Page 14 of My Gentleman Spy
Chapter Five
Hattie allowedher maid to assist her for as long as it took to unlace her gown and take the pins out of her hair. Desiring solace, she politely dismissed the young woman once these tasks weredone.
As the door to the room closed, Hattie felt the weight of the world descend upon her shoulders. Outside the sun had now set. There were only a few hours left in what felt like the longest day of herlife.
Alone for the first time since earlier that morning, she sat on the side of the bed. Her fingers gripped the edge of themattress.
She had doneit.
Screwed every inch of her courage and then some to the sticking place. Where the line between bravery and recklessness stood was a matter for conjecture. What she did know for certain was that her bravery had its limits, and today she had touched the sharp outeredges.
If William Saunders had not come to her rescue, she had no idea where she would be rightnow.
Several glasses of wine during the afternoon had calmed her nerves, but as night approached the effect of the wine began to slowly wear off. Fear now crept into hermind.
Loud voices in the corridor outside her room, had her scurrying across the floor and locking the door before hurriedly retreating to the sanctuary of her bed. She was in a strange country, far from home and unfamiliar with the local language and customs. Who knew what went on in these foreignplaces?
Her parents and Peter had made sure she did not venture from the guest house at which they had stayed for the short stopover inGibraltar.
“The monkeys of the Rock of Gibraltar are known to bite, and a fall from the top of the Rock would surely kill,” her mother hadcautioned.
At that point, Hattie had been too wrapped up in her own turmoil to make mention to her mother that the place where they were headed had lions and tribes ofcannibals.
Now she was alone and her parents were a half day’s sail from Gibraltar. The only person she knew within a hundred miles was WilliamSaunders.
It was not as if she did not trust him. Only a cad with a death wish would swim all the way out into the harbor to rescue a stranger on the off chance that he could then betray her. She would bet every penny that she owned, which for the moment was none, that he was indeed the gentleman hero she believed him tobe.
The Saunders were a good family of theton. She had to count her blessings for having metWill.
Yet instinct cautioned her to keep as much of herself hidden from him as she could. The less he knew of her, the less likely it was that he could interfere with her slowing evolvingplan.
“I must gethome.”
With Will having secured passage back to London on a ship leaving in two days’ time, she would only have to keep up the façade of mistreated fiancée Sarah Wilson for two weeks. She knew enough of the background of the real Sarah Wilson to make a half convincing story. She hoped that Will would not be too deeply concerned with the intricacies of her life to press for anythingmore.
“Keep the story simple and you won’t tripup.”
Once they reached London, Sarah Wilson would simply disappear and Hattie Wright could go into hiding. Will would be gifted with the intriguing tale of the young woman he had rescued from the depths of Gibraltar Harbor. It would make for an entertaining dinner partystory.
In time he would forgether.
She looked at the lady’s travel bag which sat on the end of her bed. Will was a man of means. Not only had he purchased her three new gowns, he had also managed to find a boot maker with a readymade pair of boots to fit her. Her own salt water stained leather ones were stuffed full of paper and drying in the window. Gibraltar was not cold enough to warrant a lit fire in the middle ofOctober.
A knock at the door stirred her from her thoughts. She looked at her own recently washed and dried thin muslin shift. Will's sensible shopping had not extended to a nightgown nor a dressing gown. She crossed the floor and put an ear to thedoor.
“Hello?” she calledout.
The door handlerattled.
“Let me in,” Willcommanded.
“No, I am not decent. I don't have any suitable night clothes,” shereplied.
Curses drifted in from the other side of the door. She glanced around the room for something to cover her state of undress. Seeing the bedclothes, she hit upon anidea.
“Just a minute,” shesaid.
She quickly pulled the blanket from off the bed and wrapped it around herself before reluctantly unlocking the door and opening itfully.
