This Duchess of Mine Read Online Free PDF Page B

seemed to sneer, though it was perhaps only because the left side was immobile.
    Elijah thought of asking whether the authorities had been notified, and dropped the idea. They’d be dunces not to have noticed, even if they weren’t officially informed. Oh, by the way, Mr. Constable, sir, there’s a riot due to start at ten o’clock tonight .
    He would make his way onto the Peregrine, inform the captain of the impending riots, and manage to get the yacht steered to a safe place. Then he would take his wife, bring her safely home, and that would be that. London could—nay, London undoubtedly would— burn, but if he could save Jemma, it would be enough.
    That was what his world had shrunk to: from his grand plans for the poor and the disenfranchised, to a desperate desire to be home in bed. With his wife.
    Twiddy pulled up his oars. “The yacht’s gone toward the Tower of London,” he said.
    Elijah leaned forward. “The royal yacht?”
    â€œIt’s down where the hulks are.”
    â€œThen make all speed after it.”
    Twiddy shook his head. “I can’t do that, Yer Grace.” He bent over and spat into the dark water lapping greasily at the small boat. The only light came from a torch burning at his back, affixed to the prow.
    â€œI will pay you double,” Elijah said, realizing the moment the words left his mouth that he’d made a mistake.
    Sure enough, the man’s face darkened and the immobile left lip pulled savagely down. “I stand to be arrested if I goes near the hulks, and I can’t do it. Not for yer gold, not for nothing. I got two daughters at home.”
    â€œMy wife is on that yacht,” Elijah said. “Why will you be arrested?”
    He spat again. “I’m demobbed.”
    A former soldier, Elijah translated. Which explained the damage to his face, but not why he couldn’t venture near the hulks.
    â€œIffen a former soldier even goes near the hulks, they shoot him,” Twiddy said. “Because it’s me friends on those boats. Me brothers-in-arms. I stood with them, out there, and now they’re shut up worse than chickens in a coop. I don’t do nothing with the riots.”
    â€œThe riots are coming from the hulks? Tonight?”
    But Twiddy hadn’t meant to reveal that, clearly, and his face closed like a trap.
    â€œI must get to that yacht,” Elijah said. “I will personally guarantee that you are not thrown in jail. I am the Duke of Beaumont, one of the highest in the land. I must get my wife off that ship! ”
    Twiddy stared at him, the left side of his face twitching slightly.
    â€œI have a large estate in the country. If you wish, I will employ you there, and your children and wife can come with you.”
    â€œWife’s dead,” he grunted.
    â€œThen your daughters will be all the better for fresh country air and safety,” Elijah said. “You sound like someone raised in the dells. Look about you, man! Is this the place to raise children?”
    â€œAre you askin’ me if I choose to raise my girls here?”
    Elijah cursed himself silently. For someone with a reputation for a silver tongue, he was certainly awkward tonight. “I’ll take you out of this,” he said, sitting back. His heart was thumping in his chest, and he didn’t want to think about that. “I’ll take you to the country and give you decent work for decent pay. But you must get me to that yacht, and get myself and my wife off it.”
    â€œHow’s we to do that? Likely they aren’t going to let someone like me draw up alongside the king’s yacht. Not on a night like this.”
    â€œThey don’t know,” Elijah said. “They don’t know about the riots, or they’ve decided to ignore them.”
    Twiddy spat again.
    Elijah felt like spitting too, but dukes didn’t spit, and it was too late in life to start. A second later Twiddy