Page 27 of A Pearl Possessed

Goodrum's House of Pleasure

The minute Her Grace, Eleanor Whitcombe, opened the note from the earl, she commanded all the remaining guards, other servants, cooks, and pot boys from Goodrum's to spread out and surround the building on Maiden Lane just in case the blackmailer was about to spring a trap on everyone who would come to help Adrienne.

She then called for her own horse to be saddled and brought around from the mews. She had to get to Obadiah before he heard the news from someone else. Carriages were nothing but a nuisance in the crowded streets of London. She had a hunchabout the location of the neighborhood where he and the other men would be looking for Adrienne.

She raced out to the hitching posts at where one of her grooms was already leading her mare, Fancy, from the mews behind the club. She carried her secret weapons for dealing with her cosseted, spoiled mare. Fancy hated the crowds on London's streets and often had to be cajoled with sugar cubes and bits of apple from the club kitchens. El easily mounted from the block next to the posts and was cantering down the street toward Covent Garden within minutes.

12 September,1826

Vicinity of Covent Garden

Obadiah had split up the group of guards from Goodrum's into three, the better to cover the many warrens of tiny streets and alleys around Covent Garden. It seemed to him as if every argument he'd ever had with Adrienne, she'd ended up running off to her old friends around Covent Garden or Dickie Jones.

He and another guard had just finished walking north on Southhampton Street and were about to turn left on Henrietta when he saw a lone rider weaving her way through the crowd of conveyances heading toward the Covent Garden market. Only Captain El, erstwhile Duchess of Chelmsford, would appear on horseback, in the middle of the day, charging through Covent Garden with her bright auburn curls spilling down beneath her wide-brimmed hat...and riding astride in men's trousers.

The minute she saw him, she waved her hand wildly. He ran to her side, certain she had news of Adrienne.

When he finally managed to push through the crowds of vegetable and flower sellers, she shouted down to him - "Number Seven Maiden Lane--."

That was all it took to send him pounding his boots across the cobblestones south in the direction of the address. The other guard raced behind him. Obadiah ran until he was so out of breath he had to slow down a bit and then sprinted forward again. Once on Maiden Lane, he had to make numerous stops to figure out the correct numbers on the many ramshackle houses. A number of the buildings were empty and Number Seven, when he found it, was one of them. When there was no answer to his urgent knock, he simply kicked in the door, not caring about any possible consequences.

Obadiah found the cobweb-filled staircase and checked the rooms on each floor, one by one until he came to the attic. He obliterated that door as well, and there she was - a pitiful sight in nothing but one of her thin silk dresses covering her shivering body. Her mouth was gagged tightly shut with a filthy rag. He gently untied her and put his own jacket over her trembling shoulders. She could barely speak but simply stared up at him, terror still filling her fathomless dark eyes. He didn't speak but simply enclosed her in his strong arms and whispered calming words as if she were a small child until the shivering stopped.

14

18 SEPTEMBER, 1826

NUMBER ONE GROSVENOR STREET

It was an earl-less Monday, and Adrienne sat up in her own bed whilst all the other mistresses gathered around her for their weekly tea.

Mrs. Collins sat close by, urging her to drink more chicken broth to build her strength after her ordeal on Maiden Lane. The others were not so solicitous. They all clamored for complete details on all that had happened. Most of all, the other mistresses were anxious to learn what part their handsome bodyguard, Obadiah, had played in the dizzying number of events leading up to her abduction. How had anyone managed to get past him.

Adrienne closed her eyes in anguish before giving a loudwhisssht for silence."I put myself in danger. I have no one to blame but myself. And as for Obadiah, he played a small part, but I do not fault him." At the looks of confusion around the room, she continued. "We had, ah, a disagreement a a week ago."

Sophia, her nearest neighbor, added a helpful explanation. "So that's what all those loud cries were about."

That brought forth so much knowing laughter that Mrs. Collins had to shush them. "Quiet, all of you. Adrienne needs her rest and strength."

Margot interjected an opinion. "Yes, she'll certainly need her strength if she's carrying a son who'll grow into the size of Obadiah."

Again, laughter filled the room, only to be interrupted by a fierce pounding at the front door. Young Rutherford came racing into the room so fast, he slid on the polished tile floor.

"Mr. Lassen is here, and he needs to speak to Miss Godet. Privately."

Silence descended immediately, and all of the women vacated the room. As Mrs. Collins passed Obadiah in the hallway, she spat out a warning. "If you upset her in any way, I will personally have you run out of London so far that it will take you weeks to crawl back."

Obadiah hadno idea where to start. All he knew was the next few minutes of his life were going to be the most important ones ever. He had to apologize, he had to make Adrienne understand how much she meant to him, and he had to claim her as his wife. He couldn't think about how much he needed this woman, because he was afraid he'd be rendered speechless.

And so he sank to one knee next to her bedside and took her pale, fragile hand into his huge, scarred paw. "I don't know the right words to let you know how sorry I am for how I've behaved, how sorry I am for how I let you down as your bodyguard, and how sorry I am I wasn't there when you needed me most.

"You ran away because I acted like a selfish lout. I endangered your life when my only job was to protect you. Ifailed. I don't know how to ask for forgiveness for a sin that's not forgivable. If you never want to see me again, I'll understand. The captain will send over her best guard, and I'll never bother you again."

Adrienne placed her other hand on top of his dark curls and said, "I'd like to banish you from my life, but I'm afraid you're the only man I've ever loved, or ever will love. Every other man is totally failing in comparison, so I'm afraid you're stuck with me, Obadiah Lassen."

"So, you'll marry me?" His face paled so much at his precipitous question that she feared he'd faint dead away at her bedside and she'd have to call up the entire Rutherford Gang again to carry him away.

"Of course I'll marry you, you stubborn man."