Page 13 of Forever Her Bachelor
Not after what he’d done to her.
“We must be going before Jessie comes looking for us.” Beatrice looked up at her father. “You know how she acts if she believes something has happened to me.”
“True, your sister worries about you like a mother hen. She always has since she first came to live with us.” He nodded, walking from behind the counter to escort them out.
Pippa placed her hard-earned money in her reticule, securing it safely in the pockets of her serviceable dress. Jessie had given Pippa and Beatrice instructions on how to secure their belongs against pickpockets, and both ladies took the instruction seriously.
Once outside, they flagged down a hackney, entering with the help of Mr. Lewis. Accustomed to traveling in the city alone, Pippa found it unnecessary to be escorted around London by a maid, though her aunt did not approve. The maids were busy with their own work, and Pippa found it unnecessary to be escorted around like a child.
“Tell me,” Beatrice insisted, turning toward Pippa once the hackney jerked forward. “How did you become engaged to the Duke of Summerset since the last time we saw each other? He’s older than my father.”
Pippa released a sigh, ignoring the stale stench of the carriage. “My uncle arranged the marriage.” She turned to watch the changing scenery as they bustled through the paved streets. “The duke is currently in need of a bride as I’m sure you know.” Pippa tilted her head toward her.
“Yes, it’s all Caitrin can speak of. That is where I learned of your engagement.” Beatrice took hold of Pippa’s hand. “I would’ve liked to have learned it from you, my friend.”
Caitrin McCarthy, Beatrice’s closest friend, was the niece and ward of Mr. O’Brien, Summerset’s current heir, and the bane of his existence.
“News of my pending nuptials is spreading wildly around London even with the gossips retired for the Season.” Pippa sighed, thinking of how St. Clara had heard the news the previous night.
It was obvious he must’ve heard it from their mutual friend Julia, Lady Heartford. Pippa loved Julia like a sister, but if one did not want something revealed, Lady Heartford was the wrong person to inform.
Ignoring the tumultuous beat of her heart at the thought of her old friend, Pippa squeezed her gloved hands together.
“Who else knows of your engagement other than Lady Heartford?” Beatrice gazed over at Pippa before relaxing back in the carriage.
It wasn’t difficult to comprehend who Pippa would confide in. She only had Julia, her Aunt Margaret, and Beatrice as friends. It had always been difficult for her to form attachments. That was until she met a brown-eyed boy who enjoyed saving kittens.
“The Duke of St. Clara mentioned it yesterday evening,” Pippa whispered, feeling nervous at telling someone she’d actually spoken to St. Clara.
Pippa had spoken to St. Clara as little as humanly possible for the past nine years. In one night, he’d threatened to destroy the vow she’d made to herself.
“The Duke of St. Clara? The same one you were giving scandalous stares to at the Duke and Duchess of Karrington’s dinner?” Beatrice leaned over, hitting Pippa’s shoulder with her own. “The one that you have a past with? A past you still have not revealed to me. Why so mysterious?” Beatrice asked as the hackney slowed.
Pippa wanted to tell her friend that she wasn’t being mysterious at all. She was simply embarrassed to admit how foolish she had been in her youth. How could she admit that the one person she’d trusted implicitly after her parents’ death had destroyed her with one single act?
The hackney stopped in Bloomsbury, outside the crime-ridden neighborhood of St. Giles, where Ini’s Home for Children sat three stories high. It was a solid brick structure with dormer windows and a dark-red door. Ini’s was a refuge for many children who had no home but the filthy streets of London. Jessie herself had been one of those children, living in the Rookeries, pretending to be a boy to save her virtue. Now, she made it her lifelong mission to find children in need and deliver them to Ini’s where they would find warm beds and a hot meal.
Pippa exited the coach happy that she did not have to answer Beatrice’s inquisition. It was in her nature as a math enthusiast not to cease her inquisitions until she had every single answer. If it wasn’t a problem to solve, Beatrice would somehow turn it into one.
The streets of Bloomsbury differed vastly from Mayfair, though it wasn’t quite St. Giles. The rookeries were only a fewshort streets away, a fact that Jessie always reminded Pippa and Beatrice of.
The door to the orphanage opened, revealing the guard, Caesar. His light reddish-brown skin gleamed in the surprisingly sunny day. “Jessie was this close to ordering me to find you both,” Caesar said to Beatrice, holding his thumb and index finger close together. His Jamaican accent was deep, the words barely audible to Pippa’s ears.
Beatrice rolled her light-brown eyes, accustomed to her sister’s antics. “Yes, I figured the probability for that occurring was high.”
Caesar chuckled before he tilted a bald head at her. “Miss Price, welcome. Don’t let Jessie ride you too hard today.”
“I will try, but I believe Jessie only knows one way to treat people.” Pippa chuckled to herself, remembering how sore she had been the first time she had trained with Jessie Lewis.
Weaving through the merry children, Pippa looked around in awe at what Jessie and Ini had accomplished. They’d made a home for the orphan children who had no one.
As Pippa followed Beatrice down the long halls, a figure with bright red hair walked down the spiral staircase, shielding her face from Pippa’s view.
Pippa’s legs felt weak beneath her weight, her mouth opening as she struggled for air. She had only seen that shade of red on one other person in her entire life. The clueless woman disappeared down the safety of the lower level, out of reach of Pippa’s stunned sight.
It couldn’t be her, could it?
Lost and confused, Pippa wanted nothing more than to chase the person who had changed her life forever, but all she could do was stand in a daze until Beatrice finally retrieved her.