Winter Wishes: A Regency Christmas Anthology

by Cheryl Bolen

  She dug her nails into his sleeve, but as she wore long gloves and he a shirt and jacket, the effect was not felt.

  “Tut tut, play nice, Maddie.”

  “I’m extremely grateful, Gabriel, for your kindness to my dear daughter.”

  “Mother, he merely escorted us to our carriage,” Maddie said in a sharp tone that had Gabe swallowing another smile.

  He’d thought her submissive and a society miss who would be a pliant and biddable wife for some man one day. He’d been wrong. She was very much still the young spirited girl he’d known.

  “Yes, well, it was still kind, and to take us into his box at the theatre, Maddie. We must not forget that.” Lady Spencer gave her daughter a look that he’d received many times from his own mother, suggesting she was displeased.

  “Good evening, Gabriel.” She turned and batted her eyelashes at him. “Thank you for taking the time to walk me all the way to our carriage.”

  She whispered “all the way” so only he heard the sarcasm.

  “You are most welcome, Madeline, and if it is acceptable, I would like to call on you tomorrow, to see if your head is better.”

  He said the words loudly so Lady Spencer heard them. As he was helping Maddie into the carriage, she could not glare at him.

  “Lovely! We shall await you tomorrow then, Gabriel. Good evening.”

  Gabe waited for Lady Spencer to nudge her daughters firmly onto a seat, then he closed the door. He watched the carriage roll away and tried to understand what he was feeling, and he came to the conclusion that it was something he’d never felt before.

  Interest, yes, but there was more. When he’d seen Maddie tonight, he’d felt something warm settle inside his chest.

  Smiling, he decided to make for his club. Once there, he and Elliot would discuss the business they must attend to early tomorrow morning, and then he would be paying a call on a certain Miss Spencer. The thought made him ridiculously happy.

  Chapter 10

  Maddie held a handkerchief to her nose as the man with the foul-smelling breath remained adamant in his refusal to release Lewis.

  “He’s not being released, and that’s my final word. It’s not my decision to make.”

  “Then tell me who I must speak with?” She’d asked him this question several times already; as yet he had not given her an answer.

  She’d risen before the sun and arrived at Newgate early, only to confront this man who did not understand the concept of bathing.

  Dear God, what was that running across her feet... a rat, perhaps? Fighting back the scream that had threatened to make an appearance at least twice since she entered the dark, dreary walls of Newgate prison, Maddie tried again to persuade the jailer, one Mr. Stint, to release Lewis into her care.

  “But surely if I pay you handsomely you can look the other way, Mr. Stint. I will whisk Lewis from your care without another soul aware of my intentions. I can assure you no one will hear of these events.”

  Maddie’s heart sank further as the large man before her crossed his big, beefy arms and shook his shaggy head.

  Looking around the damp walls, she wondered how the little boy fared in such a dismal place. Was he scared? Crying for his mother? How many boys his age were in here? The thought was a sobering one.

  “Are you telling me you won’t be bribed, Mr. Stint? That you are above such things? Come, we all know everyone is in need of more money.” Maddie went for the friendly approach. “I have plenty here in my purse should you just agree to let Lewis Brown, the boy put in here four days ago, out. He stole that watch so he could sell it to feed his family. Can you be so heartless you do not understand that, Mr. Stint?”

  Perhaps she should not have left James outside? Would he be able to reason with this man?

  “You need to leave here now,” Mr. Stint said. “Bloody do-gooders, always thinking they can help those less fortunate than themselves. The boy’s a thief, and he’ll be punished for his crimes.”

  “Do you have children of your own, Mr. Stint?” Dismayed, Maddie watched him shake his shaggy head.

  Dear Lord, was that something crawling down his shoulder? Focus, Maddie. This was not the time to notice the man’s hygiene or lack thereof.

  “Well, perhaps a niece or nephew?” Again, he shook his head but remained silent. Maddie furiously tried to search for something to bribe Mr. Stint with.

