My Gentleman Spy (The Duke of Strathmore Book 5)

by Sasha Cottman

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “Miss Hattie!”

  The squeal of a young girl rang through the second floor of the dingy tenant house on Plumtree Street.

  Annie Mayford threw herself against Hattie’s skirts.

  “You came back! You came back!”

  Hattie wrapped her arms tightly around the youngster and let the tears fall. For weeks all she had thought of was the Mayfords, and how dire their situation would have become since her departure.

  Mrs. Mayford, a middle -aged widow, struggled up from the rickety wooden bed where she spent most of her days and gave Hattie a hug.

  “How are you?” asked Hattie.

  Mrs. Mayford nodded slowly, the effort to speak beyond her. Her ongoing battle with the fatal disease of tuberculosis sapped her energy for all but the most vital aspects of life. She ate little; and in between violent bouts of coughing up blood, she slept.

  “Are the boys here?”

  Annie let go of Hattie’s skirts and stepped back. Her face changed from one of happiness to one of outright anger. She held her hands fisted on her hips.

  “Joshua and Baylee have become wicked since you left and joined the Belton Street gang. They are off with them right now.”

  Hattie and Mrs. Mayford exchanged a look of fear. The Belton Street gang were one of the most violent criminal gangs in the rookery of St. Giles. Joshua and Baylee were both terrified of the gang.

  It made no sense. She could not comprehend why the two kind young lads would have joined up with such a bunch of cutthroats and villains.

  The door to the small room which served as the Mayford family sitting room and kitchen opened and Joshua Mayford stepped across the threshold. He had a small sack in one hand and was dragging his brother Baylee behind him with the other.

  At the sight of Hattie, Joshua stopped. Baylee crashed into his brother. The mute Baylee, made his displeasure known by lashing out at Joshua with his fist. Joshua in turn slapped his brother hard.

  “Get off me you dolt!”

  The uncharacteristic act of violence and harsh words took Hattie by surprise. The brothers Mayford were normally very close. It went without saying that Joshua was fiercely protective of his slow minded brother, who in turn worshipped Joshua.

  “Baylee. I came back. I came to see you,” said Hattie.

  In the time she had known the family, she had been the only outsider Baylee had ever allowed to come near him. He trusted her. Whenever she came to visit their meagre accommodation, he welcomed her with open arms. She in return had always had an apple or two in her satchel for him.

  She held out a hand to Baylee, but he shook his head. His face was contorted with rage. Tears filled his eyes. He grunted angrily at her.

  Annie came over and took her brother by the hand.

  “Come take off your hat and sit with me Baylee. Let me wipe your tears. Don’t be mad at Miss Hattie. It’s not her fault she went away.”

  Hattie looked back to Joshua, who was now busily emptying his sack of its contents. There were several apples, two scrawny carrots, and a lump of salted beef. It was the most food she had ever seen in the Mayford home.

  “Welcome back Miss Hattie. Never thought to see you again,” said Joshua.

  He slid his cap off his head. His beautiful dark brown locks which Hattie had so often admired, had been shaved close to his head. His rough hair cut gave him a dangerous air. He stuffed the cap into the pocket of his dirty black woolen coat and sniffed.

  “Nor I,” she stammered.

  Her heart was beating hard in her chest. This was not the reunion she had imagined. Life in London had not stood still in the time she was gone. She cleared her throat. She needed answers.

  “Your sister tells me you and Baylee have become involved with the Belton Street gang. Is that correct? I thought you loathed them.”

  Joshua fixed her with a hard stare and then threw the sack into the corner nearest the door. He kicked the door shut.

  “Well it’s like this. Without the food you had been bringing us every day, we were going to starve. There wasn’t a lot of choice in the matter. It’s not as if there is a long line of fine ladies all wanting to hand over food to the likes of us. People like you are as rare as gold.”

  She clasped her hands together. The food problem was now solved. She was back in London and would be able to supply them once more with the food they needed. The boys could withdraw from the gang. Baylee could go back to sitting with his mother, and Joshua could care for Annie.

  He read her mind.

  “Don’t bother telling me things can go back to the way they were. You know as well as I do that you don’t just up and leave the Belton Street boys.”

  Hattie felt nauseous. Membership in the Belton Street gang was for life, death the only way out. She had prayed for the best, too frightened to think of the worst that could possibly greet her upon her return to the London slums. Losing two of her friends to the murderous crime gang was heartbreaking.

  Joshua sighed. He put a comforting arm around Hattie’s shoulder.

  “It’s good to see you again Hattie. Don’t blame yourself. This would probably have happened even if you hadn’t left. The gang has been trying to recruit us for some time now. I had to make some hard choices in order to feed my family. Joining the gang was the hardest of them all.”

  “Why are you and Baylee fighting? I have never heard you speak to him like that before?”

  Joshua looked away, refusing to meet her eyes.

  “He has to toughen up. If he doesn’t he’s going to die,” he said.

  Annie began to cry.

  “They make Baylee fight. The crowd pays money to hear him grunt. The gang call him Bear, and everyone wants to fight the Bear,” said Annie.

