by Suzi Love
“Stop repeating my words like a sailor’s parrot.”
“Nobody said I was marrying you.”
“I did.”
“I didn’t.”
“I don’t care what you say. You are marrying me. As soon as we get out of here.”
Laura came to an abrupt halt, slamming in to the mountainous back of the brute she followed. “Ow!”
Richard rushed up beside her, trying to put his arms around her, but his hands were tied at the wrists. “Untie me, you idiot. Let me see if you hurt her.”
“Listen up, you two squabbling children.” The man turned to face them both, holding his lantern higher so they could see the fierce look on his face. “My ears is ringin′ with your fightin′. And makes no matter if you say you goin′ to marry the gent or not, lady, cause come mornin′, our boss lady upstairs is goin′ to have you both killed, anyways.” He scratched his fat belly, then threw back his dirty-haired head and laughed.
His mate up ahead stopped and called out, “What are you doin′? Come on. Bring ′em up ′ere. Time for our supper.”
Between the two guards, they were pushed and pulled towards a dark and dank basement room. Garlic breath, their old friend, threw them into a cellar, without ceremony, then turned a key in the outside lock as he left.
He pushed his nose back through the grated section of the door. “My lady upstairs is too busy to see you tonight. But she knows you’re here. Said to tell you she’s been expecting you here for days. She’ll deal with you two interfering bastards in the morning. After the sale of this ere place is finished. After all the patrons has left. Big celebrations upstairs tonight. The lady is going to very wealthy, come mornin’.”
The other man, Weak Wrist, laughed.
“That lady is right clever, for she knew you’d be comin′ and searchin′ for us. Ever since you broke into the warehouse. Said she hadda feelin′--some sorta sensation in her bones—that it would be those bloody interfering Jamisons again.”
“That’s why we’ve been keepin′ such a good eye on all of you. But have to tell you, you’ve got her right angered, and she doesn’t like being angered.”
Richard stepped in front of Laura, pushing her behind him. “Our friends will be here with Scotland Yard to arrest all of you, long before morning. You’d better let us go now and get away while you can.”
“No I don’t think so. Think I’m goin’ to enjoy dealing with the little lady here, all by myself. When we get you out of the city in the morning, and find a nice quiet spot, we gunner have a little sport with you. Pay you back for upsetting our plans so many times.”
“And for being so bloody ′ard to kill.”
“Madame, or the good Lady Hetherington to those that know her, only wants us to kill you quick like, but Nifty is right. You’ve been a thorn in our hides for too long. Time for some pay back.”
“The lady says you deserve to be punished for all the grief you’ve caused, and all the delays you three sisters have caused for her. She want to control that whole Stock Exchange. Kick out all the men. Take it over for herself. Then we’ll all be rollin′ in the coin.”
“That’s utter lunacy.” Richard stepped up to the man’s face. “If you believe that will ever be allowed to happen by the stuffed shirts members of the ton who have all their wealth invested there, you’re as crazy as your controlling mistress. No, your best chance is to let us go. Now. Quickly. Before anyone realizes.”
The man shrugged. “We all know Madame’s lost a bit of her wits somewhere along the way. But we don’t care. None of our concern. She’s making us rich.”
“That’s all we care about. What happens later is anyone’s guess. But the two of us, we they don’t intend hanging around long enough to become involved in the end. We’ll have our money and be long gone.”
“Though Madame doesn’t realize that. Yet.”
The two man laughed heartily at their shared joke.
Richard leaned up to the bars. “I’ll tell her everything. Including where you and your families live.”
“You’re bluffing. ′Ow could you know that?”
He looked at garlic breath. “I know your family has a food stall at the markets at Cheapside. I know your wife helps your mother and father sell French food there six days a week.”
Garlic Breath sucked in a gasp of air and then exhaled, blowing out his stinking fumes over them.
“If you untie me, I’ll tell you how I know.”
