Lady Forsaken Box Set (Books 1 - 5), page 38
Suddenly, Ellie’s hand darted out and returned just as quickly.
Ruby blinked. Had she seen what she thought she’d seen?
Keeping a closer eye on the girl, she watched Ellie’s hand again flick out as a man in an expensive jacket walked past her in the opposite direction. Her fingers clutched a dark object upon their return and slipped it into a pocket hidden within Ellie’s skirt.
Ruby knew a thing or two about hidden pockets and their use. She hid her lock-picking tools in a pouch concealed within the folds of her evening gown.
Her eyes must have deceived her. Whatever could a young lady of the ton be doing stealing? As she continued to watch, torn between alerting strangers to the theft or taking Ellie over her knee for a good spanking, the girl lifted a rather large—and expensive-looking—pocket watch.
When Ruby gasped, Ellie looked over her shoulder and slowed her pace to match Ruby’s more ladylike speed.
“What are you doing?” Ruby hissed.
Ellie laughed, attracting the attention of two young men walking toward them. The gentlemen smiled and winked at Ellie and continued on their way.
“Shhhh,” she leaned and whispered in Ruby’s ear. “If I’m caught I will tell all who will listen that you are my lookout. You would not want that, would you?”
Wonderful. “Just stop that!” Now, she would be implicated in yet another crime.
“Not a chance.”
“Do you want us to get arrested?”
“Of course not. I spent one night in the lockup, and it is not for me.” Ellie gave Ruby a look of disgust and skipped a few feet ahead.
There was little she could do as she watched Ellie pick pocket after pocket as they walked…and they had another three blocks to go before they reached Gunter’s.
At least Ruby would not feel badly insisting Ellie pay for their ices. The thought made her want to laugh and cry at the same time. She was an honest person. She’d never stolen from or lied to another person—except since her return to London. But the situation was only temporary, and the reason for her forced deception was a valid one.
Every decision she’d made since finding her mother’s journal had led her to the place she was at this very moment.
And where she was, was about to get even worse.
The tall, finely dressed gentleman walking straight toward Ruby was patting his jacket and pants pockets in alarm. He quickly reached into the inside pocket of his jacket but came back empty handed. Disbelief clouded his face and he stopped in his tracks.
Ruby increased her pace and grabbed the billfold Ellie was about to slip into her hidden pouch.
Turning, she called, “Sir!”
The man’s head rose and he turned toward Ruby.
“I think you dropped this.”
Relief flooded his face even as Ellie gasped behind her.
“Many thanks,” he said. He continued on his way, leaving Ellie staring daggers at Ruby.
“That was a plump one.” Ellie’s irritation was obvious.
But Ruby’s displeasure was greater. “Do you realize you put yourself in jeopardy every time you steal something? What if he was a man prone to anger and violent outburst, what then?”
“I can take care of myself—always have and always will.”
Ruby’s fury evaporated. She didn’t know Ellington; who she was or what she’d been through. She could not cast the first stone, lest that stone be returned in her direction. Instead of scolding her once more, Ruby threaded her arm through Ellie’s and continued down the street. “Well, I am here now and it would be remiss of me not to save you from yourself.” If she kept the girl’s hands occupied it was less likely she would get them into trouble.
Their acquaintance spanned less than two days, but Ruby had an overwhelming urge to help the girl, guide her, possibly influence her to be a better person. She recognized the lost and lonely look in Ellie’s eyes. The years of hurt that shone through her tough exterior.
“You won’t be around for long—your kind never is.”
“My kind?” How Ruby wished to question her. Maybe they had more in common than either of them knew. The solitary life was not easy, and most definitely not one she’d wish upon anyone, especially one as young as Ellie. At least Ruby had had her father until she was fifteen.
Ellie kicked a pebble on the street as they walked. “Sure, you know. Grand ladies who pretend to care, all because they want something from me. But who cares, you all are ugly anyway.” Without another word or any justification, Ellie pulled out of her grasp and bounded into Gunter’s.
Ruby had to remind herself that she’d agreed to three afternoons with the girl—no more. Ellie’s past, and most certainly her future, did not involve Ruby. She had her own problems to fret over without the added issues of a young pickpocket.
With a deep, cleansing breath, Ruby followed the girl into the ice shop.
True to form, Ellie insisted on Ruby fronting the coin for their treats. Then, they moved to the small tables on the walk outside the shop to sit.
The ice tasted heavenly, though Ruby ate quickly, not leaving much opportunity to enjoy the rare goodness of the delicacy. The girl also ate in silence, much to Ruby’s delight. She’d been at a loss as to how she might approach any subject beyond the weather. Added to that, her argument with Harold still weighed heavily upon her.
While she most certainly regretted her horrible words, she was not sorry for their effect. He’d allowed her to leave and hadn’t followed. In his absence, she had been able to cross another man off her list within a few short minutes of questioning one of the gentleman’s upstairs maids. The impossibly well-endowed Earl of Ivertime was told at a very young age that he was incapable of bearing children, eliminating the likelihood that her mother would have found him desirable and worthy of her end objective. Ruby had read every heartbreaking word of her mother’s struggle to conceive; every failed year tore at her parent’s relationship until her mother had sought out someone to give her what she truly wanted.
