Page 48

L IFTING THE BARRELS BACK INTO the wagon cart was difficult, especially taking care not to jar them while moving as quickly as possible.

With a nod to the guard, they rolled through the gate.

Bash’s heart pounded as he directed the milk cart around the corner and past the asylum.

Frank would be livid that Bash was unable to fulfill the rest of the bargain, but Bash had to put a few blocks between them and the pit before it was safe to halt for a moment.

He tied the animal to the side of a building and hopped into the cart bed.

After prying open the top of Grandmother’s barrel, he reached down for her.

Her frail arms wrapped about his, and he held her to him.

She was impossibly thin and shivering. He shrugged off his coat, which was still damp from their leap into the Thames.

He draped it over her thin shoulders. “We will remove you from the cold as quickly as possible, Grandmother.”

“After being in that putrid hovel, the morning air will do me good.” She eyed the second barrel, lips parting. “Is your bride still in there? What are you doing bothering to wrap your wet blanket of a coat around me when she’s in the dark? Get her out, you nincompoop.”

“Nincompoop? Is that what you call your rescuer?” Bash worked on the lid.

She crossed her arms. “Only when he is being a nincompoop.”

He pried open the lid. Evie gasped for air, and his gut twisted at her pale cheeks. He grabbed her hands and lifted her out, but given her extra clothing, it was difficult to be gentle. “Did I hurt you in the escape?”

She shook out her arms, releasing a shudder. “Confined places are not my favorite. There’s nothing wrong with me that a cup of tea cannot fix.”

“My apologies, dear. He was being an overly concerned nincompoop.” Grandmother patted Vivienne’s arm. “He will do better next time.”

“Next time?” Evie frowned.

“Between the two of you getting into ridiculous situations, I have no doubt there will be a next time.” She winked.

Bash squeezed Evie’s hand before settling Grandmother in the cart bed. “We must take the back roads to my residence. I’ll send someone to return the cart by this afternoon.”

“But won’t that be the first place Sir Thomas will look for you?” Evie whispered to spare Grandmother, but her soft snores already sounded.

He grinned as the cart rumbled forward. “That’s why it is perfect.

Sir Thomas will know it is too obvious a place for me to hide, so he will not even bother searching there.

He knows how I work. He will think us halfway across England by now.

” He winked at the unfeasibility of that fact, but the sentiment was true.

Sir Thomas thought Bash the highwayman capable of the impossible.

They rolled through the streets of London, where the squeak of rats and the men plodding down to the docks kept Evie close to his side. At the corner of the street where his house stood, he halted the cart.

“I do not want to leave Grandmother, but I cannot rightly waltz up to the front door without checking for danger first.”

Evie nodded, hopped out of the cart, and darted off.

“Evie!” he protested.

But she sauntered to his house and glanced through the front window before she scampered back, confusion stamped on her expression. “There is someone lounging in the chair as if he is quite used to doing so. He built a fire.”

“Did you recognize him?”

“No. He has black hair and is quite broad in the shoulders.”

“That’s Telford.” He scooped Grandmother into his arms and sprang from the cart, hurrying to the front door.

Evie grasped the door handle and pushed. The barrister rose at the sight of them as Wynn came out of the kitchen with a plate of biscuits in hand.

“I sincerely regret handing out keys, as it seems my home has become an inn,” Bash teased, nodding to his friends. “Allow me to see Grandmother upstairs. Have you searched the house?”

“It’s safe.” Telford crossed his arms, squinting at Evie, as if trying to place her.

Bash climbed the stairs with Grandmother, laying her in the bed while sounds of Evie rummaging about his kitchen reached him.

She no doubt was searching for tea. He tucked Grandmother in as she murmured about her roses.

Smiling, he stroked her coarse silver hair from her cheek and pressed a kiss to her temple.

He trotted down the stairs as Evie brought out a tray with sliced bread and four glasses of lemonade. He crossed the hall to her.

“I couldn’t find the tea.” She shrugged apologetically.

He relieved the tray from her. “It’s in the top cupboard. You probably couldn’t see it, but it is for the best, as you are less than proficient at making tea.”

She grimaced. “You speak the truth, unfortunately.”

He set the tray atop the desk in the front room. “What did you find, Telford?” he asked as Evie handed them each a glass.

