Page 39

H OW MANY TIMES HAVE I come and gone from this manor?

Vivienne raced about the room, making short work of packing with Tess due to practice and a healthy dose of fear.

Alden’s staff was flooding the manor. It was odd that the place of refuge turned so quickly into one of oppression.

Everywhere she looked, she was reminded of the reason for Grandmother’s absence.

“What are we going to do?” Tess whispered as she followed Vivienne down the hall.

Vivienne shifted the small trunk in her arms. “I’m going to pack some of Grandmother’s things.

I would hate for them to dispose of her gowns.

We can leave her things at my townhouse and then alert Bash and see Grandmother freed from the asylum.

” She shot into Grandmother’s room and flung open the closet.

She tossed gowns back to Tess, who rolled them up and placed them in the small trunk so as not to raise Alden’s suspicious ire.

“I know she has a pearl ring and an amber cross necklace from Grandfather Larkby.” She lifted the jewelry lid.

She wished to take all the pieces for Grandmother, but if Alden noticed, she doubted they would be able to leave with even the few.

First, they had to save her. Then they would reclaim her jewels and anything else in the home she wished.

Vivienne tucked two necklaces, a bracelet, and three rings into the pocket of Grandmother’s favorite morning gown and rolled it up, tucking it into the trunk.

“I need to inspect Bash’s original room to ensure he has left nothing behind he would not wish to fall into Alden’s hands.

” She raced across the hall and into his room as Tess finished in Grandmother’s.

It looked as before, nearly untouched. She checked the priest’s hole first before opening the drawers and finding nothing of consequence.

She flipped open the book on his nightstand and found a gold necklace with a small blue jewel.

It was hardly worth much, but it meant something enough to keep it.

Her stomach twisted at the thought that it perhaps belonged to an old sweetheart of his.

She shoved it into her reticule and moved for the closet doors to search his pockets.

“Find anything?” Tess asked as she joined her in searching the clothing.

“Just a necklace, but I am going to be thorough.” Her fingertips grazed a small leather pouch.

She fished it out and peeked inside. Inside appeared to be a piece of paper that was folded over and over until it was the size of a shilling.

She stuffed it into her reticule too. “I need to find Bash. You need to stay at my townhouse in the event he might be on his way back to Bath. I doubt he is, but if he is, Alden will send him on a goose chase. You must circumvent that possibility.”

“And if you do not find Bash in London?” Tess replied.

“We shall meet at my townhouse in a fortnight.”

“So long? Anything could happen in that time.” Tess groaned. “Are you certain you can travel alone again? If I come with you, you will be better protected, and it will give me some peace of mind.”

Vivienne ran her fingers over a black sleeve, an idea forming as she caught sight of a second black highwayman’s hat tucked in the corner of the wardrobe.

She lifted Bash’s shirt out and held it against herself.

It would be entirely scandalous, but there were yards of fabric to work with.

“What if I do not travel in a coach? What if—”

Tess eyed the clothing in Vivienne’s hands and shook her head. “Surely you jest?”

“No one will think to look twice at a man traveling on horseback. Bash left Brigand to my care. I will take him, and Alden will dare not refuse. With Brigand, I will seem more imposing.”

“I don’t know, Vivienne. It’s so risky, and not to bruise your feelings, but you are hardly strong enough for such a journey, and you are entirely too feminine to pull off that look.”

She shoved back her shoulders. “I have to try. Are you going to help me or not?”

Tess sighed. “Of course I will. Pack the costume, and I will have you outfitted for your journey this evening. I doubt you will wish to stay in any taverns, and traveling by moonlight will be far safer for you if you are armed with a rapier and pistol. Travelers will give you wide berth.” Tess removed the decorative rapier from the wall, along with the pistol that had been in the drawer and sprinted upstairs to hide it inside her large trunk of clothes while Vivienne finished searching the room.

Tess returned panting. “Unless Alden goes through my pile of underthings and spare stays, he won’t find the weapons.”

“Ladies?” Alden called from the foot of the stairs.

The women started and quickly tossed what they could from Bash’s wardrobe to form the highwayman ensemble into a satchel.

She gripped Bash’s highwayman’s hat in her hand and cast one glance back at his room.