“What shall we do next?” Ellie asked.
Looking to the girl, Ruby noticed she’d finished her ice and sat slouched in her seat, staring expectantly at her.
“I hadn’t anticipated much else for our afternoon.”
The girl huffed and crossed her arms. “You must be jesting with me. If you think to keep your midnight activities from the gossips, then I would put a little more effort into our outings.”
“You are still assuming there is something to tell the gossips,” Ruby mused. “I am sure your activities would be just as noteworthy if they were known.”
“My activities?” Ellie sat up straight. “As far as the ton knows, I do not exist.”
The comment drew Ruby’s attention, not to the words themselves, but the emotion behind them. What person relished living in nonexistence?
“What is he doing here?” Ellie asked suddenly. “I thought I made myself perfectly clear that he was not to be told the terms of our agreement.”
Her comment and the fact that the girl stared intently over Ruby’s shoulder was alarming. Turning, Ruby saw Harold speaking with a man across the street. Carriages and pedestrians obscured her view, but his tall, confident frame was unmistakable. Maybe her scolding hadn’t discouraged his involvement in her everyday affairs after all.
“I have half a mind to continue on to the Gazette office three blocks over and share some tasty information about a scandalous tryst between two of London’s newcomers.”
Ruby turned back to the smug girl. Where the chit gained her information, she had no clue. Not many people had noticed Ruby, let alone knew she was new to the London social circle.
“I most certainly did not betray our agreement, if that is what you insist on calling it.” Ruby was angry, although she was uncertain who most deserved her wrath, Ellington or Harold. “And do not think you have the upper hand in this agreement. I am here because I chose to be here, not because of your master blackmailing skills.” They both knew her words to be a farce, but Ruby would not bow to the girl evermore. “I am unsure of his business in this part of town, we’re hardly acquainted.”
As they watched, Harold drew an envelope from his pocket and handed it to the man beside him. At first the man looked like any modest gentleman you’d see walking the streets of London, but upon closer inspection his hair was unkempt and longer than society deemed appropriate, although not in the rebel-about-town way. And the man wore the most enormous boots. His feet could not possibly be large enough to need the size. The man opened the envelope and pulled a stack of notes out, fanning them before his face.
“Hey you!” Ellie shouted, her outburst startling Ruby from her observations.
“What are you doing?”
“What am I doing?” the girl retorted. “What are they doing is a much better question.”
Ruby looked back to the men, who’d trained their own eyes on them. As they watched, the man she did not know—though he seemed oddly familiar—slipped the envelope into his own jacket and began to amble down the street, his oversized boots never quite leaving the sidewalk.
“Oh, he is coming this way,” Ellie exclaimed. “And he does not look happy.”
Chapter 18
Harold had wondered how the last twenty-four hours could possibly get any worse, but thankfully the answer presented itself in the form of Ruby, seated across the street—watching him hand money to his brother—while in the company of their little blackmailer.
He hadn’t a clue what the girl was up to, but it was important enough that Ruby had acquiesced, sending Harold from the room. He wondered if it had to do with her own secret.
The woman was almost too ignorant to be true. Or possibly he was the ignorant one, and they sat across the busy street laughing at his expense. He did not know, but he was set on finding out. Her plan, whatever it may be, was about to come to light and if it so much as came close to jeopardizing Lord and Lady Haversham’s reputation, he would out her and make sure she was sent packing back to her family’s country home.
Crossing the street, he barely heard the angry shouts of men on horseback and coachmen. He could think of one thing and one thing only: outing the woman for the liar she was. She’d done nothing but scheme and lie since she’d arrived in London. The illogical part of him truly believed she would come to trust him, to confide in him. Why that mattered so much to him he didn’t know, but he kept searching the woman in front of him for the person he remembered her to be. Unfortunately, he may very well have to concede that that woman was gone, never to return.
“Good day,” he said in greeting as he bowed. He didn’t bother to stop the girl as she slipped away unnoticed by Ruby.
“Mr. Jakeston,” she muttered. “What a pleasure to see you. But then again, I expect you to be lurking close at all times.”
He didn’t understand the venom in her words.
She was the one who’d insulted his very manhood.
She was the one caught having an afternoon ice with the girl who held both their reputations in her hands.
She was the one withholding a secret that could potentially destroy his best friend’s wife.
And she scolded him?
“Firstly, I do not lurk. Secondly, I would like nothing more than to be out of your way, but I find it is impossible to evade your nefarious outings.”
“Please tell Mr. Jakeston—” Ruby stared at the empty seat beside her, abandoned by her co-conspirator moments before. “What…”
“Alone with no explanations once more, I see.” When she stayed silent, he continued. “Every time I tell myself to keep my distance from you—to forget your presence—I find you in the most suspicious of situations. I am left with no other option but to discover your purpose.”
