Page 27 of A Lady’s Guide to Murder

CHAPTER 26

Flight in the Night

Henrietta was dreaming of being cradled in an embrace as sweet as when her French nursemaid used to wrap her in warm towels. But it wasn’t Marie-Jeanne holding her. Nor was it Mama, for the strong arms cradling her smelled not of flowers, but of ink and soap. She was marvellously safe and comfortable, and everything would have been perfect except that there was a distant banging, growing louder and louder …

The cradling arms vanished, though the comforting scents lingered.

Henrietta opened her eyes. Theo. He had been cradling her; now he sat alert on the mattress, his chest gleaming like marble. Silver moonlight bathed his bedchamber. The banging was an incessant knocking.

‘What—’

Theo’s hand gently covered her mouth.

A deep voice yelled from outside the house, accompanied by louder banging. ‘Open upon orders of the chief magistrate!’

She jolted upright, heart pounding. ‘They’re here for me. Perceval betrayed us.’

Theo jumped to his feet, pulled on his shirt and yanked on breeches. As Henrietta searched under the counterpane for her chemise, the banging stopped.

‘Surround the house, men,’ the deep voice said. ‘Block the exit in the court. Eyes on every window and door.’

The knocking recommenced. ‘Open at once, or everyone within this house will be charged with aiding and abetting a suspected murderess.’

Henrietta threw on her chemise, truly frightened. She prided herself on bravery, but if caught, she’d face trial. And likely the gallows. Her hand flew to her throat as she sought Theo’s eyes in the dark. Her terror was mirrored there and the imaginary hemp tightened.

She couldn’t die. Not now. Not when she and Theo had just begun to explore their wondrous connection.

But then the terror vanished from Theo’s eyes and he grabbed her shoulders firmly. ‘Darling, climb down the downspout, as you did as a child. Once we are in the court, I’ll lead you to safety. It will take them two or three minutes to make their way round the market and through the lanes.’

Henrietta’s breath came short and fast. ‘But they’ll corner us once they arrive. Is it not better to hide in the house?’

He drew her close, folding her into his arms – the comfort of her dream all over again. Theo was safe. Theo would care for her.

‘Trust me,’ he said, and Henrietta knew she could.

Her strength surged. ‘Leave your boots,’ she said as he reached for his footwear. ‘It’s easier with bare feet.’ She grasped the iron downspout beside the bedroom window, throwing one leg out and bracing her feet on the bricks. ‘Use your toes to grip the wall and trust the pipe.’

Seconds later, her feet touched the cold stone of the court. She looked up; Theo was descending. He jumped from slightly higher than she had, seized her hand and led her across the court. He threw open the door to a shed and closed it quickly behind them. Windowless dark enveloped them, but there was hay under Henrietta’s feet. The stench of ammonia pierced her nose. Soft coos surrounded her.

‘A chicken coop?’ she asked. ‘But they will check this door, surely?’

Outside, booted feet echoed in the court.

It was over. They were here.

Theo drew her close with a protective arm. ‘Mrs Ford’s cold storage larder is under this coop. We reach it through a door hidden by shelving. Hold on to me. Be silent so as not to wake the hens or the rooster.’

She clutched his shirt, shuffling behind him. Something creaked open in the darkness and Theo’s arm slipped about her waist.

‘Spiral steps down. Watch your head. ’Tis a very low ceiling.’

Henrietta slid her foot forward, finding the edge. She descended tentatively, her head brushing the ceiling even as she hunched. Several steps later, at a twist, Theo secured the door behind them. Henrietta held one hand against the damp, rough-hewn stone wall to guide her descent. The ammonia smell dissipated, replaced by musty cellar air.

‘How are you not falling?’ she asked Theo. ‘I’m on the wide edge of the stairs and I can barely keep my balance.’

He chuckled. ‘I’ve been climbing these steps for a decade, sometimes lugging a side of beef for Mrs Ford. She trails me, praising my strength, but I suspect she’s eyeing my arse as I bend over.’

A giggle escaped Henrietta. ‘I cannot blame her. You have a very nice bottom. I’ve admired it myself several times of late.’

They were at the foot of the stairs by then, the dank air chilling her bare legs. Theo swooped her close and nuzzled his face into the curve of her neck. The new growth of his whiskers rasped against her tender skin like a cat’s tongue. ‘We’re safe now, but talk like that’ll soon have me hard.’

