“It benefits her to keep you in horses, dens, and free from the noose.”
“It does, but I suspect she could find other sources of income if the Brody Gang suddenly disappeared.”
“And you trust her with your secret?”
“It’s a select few who know,” he confirmed with a nod.
“Including me, now.”
“Including you.”
9
Ezra held the horse’s reins as he waited for Jessica and Tej to reach them, with Rhys standing nearby. The guarded look had gone from Rhys’s face, replaced by something akin to anticipation as Jessica neared, while Ezra’s roguish smile continued to play about his mouth. Both he and Rhys seemed to watch her with expectation, and a glance beside her confirmed that Tej wore a similar expression. They wanted something from her, but she wasn’t certain what it was. Whether or not she could give it to them, she didn’t know.
“Where’s the nearest coaching inn?” she asked.
“There’s the Doe and Dove,” Ezra answered. “A shade under five miles from here. Mail coaches travel through every few hours on their way to and from London.”
The sun was some time from setting, or so she judged, though she’d little experience determining sunrise and sunset outside of London’s familiar rhythms, where the smoky sky was barely visible above the buildings, and dim thoroughfares were illuminated by scattered lanterns and passing linkboys bearing torches to light the path for pedestrians and sedan chairs.
“You’ve four hours until the sun goes down,” Rhys said.
She ought to know that these men had an uncanny way with interpreting her thoughts. They seemed to study her expressions and pauses the way scholars studied texts. If they read her heart now, what would they learn? Everything written within her was a jumble of words and feelings she herself couldn’t decipher.
Reaching for her pouch of valuables, her hand stilled. “I gave you everything I have of worth. There’s nothing to pay for my way back to London.”
“This should amply cover it.” Ezra immediately handed her a gold sovereign.
“With a substantial amount left over.”
“Consider it reimbursement, but just the same…” He rifled through a sack hanging off the horse’s back, and produced her ring and coral beads. “Never let it be said that the Brody Gang aren’t gentlemen, even if we aren’t gentlemen.”
“Those don’t have any worth. I purchased them from a rag and bone man in Spitalfields before I ventured forth on this assignment. My true valuables are at home.”
“Take them, just the same.” He carefully opened her closed fingers, and set the items in her palm. “Consider them souvenirs of an adventure.”
None of them seemed willing to address that this adventure was coming to an end. Was it? Making a decision now about her future didn’t seem possible. Perhaps once she was back in London, in her rooms with the familiar chaos of the city all around her, she could determine what was next.
Mowbray would certainly slander her ability to carry out an assignment—though it wasn’t slander if it was true. Nobody would care about the circumstances that brought her to abandon her mission, and even fewer would believe that her former employer had tried to kill her.
Dear God, the coldness in Mowbray’s gaze when he’d insisted the Guardian shoot her where she stood…she’d only seen that kind of brutality in the eyes of the most ruthless cutthroats in Seven Dials. But there had been the baronet, ready, nay, eager for her death.
And what he’d done to Ezra’s pack…the barbarity of it…killing men for no reason other than the fact that they were different.
But noblemen could do as they pleased, while commoners such as her were subject to the law and calumny. It wouldn’t be much of a surprise if she came forward, accusing Sir Harold of attempted murder, and she wound up dancing from Tyburn Tree.
Yet her life was in London, and perhaps she could shove it back together in some semblance of order. The baronet mightn’t say anything, allowing her to resume her business—if anyone would hire her.
Could she keep silent, though, knowing what Mowbray had done to Ezra’s pack? But then, would anyone believe her?
“We can take you to the Doe and Dove,” Ezra went on.
“That might be dangerous for you—the law would likely be nearby.”
Ezra, Tej, and Rhys shrugged nonchalantly.
“We have enough friends to alert us to the sheriff’s presence,” Rhys said.
