She eyed the stranger. “You can’t seek me out in public this way. You’ll ruin everything.” The tension and fear etched on her face was real. In agitation, she tucked her shirt tails into her trousers and spun around.
“Ally, wait.” He started to follow her.
She kept her back to him and said firmly, but quietly, “Stop calling me Ally, and stop following me.”
Quentin couldn’t keep causing her this much distress. He had to find another way to convince her. “Come tonight, later, back in Liverpool at the stable where we met. I’ll wait for you at midnight. Please, say you’ll be there.”
“All right.” She hung her head before turning to face him. “If you promise not to follow me again, then and only then, will I meet you tonight.”
“That’s all I ask.” He wanted to touch her but stopped himself. “See you soon.”
She stepped back. “Goodbye then, until tonight.” She glanced at him from beneath dark lashes, then walked toward the stable yard.
Would she meet him? If she wasn’t there, he was a worse fool than he thought.
Glancing in the direction where the stranger had been standing, he mounted his bay gelding. The man was gone.
Rubbing the ache in his injured leg, he said to his horse, “I suppose you need a name. Don’t you old boy?”
His horse, with new shoes, clopped along beneath him, twitching his ears.
“I suppose you’re wondering why I’d purposely remove one of your shoes, then lie about it, blaming you for throwing it? You’ve been a traitor, you know, siding with Ally, rather than me.” Quentin breathed in the crisp air and contemplated how he could win Ally over and discover the truth about her. “Why didn’t it occur to me before?” Quentin patted his neck. “What do you think of Traitor as a name?”
The gelding snorted and, for a moment, Quentin understood the bond between horse and rider. Tonight, he’d get answers from Ally. Tonight, he’d find out what she was really all about.
…
From behind one of the outbuildings, Ally watched the captain ride south to Liverpool. She contemplated seeing him tonight. She wanted to see him again, but did she dare? There was a part of her who wanted to be rescued from this life of lies she’d created, but until Rupert finished school, she saw no other way. She waited outside the stable by the well for Simon to return.
“You there. Boy.”
Ally lifted her gaze to the voice and saw the well-dressed man who’d been watching her from a distance. “Yes, my lord?”
He strode toward her. “I just wanted to see for myself, up close, what you looked like.”
Fear clung to her throat, threatening to choke her. She backed away and padded to the stable.
“Where you going in such a hurry?”
“My father is expecting me.” The man’s footsteps gained ground behind her. Before she could break into a run, he grabbed her shoulder and spun her around.
“I’ll let you get back to your blacksmith in just a moment.” His fingers bit into her shoulder; pain shot through her arm.
“He’s my father.” She yanked out of his grasp and stood her ground. “I don’t wish to worry him.”
“Your father, is he?” The man’s cold stare pierced her flesh. He ripped the straw hat from her head before she could react. Only the cotton bindings remained. She kicked him in the kneecap and ran.
The man called out from behind her. “Your secret is out. Someone I know will be very pleased to hear this information.”
She kept running until she reached the stable. Her lungs burned. She stopped to gather her breath. “Simon, I’m sorry. I have to go.”
“What’s the problem?”
She swung around to make sure the other man wasn’t following her any longer.
“What is it?” Simon asked in his gentle way. A manner that made him one of the best horsemen she’d ever had the pleasure of working with.
“I…Simon…I’ve been found out…someone saw me talking with the captain, and I don’t know how they discovered me, but they did.”
Inwardly, she cursed herself for talking to Quentin Drake. She shouldn’t talk to anyone. This man jeopardized everything important to her. She’d been fine on her own. Granted, she didn’t see Rupert as often as she liked, but she could keep living this way as long as he got the schooling he needed, and she didn’t get thrown in the bowels of Brixton prison. Tears threatened to well up, but she stamped the emotion away. “Some man knows I’m a woman. He threatened me. I must leave, Simon. I have to go to Rupert.”
“Calm down, Ally. The man doesn’t necessarily know of your connection to the Earl of Linford.”
“Yes, but don’t you see, it makes perfect sense. Why would anyone other than Linford’s man be looking for me?” She swung around and scanned the intersecting streets.
Simon’s shoulders slouched, and he sighed. “You’re probably right. Where is the man now?”
In the distance, a coach made haste out of town, and even with the dust billowing up behind, she easily recognized the Linford family crest emblazoned on the carriage door. “That has to be the man’s coach. He’s going to tell Linford where I am.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Oh, Simon…the only thing I can do—get Rupert and run. I’ll go north to Scotland. Perhaps from there I can book passage to Holland. Somewhere—anywhere far away from here.”
“We could secure a barrister for you. See if legally there is a way to solve the issue.”
“I know you mean well, but no court in the land will take my word over a lord’s. I appreciate your offer so much. I can’t tell you what it’s meant to me to be a family of sorts with you and Maggie. You’ve given me a temporary home. And—”
“But I have a friend who—”
“Thank you so much, for everything, but if you could give me the last bit of money you owe me, I think it’s better if I leave England.”
He swiped at the sweat on his brow. Grief lined his eyes. “Of course. Whatever you want, but Maggie will be upset with me for allowing you to go.”
