Page 111 of Debtor’s Daughter

Chapter 19

“Wherein truths are told.”

Henri forced her unwilling eyelids open and blinked as a shaft of bright sunlight fell across her face. Through the tiny porthole she could see another brilliantly blue sky. Beside her Annie snored, soft huffing sounds that made her smile. Climbing with care, she edged around the curvaceous hills of her maid’s slumbering form and exited the bed without so much as a fluttered eyelid from Annie.

Giving it a little shake first, she stepped into a clean petticoat and sighed as Annie’s sharp gaze caught her eye.

“An’ what are ye about now?” Annie demanded, pulling herself upright and yawning wide with a groan as she hauled herself out of bed.

“Oh, Annie, don’t be a simpleton, you know very well I must go and see Lawrence.”

Annie folded her arms and gave her an uncharacteristically fierce look.

“Now, listen ‘ere, ye said yerself that ‘is brother is sworn to see ‘im to freedom. Didn’t ye?”

Henri opened her mouth to argue as she sensed there would be some reason why she ought not to see Lawrence, and seeing Lawrence was something she felt very strongly about doing, as soon as possible. However Lord Falmouth had said that, so she just sighed and nodded.

“An’ how is it goin’ to look if ye go runnin’ down to ‘im like ‘e’s ye lost love or some such with ye fiancée aboard?” Annie gave her a knowing look and Henri stifled a blush.

She hadn’t told Annie everything that had happened between her and Lawrence, but her maid had a vivid imagination and she doubted she was far off the truth in divining what had transpired.

“Oh, but Annie, he’s all alone and ...”

“And ‘e’s a big boy is Cap’n Savage. Remember all o’ those stories we read about, eh? He’s been in worse scrapes an’ walked away. Yer pirate is safe enough for now, I reckon, an’ yer best off payin’ respects to his lordship, after all ‘e’s done for ye.”

Henri pouted as Annie picked out a clean dress and lifted it over her head, quite ignoring her mutinous expression.

“I still don’t like him,” she muttered, her voice muffled through the thick material of what happened to be her best winter dress in imperial cambric muslin, she noticed and scowled at Annie. “Why have you brought all my best things?”

Annie shrugged. “Because if things had gone bad, ye wouldn’t ha’ cared what ye wore, if ye’d died ye’d have need ye best fer layin’ out. And as it is a lady should always have her looks to fall back on if ‘er other plans go awry.”

Henri blinked and would have reproached Annie for her matter-of-fact way of speaking of her possible demise, but another more alarming idea came to mind.

“Annie,” she said, her voice accusing. “You like him!”

Annie shrugged, ignoring her young lady’s wide eyes as she turned her around to do up the tiny buttons that ran up her spine and the high neck of the dress.

“Well, ‘is lordship’s very ‘andsome, I’ll say that,” she admitted, before adding. “And I do like me a commandin’ man, an’ he’s got that in spades. E’ says jump and the world hitches its skirts.”

“Annie!”

“Ye could do worse n’ that is all I’ll say.”

She prodded Henri towards the chair so she could brush her hair and dress it and Henri was too thunderstruck by such betrayal to protest.

“There’s no use in poutin’ an’ huffin’,” Annie mumbled around a mouthful of pins. “What use is yon pirate to ye? If e’s anythin’ like ‘is brother I’ve no doubt e’s dashin’ an’ easy on the eye, but a man like that will get ‘imself strung up sooner or later, no matter if ‘e escapes this time around. An’ ye can bet ‘e’ll leave ye with squallin’ babes to feed and nothin’ to feed em on or to keep ye warm but the memory of him.” She leaned down and planted a kiss on Henri’s cheek. “It’s no way to live, my pretty lass, not for you.”

Henri blinked hard and Annie sighed, folding her arms.

“Oh, Miss Henri, what ‘ave ye gone an’ done?”

Looking away from Annie, who knew her far too well and saw far too much, Henri cleared her throat.

“Nothing at all. I just ...” She sighed. Lawrence had made it perfectly clear that there was no future for them. He wouldn’t take her if he had to run, and indeed a life of running and hiding didn’t seem very appealing but then never seeing Lawrence again ... “Oh, Annie,” she said, her voice full of hopeless regret.

Annie hugged her. “Now, now, none o’ that. First things first, ye have to get ‘im safe away from the gallows. So go an’ see ‘is lordship and find what’s to be done about it. We’ll jus’ ‘ave to see where the fates take us, won’t we?”

Henri sniffed and straightened her spine, while Annie settled her best plum-coloured mantle around her shoulders for her and pinched her cheeks. Henri winced as she was poked at but made no complaint.