Lady Pamela and the Gambler: The Merry Misfits of Bath - Book Three

by Hutton, Callie

A favor? She was expecting a lecture, but Mrs. O’Leary looked perfectly normal and was even smiling.

  Pamela nodded, her mouth dry from being startled. “Of c-c-course.”

  “Thank you. If you will come with me to the kitchen, I need a few things picked up from the greengrocer.”

  Pamela followed her down the corridor to the kitchen. Mrs. O’Leary picked up a sheet of paper from her worktable and handed it to her. “Some of these items I need for supper tonight, so if you could go straightaway, I would appreciate it.”

  “C-c-certainly.”

  She took the note from Mrs. O’Leary’s hand and headed back out the front door. That had certainly been a surreal encounter. Here she had expected a tirade from her landlady, and possibly even an eviction, and instead her landlady was as sweet as ever and asked for a favor. She shook her head at how complicated her once very happy and calm life had become.

  A man she’d never seen before stood on the pavement three houses down. When she turned to head toward the greengrocer, he followed her. Panic set in. Her heart pounded and her mouth dried up. She crossed the road, so did he. He wasn’t even hiding his actions.

  She sped up, almost running. Mr. Smith had been right; it was time to leave her boarding house. It wasn’t safe there for her. In fact, it probably wasn’t a good idea to even return now. Instead of the greengrocer, she would go to Lottie’s house, which was only a ten-minute walk.

  As she made her way there, taking note of the man who continued to pursue her, she realized she couldn’t bring Lottie into this. She was expecting a baby and her husband would not be happy to have her stressed.

  Nick.

  Relief flooded her. She would go to him. He would know what to do and he said he could keep her safe. But first she had to at least see Lottie and let her know she would not be meeting with them for a while, so she and Addie didn’t worry.

  Out of breath, she hurried up the steps to Westbrooke’s townhouse and dropped the knocker. She must have looked a mess because the butler’s eyes grew wide as he let her in and immediately left to summon Lottie.

  After only a few minutes, Lottie came down the stairs to the entrance hall. “Pamela, what’s wrong? We just left you not more than an hour ago.” She put her hands out and hugged her.

  “I c-c-can’t tell you wh-what’s wrong. It would be d-d-dangerous for you.”

  “What!” Lottie pulled her into the drawing room and they both sat on the settee.

  Pamela wiped the perspiration from her upper lip. “I m-must go away f-for a while. I can’t t-t-tell you why or where, but I will b-b-be in touch as s-s-soon as I can. There is s-s-someone who can help me, and I need to get th-there quickly. I hope to be b-b-back in time for your b-baby.” She smiled warmly at Lottie’s growing stomach.

  Lottie stared at her, her mouth agape. “Whatever are you talking about? Who can help you? Where are you going?”

  Pamela jumped up to head to the door. “I can’t s-say anymore. Just know th-that I love you and Addie, and I w-will contact you as s-soon as I c-can.” She leaned over and gave Lottie a kiss on the cheek and left.

  Her heart thundering in her chest, she stepped out the front door and looked around. The man following her was nowhere in sight. That frightened her even more. She had to find a way to Mr. Smith’s club. With the little bit of money on her, she would try to secure a hack. Even if she didn’t have enough, she was sure Mr. Smith would pay the driver when she arrived.

  She made it to the center of town, feeling a little safer with everyone around going in and out of stores. The best place to find a hack would be in front of the rail station, so she headed there.

  Lost in thought, she looked back and forth before crossing the road about a block from the station. The sound of rapid horse hoofs caught her attention and she looked to her left.

  A very large and very fast approaching carriage headed directly toward her. She turned to step back onto the pavement, but the carriage followed her. Someone near her shouted and pushed her away from the charging vehicle. The back end of the carriage hit her, knocking her to the ground. She slammed her head against something hard and everything went black.

