Page 48 of An Unbending Lady for the Desperate Earl
“What is it?” Victoria turned her attention to Christian. “This is not the discretion we talked about.”
“Nonsense. If anyone wonders where we have gone, they will presume I am scolding you for something or other, as a cousin ought to.” He kept hold of her arm. “I just wanted to say something, before all of this proceeds, as I may not have the chance again.”
Her chest clamped tight. “What did you want to say?”
“Be safe, do you hear? I will be waiting. I will be right where I am supposed to be, and I will come to you the moment you need me.” He gazed deep into her eyes. “I need you to be safe. I need you to keep to the plan. For my own sanity.”
She nodded slowly. “I will be safe, Christian. And when I call, you had best come running.”
“Have we not had this conversation before?” He chuckled nervously.
“Perhaps, but the sentiment still stands.”
“I will run as fast as these legs may carry me.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it gently, sending bristles of excitement through her body.
She smiled. “Then I am doomed.”
“I will ignore your teasing for tonight,” he chided playfully. “But please, remember what I have said.”
“I will keep to the plan. I will be safe. I will call for you the moment there is danger on the horizon,” she replied.
“At least that may give me some relief. Now, you should go, before people really do start to suspect there is something strange afoot between you and I.” He released her hand. With one final exchange of weighted looks, Victoria left him in the corridor and went to join Miss Longacre in the subtle, yet obvious, farewells that they had to execute before they could depart.
However, as she reached the carriage, all of the farewells having been made, Victoria hesitated. Her hand gripped the doorframe, her knuckles whitening. She had made that promise to Christian in good faith, but he didn’t understand plots and schemes the way that she did. Sometimes, they went awry. And, sometimes, a little improvisation was needed.
I will do whatever I have to, in order to succeed. Christian, I hope you will forgive me if a moment comes, this night, where I cannot keep my promise to you.Taking a deep breath, she climbed into the carriage and sat down opposite Miss Longacre. A second later, the carriage trundled away, headed for the townhouse where all chaos could very well break loose.
* * *
“I don’t know if I will be able to sleep,” Miss Longacre murmured, as Victoria sank down in one of the armchairs by the fire in her chamber.
“You do not have to sleep, Miss Longacre, though it may help make the night go faster.” Victoria tapped her foot impatiently, gazing at the window. Moonlight glanced in, casting a silvered streak through the drapes and across the wooden floor. They were out there, somewhere. Lying in wait. The men who had sought to destroy the peace of high society.
“How do you do it?” Miss Longacre loitered uncertainly by the bed.
Victoria frowned. “Do what?”
“Face this sort of thing without fear.”
Victoria snorted. “I have a secret.”
“A secret?”
“Oh yes. You see, the secret is… I am always scared in situations like this, but I have learned how to bury it so deeply that it cannot be seen upon my face,” Victoria replied.
“You truly are scared?” Miss Longacre sat down on the edge of the bed.
“Petrified. But I would rather die than let any criminal see that. I have faced men three times my size, in height and breadth, and I have growled and snarled and snapped at them as though I were a rabid wolf, forcing them to back off. Was I scared? Absolutely. Did they know? No way.” Victoria fixed Miss Longacre with a reassuring glance. “I will protect you tonight. I swear it. You may trust in this rabid wolf.”
Miss Longacre shuffled back on the bed and slipped beneath the covers. “I suppose I may try to sleep, then.”
“I urge you to.” Victoria got up and went to the door. “I will be next door. All you have to do is shout, if you feel frightened, and I will be beside you in no time.”
“Thank you, McCarthy.” Miss Longacre lay her head on the pillow and stared at Victoria.
“It is my pleasure.” With that, she left the chamber and closed the door behind her. However, she did not go to the next-door bedchamber, as she had promised. Instead, she headed down the narrow passageway between the rooms and crouched low, sitting with her back to the wall so she could see the end of the passage, and the corridor that crossed behind it.
She felt along her thigh for the pistol she had strapped there and searched the other for her hidden blade. Both were where they were supposed to be. And so was she. Armed and ready, if anyone tried to reach Miss Longacre’s door, Victoria would jump on them before they even knew what was happening.