She and Tess rushed down the stairs, carrying the small trunk between them and the satchel in Tess’s hand, while the footmen Alden had brought fetched their two trunks.

He eyed the hat in her hand but motioned them through the door without protesting. It had begun misting again. They stood on the steps, gaping at a horrid wagon before them as the footmen unceremoniously dropped their trunks in the bed.

“Where’s the carriage?” Tess murmured.

“I suppose we are looking at it. Alden has graciously lent us a wagon for our exile.” She smiled to Noah. “Tie Brigand to the back please.”

He trotted off to do her bidding, and when he led out the black horse, she narrowed her gaze at Alden, daring him to steal Bash’s mount, but to his credit, he said not a word.

I suppose he knows his limits after all.

She sent the lad another smile and whispered, “Wait for Ladd and come with him to my home in the Circus, along with any of the other staff who are unwilling to stay. Ladd will know the address. And if possible, bring Cerberus.”

“God bless you, my lady. I’ll see to it.” The boy nodded eagerly and helped her climb into the wagon bed beside Tess.

She held her head high as it rolled down the gravel drive and through the iron gates.

The journey to the townhouse was short, but to keep her mind busy, Vivienne focused on the next step in her plan rather than what Grandmother must be enduring every moment they were apart.

From the jarring of the wheels, she imagined how the prison wagon would be nearly unbearable to Grandmother’s frail bones.

Brexton had already returned to Draycott Castle, so Vivienne turned the key to her front entry, keeping the door wide while the driver dropped the trunks inside and departed without a word.

She locked the door, and Tess lit a lamp, turning the wick high.

They rummaged through the first trunk to find the weapons, grabbed the satchel, and then crept upstairs, Tess gripping Vivienne’s sewing basket in her arm.

Vivienne stripped off her gown until she was in her stays, shift, and scandalous underdrawers. She drew on Bash’s shirt and discreetly inhaled the highwayman’s scent of woodsmoke and leather. Tess adjusted the hem, which fell to Vivienne’s knees.

“If we tuck this into the pantaloons, it should billow out enough to hide any of your curves, so you could still wear your stays.” Tess tossed the breeches to her, which Vivienne caught with her face before they fell to her feet.

She had been too heady from smelling Bash’s shirt to be aware of flying breeches.

She retrieved them from the floor and tugged them on.

They swallowed her, but between stuffing the shirt in and Tess wrapping the pants into place with a black shawl, the effect was satisfactory.

Vivienne shrugged on the waistcoat, which Tess tightened with a few darts at the back.

For the final piece, Vivienne slung the weapons’ leather harness across her shoulders and over her hips.

Tess shoved the pistol into the holster at Vivienne’s chest and the rapier at her waist.

“Lord help you if you must draw your weapon.” Tess scrubbed her hand over her neck.

“If you are approached, first make eye contact with the person. Then use your manliest voice, and if they still do not back away, draw your weapon and be prepared to use it as a last resort. If a weapon is drawn, be ready to defend yourself.” She shook her head as she adjusted the ebony knee breeches and lifted the coat for Vivienne to slip inside.

Tess shoved and tucked here and there, but the sleeves were impossibly long.

In the end, Tess took her scissors, whispered an apology to Bash, and chopped off the elegantly embroidered cuffs.

“Much better.” Vivienne lifted her arms to demonstrate her movement. “I can hardly believe how heavy these clothes are. I will never again complain about having to wear stays, which are hardly a burden when compared to the neckcloth and the excessive weight.”

“I know it is bulkier than you are used to. Do not get confronted then, or you will be in more danger than Mrs. Larkby.” She stood back and admired her work.

“What a well-tailored highwayman you turned out to be. And with your golden hair and riding Bash’s horse, people might just think you are the legendary highwayman from the newssheets … albeit much thinner.”

Vivienne stepped before the looking glass. Tess had drawn Vivienne’s hair into a queue that she had stuffed into the high black collar, making her hair appear shorter. The coat was large enough to hide her shapely form. “Indeed. Dare I say swashbuckling?”

“Almost.” Tess nodded to the vacant hearth. “Your hands are entirely too well kept. Dirty your nails as much as you can.”

Vivienne ran her hands under the lip of the chimney, the ash coating her perfectly manicured nails. “Good thing I keep them shorter than is fashionable.”