by Zana Bell
He smiled wryly at that. ‘You would wonder, wouldn’t you, but trust me Georgie, you could find trouble in a convent.’
But even as he was speaking, Georgiana’s attention had been caught by an advertisement in the theatre window for actresses. ‘Oh look!’ she said, stopping short.
Harry took one look and said, ‘No, Georgie, absolutely not. If I leave you, you must keep a low profile while I’m away.’
‘Tom wouldn’t be looking for me in a theatre, now would he? He knows nothing about my acting.’
‘Be that as it may, I won’t have you parading around with a dangerous man on the loose. It’s inviting trouble.’
‘Don’t go using that high-handed tone on me, Harry Trent. It won’t wash,’ she said. ‘Beside, I won’t be parading around. Look, the theatre is just around the corner from the hotel. I could be there in a minute with no one being the wiser.’
‘Georgiana, I won’t have it, do you hear me! For once in your life, will you listen to reason!’
Her eyebrow lifted. ‘Your reason?’
For a second he glared at her. ‘I completely understand why all the men of your acquaintance have a strong desire to wring your neck! I cannot go until I can be sure you’ll be sensible and stay indoors where you will not be seen. Do you understand?’
‘Yes, I understand.’
He didn’t trust her compliant tone, but when they reached the hotel, Georgiana said very reasonably, ‘Look Harry, you really do have to go. I’ll be fine. Trust me. Charlie will be here in no time. You should leave immediately.’
Harry hated to leave but he knew she was right. ‘Are you sure—’
‘I’m sure!’ She smiled. For a brief moment her gloved hand rested on his cheek.
Georgiana was not alone in her room for long. She couldn’t believe how quickly Harry could pack. It seemed to be only minutes till again there was a knock at her door. She smiled as she opened it, hoping she could hide the pain she felt at his departure. This wasn’t how she’d imagined things when she’d woken so full of optimism. Reality was cold and hard. Harry’s life truly was at stake.
‘Ready so soon? Good, you’ll catch the coach, then.’
Harry stepped up to her and tilted her face up to his. ‘Now listen, Georgie, listen very carefully. I won’t leave unless I can be absolutely sure you’ll be safe. I don’t want you to go about the streets much. I know this will be dull for you, but I can’t risk having Mellors find you. He’ll probably just go straight to Sedgewick’s shop and then follow me out to Arrowtown – he’ll know that I’m ahead of him. If you keep your head down, he won’t know where to look for you. Is that understood?’
She nodded and Harry bent to kiss her.
‘When I clear my name—’ he began, but she put her finger to his lips.
‘We’ve already been through this. Harry Trent, I will love you forever, no matter what happens. Understood?’
He caught her in a fierce embrace, pulling her to him and pressing her against the length of his body as his mouth sought hers again. She wound her arms around his neck, her hunger equal to his. With a muffled oath, Harry finally tore himself away.
‘Oh, Georgie, we must stop. Whatever you say, I’m only going to come to you as a free man. I won’t leave a widow behind. I saw the life my mother had to lead.’
Reluctantly Georgiana saw how it was for him and nodded. She pulled his head back down and kissed him one last time before giving him a gentle shove away. ‘Then go. Go now and find Sedgewick. Don’t let Tom beat you.’
He laughed and his eyes lit with a reckless joy. ‘I’m gone,’ he told her, ‘for everything is at stake. I’ve gone from a man with nothing to lose to one who has the world to gain. Wait for me, and Georgie – don’t get into any mischief!’
‘I won’t,’ she assured him, but as he bounded down the stairs, she slowly uncrossed her fingers.
Chapter Thirty-Five
And she had meant to be good, she really had. The fingers had just been a precaution, but by lunchtime the following day Georgiana was desperate to escape the hotel. It was not in her nature to be patient and she was tortured by fears of having found love, only to lose it again. She should have gone with Harry. But then there was Charlie. She was torn in two completely different directions and could do nothing about either.