Garlic Breath considered it for a moment. “Makes no difference. You’ll be dead in the morning anyway.” He reached through the bars and undid the knots on both their wrists, Laura groaned. Rubbed the circulation back into her hands. “Madame isn’t going to either hear you, or believe you, come mornin′, so no matter what happens, you’re dead meat.”
“Hey, Nifty. Might be better for us to move them at first light. ‘Fore Madame is awake. So she can’t have no chance to speak to them. Won’t have no proof of nothin′ against us.”
“Yeah. Good idea.” He looked at Laura and Richard through the bars. “You two settle in for the night. We’ll be back at dawn to have a nice little talk and a game with the two of you.”
As soon as the men left, Laura and Richard searched every wall and corner and hidden nook of the room. To no avail: there was no exit except through the locked door. Instead, they made plans for whenever anyone entered with food or water. Their pathetic plan was to knock them on the head and escape. Sounded easy. Now they needed someone silly enough to put their head underneath the heavy end of the wine bottles they each held as weapons.
They waited in tense silence. Finally, the door opened again. However, the head that poked around the door was one that Laura recognized. Ruth’s elder sister. Another one of the street girls they’d helped.
“Margie, you need to let us out of here.”
‘I will, but not until it’s quieter upstairs. There are too many people coming and going at the moment. Too many guards on the doors. Madame is having a big celebration. She is telling everyone how clever she is. How she has won the race.”
“Oh, no. This doesn’t sound good.”
“Me and the other girls, we got no idea what she means. Only that she is selling here tonight. Intends fleecing every gent in town for as much money as she can. For her last night. Has big, big plans for all the money she’s been making.”
A noise sounded from up above and Margie flinched. “I have to go to work. I’ll be missed. But I’ve brought a piece of bread and some cheese from the kitchen. Early in the morning, when everyone has finished for the night, I’ll sneak down and open the door.
Richard gave Margie instructions as to where to send a message to Brian and Tony, if by chance any of the gentlemen she knew came tonight. Margie, eager to help, wanted to repay the kindnesses Laura and her sisters had shown her.
“Madame is a cruel mistress, and us girls are watched. Every minute. The guards beat us if they catch us do anythin’ outta place.”
“You’re exhausted,” Richard said later in the night, laying Laura’s head on his shoulder. “And no wonder. You’ve been playing nurse maid to Lottie and your aunt, as well as trying to meet your obligations within the Women’s Society. You do know how much I admire what you do for everyone, don’t you?”
He felt her shake her head. “I think you’re amazing. I think you’ll make me a wonderful countess.”
Her head popped up. “Yes. About that. The statement you made earlier. You cannot simply announce we’re to be wed.”
“Why not?”
“Why not?”
He laughed. “There’s the sailor’s parrot again.”
She gave him a little punch to the arm.
“And when you’re my wife, you’ll not be allowed to man handle me any longer. It’s undignified for a man of my station to be picked on by a woman of such miniature size.”
She growled and he laughed.
“That’s more like my lively Laura. I was afraid for a short time there tha
t you truly were going to burst into tears and have fit of womanly vapors. You’re much nicer when you’re being loud, difficult and argumentative.”
In the dim lantern light, she peered at him. “Are you deliberately angering me to ruse my fighting spirits? To not let me sink into the doldrums?”
He shrugged. “Possibly. Is it working?”
“Strangely enough, yes. So thank you. “
From upstairs, came the sound of loud shouts and cries and running feet. It sounded like a stampede of elephants on the floor boards above their heads.
“I hope Margie hurries. Something is wrong up there. There’s too much noise.”
“Yes, I’m afraid you’re right, little one. Even for a brothel celebration there are too many people yelling. Too much running about. I wish we knew what was happening.”
“You know they intend raping me, don’t you?”
“Sweetheart, it will not come to that. I won’t let it. I’ll defend you with my dying breath.”
“I know. That’s what concerns me most. You’ll get yourself killed trying to save me. No. We must get out now. We can’t wait for Margie.”
