Tori shot him a vicious look and picked up a purple velvet cloak lined in white ermine to wrap around her slim body. “Have you arranged for the trap?”
“All is ready, and I must add that you owe me ten guineas with which I had to bribe the stableboy.”
“Ten? You’ll get two and not a farthing more. Don’t try and make your fortune from me, you fox.”
As Granger watched her arrange the cloak he said, “I see you dress for the occasion. Don’t you think you’ll be conspicuous? It is not Whitehall to which we go, you know,” he hissed sarcastically.
“I may be robbed this evening, and I so want to be well dressed,” Tori whispered. “It pays to always look one’s best. Granger, you are so gauche. Really, I must wash my hands of you. All these years and I have tried, but Mother was right, you cannot make a brass urn from a lead one.”
“Hand over the necklace, Tori,” Granger scoffed. “I want it now. It is not that I don’t trust you, but just in the event we are robbed I don’t want you to offer it to some nefarious highwayman just for a thrill. Now hand it over.”
Tori gave him the gleaming jewels. “You’re so greedy, Granger! It sickens me,” she said, wrinkling her nose and baring her white teeth.
Granger accepted the gems, his eyes as bright as the jewels. Deftly he slid them into his right boot. That they caused him pain was no matter. He would limp to hell if he had to. “And if we are accosted, and if you open that foolhardy mouth of yours, I’ll shove my boot in it. Mark my words, Tori, I’ve had enough of your tricks. I want your word or we stay home.”
Tori sniffed. “Very well, Granger. If you do not trust me, I give my word to you.”
“Oh, it is not you I don’t trust, it is that mouth of yours. It seems at times as though it has a mind of its own.” He looked at her suspiciously. “You’re probably some kind of witch.”
“Shut up, Granger,” Tori ordered. She, too, had often wondered if there were something wrong with her. But, she thought objectively, witches are ugly, so that took care of that little matter.
* * *
Granger and Tori sat in the Owl’s Eye Inn. There was no sign of the girl whom she resembled.
As they sat there sipping a raw wine, Tori noted her surroundings. The interior of the inn was coarse and dirty. The rough, wooden benches on which they sat had sharp splinters projecting from the edges. The tallow candles, which were the only source of light, threw their yellow rays on the sawdust floor, and a rank smell of filth and spoiled food rose to pinch her nostrils.
“Tori, for God’s sake, stop looking around as though you’re quite impressed with the place. As it is, when the innkeeper noticed your dress he tripled the bill. I’ve only enough money to cover another glass of port at these prices.”
“Be still, Granger. I’ve not had your advantages. I’ve been kept away from the seamier side of life. I’m enjoying myself, Here, look at those men on the other side of the room. Have you ever seen such wicked-looking characters?”
“Yes, I have. Those two men who rode with Scarblade had much the same look about them.”
“What look is that, Granger?”
“Hungry! Now if you don’t stop staring at them, I’ll find myself in the position of defending your honor.”
“They wouldn’t dare!”
“Oh, wouldn’t they! Look here, Tori. The only women that frequent a place like this are known doxies or the sluttish mistresses of the men you affectionately call highwaymen. Now turn around, Tori, for I don’t feel like getting my throat slit on your account.”
“Granger, what is this preoccupation with your throat? I worry about you, dear cousin. Perhaps a physician in Harley Street could put your mind at rest. I strongly suggest it.”
As Tori teased Granger and watched for his reaction, she noticed his eyes lift and an expression of disbelief cross his face. She turned to note the object of his fascination and she, too, was aghast. There, under the flickering light of the sconce, stood a tall, slim blond girl with skin the color of spun honey and a prettiness of feature which Tori had, till now, thought her own.
“She does resemble me,” Tori whispered in awe.
“Resemble you! Why, she even has that stubborn set of chin! I’d say she could be a relative if I didn’t know better. She looks a bit older than yourself, wouldn’t you say? Now what are you doing?” Granger said crossly.
“Shhh! Do you think I want to give it all away? ’Tis better she doesn’t see me till the last moment. If seeing me affects her the same as seeing her affected me, she’ll run frightened. And as far as being a relative, it may be quite possible. Father did not live the life of a celibate until he married Mother, of that I’m sure!”
