friend.’
‘Always, dear girl, always.’
‘Then give me money, as much as you can manage. I want you to buy me off …’ She sounded perfectly calm though, inside her blue wool gown, her heart was beating furiously.
‘Buy you off?’ He was visibly shaken that such a suggestion should come from a young lady who had been carefully nurtured. ‘Has your uncle put you up to this?’ Noticing the look of consternation on her face, he checked himself. ‘No, he would not do such a thing, being a man of the cloth and an honourable one. Your stepmama, perhaps? Now,
she
might.’
She ignored this slur on Alice. ‘No one put me up to it. It was my own idea. They do not know I have left the house,though when Judith goes to my room to wake me she will see the letter I left and take it straight to my uncle. I have no doubt he will look for me, but I do not want him to find me.’
‘You surely do not expect me to hide you? God in heaven, the Reverend will scalp me.’
‘There is no need for you to hide me or even for my uncle to know I’ve been to see you. I shall be gone long enough for any scandal to die down, but I must have funds. You do understand, don’t you, Edward?’
‘And if I can’t lay my hands on any?’
She shrugged. ‘We will be condemned to a loveless marriage.’
He sighed heavily. ‘Very well, I will do my best. Go home and wait for me.’
‘No, I am never going home again. And I dare not go to any of my known friends because Uncle William is bound to go looking for me. I want you to take me to an hotel and book a room for me.’
‘Out of the question,’ he said firmly. ‘Do you take me for a mountebank? You are a gentlewoman, you cannot stay in a hotel alone. Nor yet with me. We should never live it down—’
‘My stepmama has already said we should never live down what happened last night either. It seems I am to live the rest of my days with my folly. I am past such considerations. Surely you know a discreet little rooming house tucked away somewhere?’
He laughed suddenly. ‘You know, Kitty, you really are the most extraordinary girl. I could almost fall in love with you.’
‘Well, don’t,’ she said crisply. ‘Just do as I ask.’
‘It’s unthinkable you should go anywhere unaccompanied,’ he said. ‘Take a companion or a maid. Ask Judith. Ten to one, your stepmama will turn her off without a character.’
Kitty sighed. He was right and she had been thoughtless to leave without making provision for the servant, who had been nurse and companion to her and her mother before her. Alicewould be glad of an excuse to be rid of her. ‘I couldn’t ask her. It would mean taking her far from home and goodness knows how many adventures we shall have.’
‘Far from home,’ he repeated in alarm. ‘Kitty, where are you going?’
‘Better you do not know.’
‘Then let me fetch Judith to you.’ If anyone could dissuade Kitty from her folly, it would be Judith and, to be honest, he was out of his depth and needed to hand her over to someone more competent to deal with her.
Kitty’s bravado was all on the surface and the idea of having a companion on her travels grew on her. Would Judith come? ‘Can you ask her without letting anyone else in the house know?’
‘I will do my best.’
It was not until she was alone in a bedroom of a small, unfashionable hotel that the enormity of what she had done came to her, and she began to shake uncontrollably. And the thought of what she had yet to do almost made her turn from her resolve and rush straight back home.
But the memory of the scene with her uncle and stepmother in the small hours of the morning, and the countless pinpricks of unkindness meted out to her by Alice over the years, stiffened her spine.
She would not stay where she was not wanted and she would not marry a man she did not love, however many young ladies had done so before her and would do so in the future; if it meant loneliness and hardship, then so be it.
‘Always, dear girl, always.’
‘Then give me money, as much as you can manage. I want you to buy me off …’ She sounded perfectly calm though, inside her blue wool gown, her heart was beating furiously.
‘Buy you off?’ He was visibly shaken that such a suggestion should come from a young lady who had been carefully nurtured. ‘Has your uncle put you up to this?’ Noticing the look of consternation on her face, he checked himself. ‘No, he would not do such a thing, being a man of the cloth and an honourable one. Your stepmama, perhaps? Now,
she
might.’
She ignored this slur on Alice. ‘No one put me up to it. It was my own idea. They do not know I have left the house,though when Judith goes to my room to wake me she will see the letter I left and take it straight to my uncle. I have no doubt he will look for me, but I do not want him to find me.’
‘You surely do not expect me to hide you? God in heaven, the Reverend will scalp me.’
‘There is no need for you to hide me or even for my uncle to know I’ve been to see you. I shall be gone long enough for any scandal to die down, but I must have funds. You do understand, don’t you, Edward?’
‘And if I can’t lay my hands on any?’
She shrugged. ‘We will be condemned to a loveless marriage.’
He sighed heavily. ‘Very well, I will do my best. Go home and wait for me.’
‘No, I am never going home again. And I dare not go to any of my known friends because Uncle William is bound to go looking for me. I want you to take me to an hotel and book a room for me.’
‘Out of the question,’ he said firmly. ‘Do you take me for a mountebank? You are a gentlewoman, you cannot stay in a hotel alone. Nor yet with me. We should never live it down—’
‘My stepmama has already said we should never live down what happened last night either. It seems I am to live the rest of my days with my folly. I am past such considerations. Surely you know a discreet little rooming house tucked away somewhere?’
He laughed suddenly. ‘You know, Kitty, you really are the most extraordinary girl. I could almost fall in love with you.’
‘Well, don’t,’ she said crisply. ‘Just do as I ask.’
‘It’s unthinkable you should go anywhere unaccompanied,’ he said. ‘Take a companion or a maid. Ask Judith. Ten to one, your stepmama will turn her off without a character.’
Kitty sighed. He was right and she had been thoughtless to leave without making provision for the servant, who had been nurse and companion to her and her mother before her. Alicewould be glad of an excuse to be rid of her. ‘I couldn’t ask her. It would mean taking her far from home and goodness knows how many adventures we shall have.’
‘Far from home,’ he repeated in alarm. ‘Kitty, where are you going?’
‘Better you do not know.’
‘Then let me fetch Judith to you.’ If anyone could dissuade Kitty from her folly, it would be Judith and, to be honest, he was out of his depth and needed to hand her over to someone more competent to deal with her.
Kitty’s bravado was all on the surface and the idea of having a companion on her travels grew on her. Would Judith come? ‘Can you ask her without letting anyone else in the house know?’
‘I will do my best.’
It was not until she was alone in a bedroom of a small, unfashionable hotel that the enormity of what she had done came to her, and she began to shake uncontrollably. And the thought of what she had yet to do almost made her turn from her resolve and rush straight back home.
But the memory of the scene with her uncle and stepmother in the small hours of the morning, and the countless pinpricks of unkindness meted out to her by Alice over the years, stiffened her spine.
She would not stay where she was not wanted and she would not marry a man she did not love, however many young ladies had done so before her and would do so in the future; if it meant loneliness and hardship, then so be it.
Similar Books
Gone to Green
Judy Christie
Rachel Golden and the Retriever of Sin
Oliver Jackson
Betrayal
Julian Stockwin
Sentinel
Joshua Winning
Welcome Back, Stacey!
Ann M. Martin
Lovers and Newcomers
Rosie Thomas
Cowboy Crazy
Joanne Kennedy
The Interruption of Everything
Terry McMillan
The Colors of Madeleine 01: Corner of White
Jaclyn Moriarty
Blood Lines
Tanya Huff