Finally she could stand it no longer. Grateful that it was drizzling, she threw a shawl over her head so her face was mostly obscured, and slipped along to the theatre. Her welcome there made her heart swell. They took in her height, her strong features and offered her a part in the evening’s performance on the spot.
‘But you haven’t seen me act, yet,’ she protested.
‘Don’t need to. You’re a real woman. Got to be better than young Billy here!’ and the owner of the theatre punched an adolescent boy affectionately in the back. ‘He’s been the heroine since Maud went down with flu last Tuesday. We haven’t half had a few complaints. Don’t worry about learning your lines – we’ll stick cards around the stage. Can you begin rehearsals now?’
‘Absolutely!’
She was greatly encouraged to discover it was a rococo farce and that her costume included a huge wig and lashings of make-up. Harry couldn’t object for even he would have been hard-pressed to recognise her that evening, she thought, as she stepped out of the wings and onto the stage. All feeling of trepidation fled and as Georgiana faced the darkened auditorium, she knew, with deep certainty, this was what she’d been seeking all her life. Though the play was excessively foolish and she missed some cues and ad-libbed outrageously for others, the whole performance went with a swing.
‘My girl, you are splendid,’ one of the actors whispered to her as they made their final bows to an ecstatic audience. She wished Harry could have heard. A boy appeared at her elbow bearing a huge bunch of flowers. Management knew how to exploit their new find. The audience went wild as she accepted it graciously, threw one rose out into the crowd and then, with a final curtsey, made her escape from the stage. The cast all clustered about her, excitedly chattering, exclaiming at her radiance, her naturalness.
‘You, my dear, are a find!’ exclaimed the director. ‘Will you be staying in Dunedin? There are no end of plays we could do with you. Can you sing as well? You know, we will never let you go now!’ And Georgiana, laughing and blushing, suddenly knew she was home.
Overnight, Georgiana became the talk of the town. Far from keeping out of the public’s eye, she’d become Dunedin’s darling. Every night for a week she played to packed houses and was greeted by name in all the shops. Harry would be furious of course, when he found out that she had used her own name, but it had been a spur of the moment decision. All charades were over, no matter what the consequences, and Georgiana had never been so happy. Rehearsals and performances consumed her every moment, keeping her safe not only from Tom, who would never have the chance to approach her, but also from confronting her emotions that had suddenly become tangled and conflicted once again.
Georgiana couldn’t wait to see Harry again, of course, but this new life offered something she’d never had before. For the first time since her parents’ death she actually belonged somewhere and felt like a complete person. She was loved for just being herself. It was the most extraordinary, unlooked for gift. She finally knew who she was and what she was. Part of her couldn’t wait to tell Harry, share it all with him. But another part of her shrank from thoughts too threatening to contemplate.
Harry would understand an actress’s joy. But would an earl? If he did indeed claim his title, then what? It didn’t bear thinking about and she thrust the niggling worry away whenever it pricked her happiness.
It was after the first act of the Saturday night performance that a note was passed to her in the wings.
Georgie you are incorrigible! I’ve barely been in town half an hour and have alr
eady heard your name mentioned by no less than three people! We will talk, you and I. But this is to let you know that obviously I am returned and with Malcolm Sedgewick in his rooms behind his shop. I cannot wait to tell you all. Will meet you at the stage door at the end of your performance and will take you to meet him. He is most desirous to make your acquaintance – poor man won’t know what’s hit him when he does!
H.
Her heart soared at the jaunty confidence with which the note had been written. He was back and clearly safe. For two pins she would have fled the stage then and there and gone to Sedgewick’s shop immediately. But that was impossible so, drawing in a deep breath, she moved back onto the stage for the next scene. No one in the audience could have guessed that her thoughts had suddenly flown elsewhere, but she was acutely aware that her blood was racing and her heart was light. Harry in just another hour.