“Tori, have you no delicacy?” Granger admonished in mock horror. “So now what do we do? If you’re not going to reveal yourself to the girl, we have made a wasted trip.”
“Oh, I’ll reveal myself to her, but not here in front of all these witnesses. Do you think I want to be blackmailed for the rest of my life? And if I don’t miss my guess, these shady characters in here don’t miss their chance to turn a dishonest penny.”
Granger scratched his head. “You surprise me, cousin. I would have thought you never had a serious thought in your head. But when are we going to approach her?”
“We’ll wait till she leaves and then follow her. Now what you can do for me is go up to the tap table and inquire of the innkeeper about the girl. Find out as much as you can about her. It will help, I’m sure of it.”
“Don’t you think it will seem strange that I’m in the company of a lovely young lady and here I am inquiring of another?”
“Granger, I’m sure you are quite used to being considered strange. Go on now!”
It wasn’t until he had crossed halfway to the tap table that he realized the pointed jibe behind Tori’s words. He turned abruptly and looked at his cousin, who was sitting at the table sipping the crude wine with a look of innocence about her.
* * *
Granger returned with the information Tori wanted to hear. The girl lived alone and had no known family. The proprietor called her Dolly Flowers and Granger admitted as delicately as he could that the innkeeper would “speak” to Dolly if the gentleman so chose.
“Oh, Granger, how wonderful!”
“Eh! Wonderful, you call it? What, that the girl is a slut and for a price she’d bed any man willing to pay? Maybe I wasn’t clear, Tori: the man would have sold me the night with Dolly!”
“Granger, don’t be so stuffy with me. I’m not an ignorant schoolgirl you know. I’ve read about places like this and girls like that. Don’t look so horrified!”
“Don’t misunderstand, cousin. The fact that Dolly is an honest businesswoman—well, a businesswoman at any rate, does not offend me. Heaven knows, it would be a lonely life for a bachelor like myself were it not for the likes of her. What shocks me is that you think it wonderful that a pretty girl like that engages in the ‘oldest profession.’”
“Don’t be stupid, Granger. If she were a girl of virtue how could we expect her to join in our plans? After all, it is crucial that she actually bed Lord Fowler-Greene, else we would not have an advantage over him. What would be the use? The only club we carry is his fear of it being exposed that he has gone against his word of these many years to bed only a lady of quality. And as far as Dolly blackmailing us, she would not do it, not when she has much more to gain by beleaguering dear Sidney.”
“Ah, that is where your plan fails, dear cousin. Lord Fowler-Greene is a man of many moods. If she ever threatened to open her mouth, he would have her throat slit.”
“There is your preoccupation with throats again! Don’t be silly, Granger. Lord Fowler-Greene would never do that. Dolly will be protected simply because we know of the scheme. Lord Fowler-Greene would never take the risk of harming Dolly when he does not know for sure how many of us were involved in it. So you see, it is all bundled nicely. Lord Fowler-Greene gets the surprise of his life, my father gets
the purse, you have the necklace and I—I, dear Granger—have my freedom.”
“Not yet you don’t. We still have to convince Dolly. Now drink up.”
* * *
Tori stood with her back to the side of the inn. The malodorous refuse and slops which were dumped there caused Tori to wrinkle her nose. Granger paced back and forth beneath the single lamp that lighted their dank surroundings, checking his silver pocket watch.
“What’s keeping that girl?” he muttered, limping slightly because of the necklace still in his boot. “I don’t much care for waiting around here. God only knows who we’ll meet!”
A few moments later a side door opened and closed softly. Dolly emerged, humming to herself. Granger approached the girl, startling her so that she almost lost her footing as she picked her way through the offal. Tori emerged from the shadows and fell in behind Granger. They walked single file down the street and crossed over to a dark alley. Suddenly, the girl stopped short.
“Aaaow, ye na be followin’ me, are ye? Listen, Oi’ve na a ha’penny ta me naime, so get on wi’ ye. Wha’ are ye wantin’ wi’ me, anyway? Surely na a turn in th’ ’ay, eh sir?” she said, eying the dark form of Tori.
“Ask her, Granger,” Tori hissed. “I can’t wait a moment longer!”
Granger cleared his throat. “Miss Flowers, I am Granger Lapid, and this,” he said, pointing toward Tori, “is Miss Rawlings. We have a proposition to place before you,” he said courteously. “I wonder if we might have a moment of your time?”