Ally threw her arms around Simon’s neck. He and his wife had been so kind to her. But if she delayed leaving to say goodbye to Maggie, the dear woman would surely find a way to convince her to stay. That wouldn’t do. “I wish I could say goodbye to her, but I just can’t. I’ll collect my things and go straight to Rupert.”
His shoulders drooped in defeat. “What can I do to help?”
“You’ve done more than enough already. Thank you again Simon, and goodbye.”
Chapter Five
Ally gathered her meager belongings and wished she could return to Liverpool to meet the captain at the stables, but she didn’t dare. She must stay hidden until she could leave the country. It was only a matter of time before the earl located her, but she couldn’t collect Rupert in the middle of the night.
In the morning, she rode east toward the School for the Blind where Rupert was enrolled under a false name. Simon had given her money, over and above the wages she was due, but it wasn’t enough to get as far away from England as she needed to be. The rest of her savings was in a London safe box that she’d have to obtain, somehow. What was she thinking to accomplish by riding off to retrieve Rupert without a plan in place?
Her thoughts drifted back to the captain. She should be in his arms, letting herself feel the strength and solidness of him. Last evening, she’d sat beside him near the pond, today she’d run away, likely to never see him again. All her thoughts seemed to be wrapped up in this man, but there could never be a future with him. She was a wanted woman. He was free. He’d never choose to be with someone like her for longer than one night.
She knew better than to trust a man anyway. She’d trusted the Earl of Linford once, and that mistake would cost Rupert and her dearly.
When she had worked for the earl as a lady’s companion, his sister had given her the day off and permission to ride her mare. For her to stumble upon him holding a knife in a man’s c
hest was unfathomable. The earl saw her, and she fled. Now, she was wanted for thievery. Her word against his. No one would believe an impoverished gentleman’s daughter of no means didn’t steal from her wealthy employer.
She would have left England for good had it not been for Rupert’s schooling. Perhaps she had been wrong to stay under the guise of a blacksmith’s son, but she had learned so much about horses by working with Simon, and Maggie had filled the void left after her mother died. Rupert was happy at his school and wanted to learn as many skills as he could. None of these opportunities were afforded them had they stayed in Sunderland.
Cholera had killed all of Ally’s family, and Rupert’s as well. Sunderland only had memories of death and sadness for them both.
But she was tired of running and so tired of being in disguise, always watching for someone to discover her.
After a hard day’s ride, she could go no farther. Luckily, she was able to secure a room at a coaching inn. Restful sleep was impossible, though, when nightmares of the Earl of Linford catching her filled her head. She had seen him kill a man. If he caught her, would he kill her, too?
In the morning, she rode northeast toward Manchester and the School for the Blind. Loneliness engulfed her like the morning fog. Once she met up with her brother, she’d sell her mare to give them enough money for a mail coach to Scotland. That was her tentative plan, and it had to work. What other choice did she have?
After riding for three hours, she approached a shaded recess alongside a creek. The minute she dismounted, the sound of a horse’s hoof beats warned her she wasn’t alone. Her pulse pounded in her ears. Pulling the pistol from her saddlebag, she swung around and aimed the pistol toward the noise she’d heard amongst the trees.
“Don’t shoot.”
She recognized the voice.
Relief welled up when Quentin Drake emerged from the forested thicket.
“Put that down. You really need to quit pointing guns at me.” The captain strolled out from between the trees like he’d just finished a quadrille. “I wonder, if I was a highwayman, if you’d even be able to use it.”
“What are you doing here?” And why didn’t you come sooner? A part of her wanted to throw her arms around him and banish her loneliness for good. Another part wanted to slap him for frightening her.
“You promised to meet me, and then you didn’t show. Well, my ego was horribly wounded.” He stopped beside her mare, placing his hand on the rump. “I’m starting to feel you don’t like me very much.”
“I like you, you know I do…but my life isn’t my own…and you keep speaking to me of things I can’t have, a life I can’t have.” She knew she was rambling like an idiot. “You keep showing up and claiming to—”
“Claiming to what?” He moved closer to her. The heat and scent of his body wrapped around her. He still smelled like rainwater, even in the mid-morning sunlight.
“Claiming to know what I want,” she replied flatly.
“No one wants to live a life in disguise. And what kind of a life can you lead when you hide from everyone, most of all from yourself?”
“Acting the part of a boy is not a life I would choose for myself, but it is my life, and it’s what I must do. How did you find me?”
“I remembered what you said about your brother being in Manchester. I took the most likely route.” His gray eyes gazed at her with such sincerity. “Let me help you.”
She wanted to be enveloped by his strength and warmth and yes, his protection. She was tired of being alone.
“When you didn’t meet me at the stables, I returned to the inn. The man we saw in Southport was drinking in the taproom. I questioned him, and he claimed to know you were a woman.” He stepped closer to her. “He’s employed by the Earl of Linford. Please let me help you?”
She’d done the right thing by leaving Liverpool immediately, but despair still filled her soul. “I believe you’d like to help, but there’s nothing you can do.”