Henrietta’s pulse raced. ‘I love it when you speak dirty to me,’ she said, borrowing a phrase she’d heard her brothers use when they thought her nowhere nearby. ‘Especially in your Cockney accent. It makes me want you to carry me away and ravish me.’

He growled against her neck. ‘You like a bit of rough, Your Grace. And God help me, but I like a bit of fine.’

Though still sore from their lovemaking, she pressed her pelvis against his. Expert fingers slipped between her legs. ‘Bloody hell, woman.’ He groaned. ‘You’re wet for me and now I am hard.’

She bit at his shoulder, where his unfastened shirt exposed his skin. ‘Can we again?’

‘’Tis one way to pass the time.’ He pressed her against the wall, hefting her to his waist. ‘Wrap your legs around my hips.’ She complied as he freed himself from his breeches. His erection nudged her tender opening. ‘Lord, I want you more than ever.’ He panted as he began to enter her. ‘I’ll try to go slowly—’

‘No. All the way, all at once.’

‘If you tell me to, I shan’t hold back, love …’

‘Please, Theo.’

He plunged, filling her more completely than she could’ve imagined, smothering another groan into her hair. They rocked in unison, waves of pleasure built rapidly – until loud footsteps above instantly stilled them both.

‘Tear apart every shed and crevice in this court,’ the deep voice ordered.

Henrietta’s heart jumped to her throat, but then Theo’s lips caught hers and he kissed her worries away. ‘That’s Haggett leading the search,’ he murmured into her ear, softer than a butterfly’s wings. ‘No doubt chosen because he never takes a bribe, but he’s as stupid as a post. Any man with half a brain would’ve secured the court before knocking at the door. He won’t find us.’ He started to move within her again, gentler now. ‘You’re safe, darling.’

Above them, many boots now stomped, accompanied by a great ruckus. Flapping of wings, squawking, a rooster’s crow, and over all that, Mrs Ford’s furious scolding. ‘Have a care! If you release my chickens to roam the streets, they’ll be stolen quick as lightning. Then how will I feed my lodgers, I ask you?’

Through it all, Henrietta’s pleasure rose, so she listened with substantially more curiosity than fear.

Another man’s voice called out. ‘Nothing here anyway. Just a chicken coop.’

‘And so I told you.’ Mrs Ford screeched at the men. ‘I watched Hawke and his doxy leave hours ago. At quarter past noon, they headed across the market with her in a purple dress.’

‘And I told you , the bed was still warm from their fucking,’ Haggett’s deep voice replied. ‘And she ain’t a common doxy, she’s the Duchess of Severn, murderess and whore. What’s more, and what should have you quaking in your boots, is that I know you are a bloody liar, woman, and so I shall tell the magistrate. Our informant’s story is that the duchess called upon her at one this afternoon and she was wearing a blue dress and a bonnet with a veil. The same blue dress and bonnet with a veil currently in Hawke’s rooms. So, if you value your neck, you might want to start telling the bloody truth …’

‘Miss du Pont informed on us,’ Henrietta whispered. ‘I should have told you she threatened me …’

‘Shh,’ Theo murmured, still moving in her. ‘What’s done is done and I will protect you.’

He cupped her breast, flicking his thumb over her nipple, and Henrietta’s head fell back against the wall. She squeezed and released him, her inner muscles matching his rhythm. His breathing deepened each time, hot against her cheek.

Mrs Ford continued to yell. ‘And so one person’s blue might be another person’s purple, and a woman might own more than one gown and bonnet, especially if she’s a duchess, as you say. That’s the trouble with trusting one witness over the other, isn’t it?’

‘No, the trouble is, you’re protecting Hawke.’

‘Why would I risk my life for him?’

‘I’ve shared a pint or two with the scoundrel over the years, and heard him speak of you …’ The conversation descended into vicious bickering and Henrietta let it recede from her thoughts. Theo was thrusting faster and the pleasure inside her swelled. She tightened her hold around his shoulders.

‘That’s it, darling,’ he murmured. ‘Come for me, but don’t make a sound.’

The thrill of the forbidden, the naughty, the daring, excited her. Without the sense of sight, every touch was all the more tantalising. Squeezing her legs around his hips, she let him push her into bliss. She bit his shoulder hard to avoid screaming as stars burst behind her tightly squeezed lids. This , she thought as the waves coursed through her – this was everything she’d ever imagined from romantic love. No – this was more than she’d ever imagined.