“’Ere now,” Dolly said sternly, “Oi don’ loike these queer threesomes. Oi’m a good girl, Oi am. Oi don’ care fer some o’ th’ games ye gentry loike ta play!”
“No, no,” Granger protested, “you misunderstand, It’s not that way at all.”
“Ooh, in tha’ case, sir,” Dolly brightened, “la, guvnor, ye can ’ave all me toime. Oi’m na averse ta th’ charms o’ a gentleman the loikes o’ yersel’. Ye can ’ave all me toime.” Taking a close look at Granger, she added to Tori, “’E’s quite pretty, ’e is. Wouldn’ ye say, miss?”
“I agree,” Tori smirked. “He is pretty.”
A look of consternation crossed Dolly’s face. “’Ere now, ’ow did ye know me naime?”
Granger sputtered and confessed, “The innkeeper told me.”
“Oh, Oi see. Well, whazzit ye wan’ o’ me?”
Granger struck a match and Tori removed the hood of her ermine cloak. Dolly gasped. “It’s me double! Saints preserve us,” she muttered, crossing herself.
“Miss Flowers, I want you to change places with me,” Tori blurted. “I want you to go through a marriage in my place.”
“Yer na serious. Na ye are! Oi can see by yer face, ye are!”
“I am most serious, Miss Flowers. And I assure you I’m not crazy if that’s what you’re thinking. If you do this for me, you’ll be richer than you ever dreamed. Please do this for me,” Tori begged, tears stinging her eyes.
“An’ jes’ who izzit Oi’ll be marryin’?” Dolly asked.
“What difference does that make?” Tori answered hotly, afraid of revealing too much of the plan. “Will you do it?”
“Jes’ a minute, miss . . . Rawlings, izzit? If Oi marry this . . . person in yer name, it’s na a legal marriage. It’s sor’ o’ proxy. So where’s all this money cum from?”
“Well, let’s just say,” Granger interjected, “marriage to you would be a bit of an embarrassment to the old boy. He’ll pay you well to keep your mouth shut!”
“Ah, yeh, bu’ ’old on ’ere. There’s too many toimes Oi’ve ’eard o’ people gettin’ their necks broke ’cuz they’ve threatened ta tell some secret. Tha’ blackmail, ye know.”
“He’d be afraid to do anything to you, he’d worry that we’d know what he’d done. Besides, he’s not that sort of man, is he, Tori?”
“Oh, no, indeed not, he’s a kindly old gentleman,” she lied.
“Well, if ’e’s so koindly, whyn’ ye marry ’im yersel’?”
“I would,” Tori said pathetically, “but my heart belongs to another. Anyway,” Tori added so hotly that Dolly was taken aback, “what my reasons are, are none of your business. I’m offering you a chance to make your fortune, are you going to accept or not?”
“As Oi said afore, who izzit Oi’d be marryin’? Wha’s wrong wi’ th’ man? Does ’e ’ave only one leg? Wha’ are ’is failin’s? Oi’ve a righ’ ta know! Oi’m a young girl, Oi am!”
Suddenly Tori smiled. “I see. You need have no fear, Miss Flowers. While your bridegroom is up in his years he is most active in this province. Of course, I cannot speak from experience, but knowing his pinching fingers as I do, I am almost sure he’ll warm your bed on your wedding night.”
“An’ wha’ o’ yersel’? When Oi taikes yer place wha’ becomes o’ ye?”
“Why, of course, Dolly, I shall take your place.”
“Oooh, Oi’d loike ta see tha’, Oi would,” Dolly laughed.
“An’ would ye now? ’Ere luv, lemme tell ya a thin’ er two. When yer dealin’ wi’ th’ loikes o’ Tori Rawlings yer dealin’ wi’ th’ experts!”
“Aaaaaow! Did ye ’ear ’er now?” Dolly poked Granger in the ribs. “Who’d ’ave though’ she could speak th’ cockney?”
“Oi learned it from th’ kitchen maid,” Tori said imperiously.
Granger and Dolly laughed heartily. “Well, it’s been noice knowin’ ye an’ ’earin’ o’ yer plan, but Oi’m afraid Oi can’ include mesel’.” Seeing no reaction on Tori’s face, she hastened to add, “At leas’ fer th’ toime bein’, tha’ is. Oi’ll ’ave ta sleep on it.”
