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“Oh, look,” she said, “there’s a hackney stand. Feel free to make use of it, sir. I am perfectly fine on my own from here.”
Swallowing a tart reply, he took her elbow and hurried her past the front door of the White Hart Inn, dodging a pair of medical students who’d stumbled out. The two were clearly surprised to see one of their professors in the company of a veiled woman.
“Oh, I say, is that Dr. Kendrick?” one of them said, slightly slurring his words.
Braden stalked on, hauling Samantha with him.
“That was rather a bit of bad luck,” she puffed.
“Indeed.”
“I’m sorry for that, but you needn’t race me down the street. You’ll give me a stitch.”
He slowed his pace. “My apologies.”
“Those young men obviously know you.”
“Obviously.”
“There’s no need to be rude, sir. And it’s not as if they can recognizeme.”
“For which I am profoundly grateful.”
“Then what is the matter?”
He threw her an incredulous look. “You mean besides strolling around Old Town with a mysterious veiled woman? What could possibly be taken amiss in that scenario?”
She yanked her arm free. “I repeat that I do not require your escort. My meeting place is only a few minutes from here, and I’m sure I’ll be quite safe without you.”
He throttled back his irritation. If he wanted Samantha to trust him, he needed to stop acting like a jumped-up rooster.
“It’s just that I would prefer, for both our sakes, not to be the object of salacious gossip.”
“Oh, drat, I’m an idiot,” she instantly said. “Of course you have your reputation as a physician to consider.”
“I’m not overly concerned about my reputation, but I want to avoid questions or gossip. Kendricks have a tendency to generate quite a lot of both, as I suspect you know.”
“I’m sorry if I put you in a difficult spot. Were they friends or colleagues of yours?”
“Students, actually, and half-shot from the looks of it. If they have the brass to say even a word, I’ll deny the whole thing andthentear a strip off them. I don’t want students of mine drinking their heads off in the first place, or anywhere near my patients while suffering hangovers.”
She chuckled. “That is admirably ruthless of you.”
“If I’m going to embark on a career of sneaking about Old Town, I’d better learn to be ruthless.”
“Once again, we arenotsneaking. We are walking down a street like two sensible people, and at a perfectly respectable time of night.”
He snorted. “We look like highwaymen, Samantha. It’s bloody ridiculous.”
She pulled him to a stop at the entrance to a small laneway. “Then it’s fortunate we have arrived at our destination.”
A short, dank passageway lined with decrepit old buildings loomed before them.
“There’s an inviting prospect,” Braden said. “I can already feel the shiv between my shoulder blades.”
“It’s perfectly safe. I’ve been here at least half a dozen times.”
“After dark?”