  Hattie felt like she had been punched in the stomach. Hitting the water after the fall from the ship in Gibraltar had not hurt as much as Annie’s shocking revelation. The Belton Street gang were using Baylee, a simpleton as a means of making money.

  Joshua reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of coins. He held them out in front of Hattie. The coins were few, but enough to cover the rent on their two squalid rooms for several weeks. No words passed between them, but he would know that she did not judge him for what he was doing. He was doing the best he could to help his family survive.

  Hattie was also not foolish enough to think that her and Joshua’s situations were the same. While she had been forced to sell some of her mother’s precious small items since her return, she had options in her life. She could seek out her brother, or even Will Saunders to ask for their help if she so chose. Joshua Mayford had no such saviors on which to call.

  “I think you should go,” he said.

  He put the coins back in his pocket. Hattie opened her satchel, took out the loaf of bread and the apples she had brought with her and handed them to Annie.

  Without a word she left.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Will’s plans to seek out Hattie had to take second place to his family commitments. While he had managed to get his parents to hold off on a large welcome home celebration for the time being, he was still being pressured into attending social events.

  A small gathering at a family friend’s home presented the first opportunity he had to meet with the young man Eve had sent her marital sights upon. Frederick Rosemount, second son of Viscount Rosemount.

  From across the ballroom, he spotted Frederick and Eve as they walked arm and arm in his direction. Eve’s face was one of glowing happiness. She hung on every word that her young gentleman said.

  “Oh dear. Prepare yourself for meeting the fabulous Freddie,” muttered Charles.

  Will scowled. It was unlike his father to find fault with others. It was concerning that he was not finding Eve’s paramour to his liking.

  “He can’t be that bad,” replied Will.

  Frederick Rosemount strode confidently up to the two Saunders males and thrust out a hand to Will. Beside him Eve bea
med with pride.

  “William, well met. You must be so glad to be free of all those annoying, smelly Frenchmen.”

  Will laughed at the remark. There was not much else he could do. He had become immune to the many English soldiers still based in Paris who felt they needed to continually remind everyone about the outcome of the war. London was even worse. It was full of jingoistic Englishmen who did not understand the suffering and sacrifice that many thousands of the French had endured during the bloody revolution and then under Napoleon.

  Freddie snorted his approval at his own joke.

  Will glanced in his father's direction. Charles had forced a social grin to his face, but Will saw a sadness in his father's eyes. A new future for France had cost the family dearly. Charles would never be able to return to the land of his birth and claim his rightful inheritance.

  “It's good to be back. Though it feels like I barely know this city anymore. I got lost this morning making my way to Strathmore House,” he replied.

  Changing the subject always seemed the best option in the face of such ignorance.

  He had been hoping to find one or more of the Radley family at home, but none of his cousins had returned from the family seat in Scotland. The only member of the Duke of Strathmore’s family not presently in Scotland, David Radley, was at his estate in Bedfordshire.

  “So, what are your plans? Do you intend to go into business with your father and Francis, or perhaps run for parliament? My father is always going on about me taking up some form of occupation. Tiresome business. I would much rather be out with the four-in-hand club,” said Freddie.

  Will thought for a minute. At this stage he was not actually certain what he planned to do now he was back in England. The prospect of taking up the reins with his father had a certain appeal, but his brother Francis had shown a talent for business which Will knew he could not match. While Francis was more than capable of spending his evenings getting drunk and running amok with his friends, he also had the ability to be at work early in the morning studiously checking the shipping sheets of the goods Charles Saunders imported from South America.

  Will had not previously considered a career as a politician, but his uncle Ewan Radley, the Duke of Strathmore had introduced him to various political figures during the summer and his interest had been aroused. The appeal of being in London and attending parliamentary sessions was to his liking. If Will knew one thing for certain about himself, whether it was Paris or London, he was most at home in the city.

  “I plan to speak with his grace when he returns from Scotland, he mentioned a vacancy may be coming up in one of the local London seats before the year is out. I think I know enough of world events to be able to make a useful contribution in the House of Commons,” he replied.

  Freddie patted Eve’s hand. She giggled.

  “That will keep you tied down Will, old chap. Though you will need a wife before you seriously consider a career in politics. The electorate are never keen to elect bachelors to parliament, something about single men being untrustworthy. Frightfully tiresome business marriage, but I expect we shall all have to put our heads into the parson’s noose at some point. A chap can’t stay happy forever,” said Freddie.

  He tilted his head back and laughed, genuinely amused by himself. Will watched Freddie with barely concealed rage. Marriage was no laughing matter. He was not the least impressed by this young man and his cavalier attitude, especially when it came to the prospect of marrying Eve.

  Will had never considered marriage to be a tiresome endeavor. He missed being married. Only when he had been with Hattie had he realized how empty his life had been.

  Yvette had transformed Will from a selfish self-centered youth to the man he was now. He owed a lot to both his former and future wives.

  At this moment however, his mind was more concerned about the man Eve had set her matrimonial sights upon. As Freddie and Eve moved away, Will wanted desperately to punch Freddie in the face. He turned to his father.