“You’re right. We’re not going to die down here without at least trying to let our families know what has happened to us.”
“Or without being able to free our families from the danger hanging over them all still. We need to let them know about Lady Hetherington and her mad cronies.”
“Laura, I need to tell you something. In case–”
“No, no, no. Don’t say that.”
“Listen, love. In case something happens to me, I want you to know. I love my sisters and I’ve always wanted my own family. Like the Jamisons, with your closeness. I want children, but I’ve been held back by a dreadful fear that my wife may die like my mother. I thought if I married a chit who didn’t really affect me emotionally, it wouldn’t hurt so much. If anything happened.”
She stomped on his boot again.
“Ouch! I wish you’d stop that.”
“No. That’s a dreadful attitude to carry into a marriage.”
“I know. That’s why it never happened. Couldn’t bring myself to do it. Not when I could see how different it could be with someone else. Someone special. And now, now I’m terrified I’ve missed the chance. That I’ll never get the chance to have children, or marry the wife I love. I didn’t know until now, when it may be too late, how much I craved it.”
“No, don’t speak that way. Neither of us is going to die until we’ve done all that. Made love with the person we love. Known what true love is and have had the joy of holding a baby.”
She strode to the door and pulled a pin from her hair.
‘Do you really think you can manage this lock,” he asked, wondering even as he said it why he would doubt her skill in anything. His Laura could do anything she set her mind to.
The next hour was a blur of activity. Laura picked the lock and they crept upstairs, expecting to have to fight their way past Lady Hetherington’s henchmen. But upstairs in the main rooms, an unexpected sight met them.
They stood in the open doorway and laughed. Instead of brothel patrons, the room swarmed with Scotland Yard policemen, in the process of taking away at least twenty men in handcuffs. Lady Hetherington sat in regal splendor, on a brocade couch near the door. Her hands were also in chains, as were her ankles. The constables were taking no chances this time.
Brian and Tony greeted them with huge grins on their faces.
“When we got the message Margie sent, we were already on our way here to meet with the police. So to smoke the ruffians out, we set a fire in the front rooms as a distraction, hoping it would give us time to get inside and down to the dungeon to rescue you.”
“But I see our services weren’t needed.” Tony looked down at the pin Laura still clenched in her fingers. “Let me guess. Lock picker Laura to the rescue again.”
Richard turned to Laura, as Lady Hetherington was led away, hopefully to stand trial this time.
“It’s over, sweetheart. You can go home and rest.”
But upon their arrival at Grosvenor Square, they discovered that Becca and Cayle had returned. They had been concerned about Lottie and her inability to walk, and Auntie and her bruises, and about leaving Laura and Richard together to solve all the problems. So they’d cut short their honeymoon trip.
That evening, they gathered for a family dinner at Jamison House to discuss the outcomes, but much to Richard’s frustration, he couldn’t manage a moment alone with Laura. She seemed determined to avoid him and he knew why. His blundering declaration that she would marry him wasn’t exactly a romantic proposal of marriage. No the sort of thing she deserved at all.
When he finally managed to corner her for a conversation, the entire family assumed they were about to commence another one of their regular fights. He dragged her into the library, cave-man style, and slammed shut the door.
“What’s wrong? And don’t lie to me. I can tell when you lie because your nose twitches.”
She glared at him. “Rubbish. You’re trying to frighten me into divulging secrets again.” She sighed. “The problem is, Richard, you’re an honorable man.”
“I’ve never considered being honorable a problem.”
“You made several promises to me, last evening, in the dungeon. But I know you said those things to comfort me, to reassure a frightened woman who was about to be raped and killed. And I certainly won’t hold you to anything said under such extreme duress.”
“I knew it. Knew you’d find some paltry excuse to cry off marrying me.”
“Paltry?”
“But I never thought you’d be so cruel as to leave me to the ridicule of the entire ton. And if, after everything we’ve been through together, you still cannot trust me, and my declarations, then there’s nothing more I can do, or say.”
