His fingers tightened on my arms. Then, with a dip of his head, he pressed his mouth to mine. The suddenness so startled me, I forgot to kick and scream until his hold slackened a moment later.
The floor felt strangely off-kilter as I stumbled back a step. My eyes blinked open, and Henry loomed large, looking angrier than before.
“Are you satisfied now?” he asked in a chillingly quiet voice.
Indignation roared to life inside me. “How dare you!” I cried, my hand rising in retaliation. His reflexes were snakelike, and he caught my wrist in midair.
“There’s no need for that,” he said, guiding my hand back down. “A bride is promised one kiss on her wedding day, but ask as you may, you’ll be getting no more from me.”
We stared at each other in tense silence, two opponents sizing up for a fight. His flippant words could not hide the red splotches on his cheeks, evidence that his pride had been bruised no less than my honor. Ben’s knock on the door broke up our little bout and I pushed past Henry, glad for an excuse to be away.
“Would you be wanting breakfast before we go?” Ben asked hopefully. With some effort, I smoothed the anger from my face. “We’ve a long journey ahead of us. I’ll speak to Mrs. Bradford about packing some food to take along.”
Though I still longed to feel the crack of my hand against Henry’s skin, his impertinence hardly compared to my other worries. Our time spent dillydallying had given the little redheaded demon ample opportunity to stir up trouble. Out of sight, out of mind was my strategy, and the sooner we were off the better.
Ten minutes later Ben was still grumbling at the prospect of eating on the road. He quieted down when I handed him warm bread and a thick slice of ham wrapped in a cloth. Having anticipated our stay at one week minimum, the landlady was still shaking off the shock of our hasty departure, but had no reason to argue once she learned my cousin had arrived earlier than expected. Under the assumption I needed to rush home to my ailing father, she didn’t make a fuss, and proved rather helpful in seeing us off.
To more than a few raised eyebrows, I insisted we all leave together through the servants’ door instead of waiting for Ben to pull the carriage around to the front. Even with this precaution, I was on pins and needles when we stepped from the inn, but the demon was nowhere to be seen. Once inside the carriage, I had no more time to spare fuming over a stolen kiss. I sat ramrod straight as we made our way through the crowded streets, my eyes darting from face to face for any sign of Dirk Fletcher’s fiend. It was unnerving how quickly he had tracked me down at Meredith House, and I wanted to be far away before he had a chance to learn anything more.
Only when the red brick houses of the city finally gave way to smaller farms and large expanses of forest, was I able to relax. Relieved to have left one problem behind, I glanced over at Henry and debated what to do about the next. His actions earlier had been inexcusable, though admittedly not entirely unprovoked. With how things now stood, no one in Hopewell would believe we felt anything other than contempt for each other. I despised what needed to be done, but if we were going to make this work, hurt feelings had to be put aside, and an olive branch extended. There was also the added advantage of deflating his victory by simply feigning indifference to our earlier dispute.
A good hour had passed since we left Philadelphia, and I wrestled with how to best initiate a truce. Do you make a habit of attacking young ladies in order to prove your manhood didn’t seem like a good place to start, so I kept mulling it over until something more appropriate came to mind. “It’s a beautiful day for travel,” I finally said, for there was no safer subject than the weather.
Henry had been staring out at the countryside and looked surprised when I spoke, as though he had forgotten I was still in the carriage. He glanced at me briefly then returned his gaze back outside. “It is too warm for my taste.”
Already precariously close to the edge, my temper flared, but I bit my tongue in the nick of time, forcing back a tirade of angry words. Obviously it was going to take a little more effort to get past his stony demeanor. “I do hope you find Pennsylvania to your liking,” I said. “I’m sure it’s nothing compared to London, but Philadelphia has grown remarkably since I was a little girl.”
He looked bored with my feeble attempts at conversation. “You’re right, it’s nothing to London. But for the Colonies, I’m sure it will do.”
My pride burned from his words, and if there hadn’t been so much at stake, I would have stopped the carriage that instant and ordered him from my sight. Instead, I took a deep breath and put on the pretense of a smile. “Did you have a nice voyage on The Berkshire?” I asked, giving it another try.