And so, in a dank cellar below a chicken coop with the Bow Street Runners eager to destroy her, Henrietta Percy’s wild, romantic heart soared at last.

Theo eased Henrietta to the floor once they’d both found their release.

Then he kissed away her worries while Mrs Ford and Haggett argued above their heads. Theo’s touch distracted her. Eased her. He would do it all night, if it helped.

Besides, it might be his last chance to hold the woman he loved.

When he’d awoken to the Runners banging on the door, he hadn’t abandoned hope, but realising there was a slim chance of escape, he’d formed a secondary plan. One that gave him immeasurable peace.

In the event of their capture, he’d shoulder the blame. For everything. He’d confess to the murder. He’d claim he then abducted the innocent duchess as she sought her country estate to grieve in peace. He would attribute his actions to an obsessive, unrequited passion. He could spin a believable tale. After all, everyone said he was infatuated. His behaviour over the last five years, staring at her intently in public, grasping any excuse to write about her, would support his claim. Lord, he had been obsessed with her, after all.

That was nothing to how he felt now.

He loved her.

Loved her so much he would die for her.

Hadn’t many people said the gallows loomed in his future? Had not the hangman’s noose shadowed his entire existence? Well, let his life conclude as it had begun. With a hanging. There was always a pleasing symmetry to an ending that mirrored a beginning.

Then Henrietta would live.

He was tempted to turn himself in immediately, so that her struggles would end at once. But an arsehole like Haggett would insist on taking her as well, no matter what Theo said, and she’d faced enough indignities already. Almost any other Runner would take a bribe and turn aside as she fled to the safety of her father’s house, but not Haggett. The magistrate had chosen tonight’s hound dog well. He knew several of the others liked Theo.

Besides, Henrietta wouldn’t flee to her father’s. She’d undoubtedly continue to search for her husband’s killer – except with Theo imprisoned, she’d be alone.

In the coop above, Mrs Ford seemingly gained the upper hand and demanded Haggett and his men either leave or assist in gathering her chickens. Which action he chose, if either, remained a mystery, but the footfalls left the shed.

Theo tucked Henrietta’s arm around his to lead her to a more comfortable spot. Even he couldn’t see in total darkness, but he knew the lay of the cellar enough to guide her to a bench seat. ‘Come, darling. Hold tight to me and I will make you more comfortable. We may be here a while.’

He sat her upon his lap and she leant into his embrace. She was wearing only her thin chemise and she shivered in the damp air. Theo cradled her as best he could, rubbing her limbs to warm them.

‘Do you think they are gone?’ she asked after about a half an hour of silent kisses. ‘Could we try to escape? Get to our horses?’

Theo shifted slightly, still holding her. His bottom had grown numb on the bench. ‘Barefoot and unclothed, we’d attract too much attention both in London and on the road. And without my purse, we can’t change our condition. For now, we must wait. Mrs Ford will help us.’

He hoped.

‘She knows we are here?’

‘Likely so, darling.’ That or eventually Mrs Ford would come to her cellar for food and find them then. ‘Try to rest against my shoulder for now.’

They didn’t have to wait long. Henrietta stiffened at the sound of footsteps but relaxed when Mrs Ford’s voice murmured to her chickens above. Soon, the door creaked open and the light of a single candle pierced the cellar. Then the door closed.

‘Theo?’ Mrs Ford called down the stairs, her face illuminated by the flame, eyes squinting to see beyond its reach.

‘We’re here.’ He rose, helping Henrietta to her feet. ‘Thank you, Mrs Ford.’

His landlady inched down the stairs, a sack in one hand. At the bottom, she took in their state of dishabille and pressed her lips into a disapproving line. ‘I thought the better of both of you.’

Henrietta hung her head – the first time Theo had ever seen her appear ashamed. He jumped to her defence. ‘It’s not quite what it seems, Mrs Ford.’

‘I don’t care if it’s only a quarter what it seems, it’s a sketchy business. She’s not three weeks a widow to one of the greatest men what ever lived, whom she ought to be grieving like the rest of the nation is, and yet the way the two of you are going at each other would put a brothel madam to the blush.’

‘No matter how this looks, we are not being disrespectful to Severn in the way you think.’ Theo paused, recognising he echoed Henrietta’s words from five years before. He glanced at her. She met his gaze, chin lifted, a knowing gleam in her eyes. No trace of shame remained. ‘As much as I’ve tried over the last few days, I don’t think I completely understood how much I hurt you until this moment, Henrietta, when I find myself misjudged in the same way.’

