Page 84 of My Gentleman Spy
“That would be the laudanum we had to give you in the early hours. It was the only way the doctor could get you to stay still long enough to stitch your face. For an invalid you certainly put up a good fight. He was most displeased when you attempted to elbow him in thenose.”
He sipped the tea, reminding himself to speak to Mr. Little about finding a decent supplier of coffee beans. Making the journey to the coffee house in Oxford Street each day just to get a palatable cup of coffee was a chore. Tea was a poor substitute for the silken black of South American coffeebeans.
“You were saying about your mother,” saidWill.
He needed to get the truth from Hattie if they were ever to move forward with theirrelationship.
The thought pulled him up short. A relationship did exist between him and Hattie. An odd and at times uncomfortable one, but a relationship none theless.
Defining and solidifying the true nature of that relationship would depend greatly on resolving their current domestic situation. While Hattie continued to reside under the same roof as him, Will knew she would never let her guard down long enough for him to have a chance to capture herheart.
He set the cup down. A calmness now warmed his soul. He did want herheart.
“My mother fully supported my father's desire to do good. She was the one who suggested we should work with the poor and indigent of London. Prayer was not enough. We had to do something in this life to right the injustices of the world. I suppose that was what eventually brought me over to their way of thinking. I grew up with the finest of everything. My father’s family comes from landed gentry. I have never in my life had to want foranything.”
Her words were encouraging. Her story thus far made sense with all that Hattie had told him, and what his agents in London had been able to uncover. He sensed however that she was dragging out the tale to further delay the discussion of herbrother.
“Hattie, does Edgar pose a threat to you? When he discovers that you are in England, will he seek to put you on the first ship toAfrica?”
Experience had taught him well that dancing around a difficult subject was not a good idea. Getting to the truth of the matter meant that any resultant pain was dealt with morequickly.
Hattie shook her head and Will’s hopeslifted.
“No. Edgar would never do anything to harm me. And I can assure you that he would be the last person to send me after our parents. He was the one person I had hoped would save me from going,” shereplied.
Will did his best to dampen down his enthusiasm. He knew he was getting close to the heart of the matter. He decided to venturecloser.
“But he didn’t save you, did he? He didn’t arrive on his white charger. The fact is your knight in shining armor failed you. If it were me, rather than avoid him, I would want to know why. If he knew you didn’t want to go to Africa, then why did he abandonyou?”
