Page 42 of The King’s Man (Guardians of the Crown #2)

T he lights of The Ship Inn pierced the gloom of the evening, and already the sound of raucous laughter spilled into the street.

Kit stopped for a moment in the street outside and looked up at the flapping sign with its crudely painted image of a ship in full sail.

It seemed a strange place to call home, but it was the closest place he had to a home on this earth and he was glad to be back.

Jem looked up as he entered and jerked his head in the direction of Kit’s travelling chest that Jem had retrieved that morning.

‘What news from Holborn?’ Kit asked

‘Place is in an uproar. The girl had your chest at the kitchen door. I could hear her mistress howling from the street,’ Jem shuddered. ‘My betting is he took none too kindly to finding his bird had flown.’

Kit tried to summon some sympathy for Lucy and failed. She and Morton deserved each other.

‘And Thamsine?’

Jem nodded. ‘She’s right enough. You’ll find her upstairs.’

Thamsine sat in a chair beside the small grate, her feet drawn up beneath her, squinting at a broadsheet.

She looked up as he entered, pulling a badly made shawl closer around her shoulders.

Her shortened hair fluffed around her head like a curling halo framing her pale face.

A broken pot with some tatty flowers in it had been placed on a table next to her.

Her eyes followed his and she smiled. ‘Jem brought me the flowers.’

Kit raised an eyebrow. His sergeant had never been one to reveal a sentimental side before. ‘How are you feeling?’ he asked.

‘More like myself,’ she said. Her hand went to the curls that framed her face, making her look years younger … or more her own age. ‘What happened to my hair?’

Kit looked at her. ‘It was filthy and matted and the girls thought it easier to cut it.’

‘I suppose it will grow back. The price of my freedom,’ she said ruefully.

Kit resisted the urge to run his fingers through the riotous curls. ‘I rather like it short,’ he said.

Thamsine shuddered and drew her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and leaning her face on her knees. She closed her eyes and tears spilled from beneath her lashes, tracing a track down her cheek. Kit resisted an urge to wipe the tears from her face.

‘I thought I was lost, Kit.’ She raised her head and looked up at him. ‘Kit, your Lucy is in league with Morton.’

‘I know,’ he said. ‘I left her in your place in Bedlam.’

Thamsine stared at him and a smile twitched her lips. ‘Good. I hope she rots there. She’s as dangerous as he is. Jane thinks she may have murdered her husband.’

Kit stared at her. ‘Murdered her husband?’

‘She stole some monkshood from Jane.’

‘It wouldn’t surprise me.’ Kit shook his head. ‘I suppose I always knew she was shallow and manipulative, but after the last few days I’ve had a glimpse of what she is capable of and I wouldn’t be surprised if she runs to murder.’

‘What I can’t understand was why she was so possessive of you,’ Thamsine said. ‘She said she knew something about you that made you valuable to her.’

He gave a wry smile. ‘Not as valuable as she would have liked to believe.’

‘What did she mean?’

Kit hesitated. ‘It’s not important,’ he said.

‘Kit.’ She sought his eyes. ‘Please, no more secrets.’

He sighed. ‘She wanted me for a title. My grandfather is Viscount Midhurst, and on his death, I become Lord Midhurst. But that’s all it is, Thamsine, a name, nothing more. The family estate is ruined. I find I prefer being just plain Kit Lovell.’

‘To a woman like Lucy Talbot, that title would be worth fighting for … worth killing for,’ she said aloud.

‘Lucy made the mistake of playing with an experienced gambler, Thamsine. She underestimated me.’ He squatted down and poked at the fire.

‘Where is your family estate?’ she asked.

‘Cheshire. The house was largely destroyed in the last siege, so my family lives in the few habitable rooms and I send them money when I can.’

‘Your family?’

He looked up at her. ‘My grandfather, my stepmother and her daughter, my sister Frances. So you see, little Lucy would have got a poor exchange for the title.’

‘I wonder if that mattered.’ Thamsine mused. ‘And your business in Paris?’

Kit stiffened. ‘An ordeal,’ he said.

‘Something happened there?’

He shook his head. ‘No, not there. On the boat returning to England. Fitzjames is dead.’

At the mention of Fitz’s name, he felt a stab of pain as sharp as a knife. He missed Fitz. He missed their long and easy camaraderie, and he bitterly regretted the betrayal that had led to his friend’s death.

‘I’m sorry,’ Thamsine said. ‘How did it happen?’