  “I cannot for the life of me see what she sees in that spotted youth. Eve cannot be serious about him. And if she is, I can't believe you and mama would allow her to go through with it. He will only bring Eve misery,” he remarked.

  His father sipped at his wine. “He is from a good family. His father, Viscount Rosemount, I know personally to be a decent chap. It’s the lad’s first year in London without his father or older brother to keep him in check. I grant you he is running a little wild. But didn’t we all at that age? We have to give him the benefit of the doubt and hope that he will come to his senses before he does anything stupid.”

  Will did not need his father to remind him that he had run off to France and become a spy at the same age as Frederick. He knew exactly how it was to be reckless and without a sense of his place in the world.

  Eve’s heart however, was an entirely different matter. He would not stand idly by while some fool tore his sister’s heart to pieces. Charming and self-assured though Freddie may be, Will was not above setting him straight.

  “What is mama doing about it?” pressed Will.

  He knew his mother well. Adelaide Saunders would be well aware of Frederick Rosemount’s shortcomings. She would not allow her daughter to throw her life away on a blackguard if Frederick transpired to be such a man. She would nail shut all the doors of the churches in London if that is what it took to keep her daughter from making a foolish choice.

  “She is playing this out carefully. Eve has a will of her own and the last thing any of us need is for her to do a midnight flit to Gretna Green. I trusted your mother to raise the four of you, and you have all turned out well. I have full confidence that she will protect your sister from any harm,” replied Charles.

  Will was not so convinced. He knew Eve and if she was determined to throw herself at Freddie, she would do just that, parental approval or not.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “Would you like some cake Miss Hattie?” asked Mrs. Little.

  “Yes please,” replied Hattie.

  A happy smile appeared on the face of the Wright family's long-time housekeeper. A woman who had wept floods of tears when Hattie unexpectedly knocked on the back door in the early hours of the morning a few days earlier.

  After Hattie had explained the circumstances surrounding her reappearance, Mr. and Mrs. Little had agreed to secretly harbor Hattie within the Wright family home. The housekeeping money which Hattie's father had left behind would keep the family butler and his wife fed for the time it was expected to lease out the house. Hattie was only one more mouth to feed.

  What they were going to do once a new tenant took over the house was a matter for the future.

  Hattie was busily wrapping up Will’s greatcoat in paper. She was uncomfortable with the notion of holding onto such a personal item of his, and wanted to return it to him as soon as she could. Her main worry was how she could get it to him without Will being able to trace the source of the coat. She held the coat up to her face and took a deep breath.

  The scent of Will still permeated the fabric around the collar. Her senses tingled at the memory of the smell of his body. Of his touch.

  “It's a fine piece of tailoring that coat. It was kind of the gentleman to give it to you. Very kind indeed of him and his wife to take you in and see you returned safely back to England,” Mrs. Little observed.

  Hattie swallowed back a lump of guilt. Mrs. Little was someone she hated herself for lying to, but she could not bear the questions that would surely follow if either of the Littles discovered the truth. Mr. Little had been hard enough to win over when Hattie returned home.

  The family butler had been all for marching three doors down to Edgar Wright's house, and informing him that his younger sister had suddenly arrived back in London without their parents. Fortunately, Mr. Little was kind hearted; and after gentle persuasion from his wife agreed to maintain the ruse for the time being.

  If her luck held, Hattie would never have to explain the role t
hat Will Saunders had played in her little adventure. He would remain her own secret savior. A love affair to remember in the dark of the night when she lay alone in her bed.

  Where ever Will was now, she knew he would be thinking of her. Wondering just what had happened to the woman who had shared his bed and then refused to marry him.

  Will was a man of means and that worried her. He was also no fool. He had family and powerful connections in London. If he was determined to find her, she was going to have to stay on her guard.

  She had taken to leaving the house in the predawn to maintain her undercover existence. With one of her father’s old coats to cover her skirts and a hat shoved down hard on her head, she looked at first glance like any other servant girl going about her early morning errands.

  Every time she set foot outside the door of her home, she was wary. Will could be waiting for her. He could have discovered more of her true identity and eventually her hiding place. Her idea of having told him the real address of her Uncle Felix’s house, no longer seemed so clever.

  At the moment however, Will was the least of her problems. The Belton Street gang was foremost in her mind. With Joshua and Baylee both now fully-fledged members, tragedy for the Mayford family seemed inevitable.

  “Have you given any further thought to speaking to your brother?” asked Mrs. Little.

  Hattie shook her head. The truth was she had thought of little else over the past few days. Too afraid to venture out into the streets of London in broad daylight in case someone recognized her, she had spent hours trying to decide upon her next course of action.

  In times past, she would not have hesitated in seeking out her brother and asking for his assistance. The Wright family had once been close. Hattie had virtually lived between the two houses after Edgar and his wife Miranda had married six years earlier.

  But in the year or so leading up to her family's departure to Africa matters between her father and her brother had reached a point where they were no longer on speaking terms. Hattie herself had said things to her brother she now bitterly regretted. Harsh words rejecting his way of the world and defending that of her parents. She had even branded Miranda a cold-hearted social climber. Her last words to Edgar had been to tell him she never wished to see him or his wife again.