  Nick checked his timepiece as he quickly made his way up the steps of The Lion’s Den. He’d just left one of his contacts in the underworld and it was nearing the time the club would open for the night. Dealing with Pamela’s problem had taken his time and attention away from his affairs. Although he had numerous employees who were competent and trustworthy, it still was not a good idea to neglect the business he worked so hard to build.

  The meeting with Wesley, a hardened criminal who had his fingers in every underworld business in Bath and London, had been productive. It had taken him four days to cut through Wesley’s layers of protection to be able to talk to him. And talk, he did. Knowing Nick was a man to keep his mouth closed about where his information had come from, Wesley was happy to give him what he needed to know to cut into a competitor’s takings.

  Nick had left Wesley’s presence with a good reason to believe Pamela’s friend, Miss Davenport, had been taken from her room at the boarding house in the middle of the night and sold into a brothel in London. Something he dreaded telling her.

  Every time he thought of Pamela living in that boarding house, so close to danger, his gut tightened. If it was the last thing he did, he’d get her out of there and into somewhere safe.

  She’d had lived there for three years she’d told him and the only reason he could think of that she hadn’t been abducted herself was because she was a member of the ton. With all the young women without funds or family, who arrived in Bath and London from small villages seeking employment, procurers had enough ripe pickings without dealing with a member of the aristocracy’s family coming down on their heads.

  He strolled through the front room, watching his employees prepare for the night, setting up gaming tables, stocking liquor behind the bar, placing platters of food in the dining room. Satisfied that all looked well, he took the steps two at a time to the upper level to his office. Although he hated this part of the job, he pulled out his ledgers to go over the previous night’s sales and takes.

  He shook his head when he saw young Lord Withers had lost a tidy sum again. He’d recently returned from university when his father died, leaving his title and estate to the lad. It appeared Withers planned on driving his estate into poverty before his twenty-second birthday. He would put the word out at the front door that the young lord was to be brought up to his office as soon as he arrived the next time he visited. It was time for a lecture on responsible behavior. The man had a mother and two sisters to see to.

  An hour after starting the ledgers, he slammed the book closed and stretched. It was time to wander the gaming area, make sure everything was going well. He would check in with the security guard and then take a stroll through the dining room and bar area.

  He rolled down his sleeves and pulled on his jacket. With a quick brush of his hair, since he’d been running his fingers through it, he left the office, locked the door and descended the stairs.

  More than three hours passed while he made his way through the rooms, chatting, sharing drinks, and watching for any hint of a raid, which was always a possibility. One that he was well prepared for.

  “Nick.” His bartender, Toby, waved him over from behind the bar.

  Nick walked up to the bar. “Pour me a whiskey.”

  “Sure thing. But I have something here for you.” Toby handed him a folded paper. “Some man gave it to Mick at the door and said to make sure you get it.”

  “Thanks.” He took a sip of the whiskey and opened the note.

  Mr. Smith, Please come to the Royal United Hospital post haste. There is a young woman here asking for you.

  Nick felt all the blood leave his face. It had to be Pamela. He gulped the rest of his drink and slammed the glass down on the bar. “Toby, I must leave. Have Ernest close for me.”

  He raced from the building, unsure whether to ta
ke his horse which would be faster, or his carriage in case he had to bring Pamela with him on the return trip.

  Opting for speed, he strode to the mews behind the club and retrieved his horse. He waved the groom aside and tacked Devil himself, not having the patience to wait for someone else to do it.

  His heart in his throat the entire ride, he had visions of Pamela broken and bleeding. Or perhaps shot. Or any other number of things that would land her in hospital.

  He threw the reins to the lad in front of the mews behind the hospital and raced inside. A woman sat at a desk in the mail lobby. “I received a note that a woman here was asking for me.”

  “Who?”

  He cringed but said the name anyway since even though he prayed it wasn’t her, he was certain it was. “I believe it is Lady Pamela Manning.”

  “Yes. I will take you to her.”

  Relieved to hear that she hadn’t died before he arrived, but panicked at the thought that it was her, he followed the woman to a flight of stairs that they took to the first floor. They turned a corner and entered a large room with curtains dividing the numerous beds.