Kit jabbed at a log with the poker. ‘He found some letters I was carrying.’

‘Letters for Thurloe?’

Kit gave a barely perceptible nod of the head.

‘You didn’t kill him?’ The horror in Thamsine’s voice couldn’t be disguised.

He turned to look at her. ‘No, I didn’t kill him, but he would have killed me had it not been for the pitching of the boat. He overbalanced and fell overboard. I couldn’t save him.’

He rose to his feet and she slipped off the chair and stood before him. Laying her hands on his forearms she scanned his face. ‘He was your friend, wasn’t he?’

Kit’s mouth quirked at the corner and he had to take a quick breath and look away. ‘Perhaps the only one I had but, as Thurloe reminds me, I can’t afford to have friends in this business.’

‘What about me?’

He looked at her. ‘Thurloe sent me to look for you. I found you. There is no more to it than that.’

‘So I was just another job?’

He nodded. ‘Just another job.’

Thamsine lowered her head and dropped her hands. ‘I see. I thought … ’

Kit turned away from her, running his hand through his hair. ‘You were wrong, Thamsine. I have enough concerns of my own without the encumbrance of friends of any sort.’

She sighed. ‘If I had been honest with you when we first met, would things have been different?’

He grasped for words that seemed to have entirely escaped him, hating the lies coming from his mouth. ‘Would I have betrayed you to Thurloe? I don’t know, but I do know that I could have protected you from Morton.’

He turned back to her, holding her by the forearms and seeking out her eyes.

‘Thamsine, I’m too used to lying. It comes naturally to me.

A moment ago I told you that you were nothing more to me than just another task Thurloe had set me.

’ He took a step towards her and this time it was he who took her by the forearms, seeking out her eyes.

‘I can’t lie about that anymore. You are one of the very few people in this world I call my friend.

’ He took a deep breath. ‘And I think I might have a solution to your problem if you are willing.’

‘Go on,’ she said slowly.

‘Marry me, Thamsine.’ The words rushed out.

She stared at him.

‘If you marry me, then your problem with Morton will vanish.’

‘If I marry you, I marry a whole set of new problems,’ she replied. ‘For instance, I don’t know if you’ll be alive next week.’

He shrugged. ‘Then you will be a wealthy widow and free to choose whatever man you wish. Jane told me of the terms of your father’s will.

If you marry someone other than Morton, he loses his control over you.

Even if I were to die next week, you will be free of him and have full control of your own estate. ’

She smiled, a small, bitter smile. ‘And what do you get from the arrangement? A solution to your financial woes?’

‘I want to be clear about this, Thamsine. I don’t want your money. I confess it would be useful, but if you wish we can enter into an agreement by which I forgo my claim on your property. It will be a proper business arrangement.’

She clapped a hand over her mouth and for a moment he thought she was going to cry or throw up. Instead, she laughed.

‘Kit, that has to be the most romantic proposal a woman would ever want to receive.’

Kit bridled. ‘This isn’t about romance, Thamsine. This is about practicalities. Think about it, if you wish.’

He turned his back on her and kicked at the fire before turning back to face her.

‘Marriage to me wouldn’t be so bad, surely? We … seem to get on quite well, and … ’ He paused. ‘I can’t think of anyone else I would rather marry.’

She shook her head. ‘No,’ she said slowly, ‘I don’t think it would be so bad, Kit, and I don’t need to think about it. It sounds like a perfectly sensible solution to my woes. When did you have in mind?’

‘As soon as possible. Tomorrow?’ he said. ‘I have found a celebrant who does not ask too many questions. Jem and the girls can stand witness.’

‘I see you have it all planned,’ Thamsine remarked dryly. ‘You assumed I’d say yes?’

He looked at her. ‘I don’t have time to spare,’ he said. ‘If you said no, it would have made no difference.’

She rose to her feet and crossed to him. She took his hands. ‘Thank you, Kit. I know how difficult this must be for you.’

He caught her fingers in his and looked into her steady brown eyes.

He longed to kiss her, wrap his arms around her, breathe in the scent of her and lose himself in her.

He wanted to tell her he loved her, and that, far from a business arrangement, his heart rejoiced at the thought of marrying this woman.

Instead, he kissed her on the forehead.

‘I am glad that is settled,’ he said. ‘Until tomorrow, Thamsine. Good night.’ He released her hands and turned for the door.

‘Kit … ’

He turned sharply. Thamsine smiled a slow, sad smile.

‘Thank you,’ she said.