“Shh.” The sound muffled into his neck. “I wanted this.”
“Darling—”
“We may never have another chance. I wanted this with you.” She pulled her face away to peer at him. “Please have no regrets. Please.”
“Promise me—”
“I will.”
Robert eased out of her and over to her side. Her hands continued to stroke him, touching him everywhere—his arms, chest, face—as if she could not let him go. He ran his fingers through those reddish curls and kissed her temple again.
But he knew she was lying. Knew that if they were forced to go their separate ways, he would never know the consequences of this moment. His sweet mouse was a determined woman with her own mind, who would not want to burden him with that knowledge if they could not be together. She would bear it alone.
Robert could not let that happen. He would find a way. No matter what.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Wednesday, 20 July 1825
Ten in the evening
Eloise brushed theremaining crumbs of a meat pie from the lapel of her azure frock coat. She smoothed down the velvet trim on her collar and cuffs, then checked the gold buttons down the front. She straightened her top hat, then brushed the lapels again.
Behind her in the alley, Gilley gave a low chuckle. “No need to fret, milady. He’ll find the boy if he’s in there and get him out right quick. Robbie is clever wit’ his wits. Quick in a scrape.”
Eloise looked back and up at the big man. “I know, but there is just so much to go wrong.”
“Which is why we’re here. In case somethin’ does.”
Eloise scowled. “Has he been in a lot of scrapes?”
Gilley gave a noncommittal shrug. “Ya should ask him that.”
“Hm. So I shall.”
A smirk twisted the man’s face. “I hope I’m there when ya do.”
They stood in an alley across the street from a stone town house the color of charcoal, a residence that bordered several others to the left with a narrow side street to the right. No light emerged from the house, even around curtains, although when Robert had knocked on the front, the door had opened to reveal a blaze of light in an opulent entry hall. A uniformed butler had admitted him but closed the door quickly, rendering the two streets dark and silent again. A heavy fog, wafting about in a growing breeze, added to the gloom and growing sense of danger, and Eloise twisted her cane in her hands.
A half hour passed, and Eloise realized she had started to shiver when Gilley whispered, “Milady.”
She turned to find him offering her his coat.Sweet man!Eloise shook her head. “I am not chilled, Mr. Gilley, but thank you.”
He shrugged back into it, and they both snapped around at the sound of a side door opening. Two men stumbled out of a side door of the house, laughing and jostling each other. Eloise and Gilley shrank deeper into the alley, pressing up against the damp brick wall. The two men staggered on to the main street, their voice echoing of the pavement and walls of the surrounding homes.
“You think the other people living here know?”
Gilley shook his head, then nodded at the house. “They ain’t been here long. Won’t stay long. Too easy to get found out by nosy bodies. Robbie says they move about like county fair folk.”
The sound of wood scraping on wood, ending in a sharp squeak, pulled their attention back to the house. A window on the second floor stood open, the curtains dancing in the light breeze. They stepped out of the alley as a twisted and knotted bedsheet flopped out of the window, draped there by a man silhouetted by the light from inside.
Robbie!
A second, more slender male figure wearing only a pair of trousers clambered onto the sill, straddling it, fear marring his features. He put both legs outside, braced against the sill with his hands, and slide down as Robert leaned out, gripping the boy’s forearms. Gingerly, the boy transferred his hands to the cloth and began scooting down the outside of the building.
“Timothy!” Eloise stepped toward the house.
Gilley snagged her arm. “Not yet, milady.”