  The woman checked numbers written on the floor and then stopped at the one that said eighteen and waved at a curtain surrounding a bed. “She’s here. Please don’t stay long.”

  He huffed. Stay long? He wasn’t leaving this hospital without her no matter how long he had to stay. He drew the curtain back and took in a sharp breath.

  His beautiful Pamela sported scrapes down the right side of her face and a brace of some sort on her right wrist. A bandage was wrapped around her forehead, most likely covering a gash.

  Her eyes were closed, but her steady breathing reassured him. He walked closer to her and laid his knuckle on her soft cheek. “Pamela.”

  Slowly her eyelids raised. “Mr. S-smith.”

  He smiled at her. Grateful that she was awake and that she recognized him. “Nick, please.”

  “Th-thank you for c-coming. I d-didn’t know what to d-do, or who else t-to summon.”

  He pulled up a chair, took her uninjured hand in his and sat alongside her bed. “What happened?” Now that he was close to her and could see her injuries better, he was ready to slam his fist into a wall.

  A very staunch looking nurse pushed the curtain back all the way and stood at the foot of the bed, arms crossed, glaring at Pamela. “I hope you have a lot more success finding out what happened to her then we did. She babbled on and on and no one could understand a word she said.”

  The termagant gave him the excuse he needed to lash out at someone. Nick stood and faced her, the blood pumping through his body. “Yes, difficult to understand, unlike you who speaks very clearly but with a sour tongue. I demand to converse with the doctor who treated her, and request that you stay as far away from Lady Pamela as possible while still performing your duties.”

  The nurse was not to be daunted. “And who are you to this woman?”

  “Her fiancé.” Before he could stop himself, the words were out. He gave Pamela’s hand a squeeze when she drew in a breath, but the doctor most likely wouldn’t give him information unless he had a strong connection to her. “Now, madame, do your job and find the doctor.”

  The nurse stormed away, and he sat back down. “Don’t talk if it disturbs you. I’m just glad to see you.” He raised her hand up and kissed her knuckles. “I had to declare myself your fiancé or no one would give me information.” He smoothed the hair back that was sticking out from the bandage on her head.

  “Of c-c-course I was d-disturbed. I was r-r-run over by a c-c-carriage on Milsom Street.” She licked her lips and continued. “It w-w-was on p-purpose, too. The d-driver headed d-directly for m-me. If someone hadn’t p-pushed me out of th-th-the way, I would be d-dead.”

  That’s what he had been afraid of. “Once the doctor gives permission, I am having you moved to my house. I will hire someone to stay with you to see to your injuries.”

  “I c-c-can’t stay in y-y-your house. I w-will be r-r-ruined.”

  “My dear, I fear if you don’t, you will be dead, not merely ruined. After what I found out today and looking at the shape you are in after being purposely run over by a carriage, you need someone to protect you. I have a highly moral and upstanding housekeeper who will guard your virtue like a dragon.”

  “Wh-what did y-you f-f-find out today?”

  He began to tell her when footsteps stopped him from speaking. There was no point in taking a chance on someone overhearing him.

  A man dressed in a three-piece gray suit with a stethoscope dangling from his neck appeared from behind the curtain. He held a chart in his hand and did not look at all intimidating which relaxed Nick, happy he did not have to fight his and Pamela’s way out of the hospital. The nurse was nowhere to be seen.

  “Nurse MacLean tells me you are this woman’s fiancé.” The man looked down at the chart he carried.

  “That is correct. And you are?”

  The man held out his hand. “Dr. Bradford.”

  They shook hands and the doctor moved next to Pamela and bent to pull her eye lids up one at a time and examine them. Speaking over his shoulder, he said, “She was apparently hit with a carriage and flung to the ground. She suffered some scrapes and bruises, the most serious a sprained wrist and a head injury that knocked her out. She will be sore for a few days.”

  He straightened and looked over at Nick. “Drivers are quite reckless these days. Something needs to be done about it.”

