Of Noble Birth (28 page)

“Where are we going?” she
asked. Now that she knew her aunt had left the city, the capital no
longer seemed a haven, though it was certainly big enough to get
lost in. With any luck, Willy would never find her here. But she
would be alone in a strange place. Would she find work? A place to
live? Friends?

“It’s not much farther.”
Nathaniel shifted as if making himself more comfortable, but
Alexandra couldn’t help noticing the brace his body gave hers when
he settled back again. She was grateful, for it softened the
jarring of the carriage.

“Do you think the duke
will trade Richard for Lord Clifton?” she whispered, eyeing the
sleeping marquess.

Nathaniel cocked an
eyebrow at her. “I’m sure he’ll be more motivated to trade for his
son than some impostor from Manchester.” Alexandra caught the gleam
of Nathaniel’s teeth as he flashed her a grin.

“Still, I’m... I’m afraid
of what might happen,” she admitted, focusing the brunt of her
worries on Nathaniel and his situation instead of her own. “How can
you keep yourself and your men safe? Even if Greystone releases
Richard, he’ll hunt you to the ends of the earth once he sees Lord
Clifton’s stump.”

“I know.”

“But what will you
do?”

“Whatever seems expedient
at the time.”

Alexandra let the subject
drop, too tired to push at the moment.

“Does your shoulder
trouble you a great deal?” he asked when she didn’t speak
again.

She nodded. “I’ll be glad
when we get there.”

Nathaniel tipped her head
onto his shoulder. “Perhaps you should try to rest. I’m afraid the
ride has been too much for you.” He gently stroked her cheek, then
paused in midmotion, his gaze cutting through the
darkness.

The marquess was awake and
was watching them, Alexandra realized.

“Do all your captives
receive such tender treatment?” he asked.

Nathaniel gave him a
scornful glare, but dropped his hand and turned to the
window.

After a few minutes more,
the carriage came to a stop. Alexandra felt the conveyance sway as
Samuel descended from the driver’s box and opened the door. “Broad
Street,” he announced as she sat up.

Nathaniel helped Alexandra
down. A sign hung off the road a few feet in front of them.
Alexandra squinted to see through the fog that curled around it,
expecting the name of some small inn. She was surprised to read the
words
dr. watts’s surgery and
remedies.

Glancing over her
shoulder, she realized that the others weren’t getting out. “Aren’t
they coming?” she asked.

“No. You need a doctor.
I’m going to leave you here.”

The impact of Nathaniel’s
words hit Alexandra like a fist. She hadn’t prepared herself to be
left quite so soon. To be separated from him. How could he drop her
off so casually?

Pride came to Alexandra’s
rescue, imbuing her with the strength to pull away and stand on her
own power. “I see.”

The pirate captain stared
at her with an inscrutable expression on his face. “Staying with us
is too dangerous,” he explained.

“Of course. I thank you
for bringing me.” Alexandra couldn’t help slipping into a more
formal tone. Whirling around, she poked her head inside the
carriage and said good-bye to the others before preceding Nathaniel
through a wrought iron gate that swung inward to a small
yard.

A brick path led to a
three-story building that was obviously part business and part
residence. A dim light escaped from beneath the door and gleamed
around the windows, indicating someone was still awake despite the
late hour.

“You’d better kiss me
good-bye here,” he told her when they reached the door.

Alexandra swallowed the
lump that had swelled in her throat. “And why would I want to do
that?” she asked, standing stiffly at his side.

“Because I don’t plan on
giving you a choice.” Pulling her into his arm, he kissed her
almost as thoroughly as he had at the inn, despite her efforts to
escape his hold.

“Aren’t you in a hurry?”
she asked when he finally let her go.

Nathaniel laughed. “Aye,
but knowing how much you like me, I couldn’t leave without a token
of your esteem.”

She glared up at him, and
he sobered.

“This is for your own
good,” he said, speaking softly. “Just remember that.”

When Alexandra didn’t
answer, Nathaniel sounded the brass knocker. Moments later a short
woman with plump arms opened the door.

“Is Dr. Watts available?”
he asked.

“Yes, sir. The doctor’s
just now returned from a house call. Is there an
emergency?”

“Not an emergency, but I
think a doctor is in order.”

“Come inside and have a
seat. I’ll get him directly.” She showed the two of them into a
comfortable-looking parlor where a large leather chair and cloth
settee sat opposite a coal fire. Alexandra sat down, but Nathaniel
remained standing.

When Dr. Watts appeared,
Alexandra thought he looked like the male counterpart of the woman
who had answered the door. Short, with a halo of white hair
circling his otherwise bald head, he had a ruddy face and a jovial
voice.

“Caught me, you did,” he
exclaimed. “And this time before I donned my
nightclothes.”

“Then our timing is good
after all. My name is Nathaniel Kent and this is my sister
Alexandra, er, Kent. We appreciate your willingness to see patients
at this hour.”

“Mr. Kent, I see patients
at any hour. It’s all part of the territory, you know. What seems
to be the problem?”

Alexandra tried to
memorize Nathaniel’s face as he explained her injury to the doctor.
The square jaw, the cleft chin—the blue eyes she could never
forget—the hollows of his cheeks, the broad brow. She felt an
inexplicable sense of panic at the thought of his leaving her, and
wanted to be able to conjure up his face at any moment. She would
go on and meet and marry another, she told herself, but she would
never forget Nathaniel.

