hours. 'Even though this is a well-sprung carriage, and your shoulder makes a fairly comfortable pillow,' she said, 'I really could do with stretching my legs.'

They had risen very early that morning, just as the first, faint light of dawn began to glow, with orange and red hues, on the distant horizon. Damien had got out of the bed that they shared that night, and had quickly dressed, putting on the same clothes as he had discarded the night before. Once he was dressed, he left Cassie to ready herself for the long day's journey to London. Looking out of the window of the bedchamber, Cassie watched him disappear down the drive on foot. As she watched him leave, she was in no doubt that he would return to her. All the animosity that she had briefly felt for him the previous afternoon, after Delaney's visit, had vanished. It was a sobering thought to realise that he loved her. Not with a selfish love, like the love that Ellington had professed to have for her at Hadlands. It was a love shared between two people who regarded each other as equals.

Cassie did not have to wait long for him to return, and in less than an hour, when the sun had just begun to peep above the horizon, he had returned to Abbotgate, along with his rather grand looking carriage and smartly dressed coachman. It was slowly dawning on her, that she was about to enter a different world; a world full of wealth and privilege. She smiled, as she thought to herself, that only yesterday, a change in her circumstances would have put a cold fear into her heart. But, she was not frightened of the future anymore, and, what surprised her most, was that she was not intimidated by the spectre of Ellington's return to her life. The only difference was that today she knew that whatever life had in store for her, she would always have Damien by her side.

'Not yet,' he said, as his gentle voice brought her back to the present. 'By my reckoning, we will stop in about an hour.' He laced his fingers through hers and placed her hand on his lap. 'Are you hungry?' Damien asked as Cassie put her head back on his shoulder, 'it is nearly time for luncheon, and we started our journey very early this morning without any breakfast.'

'Yes, I am rather hungry,' Cassie replied, 'but what I would really like, above anything else, is a nice cup of tea. In fact, I would be willing to give away half my kingdom for a cup.'

Damien laughed and kissed the top of her head. 'I think some tea can be arranged at the next stop,' he said, 'but I will not expect you to give away your kingdom, just a kiss.'

'When I get my tea,' she said mischievously, 'I will let you kiss me.'

'Ah!' he said, with a chuckle, 'but that is not the bargain. You will have to kiss me before you get your tea.'