She smiled. ‘You’ve redeemed yourself a few times over.’

Mrs Ford grunted. ‘I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about. Any way you look at it, it ain’t as it should be, and I don’t see as how it will lead to anything but more tragedy. It may well be the undoing of me, but, Theo, I’ve loved you like the son I never had, so my heart won’t let me do nothing but help you.’

‘Thank you,’ he said again.

‘Yes, thank you, Mrs Ford,’ Henrietta added. ‘And when I clear my name, I shan’t forget what you’ve done for me.’

‘And if you don’t clear your name,’ Mrs Ford said, unappeased, ‘it will be my neck breaking along with yours. If indeed they would hang a duchess, even if she be a murderer.’

But with that final spurt of vitriol, Mrs Ford’s anger seemed to dissipate. ‘Here, loves, like as you can’t help it. You’ve been at each other’s throats for years and now you find yourself thrown together and passions rise, and if I were as young as the pair of you, I daresay I’d do the same. Let’s get you dressed. It’s nigh on midnight now; before the night progresses much further, you should be well out of London. Come daybreak, the news will spread and you won’t be safe here. Now, Your Grace, they filched your clothes, so I brought some of Theo’s things, as well as my sturdiest boots what I use for mucking out the chicken coop. No one will mistake you for a man up close, but maybe from a way’s off the disguise will work.’

As they dressed, Mrs Ford filled them in on what she’d learnt from the Runners. Someone had informed Bow Street that the Duchess of Severn was in the company of Theodore Hawke, who was helping her avoid the authorities. Separately, the maid, Libby, was missing from Newgate.

Henrietta froze in the process of buttoning one of Theo’s waistcoats over her shapely bosom. ‘She escaped?’

Mrs Ford lifted her hands. ‘The Runners didn’t share the particulars. But they seem convinced you and your maid worked together to kill the duke.’

Henrietta’s shoulders slumped. ‘How anyone can suspect Libby is beyond me. I’m glad she escaped. Her situation was even more precarious than mine. I’m relieved her life no longer weighs in this balance. Unless they find her …’ Her face clouded with worry.

‘Let us hope not,’ Theo said.

‘Yes, let us hope she stays hidden. I don’t want to die and I don’t deserve to die, for I am innocent – but I also couldn’t live knowing someone was killed to spare me.’

Theo murmured soothing assurances, but her statement didn’t alter his resolve. He’d still die in her stead, if needed. Oh, she might grieve for a time – his heart ached at the thought – but one day, she’d be glad he’d made the sacrifice. She’d think back on him kindly.

What a salacious story it would make, he mused, his lips twisting with bitter amusement. Obsessive Reporter Stalked Duchess of Severn for Years would sell thousands of papers. Scripp would be delighted. And Theo deserved it, for how he’d harmed her and others with his gossip columns. He would give his life in retribution.

Henrietta pulled on one of his tailcoats, too long in the arm and loose at the shoulders. She looked so damned good, standing in the candlelight in his clothes, with her hair a tousled mess. His ravishing adventuress. Theo imprinted the image in his mind. Upon the gallows, he decided, he would close his eyes and conjure it. He would die with a smile upon his face.

‘Lud, Theo.’ Mrs Ford huffed. ‘You can’t do nothing but gape at her like Romeo at Juliet.’

What an apt comparison.

Five minutes later, Theo led Henrietta out of the court. The moon was nearly full and the night cloudless, potentially laying them bare to prying eyes, but they slunk through the shadows of the mews as best they could on the way to the inn where they’d stabled their horses.

Henrietta tried to tuck her arm into his, but Theo gently removed it.

‘You and I are both men ,’ he said. ‘So we must walk as such. We mustn’t do anything to draw attention or rouse suspicions.’

‘I admit,’ she said shakily, ‘the danger hasn’t quite felt real until tonight. I’m frightened, Theo. If we do not find sufficient evidence against Marlow within hours, all may be over for me.’ She took a deep breath. ‘I do not want to die, but I shall be brave throughout.’

Secure in the knowledge that he would hang in her stead, Theo marvelled at the hands fate dealt. It was that symmetry of life again, was it not? For it was both odd and right that his last hours of freedom would be spent travelling in reverse the final journey of condemned Deborah Hawke, as he ventured to the home of his late father to confront the son of his mother’s killer.