It was during the curtain calls at the end that she saw him. There was Harry in the front row applauding. It was hard to make him out properly, of course, for the row of gas lights sent leaping shadows across the faces, but there was no mistaking the height, the set of the shoulders, the thick sweep of hair.
He came to see me, she thought, and sent him a dazzling smile. But at that moment one of the jets of light flared and she saw that the hair was brown and the features, though very alike, were not the same. The man was applauding and smiling but without a flicker of recognition.
Immediately she looked away, forcing smiles to others in the audience and curtseying as her thoughts tumbled over one another. Could it be Harry’s half-brother? Impossible. What would he be doing here? Yet there was no other explanation. The likeness was uncanny. No wonder Harry had shocked everyone who knew Phillip. She too was very shaken by their similarity. But what on earth was he doing here? It could only be to make mischief for Harry. She blew a final kiss from her fingertips to her adoring audience, then almost ran off the stage. As usual the cast was standing around to greet her.
‘Georgiana, that was your best performance ever!’ cried her leading man. She smiled but called over her shoulder, ‘I have a friend at the door. I cannot keep him waiting.’
In minutes she had divested herself of her costume, had dragged on her dress and had scoured off most of her stage make-up. Then, gathering up her skirts, she went straight to the door. She must warn Harry. But when she looked out, no one was there. Now the panic she had felt from the moment she’d sighted his half-brother threatened to overwhelm her though she tried to reassure herself. Harry must have mistaken the time her performance would end, that’s all, and was probably still at Sedgewick’s shop.
Swiftly, she made her way down the road and around the corner, to the alley which lay behind Mr Sedgewick’s shop. Sure enough, there were lights on in the back room and through the thin curtains she could see the shadow of a man crossing the room. She went to the door and knocked. It opened and she looked into the lined face of an elderly man with thin greying hair.
‘Mr Sedgewick?’ she asked, her apprehension deepening as she noticed a livid bruise beginning to colour his cheek. ‘I’m Georgiana da Silva and I—’ she faltered as a familiar voice interrupted.
‘Come in my dear, we’ve been waiting for you.’
The door swung wider and there, standing at Mr Sedgewick’s side, holding a pistol, was Tom.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Georgiana gave a small scream and fell back a pace, but Tom shook his head and gestured with his pistol for her to enter. ‘Oh no, Miss Trent – or should I say Miss da Silva – I would not have you disappear at this moment after all my efforts in locating everyone.’
The room was small and showed evidence of a struggle – a chair overturned, a tablecloth pulled askew. And there, half reclining on a small, shabby sofa was Harry, blood soaking the left shoulder of his shirt and spreading down the sleeve. His face was drawn white with pain, but he managed a tiny smile. ‘I’m sorry, Georgie, I would have warned you but I feared he’d shoot Sedgewick.’
‘Quite right. I wouldn’t have hesitated, you know.’
Tom spoke with his usual quiet courtesy and Georgiana shivered. His face was open and friendly, the expression as affectionate as ever. Only now he was holding a gun, still levelled at Mr Sedgewick. ‘Make yourself comfortable, Georgiana – may I call you that? Sarah does not seem right, now, and we are beyond formalities I imagine. No, do not worry about Trent – he is going to die either sooner or later, but if you go to him, it will be sooner.’
Georgiana swallowed and crossed instead to an armchair by the fireplace. It took every ounce of control to remain calm. The approving look Harry flicked her warmed her marginally and she sent him the faintest of smiles. Tom, seeing this intimate exchange, gave a short laugh. ‘It appears you two have become better acquainted since our last meeting.’
‘We were always better acquainted,’ said Harry. His voice rasped, likely from the pain, though he refused to show it.
‘I always suspected there was a bond between you – was he the dastardly captain that deserted you in Madeira? Ah, I see from your face, Georgiana, that he was. But there’s no time to tell me the full story, much as I’d like to hear it. Sedgewick, no doubt Trent has filled you in on all the details.’