  “I agree,” Nick said anxious to have the conversation over. “What I need to know from you doctor, is how soon can Lady Pamela be moved?”

  “It depends on how far you plan to take her.”

  “To my house on Abbeygate Street. Do you have a vehicle here that can transport her? If not, I can return to my home and get my carriage.” At this point he preferred not to leave her in the hospital unguarded.

  “Yes, there is a vehicle we use to move patients. It is how we got the young lady from the street where she was hit to hospital. I believe she can be moved that distance without danger.”

  Nick turned to the nurse who had joined the doctor. “Prepare Lady Pamela for transport. We will leave immediately.”

  7

  Pamela felt quite alarmed at how relieved she was to see Nick. In fact, she’d been terrified since she’d awoken in hospital in pain. It took her some time to remember what had happened and when she tried to explain it to the nurse and doctor it had all come out garbled.

  She’d never felt so alone. When she’d first come to Bath, she’d had the other women in the house to talk with and then when she entered Once Upon a Book, Addie’s store, she’d felt an instant bond. Adding Lottie to their friendship was a boon.

  Now she’d cut them out of her life while she struggled with this problem, and Nick was the only person to whom she could turn. Even her brother would probably not be of much help since his wife was so adamant that she didn’t belong with them.

  As much as she’d pushed Nick away—for his own good—he refused to be thwarted and she’d never been so happy to be wrong. She needed him and was grateful for his help.

  He shouted orders to the nurse and doctor and then to the men who arrived to carry her on the stretcher to the hospital vehicle. She hid her smile at how everyone jumped to his orders. Even the doctor.

  There was something about Nick, a man who was raised on the streets of London that commanded respect.

  As they settled her in the hospital carriage, he took her hand. “I will be right behind the carriage on my horse. Once you are settled in my house, I will arrange to have protection.”

  “Th-th-thank you.”

  He leaned over and kissed her on the lips, apparently not caring that they had an audience.

  Even though the doctor had ordered pain medication for her, it was still difficult riding over the cobblestones and various gaps in the poor roads from the hospital to Nick’s house. Each bump brought another pain.

  She must h
ave dozed off because the next thing she knew the carriage had stopped, and Nick was shouting orders again. Strong arms lifted the stretcher and carried her into Nick’s house. All the movement was making her sick to her stomach and she hoped she would not disgrace herself by bringing up the little bit of food in her stomach. She found keeping her eyes focused on one thing helped.

  An older woman hurried toward them as they maneuvered the stretcher up the stairs. “Take her to the second door on the right side. It’s the only room that’s made up.”

  The woman, obviously the housekeeper, conferred with Nick as the men brought her upstairs. She really could have walked, but with her nausea and lightheadedness it was probably best to allow them to carry her.

  She was jostled and bumped, but finally settled in a very large, comfortable bed. Nick bent over her. “Mrs. Fletcher will take good care of you. I will be out for a while. If you need anything at all, just ring this bell.” He placed a small silver bell on the table next to her.

  Although she’d been raised with servants, the idea of ringing a bell while lying in bed just seemed a tad dramatic, but she said nothing. Again, he lowered his head and kissed her. Whatever was going on? Was he still pretending to be her fiancé? It was not necessary with the doctor and nurse nowhere in sight.

  With a flurry Nick and the two men who had carried her left the room and closed the door. Mrs. Fletcher approached the bed. She was a pleasant looking woman—although Pamela reminded herself so was Mrs. O’Leary—and offered her a warm smile. “Good evening, Lady Pamela. I am Mrs. Fletcher, Mr. Smith’s housekeeper. Mr. Smith told me very little of your situation, but he seemed to be a hurry to leave.”

  “Th-thank you f-f-for l-letting me stay h-here.”

  Mrs. Fletcher did not react to Pamela’s stutter which told her Nick must have warned the woman. She smiled softly. “My dear, this is Mr. Smith’s house. I am happy to do for you anything you need.” She picked up the small bell. “Just ring this and I will hear it. This time of the day I am finished with my duties and my room is right above this one, so I can hear it.”