  “You are being unreasonable, sir. That boy cannot leave London. How would his family see him again? It would be a gross miscarriage of justice were he deported for such a petty crime.”

  “He’s not being released. Now take your do-gooding ways and get out of here. Bloody nobles.”

  “How do you know I’m a noble?”

  “They’ve got a certain look, and you have it.”

  Maddie wasn’t sure if she was offended by that statement or not.

  “Is there anything I can do or say to persuade you to release Lewis, Mr. Stint?” Maddie tried one last time. If not, she would leave and regroup. Perhaps she would then seek Gabe’s help.

  Maddie felt her flesh crawl as the large man’s demeanor suddenly changed. Those beady eyes ran over her body. Not that he could see much, as she wore a thick coat, but still, it unsettled her further.

  “Of course, I might be willing to release the brat if....”

  “Certainly not. How dare you suggest what I think you have just suggested!”

  Mr. Stint suddenly advanced on her. Oh dear, this was not good, not good at all. She was here alone in a prison with a large, filthy man. It was then Maddie felt the full folly of her impulsive actions, which was what usually happened. Act first and think later seemed to be the motto she’d lived most of her life by.

  No one but James knew she was inside, and he would not hear her screams. Her eyes searched for a weapon or somewhere to run, but found nothing. The door was not a great distance, but still, he’d grab her before she reached it. “I... um... I think I can come up with more money, sir, if that is what you wish.”

  “I’ve never laid with a proper lady,” he said, moving closer.

  His foul breath nearly made Maddie retch as she pushed against his chest. She was just about to lift her leg into the man’s groin when a voice stopped her.

  “I see no reason for your education to change today, Mr. Stint. If you will kindly unhand Miss Spencer, I will think seriously about sparing your life.”

  Maddie exhaled a breath of relief as Mr. Stint released her and staggered back a step. The fist that followed drove the man back into the wall with considerable force.

  With a feeling of impending doom, she turned from Mr. Stint, who was now groaning in agony on the floor, to look at the man behind her.

  The anger radiating from his large body was so strong it filled the room. One look into his eyes and she saw he was in a towering rage.

  “Get up off the floor, Stint. I did not put as much force as I wanted behind that punch, as we have business to discuss. I will leave my associate to do that while I return Miss Spencer to the safety of her carriage.”

  Gabriel’s words were cold enough to form ice.

  “What associate?” Maddie said, attempting to look behind him.

  “That would be me.” Mr. Elliot Yates entered the room. “Are you all right, Miss Spencer?”

  “I am, thank—”

  Before she could finish the sentence, a large hand banded around her wrist and dragged her from the room. She was then lifted off her feet and carried down the long, smelly corridor under his arm.

  “Unhand me!” She tried to prize his fingers from her waist, but the effort was futile. “I insist you unhand me at once!”

  The cold air caught in the back of Maddie’s throat as they reached the outer door. She coughed several times. Even this failed to gain a response from Gabriel; instead he kept walking until he reached his carriage.

  Wrenching the door open, he threw her inside. Maddie landed in a heap on the soft seat. She struggled to right herself and her bonnet, wh
ich was now covering her eyes.

  A hand shoved it back.

  Finally free, Maddie looked to where Gabriel stood in the carriage doorway.

  His large body filled the space, eyes blazing with fury. Hands opened and closed, almost as if he wished he had something clasped between them, namely her neck. Maddie swallowed several times. She would not be intimidated by him. She had something to do and must see it done.

  “I am going back inside the prison, Gabriel. It is imperative to the safety of a small boy.”

  “Be quiet!”

  “I will not!” Maddie tried to get off the seat, but he merely nudged her back onto it.

  “Gabriel, please, you need to understand—”

  “For the love of God, woman, be quiet! I am this close to shaking you so hard your teeth will rattle, but as that would be wrong, I am instead attempting to calm down.”

  Maddie closed her mouth.