“Alden went through the proper channels. Mrs. Larkby’s fortune is legally his.

I am drawing up the paperwork on having Mrs. Larkby placed in your care, and I doubt anyone will object to the proposition.

However, you should know that by the time her fortune may be called to attention in the courts, I am certain Alden will have her funds properly tucked away into the estate and untraceable. ”

Bash ran his hand over his jaw. “I could keep her here.”

“In London? Her home is in Bath.” Evie removed her coat. “She told me she could not live in a place so far from her husband’s roses.”

The barrister gasped. His eyes widened as he turned his back on her to face the fire. “Y-you’re a woman?”

Wynn chuckled at Telford’s reddening neck. “For a man who can look death in the face multiple times a week, you are clearly mortified.”

Evie smiled, placing her hands on her hips. “I have been dressed as a man this entire time. There is hardly any immodesty draped in this bulky attire.”

“I beg to differ,” the barrister muttered. “Seeing as you are not properly attired, it is time to take our leave. Wynn!”

Bash rested his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “All is well here, Telford. She is my wife.”

“Your wife?” He blinked. “My congratulations, Sir Sebastian and, uh, Lady Larkby.” He dared a glance to Evie and nodded, returning his gaze to Bash at once.

“I shall be working through the day to secure your guardianship over Mrs. Larkby. She is safe enough with a knight of the Crown and a lady who would dare so much for her. It seems the lady you have chosen is a match even for you, Sebastian, which I suppose is how she captured your heart so thoroughly.”

“She has indeed. Thank you, my friend.” He shook Wynn’s hand as well. “I appreciate the risk you took.”

“Anytime.” Wynn leaned forward and whispered, “Seems that you took my advice and were quite creative with number three.”

Bash rolled his eyes. “Yes, it was the most quality time we have had since we first met. You should start an advice business.”

Wynn’s eyes sparked. “You’d be my most devoted client.”

“Get out of here.” Bash chuckled and shut the door behind them. They were alone at last.

Evie extended her fingers to the flame. “You have some most devoted friends. We owe them much.”

“I owe you everything, Evie.” He stood beside her and unbuttoned his waistcoat, desperate for warmth after the plunge in the Thames.

“If it hadn’t been for your quick thinking, Grandmother’s and my stories might not have played out so well.

” He shook his head. “To think of Alden going through all her things … and mine, preening in his successful coup.”

“I nearly forgot.” She reached into her waistcoat pocket, removed a small leather pouch, and dropped two items into his palm.

“I smuggled them out in my reticule. I thought they might be of value to you. It is a good thing I used your leather pouch, because one of them is paper and would have been ruined in the jump into the Thames.”

He lifted the necklace to his lips and kissed it. “I didn’t think I would ever see it again.” He lifted up the turquoise diamond-shaped gem and smiled at her. “This was my mother’s. I remember it well about her neck. Would you do me the honor of wearing it?”

She pressed her hand to her lips. “Are you certain, Bash?”

“It graced the neck of a woman I loved. I wish for it to do so once more.”

She removed the neckcloth and turned. He fastened it about her neck.

She looked to the age-spotted mirror above the fireplace, smiling. “It’s lovely. I am honored to wear something that was your mother’s.”

He turned the second item, a folded paper, over and over in his palm.

“Might I ask what is the paper?”

“I’m afraid it is a secret.” He tucked it into his pocket.

She accepted his refusal with a nod. “With this new turn of events of Sir Thomas knowing of our connection and of Grandmother being without a home, I believe it might be best that Grandmother and I return to my townhouse in Bath so I can care for her, far from the London port. We do not want you to worry about us being abducted. Perhaps I can purchase some rosebushes from Alden to place in decorative pots for the front stoop of our home.” She gave him a sad smile.

“It is for the best. We shall both still have our dreams, while Grandmother is happy in the town she loves best.”

But what if my dream has shifted since meeting you?

It had long been his dream to work for the Prince Regent until he was crowned king.

Then Bash would gain significant power in his position, but what was power without having the woman he loved to share his life with?

Certainly they were bound for life, but if he were to leave her in Bath with Grandmother, he felt his window of opportunity might shut and he would never again have the chance to woo her—to have a true marriage.

But what does she want? “Very well. I will cancel the lease on the London home before we depart. We will leave first thing after we rest and break our fast properly.”