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Gabe!
An idea started to swirl around the edges of Sophie’s reckless mind. She still had their pageboy’s livery, didn’t she? Shedid, and it was just the thing she needed to aid her in her quest.
She hiccuped, trying to calm herself enough so she could talk to her sister. After all, she was going to need Charlotte’s help.
“D-do y-you,” she heaved, clutching onto Charlotte’s arms and calming herself further. “Do you know where Weybourne House is?”
CHAPTER 12
“No, honestly,” Christian said with a shake of his head as they continued down the corridor. “Don’t rush back on my account. I have no plans to leave London and no need for a traveling coach.”
“No need for the Covent Guard to retire to the country?” Gabe asked as he swung a bag over his shoulder. A few items for repast that the Weybourne cook had prepared for the first leg of his journey north.
His friend scoffed slightly. “Since the city’s criminals do not retire to the country…”
Then Christian wouldn’t do so either. Gabe stopped in the foyer and cast his friend a sidelong glance. Even after the last fortnight at Weybourne House, he still didn’t completely recognize his friend anymore. Christian looked the same, mostly. And his voice had the same timbre. But he was no longer the devil-may-care lad he’d once been, the one who’d been more prone to picking up a book than a dagger. The war had changed him. The death of his family had changed him as well. But somewhere, deep down, he was still the same Christian who’d befriended Gabe their first day at Eton. Or perhaps Gabe just hoped he was still in there somewhere. “Do be safe, and take precautions and—”
“You sound like a nursemaid.”
“You may have need of one.”
But Christian disregarded the comment with a shake of his head. “I haveWinslett. He’s better than any nursemaid.”
“Yes, well, I’m worried about Winslett too,” Gabe replied. “He went white as a sheet when you were injured the other night. Do have a care for our friend. He has a world of responsibilities on his shoulders these days.”
“He will be fine. As will I.” Christian slapped a hand to Gabe’s back. “The road north can be dangerous, so worry about yourself. Lumley has a pistol on him. But there’s also one under the bench, just in case you come upon any brigands along the way.”
Christian’s parents and brother had come to a tragic end while they were traveling the North Road. How rampantwereHighwaymen throughout the country these days? Gabe hoped he wouldn’t encounter any on his journey to Cumberland, and with any luck he would not. “Thank you for everything. Letting me stay here. Letting me commandeer your coach.”
His friend laughed in response. “What’s mine is yours. Truly. And you’re welcome to stay at Weybourne House upon your return. It’s actually been nice having you around. It can get rather lonely here.”
“You could always rejoin society,” Gabe suggested.
And at that, Christian laughed even harder.
Sophie hopped from the hired hack, tossed a few coins to the driver, and then hastened across Down Street. A coach emblazoned with the ducal Weybourne crest caught her eye, and her heart quickened at the sight. Was that for Gabe? Or had he already left and the Weybourne carriage was being packed for Lord Kelling for some reason? Or perhaps the two of them planned to travel together? She hadn’t considered that option, but it was possible. Then again, Gabe hadn’t mentioned Kelling heading with him to Cumberland, had he? No, no. Gabe was most likely traveling alone.
The Weybourne coachman hefted a trunk onto the back of the carriage, and Sophie’s heart squeezed just a bit. Would Gabe talk to her? Would he tell her everything she wanted to know? He certainly hadn’t been forthcoming the night before. She’d have to findsomeway to make him tell her the truth. But the time to do so was growing short, apparently.
With the sun lifting higher in the sky, Sophie tucked her cap a little lower across her brow, and made a direct path to the carriage, hoping no one noticed her in her pageboy attire. Honestly, she was more likely to be noticed outherein the middle of the morning than she had been at the Albany under the cloak of darkness the other night. If anyone caught sight of her like this…
…But what other choice had she been given? A single lady couldn’t call on a bachelor, but a servant boy had much more freedom in that regard and could go nearly anywhere. Sophie quickened her pace to the coach, and she pulled open the door; but Gabe was nowhere to be found. So he must still be inside Weybourne—
“I say,” a man grumbled. “Step away from there, lad.”
Sophie swallowed a bit nervously as she glanced over her shoulder to find the coachman right behind her, a scowl affixed to his round face. “Just looking for Major Prideaux,” she said in the deepest voice she could manage.
“Is that so? And just who are you?” the fellow asked
“Samuel,” she repeated Chase’s lie from the other night. “I’m Major Prideaux’s man,” she continued, saying the first thing that popped into her head. After all, Gabe could have hired a servant or two since he’d returned to England, couldn’t he?
“I didn’t know the major was brining anyone else with him on this trip.”
Sophie wasn’t going with him on his trip. She just needed…
Well, shemightneed to travel with him. An idea began to spin in her mind. She wouldn’t travel with him the whole way to Cumberland. There was no need for that. But she could stowaway long enough for him to reach the first coaching inn when he’d have to stop to change horses. Gabe would return her to London when he discovered her, naturally, but she’d have him all by herself on the way back, without any distractions and without any way for him to evade her questions. If she tried to speak to him before he left Weybourne House, he could put her off and leave without answering anything. He was particularly good at leaving her, after all. But if she had his undivided attention and no way for him to escape her…
“I don’t suppose you’d let me ride up top with you?” she asked, spinning on her heel to face the man. While the Weybourne coachman might think Gabe had hired a servant, Gabe would know otherwise. She couldn’t rideinthe coach with the major, not at least until after the first coaching inn.