“Try me. If you didn’t steal from the Earl of Linford, then you have no need to fear. There has to be a reasonable explanation.”
She wanted to trust him. Did she dare? “Why don’t you ask him to explain if it’s so important to you?”
“Protecting you is what’s important to me.” He cupped her chin and gazed into her eyes. “And even if I did ask him…there was a time I would have trusted him, but now… Now he’s a different man.”
The heat from his hand radiated across her face and neck. She didn’t want to fight him any longer. “I didn’t steal anything from him, but no one would ever believe me over him. I’m a gentleman’s daughter with no family to speak of, no one to vouch for my integrity, and no money. I spent the very last of my shillings to place an ad in the Times of London for employment. I wrote the ad as though I’d already worked for a clergyman’s family, which wasn’t true. Luckily, Linford’s sister liked me enough to not check my references. If anyone found out I wasn’t completely forthcoming, they would never trust my word over the earl’s. Never. No one in England would believe a word I say. That’s all I can tell you.” She tugged her chin out of his grasp. “Please don’t ask me anymore.”
He was silent for a long time, weighing each word. “If you secured legal counsel, I’m sure we could—”
“I lied in the ad, which would make anything else I said suspect. Don’t you see? I’m a woman alone and have very few choices.”
His jaw flexed. “Linford will find you or the authorities will.”
“They won’t find me. I’m leaving the country.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to face him and find out why he’s accusing you of this crime? Mayhap the money was stolen by someone else and the evidence only points to you.”
“You don’t understand. He’s using stolen money as an excuse to trap me and then quiet me.”
“Why does he want you quiet?”
Ally didn’t know the captain very well, but she knew he wouldn’t let this go. She was leaving England, so what would it matter to tell him the truth? She grew weary of the struggle to hold her secret so fiercely. But she couldn’t involve him—the earl had killed once, he’d likely kill anyone who discovered what he’d done.
“I didn’t steal from the earl, and that’s all I’m willing to tell you. I can’t trust that he won’t harm me. And I won’t be dissuaded from my decision.”
The captain paused, then spoke in a deliberate manner. “Then let me help you this way. I can put you on a ship to America.”
Although astounded by his offer, she wondered what kind of game he was playing with her. “I don’t have the kind of money it takes to board a ship to America.”
“You’re talking to a former sea captain. I know a few people who owe me a favor or two. I can get you on a ship, Ally, I can.”
“But I was thinking only to travel to Scotland… I—I don’t know what to say.”
“Just say that you’ll let me help you. Linford will hardly have you followed all the way across the ocean, whereas in Scotland, he could.”
A mix of emotions jumbled within her, from relief, to worry, to distrust, and she wasn’t sure which one to grab onto. “I…again, I don’t know what to say. Why would you do this? You hardly know me.”
“There was a time when I let a woman down. A woman to whom I was very close. Maybe by helping you, my burden will lessen for all I should have done to help her.”
People didn’t offer up a trip to America without wanting something in return. “I need to think about this. Will you let me consider it?”
“I don’t know what there is to consider, but yes, of course. Take whatever time you need.”
Ally would never leave Rupert behind, but did she dare mention this to the captain?
Mayhap he could make arrangements for her travel, but he’d certainly never manage passage for both of them.
“I assume you’re headed for Manchester to say goodbye to your brother before you leave England?” The captain interrupted her thoughts.
She hated to lie, but it seemed preferable that he didn’t know her planned route. “Actually, I had thought to travel directly to Scotland.”
“Why don’t we travel north together while you’re considering my offer?”
She couldn’t think of a reason not to have the captain accompany her. It would be better to travel with someone as opposed to alone. She could stay with him for a day and think about his offer, but regardless, they’d eventually part ways, and she’d never see him again.
Chapter Six
Quentin had followed Ally’s trail east with relative ease, but that also meant Linford could follow her, too. He couldn’t stand the idea of Linford disrupting her life any longer. She didn’t deserve a life of hiding and subterfuge. There was no way that was going to happen. Not if he had breath left in him.
They rode in virtual silence for most of the remaining hours of the day, keeping to the back trails, looking behind them often to ensure no one followed.
The sun was low in the sky when he said, “There’s a coaching inn not too far ahead, just this side of Manchester. We can stay there for the night.”
He didn’t expect her to agree. He assumed she’d want to push farther north and put more distance between herself and Liverpool. When she didn’t immediately answer, he added, “I can pay for each of us to have our own room.”
“You don’t need to do that, Captain.”
“We know each other well enough, you may call me Quentin. In fact, I’d like it if you did.”
They rode side by side as the sun settled on the horizon. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. The look was decidedly feminine, and he wondered again how he could ever have mistaken her for a lad.
“All right,” she paused before adding, “I’ll call you Quentin, if…if you’ll share a room with me tonight. There is no need for two rooms.”
Her words were the equivalent of a swift punch to his midsection. He grappled with his rapid pulse and inwardly groaned. From the vulnerability inflected in her voice, he guessed she’d meant for them to share a room in every way a man and woman could share it. He stamped down on the urge to question her and the hope that welled inside him.
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