Page 119 of Regency Whispers: Scandalous Matches

‘Lead the way, Peter,’ Simon said brusquely.

Sullenly the young boy led them through a maze of streets to a set of rickety steps that led up to a wooden platform.

‘Up there,’ Peter said, motioning with his head. The streets were busy and they were drawing curious looks, and Simon found he wanted to get this over with, deliver the boy back to his mother and get Alice home to safety.

They climbed the stairs, and Simon knocked on the door, hearing the sound of a crying baby inside before the murmur of a low voice. After a minute the door opened, and a young woman peered out. She was in her twenties, but already her face was lined and her skin sallow. She held a baby in her arms and was bobbing up and down to soothe it. Her eyes widened as she saw Peter, and she looked up at Simon fearfully.

‘What has he done?’ she said, her voice cracking.

‘You are Peter’s mother?’

‘Yes. What trouble has he found now?’

‘He was in the company of a number of other children and a man who seemed to be directing them to pick people’s pockets.’

The woman’s face paled, and she reached out for her son, a protective look on her face.

‘Don’t blame my Peter, please, sir. He’s only seven, only a young boy. He’s hungry, that’s all. We haven’t been able to afford much food these last few months, not since his father died. Please don’t report him. They’ll make an example of him, I know they will.’

To his surprise Alice stepped forward and laid a hand on the woman’s arm.

‘We are not going to report him. We just wanted to be sure he got home to you safely.’

‘And to let you know he is running with a group of pickpockets. If he continues with them, the next time he gets caught, whoever catches him may not be so lenient.’

‘You’re not going to report him?’

‘No.’ Simon let go of Peter’s wrist, and the boy slipped into the darkness of the room behind his mother, peering out from behind her with a stunned look on his face.

‘Thank you, sir. I will make sure he doesn’t do anything like this again.’

Simon nodded and then took a step back. There was nothing more they could do here. In all likelihood Peter would be back with the gang of pickpockets first thing tomorrow, choosing to risk his neck rather than endure the relentless hunger he must feel each and every day. It was an awful situation, but now the boy was home safe he had to hand responsibility over to his mother.

He gestured to Alice that they should leave, and she gave Peter’s mother one final reassuring smile before they climbed back down the rickety steps.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, navigating the maze of streets until they stepped back out to where the carriage was waiting.

Once inside Simon settled back on his seat and watched the orphanage disappear from view as the carriage rolled away. He was still hurt by Alice’s mistrust of him, and he knew he needed to address it lest it eat away at him.

Before he could speak Alice leaned forward and placed her hand on his. It wasn’t an overly intimate gesture, at least not for a wife to a husband in normal circumstances, but even the most innocent of touches seemed to ignite something inside him and made it impossible to focus.

‘Thank you,’ she said, looking across at him and giving him a soft smile.

‘You did not trust I would not hand the boy over to a magistrate,’ Simon said, watching as Alice stiffened and then nodded slowly.

‘You are right,’ she said eventually, then let out a deep sigh. ‘We do not really know one another at all, do we, Simon?’

‘Have I ever done anything to make you think I am an unreasonable man?’

‘No,’ she said quickly. ‘You have always done exactly what you said you would.’

‘Then, why doubt me?’

‘Do you know how many hours we have spent in one another’s company?’

He shook his head.

‘Eight. Eight hours. Three at the Midsummer’s Eve ball a year ago, one in the weeks before our wedding and one hour after we were married, then three in the days since you have returned. I have spent more time with my hatmaker in the last year, and I absolutely loathe hats.’ She was speaking fast now, and he saw the pent-up frustration in her eyes. Their ride through Hyde Park earlier had been pleasant and their discussion reasonable, but he realised much of that was because Alice had been holding back the hurt she was feeling at how he had abandoned her. ‘How am I meant to know how you will react to a certain situation? How am I meant to trust your word? We are two strangers tiptoeing around one another, neither sure how the other will react.’ She sniffed and turned her head away, blinking furiously. After a moment she turned back. ‘I know it has to be this way, Simon. I can understand your reasons and I accept them, but it does not mean you can have it both ways. Either you stay distant, living your life without the complication of another’s feelings or you allow me close, but if you choose the former you must understand you cannot have the perks without the drawbacks.’ She sat back, her chest heaving and her cheeks flushed with colour.