She heard the pirate
captain say that he would cover all expenses. He negotiated a price
with the doctor, and Alexandra watched the money change hands. Then
Nathaniel hunkered down and pressed a roll of notes into her own
palm.

“This will buy you some
new dresses and other necessities.” He spoke briskly, as though
eager to be on his way.

“And what shall I do with
your clothes?” Alexandra asked numbly. Nathaniel had told Dr. Watts
that he’d check back with him in a few days, but she knew it wasn’t
true. Worse, she had told Nathaniel that this was what she
wanted.

It
was
what she wanted, wasn’t
it?

“It doesn’t matter.” He
glanced over his shoulder through the window. “I’d better get
going.”

“Of course.” Alexandra
managed a brave smile, wondering what Dr. Watts thought of the two
of them and their strange, unemotional parting. No doubt he
wondered about her wearing men’s clothing and having a gunshot
wound besides.

“Good-bye.” Nathaniel bent
and kissed the top of her head, then strode briskly to the
door.

“Nathaniel?” Alexandra now
wished she hadn’t wasted her opportunity at the door to give him a
proper good-bye.

He turned back, his dark
hair shining in the glow from the kerosene lamp on the table beside
him.

“Be careful,” she
said.

He nodded as he stepped
out, and the housekeeper closed the door behind him.

Nathaniel refused to look
back. He climbed into the carriage, hurrying to leave before he
changed his mind. This was what Alexandra had asked him to do —to
take her to London—and it was for the best. She’d nearly died once
because of him. He wasn’t about to risk her again. He wouldn’t lose
her as he had Martha.

But if their parting was
predestined, if it was for the best, why did he feel as though his
heart was being torn from his chest?

“Take us to the Golden
Crown,” he called out to Samuel.

Clifton’s gaze immediately
fastened to him, and Nathaniel resisted the urge to punch his half
brother in the face. The marquess had talked and flirted with
Alexandra the whole of the previous day, just to goad him. And it
had worked far better than Nathaniel wanted to admit.

The carriage stopped again
a few minutes later, and Samuel announced Charing Cross. Nathaniel
motioned the others out, then drew his knife and waved Clifton to
the door. “Don’t make a sound in the
lobby,” he breathed, “Or the spectacle that others see will
be your murder.”

Nathaniel didn’t have to
force the sincerity that rang in his voice. At that moment he was
looking for an opportunity, and he hoped Clifton knew
it.

Garth rented several rooms
in the large coaching inn, where one could get lost in a
crowd.

Nathaniel followed behind
the marquess as Garth led the way past a plethora of pictures,
porcelains, and knickknacks arranged on polished mahogany tables.
Heavy wood settees and chairs were clustered in groups on a thick
pile rug, and blue silk draperies puddled on the floor.

The halls were long and
dimly lit, with a water closet at the end of each one. Garth
stopped at a room that corresponded to the number on his key and
opened the door as Nathaniel motioned Clifton inside.

“Keep a close eye on him,”
Nathaniel said, his eyes burning with the need for sleep. “If
there’s another incident like last night, he won’t survive to tell
about it.”

The marquess jerked his
arm away from Nathaniel’s hand and entered the room with Garth.
“Sleep well while you can, Dragonslayer,” he taunted over his
shoulder. “It won’t be long before our roles are
reversed.”

Garth gave Nathaniel a
pointed look. “Are you sure he’s safe with me?”

“After the beating you
gave him last night, I’m not,” Nathaniel responded. “But at this
point, I’d just as soon put him out of his misery.” He tossed Tiny
a key. “Tiny, you tie him up. You’ll stay across the hall with
John.”

* * *

“But the doctor said
you’re not strong enough to go anywhere,” the doctor’s housekeeper
protested when Alexandra tried to get up. “You need to
rest.”

“I need to purchase some
fabric so I can make a dress, and I need to find work,” Alexandra
argued from one of four beds that lined the wall of the
dormitory-style room.

The housekeeper, whose
name was Mrs. Tuttle, clucked her tongue. “What if I brought you
some cloth? Then you could work right here. The doctor is gone, and
I don’t know when he’ll return, but I’m sure Mr. Kent has already
paid for you to stay for several days yet.”

Alexandra fell back on the
pillows. She’d been up most of the night trying to understand why
she felt so despondent. She was finally in London, and though she
wasn’t with her aunt as she had planned, she was still away from
Willy. Nathaniel had kept his word and let her go. She had enough
money to get a start. Yet she had never felt so abandoned and alone
in her life.

She was just overly
concerned about the future, she decided. Anyone would be frightened
when faced with the prospect of suddenly earning one’s keep as a
stranger in such a big city. Alexandra knew she wouldn’t be able to
relax until she had a few basics settled in her life, such as a
more permanent place to stay, and employment.

Thinking about the
seamstresses who were most likely sewing in the garret of her old
home at that very moment, Alexandra felt a sharp sense of loss. But
she dared not dwell on her friends for fear the temptation to cry
would overwhelm her.

Forcing her attention back
to the concerned Mrs. Tuttle, she decided the housekeeper was
right. She was in no shape to venture forth today. Tomorrow would
be soon enough. “If you could bring me a large piece of broadcloth,
then,” she said, “I’ll work from my bed.”

The woman’s ruddy face
broke into a smile.