“There’s no time!” Tori wailed, “the wedding is the day after tomorrow. You must give me your decision!”
“Oi’ll give yer me decision tomorrow, bu’ Miss Rawlings, Oi migh’ arrive at a quicker decision if Oi ’ad a noice warm cloak the loikes o’ yers. Jus’ so’s Oi could get a good nigh’s sleep.”
Tori snatched the ties and wiggled out of the cloak. “Take it, it’s yours. A prewedding gift from me to you.”
“Aaaaow!” Dolly exclaimed, rubbing the soft fur of the lining. “Cum by in th’ mornin’. Oi’ll give me moind then. Oi lodge at th’ Rooster’s Crown,” Dolly said as she tucked the cloak tightly about her shoulders and turned on her heels.
Chapter Ten
Tori and Granger rode within the plush interior of the trap. She was silent, casting furtive glances toward Granger. Finally, unable to stand his silence any longer, she all but shouted, “Well, what do you think? Will she do it?”
Granger nodded gloomily. “I don’t see how you hope to get away with it even if she does agree. And you gave her your cloak. She might just as well take off with it, and then where will you be?”
“But I asked you if you thought she would agree—what is it, Granger, will she or won’t she?”
“Who knows what a woman thinks and does? Look at you,” he said, jabbing a finger in her direction. “If anyone ever told me I would be a party to something like this, I’d give that person a wide berth. You had better start to think how you’re going to arrange all this, that is, if she chooses to go along with it.” Granger squirmed in his seat.
As they approached the house, Tori turned to Granger. “Best tell the driver to slow the horses. We don’t want to awaken anyone. How would you explain the late hour and that you have me in your company?”
“I would tell them the truth,” Granger said uneasily as he peered at the darkened house. “I’ll just tell them it was all your idea. Who do you think they would believe, especially with your past history of trickery?” he added sourly.
* * *
Once in her chamber, Tori ripped the clothes from her body and threw herself on the high bed. The girl had to agree, she just had to! There was no other way out! Tori pounded her fist into the plump pillow and almost wept. Time was so short.
Tori knew she would never sleep this night. Rising from the bed, she moved over to the washstand and bat
hed her face in the icy water. Donning a fresh nightgown, she paced the floor, then hurried to the windows and peered out through the leaded panes. Soon it would be dawn of the day before her wedding. How could her parents do this to her? She was their only child! To sell her like a calf at auction and have no remorse was beyond all her understanding.
Quietly, she slipped out of her door and headed for Granger’s room. She expected him to be sleeping soundly.
“You know, Tori, you sound like a bull elephant,” he said nastily when she tipped over a vase in the darkness. “I expected you hours ago, what kept you?”
“Oh, Granger,” Tori said as she threw herself into his arms, “you couldn’t sleep, either. Truly, you’re the best cousin I ever had!”
“Be truthful, Tori, I’m the only cousin you have,” he answered dryly, but his answering embrace comforted her and reassured her that he was with her through the thick or thin of it.
“Are you ready, Granger? You have to go back and get Dolly’s answer. I don’t think I can bear another moment of the suspense. Granger, you must promise her anything, anything. Just see to it that she agrees!”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Just as Tori was about to speak again Granger hushed her with a motion of his arm. “And yes, I’ll not forget what you explained to me. If she agrees, she is to come here tomorrow dressed in a hood and veil. She is to say that she carries a parcel from Lord Fowler-Greene and she must deliver it to you personally. When she is in your chamber, the switch will be made. Correct?”
Tori rushed over to him and helped him into his cape. He picked up a long glowing taper to light his way down the stairs.
“Granger, I implore you, ride carefully. Don’t fall off the horse. Look out for bandits and, above all, don’t eat anything! You know that when you eat and your nerves are jangling you cannot move for hours. And I do not have the mettle to wait for hours. Go now,” she added brightly.
“I have a better idea, Tori,” Granger said hotly. “Why don’t you go yourself? This way you’ll save yourself all this worry.”
“And deprive you of another glimpse of the ravishing Dolly? Granger, you above all should know that I’ve not a mean bone in my body.”
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