‘If you mean that he is the rightful heir to the Elrington estate, yes he has.’ Sedgewick had righted the chair and now sat down on it. Tom remained standing next to the door. Georgiana hadn’t quite closed it and a cold draught blew in, but Tom did not appear to notice. With a shiver, she drew closer to the flames.
‘Why are you here, Tom?’
He looked amused. ‘The same reason that Trent is, of course. He was not happy to return from slipping out to the theatre to find me questioning Mr Sedgewick and objected to my methods. Stupidly he launched himself at me. Did you think me such a fool,’ he said, turning to Harry whose face was drawn with pain, ‘that I wouldn’t come properly prepared this time?’
‘Perhaps he never thought one man would shoot another who was unarmed.’ Sedgewick’s voice was acid.
Tom smiled. ‘Perhaps – but then it is always a mistake to underestimate your opponent. After our little encounter in Christchurch, I was determined not to be caught out again. Of course, I knew where you were both headed and followed you down, only to discover Mr Sedgewick out of town and Sarah – or Georgiana, I should say – the star of the stage. Yes, I’ve been here a few days m’dear, but didn’t want to alert you to the fact. I had a feeling Trent here would fetch Mr Sedgewick back for me if I were patient. I didn’t think he would abandon you, Georgiana.’ Tom paused and turned back to Sedgewick. ‘Now, we are finally all assembled in one spot – barring your brother, of course, Georgiana, although he turned out only to be a bit part in this drama after all. It is almost funny when you recollect so much of it began with him. But there you are. Mr Sedgewick, you are now in the spotlight. Do you have proof of Trent’s legitimacy?’
Sedgewick stayed quiet. Tom’s voice sharpened. ‘Don’t try any games, man. I can outplay you all.’
His eyes strayed with meaning towards Georgiana and in a flash Harry was struggling to sit upright as he swore ferociously. Tom merely turned the pistol on him. ‘Stay there. I don’t want to kill you just yet.’
‘Why kill him at all?’ demanded Georgiana. ‘If there is proof, Mr Sedgewick here can give it to you. You can destroy it and then there’ll be no need to kill Harry. He won’t be a threat any more.’
‘What do you say, Sedgewick?’ Tom cocked a brow.
‘No!’ said Harry furiously.
‘If I give it to you, will you leave us all in one piece?’
‘Of course.’
‘Don’t trust him,’ cried Harry, rising, but in two swift strides, Tom crossed the room and slammed a fist into his wounded shoulder. Harry collapsed with a groan.
‘You have no choice but to trust me,’ Tom poin
ted out.
Georgiana squeezed shaking hands together as Sedgewick crossed the room and crouched beside the table.
‘Careful,’ warned Tom, wiping his bloodstained fist across his thigh.
Sedgewick lifted the table cloth to reveal a small safe tucked beneath. Without a word, he began dialling the combination. Harry closed his eyes and shook his head, but it seemed to take all his strength just to stay conscious. The door of the safe swung open, revealing a pile of papers inside. Sedgewick rifled through and withdrew one and handed it to Tom who glanced at it, nodded, then shoved it into his pocket.
‘Why did you have it?’ he asked with mild interest.
‘My lord gave me the marriage certificate on the day he heard that his wife had died – had apparently died. He was afraid his parents might find it and destroy it, thus removing any stain on their name. I thought he was being overanxious at the time, but now I discover they were prepared to go to far greater lengths.’
Tom nodded and smiled. ‘The pride of the family is very strong. Lady Elrington even disapproves of Lord Walsingham, although it’s his money that keeps her estates flourishing. Well, your estates as it turns out,’ he said to Harry, ‘but you must know it is impossible for you ever to claim them. I’m doing you a favour really. No one would ever accept you as earl and being shot is kinder than being hung, after all.’
He raised the gun and levelled it at Harry.
‘No!’ cried Georgiana, flinging herself in front of the prostrate figure.