AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sir Hal Wraxton, over at Hentings. It would be the earl, if he was here to fulfill his responsibilities. Don’t know what the man means by staying away so long. It’s irresponsible!”
“I suppose he has business to attend to.” Harriet spoke at random, planning how she would hurry to the camp first thing tomorrow to let them know. It occurred to her that the Travelers might pack up and leave when they learned of this threat. And most likely Jack the Rogue would go with them. Her heart sank to think she might never see him again. Their brief…idyll was over.
“Business!” The word exploded from her grandfather’s lips. “These noblemen know nothing of business. Won’t raise a finger in any honest trade. They’re happy to spend the money that comes from it though. Runs through their hands like water. Thousands of pounds lost to gambling!” He said the last word like a curse. “Lunacy!”
And yet he insisted that she marry one of these feckless men. Harriet might have pointed out this logical flaw, but she was conscious of her mother’s reproachful gaze. She replied with a small shrug. This wasn’t her fault. She hadn’t meant to set him off.
“Ruling class, indeed. Time to make some changes there.” He descended into a mutter.
Power was what he wanted, Harriet realized then. Social climbing was just a stepping-stone on the road to influence and position. She should have seen this, would have, if his schemes hadn’t involved her own future happiness. She’d been fixed on the idea of marriage. He had been thinking of extending his financial and political reach, ruthlessly. He would yoke her to a fool, a libertine, a tyrant, if the connection advanced his ambitions. A chill ran through her. Her grandfather wouldn’t care how she was treated in such a marriage. She was a pawn to be sacrificed, a mere tool. Remembering his talk of deals, she shivered. He thought he could force her to do as he wished.
Well, she wouldn’t, Harriet decided then and there. She wouldnotgive him what he wanted. Harriet set her jaw and raised her chin, utterly determined. And she found her mother staring at her. Mama had read the resolve in her face, and now she was terrified. Her eyes begged for surrender.
Harriet felt an uncomfortable mix of sympathy and annoyance. It was true that her grandfather could make their life even worse than it had been before he swooped down and lifted them into luxury. If she defied him, he would hound them as he had her father. She didn’t see how he could take away the small income Papa had scraped together. But he knew far more about such things than she did. She would have to take care. All right, she would. But she wouldn’t be used. Glancing at her grandfather, who was still silently fulminating, she thought she might be smarter than he was, when it came down to it. They would see, when she pitted her wits against his.
Mama was actually wringing her hands. Harriet offered what was meant to be a reassuring smile. It didn’t appear to help.
***
Jack was surprised to see Harriet Finch hurrying into the camp quite early the next morning. She didn’t even have her parasol. She rushed over when she saw him, which was pleasant. But her expression was not. She looked worried.
“I’ve come to warn you,” she said, breathless from rushing.
“Come and sit down. There’s herbal tea brewing.”
“I can’t stay. My mother will be looking for me as soon as she wakes. You must listen.”
She raised her hands like a supplicant. Jack took them in his own. “And so I shall, to be sure,” he replied.
His reaction seemed to startle her. She flushed and gazed up at him with wide eyes. Whatever she saw in his face appeared to calm her a bit. “My grandfather is going to urge the local magistrate to chase you off,” she said then.
“Me?” Jack wondered if someone had seen him in the gardens of Winstead Hall. He would have sworn he hadn’t been observed.
“The Travelers. The camp.”
“Ah.”
“He doesn’t… He isn’t…”
“He thinks Travelers are thieves or worse.” He’d heard of such persecutions from his mother. They were probably worse in this stuffy little country.
“Yes.”
“Doesn’t want them anywhere near you, I suppose.”
She brushed this aside as if it was irrelevant. “They will bring men to chase your people off. Samia and everyone.”
Jack’s brain went to work on the problem. The grandfather seemed unlikely to relent from all he’d heard of the man. “This magistrate? What is he?”
“Magistrates are leading local men who are charged with keeping the peace. His name is Sir Hal Wraxton.”
“Lives nearby, does he?”
“Yes, but you can’t call on him. He wouldn’t… I don’t think he would receive you.” She looked worried at the possibility, which was gratifying.
“No, I won’t do that,” Jack replied. A visit would do no good in his present state. He might be an earl, but he had nothing to prove it. “Tell me where he lives though.”
“Why do you want to know?”