  Chapter 11

  Gabe had been angry in his life before, there were not many who hadn’t. He’d even known rage, but this.... God, he wanted to shake her. Then he’d hold her until the emotions inside him had eased, and never let her go.

  If he’d been in any doubt that he’d begun to think about this woman in a different light, his reaction to what he’d just witnessed confirmed it.

  Seeing her in the clutches of Stint within the filthy walls of Newgate Prison was beyond anything Gabe had ever experienced. He wanted quite simply to kill the man who had threatened Maddie, but as he could not, he needed to find the calm he was known for.

  Gabe watched as she struggled to straighten her skirts, and with each movement he thought of Stint touching her and his anger grew.

  “Please let me go back in there, Gabriel. I must, don’t you see?”

  He saw the desperation in her lovely eyes as she begged him, and imagined Stint lying on top of her with his mouth against hers, those lush lips screaming in terror. He clenched his hands into fists to stop them shaking.

  When he spoke, it was slow and deliberate, each word chosen with extreme care.

  “You will stay in this carriage, and if, Madam, you disobey this order then I will be forced to take action. Do you understand?”

  She opened her mouth but shut it again as she darted a quick look at his face.

  “Repeat after me: I will not leave this carriage or Gabriel will inform my father of my actions today,” he said.

  “You would not dare!” she cried.

  “Say it, Madeline... now,” Gabe ordered.

  “I must save my maid’s nephew, Gabriel. I-I was not in there for social reasons!”

  “No. You were in there because you are a bloody fool who has no regard for her safety. My mistake was believing you had merely asked me that question last night to ease your curiosity. Now repeat the words, Maddie.”

  “I will not.” She crossed her arms.

  “‘I will not leave this carriage or Gabriel will inform my father of my actions today.’ Say the words, Maddie, or by God, I will stand here until you do.”

  She looked away.

  “I cannot save the boy if you do not say them.”

  “Will you? Oh, Gabe, thank you.”

  He did not weaken at the glisten of tears in her eyes, he had to deal with Stint and find the boy. If he touched her now, he’d never leave.

  “Say the words, as I do not trust that you will stay in here while I do what I must.”

  “I will!”

  He didn’t speak.

  “I will not leave this carriage or Gabriel will inform my father of my actions today.”

  “Tell me about the boy.”

  She did so quickly. With a curt nod, Gabe pulled the curtains across the windows and slammed the door with enough force that the carriage swayed.

  He spoke to his driver. “Adam, do you still have that length of rope beneath your seat?”

  “I do, my lord.”

  “If Miss Spencer opens that door, you are to tie her hands and feet, is that understood?”

  “Ah, yes, my lord,” came the confused reply.

  Ignoring the outraged cry from his carriage, Gabe walked back inside the jail.

  Twenty minutes later, he handed the small, terrified Lewis Brown into the carriage beside Elliot. He was dirty and cold, but none the worse for his experience.

  “Take him home in Miss Spencer’s carriage, Elliot, and I will return her to her parents. I shall contact you later today.”

  “Be gentle with her, Gabe. She was incredibly brave to do what she did,” his friend said.

  “She was incredibly foolish!” Gabe still felt the bite of anger. Shutting the door, he turned to address the footman who was hovering nearby.

  “You should never have brought your mistress to such a place. It was only luck that we arrived when we did.”

  “I tried to tell her not to come, my lord, but she said if I didn’t bring her, she would find another way to get here.”

  Gabe’s bark of laughter held little amusement. He just bet she did, the little shrew. “Not the easiest of mistresses, then?”

  “No, my lord, but the very best and kindest,” the footman added.

  “Take the boy to his mother now, and then Mr. Yates to his address, please. I will return your mistress to her home safely.”

  The footman climbed up beside the driver and then the carriage rolled away.

  Looking at the sky, he thought they had perhaps a few hours before her household rose.

