Page 10 of An Unlikely Debutante

‘You will look after her?’ Raul asked as the two men knocked back their cups of cider.

‘I will care for her as though she’s my own sister,’ Alex promised.

‘Then I have no more objections. No idea how you got Lina to agree, though.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘She hates your lot. Toffs. Always has...’ Raul paused, tapped his cup against Alex’s and grinned. ‘I don’t think you’re so bad myself.’

* * *

‘What a cosy little arrangement you’ve landed yourself in,’ Tom crowed, making Lina shudder as she caught a whiff of his horrific breath. ‘Whoring yourself out to a gentleman.’

‘I’m not—’ Lina caught herself and took a step back. It never paid to get into an argument with Uncle Tom.

‘Shall I expect payment today?’

‘He’s not paying me,’ Lina said.

‘Giving yourself away for free? Your dear mother would be turning in her grave.’

‘He has promised me gifts, certainly enough to cover the debt I owe you.’

‘I want the money.’

Lina shrugged. ‘I will just sell the gifts and then you can have the money.’

‘The deadline is still the end of the week, Lina.’

‘I won’t have the gifts for six weeks.’

‘Not good enough. I need the money now.’ There was a hint of panic in Tom’s voice that made Lina pause for a second.

She closed her eyes, steeling herself for the suggestion she was about to make, and then ploughed ahead. ‘If you give me the six weeks to raise the debt, I will pay you twelve pounds instead of ten.’

Uncle Tom regarded her thoughtfully. ‘Four weeks and I want fifteen pounds.’

Lina swallowed nervously, but still nodded. She didn’t exactly have a choice. She just hoped Lord Whitemore was generous in his gift giving.

‘And I want information.’

‘What information?’

‘Raul tells me you will be staying with this toff. You’ll be privy to his security arrangements, the layout of his house.’

A faint sensation of nausea started to build deep in Lina’s gut.

‘I’m not stealing anything for you.’

‘I’m not asking you to steal. Just to pass on a little information. What’s information amongst family?’

Lina shook her head.

‘That’s the deal, Lina. Either fifteen pounds and a little information in four weeks, or you pay the ten by the end of the week.’

Squeezing her eyes tight, Lina tried to suppress the image of her mother’s disappointed face as she nodded.

‘Good girl. I’ll be seeing you in a few days.’