He stiffened his spine, lifted his chin, turned to the door and walked away.
When the door closed behind Richard, Laura threw herself down on her back on the settee, sobs shaking her body. The entire family stared at her with identical stunned looks on their faces. “Oh, no,” she said, covering her face with her hands. “What have I done? I’ve ruined everything.”
“No, no, Laura,” Becca said, tugging Laura’s hand’s down for her face. Becca laughed. “Sweetheart, all the St. Martin men are made of much sterner stuff than that. I think Winchester’s dramatic exit was partly his wounded pride, and partly to make a point. Possibly to shake your composure a little. After all, the Earl values family loyalty above all else, and you did reject him in front of the entire family.”
Lottie plopped down on a footstool in front of Laura and took her hand. “There’s always time to mend fences. Don’t forget, Winchester is a warrior. The type who fights to the death for something he wants, so I cannot see him giving up on you so easily. You’re an intuitive person, Laura. You’ll think of the perfect way to convince him he’s the man for you, if that’s what you want. Is it?”
She sat up, clutched her sisters’ hands and said, “Yes, I’m sure of it now. Winchester’s the right man for me. I’ve been stupid all these weeks to deny the attraction I felt for him. I denied us a life together simply because I wouldn’t let go of my belief that my scientific calculations were perfect.”
“Ah, Laura. I don’t think love remembers to follow any of the rules of science. Love often veers off the straight and narrow pathways simply to trick those of us with analytic minds. The strategy then is to recognize when we’ve been wrong, admit our mistakes, and move on.”
“Like you and Cayle?” Lottie asked.
Becca laughed. “Yes, if I’d continued to cling to my belief that I was better off without a managing man in my life, I’d not be married to Sherwyn, and not be this happy every day of my life.” She patted Laura’s hand. “The other trick is to let a gentleman of honor think he is in total charge of our lives and our finances, while in actuality we still maintain a high percentage of control of our own affa
irs.”
Cheered up, Laura climbed the stairs to her bed, determined that first thing in the morning she would go to his house and tell him how she felt.
They couldn’t lose what they had together.
Chapter Twenty
As he climbed the steps to Laura’s bedroom two hours later, the Earl of Winchester patted his pocket for the tenth time. A reassurance that the ring, a family heirloom, rested safely there. No more mistakes. This time he’d propose in a dignified and proper way. This time he’d explain all the honorable and logical reasons why they should marry, and as soon as possible. In his mind, he rehearsed a lengthy speech worthy of presentation before the House of Lords.
He sucked in a deep breath, opened the door and moved on silent feet towards the bed. Laura sat upright against a mound of pillows, the white coverlet lying in rumpled folds around her thighs. Her arms were widespread in a lazy pose that raised her breasts to push against the thin bodice of her lawn nightgown. When he managed to drag his eyes upward from the region of her bosom, he realized she was awake and aware.
Her eyes glowed in the lamplight as she met his gaze head on. “You’re late,” she said, as calmly as if he’d been a minute delayed to take their regular drive in the park. “I expected you an hour ago.”
He planted his hands on his hips, threw back his head and laughed, not caring if the entire household roused and came running to investigate the noise. “You minx. You knew I’d come.”
“Of course.”
“Why.”
“Because I knew you loved me. I realized it when I saw what you’d written in my new notebook. I recognized you were the only man I ever wanted to write my observations about.”
‘Thank God you’ve finally realized, because you’re mine, all mine. And I’m never giving you up.” He stalked to the bed and tugged his cravat free of its knot, slipped it from around its neck and flung it to the floor. “Now, get your notebook ready,” he said as he continued to undress. “Open it to the page I notated. The one that says, The Countess of Winchester’s Scientific Observations on the Sexual Techniques of the Earl of Winchester. I’m going to teach you so many things, you’ll fill that book. And many, many more.”