  Gabe opened the door of his carriage and felt the last of his rage flee as he looked at the slumbering form of Maddie. She’d taken off her bonnet and lay on her side with her hands beneath her chin. Long lashes resting on her pale cheeks, she looked like an angel sleeping peacefully. Climbing inside, he shut the door and turned up the lamps, then took the seat opposite her and watched her eyes open as the carriage began to move.

  Confusion clouded the dark depths, and then clarity as she remembered where she was. Sitting upright, she looked at him.

  “The boy?” Her whispered words were desperate.

  “He is safe and at this moment on his way home with Elliot.”

  She nodded, her relief evident. He watched as the long lashes closed fleetingly.

  “Thank you.”

  Gabe felt his anger flare to life.

  “Why did you not tell the truth at the pantomime? I could have helped you. Dear God, Maddie, have you any idea of the danger you placed yourself in going to the prison alone? Had I not arrived when I did, you could have been raped and beaten, then left for dead.”

  The color drained from her cheeks. He didn’t want to hurt her, but she needed to understand what could have happened. Needed to know she could not simply walk blindly into situations without a thought to the consequences.

  “I did what I had to do, what anyone would have done were they in my position.”

  He was having none of it. She may look like a delightfully rumpled angel, but he was still bloody furious that she had put herself in so much danger. And he would get her to acknowledge what she’d done was wrong if it killed him.

  “Perhaps, but anyone with a lick of sense would have sought help in their endeavors.”

  “Who was I to ask?”

  “Me!”

  “I do not know you well enough to do so.” She looked away.

  “After today, yes, you do, Maddie. What you did was reckless and merely reinforces my belief you cannot be left alone… or, for that matter, trusted.”

  Dark eyes spat fire back at him.

  “I do not answer to you! You may have the right to vote and educate yourself, but that does not make you any more intelligent than me. You cannot treat me as if I were a... a simpleton. You do not have the right to tell me what I can and cannot do!”

  Gabe actually blinked. Where the hell had all that come from?

  Bracing his booted feet on the seat opposite, he folded his arms in a pose designed to infuriate his beautiful companion further. She was here, safe with him; he was be
ginning to feel calmer. Maddie had been easy to niggle when they were children, and he found he wanted to see if that was the same now. He needed some retribution for what she’d put him through tonight.

  “Come now, Maddie, surely you can see that men have a far superior emotional and intellectual capacity than women?”

  She let out a little screech of outrage, her fists clenching as if she’d like to strike him. Direct hit.

  “Utter rubbish. From an early age, women are forced to face life’s realities, while men swan around behaving like small boys until they are in their dotage.”

  She had a point there, Gabe conceded silently.

  “But I do not make the rules, Maddie. Furthermore, this has little to do with your irresponsible behavior. If you think your actions this morning in any way strengthen your argument, then I suggest you think again.”

  Maddie glared at him, then spoiled the effect entirely by sniffing. He watched her small white teeth clamp around that full bottom lip to stop it from trembling.

  She had to have been terrified when Stint grabbed her. He had no idea how she’d found the strength to even walk inside that jail, but she had, and he remembered again the strong girl he’d once known.

  “I’m sorry that man scared you today.” He’d tormented her enough. “Will you let me hold you? Only then will I know you are truly safe.”

  She flew across the carriage and into his arms, and Gabe crushed her against him.

  “You scared me this morning, and I do not scare easily,” he whispered into her hair. “You must promise me that you will never attempt anything so foolhardy again.” Soft curls brushed his chin as she nodded.

  “I promise,” she sighed. “And I am sorry to have scared you. To be honest, I was scared a great deal more.”

  “I wish I could believe you.” Gabe enjoyed the feel of her in his arms. “I think I shall just have to oversee your movements personally from now on.”

  “I cannot turn my back on someone who needs my help. So many have no one to turn to.”

  “I understand that, but you cannot continue to do these things alone. There is too much risk. The thought of you going to Spoke House was terrifying enough, but now I will be haunted with visions of you visiting prisons too.”