“How dare you.” She stood, stepping close and staring him straight in the eyes. “You challenge my person, yet you hold secret meetings about town, exchanging money for heaven knows what.”
Harold had been aware that she’d had a clear view of his meeting with William, and he had to admit it probably looked as suspicious as her own actions. But that was not what he was here to discuss, and he knew his actions were pure of heart—though he couldn’t say the same of her. “Do not change the subject.”
“I will do whatever I please.” Her voice rose with her words. “Now, if you will kindly excuse me, I have an evening to prepare for.”
She pushed past him and started toward the Haversham townhouse—the same direction Harold would be headed, regardless of the circumstances. He fell into step beside her, matching her shorter stride.
“What are you doing?”
“Accompanying you home.”
“I think you have done quite enough for me lately.” She increased her pace.
“Oh, but I would never leave a lady unescorted on the streets of London, regardless of the sword I may have protruding from my back.”
“You know I did not mean—”
“Do not bother apologizing for your rude and careless comments.”
“I had no intention of apologizing. I only meant I should not have verbalized my thoughts.” She eyed him from the corner of her eye. “What were you doing giving that man an envelope of money?”
He knew the change of subject was meant to throw him off guard, but he hadn’t grown up with two older siblings and countless others about the estate to be fooled so easily.
“Here’s a proposition: I answer your questions if you answer a few of mine.”
“So this is a fishing expedition?” she asked. “You think you can strong-arm me into telling you all?”
“It is not the worst idea.” Harold wanted to laugh. She was smart as a whip, and knew it. Maybe he didn’t stand a chance against her. Giving up his quest for answers may not be the honorable thing to do, but would most certainly save his ego from another good beating.
She sighed. “Just tell me who the man is.”
She was as tired of the banter as he was, but could he trust her to give him information in return? He shouldn’t be surprised that she hadn’t recognized William. Even Harold had to admit he was a shell of the man he’d once been. His wasted frame, even in newly tailored clothes, was seriously lacking.
“I find I do not feel inclined to be forthcoming in my business dealings.”
“Maybe I will be so inclined as to ask Lord and Lady Haversham about your business dealings.”
“Then I will be forced to speak with Lady Haversham about your evening escapades.”
Neither noticed they’d stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, forcing others to navigate around them. They stood face to face, toe to toe, drawing the attention of several people.
“I guess we are at what they call a stalemate,” Ruby hissed, hands on her hips.
“My lady, we are anything but stale.”
Her eyes widened. “Your manners are sorely inadequate.”
The words rolled off him, not even piercing the hard shell he’d wrapped his emotions in since their earlier confrontation. “Be that as it may, Miss Ruby, I will be escorting you back to Haversham townhouse. In the future, I will endeavor to stay out of your way, if you’ll agree to extend me the same courtesy.”
“It will be my pleasure.” She extended her hand.
Grasping it, he tucked it into the crook of his arm, and, as if they hadn’t only a moment before been close to shouting at each other on a crowded London street, they turned and began the short walk back to Haversham townhouse.
If she thought she could play coy with him, she had another thing coming. He may not have answers now, but he would get to the bottom of her reason for being in London.
And he would do everything in his power to avoid it adversely affecting Lady Haversham.
As she walked, her hand securely tucked into the crook of his arm, she wondered if the draw she felt to him went further than she knew. It was as if the powers to be were pushing them together, compelling them closer. Part of her wanted to accept it, while it was most likely only that Harold was following her and nothing to do with anything else.
“A shilling for your thoughts?” he asked beside her.
She peeked up at him, fearing making full eye contact. She turned into a bumbling idiot every time she looked directly at him. It would not behoove her to speak of too much, yet she deeply regretted her previous harsh words. It didn’t matter that she discouraged him at every turn, he still tried.
Their evening on the pond had shown her they could have a conversation without revealing too much and without her treating him poorly. If they were to spend the season living with Vi and Lord Haversham, they needed to be civil. Their hosts were not dull, and would most certainly notice the pair avoiding each other.
“Sometimes, even though we are right next to each other, I feel you are miles away. Why is that?”
“I think the same thing,” she confided.
“Do you ever just want to let go and not worry so much?” He stared straight ahead as he talked. “Maybe disappear for a while and start something all your own.”
Ruby didn’t know if the questions were meant for her or if he was examining his own life out loud, but she wanted to keep him talking. Despite doing everything she could to push him away, she couldn’t deny her physical draw to the man. The street became less crowded as they neared the Haversham townhouse, straying farther from the busy section of town.
“That is much easier said than done,” she said.
“How so?”
“We have friends and family—responsibilities—that tie us to this place at this time.” It would be an overwhelming sense of relief to let everything go; not care who her father was, be away from her mother’s dictating hand, and start anew.
Harold patted her hand. “Yes, we do, but what a shame.”
“You would leave behind Lord Haversham?”
“Brock and I have a friendship that has never been location dependent. It would endure a period of separation—it has before. You would not leave Lady Haversham, even with the promise of a brighter future, knowing your paths would cross again one day?”
