Chapter 9

She avoided him the next week, the same as Caleb avoided her. He’d struggled back up to his room that day, growling beneath his breath that she’d abandoned him just when he needed her most.

But as hard as Caleb tried not to think of her, he couldn’t put her out of his mind. He couldn’t forget the kiss they’d shared. Or what that kiss told him: she was a very passionate woman and was starved for love.

Caleb was realistic enough to know that he could never be the person a countess, much less the granddaughter of a duke, could love. But even if he could never profess his love for Lady Eleanor, that didn’t mean he could never love her. He would simply have to keep his love for her to himself.

Caleb finished dressing, grateful that he no longer had to hop about the room keeping the weight off the injured leg. He’d worked hard to regain his strength, and with the help of his cane, he was able to walk with little pain. It was time he took his turn watching the grounds. Time he accompanied Lady Eleanor to London to rescue any children Granny Carver might have found.

The men who’d come to patrol the grounds were sharp and congenial and gave him the sense of security he would expect. But how long would they stay if things remained as tame as they had? On the one hand he thanked God for that. On the other, he needed this crisis to come to a head so he could put it to rest once and for all.

Caleb made his way through the kitchen, and after greeting Cook and her helpers, he exited through the back entrance and walked out to where the children were playing.

He’d missed them, and even though groups of the children had come to walk with him every day, it wasn’t like being with them while they played. It wasn’t the same as when they ran to him and clamored for his unique brand of tumble and toss.

He walked around the corner of the manor house and caught sight of the children, and for several unobserved moments he was able to watch them before he was spotted.

“Captain!” one of the children shouted.

Before he could shout a reply, a group of about twenty ran toward him.

“Captain! Captain! You’re here!”

“Have you come to play ball with us?”

“Are you all weller today?”

“Watch how far I can throw the ball, Captain.”

En masse, the children gathered around and hugged him.

He thought he’d experienced just about everything life had to offer, but he’d never experienced this. It was so full of joy. So grand.

“Children,” she said from behind the raucous jumble. “Do be careful. Captain Parker is still recovering.”

The children stopped jumping up and down in the excitement, but they still remained close.

Lady Eleanor’s voice skimmed over him like wind from beneath a dove’s wing, and he turned to face her. This was the first time he’d seen her since they’d shared the kiss. His heart began to skitter and jump, as if it might grow large enough to fill his entire chest. He’d never felt like this before. And he knew he always would whenever he saw her.

“Show me how far you can throw the ball, Robby,” he said, struggling to break the effect she had on him.

The children ran to the open lawn and took turns showing him how much they’d improved since he’d been injured.

“Come sit,” she said, leading him to a bench beneath a large shade tree.

She shifted the small babe she carried, and the child cooed.

“Mistress Molly?” Caleb asked. But he knew it was the child the moment he saw her bright blue eyes peering out from the blanket.

“Yes, would you like to hold her?”

He needed no encouragement but took the tiny bundle from Lady Eleanor. He kept his eyes focused on the babe as he sat, but that didn’t mean it was she who occupied his mind. He was able to think of nothing but Eleanor when he was this close to her.

“You appear to be doing much better,” she said.

“I am. I’m healing.” He tugged the blanket away from the child and cradled her. Her tiny fists waved as if she wanted to touch him but couldn’t quite get her little arms to cooperate.

“Good.”

“I’ve missed you.” The words just came out of their own accord.

“Don’t,” she answered without turning her gaze to him.

“I shouldn’t have kissed you, Eleanor.”

“No, you shouldn’t have. And I shouldn’t have reacted as I did.”

A strange silence stretched between them, broken only by Caleb’s occasional bits of jabber with the infant.

“Can you forget what happened if I give you my word that I will never kiss you again?” He turned his head toward Lady Eleanor, needing to see her unguarded reaction to his words.

Her gaze dropped to her hands that fidgeted in her lap. “You know that’s impossible.”

“Yes, I suppose it is.” Caleb shifted the child to lie across his knees, and without prompting she grasped his forefingers with her tiny fingers. Hanging on to him. Finding in him her courage to look up at the world. He wished Eleanor would look at him like that. Find her courage in him. “So what do you suggest we do?”

Lady Eleanor breathed a deep sigh that indicated the same agonizing emotions he felt. “I suggest we continue as we had been before the . . . well, before.”

“I suppose that’s our only choice,” he answered without looking at her. “Although that will take a great deal of effort on my part.”

Eleanor rose to her feet. “An effort I’m sure you will manage,” she said, then turned toward the house.

“Yes, an effort I’m sure we’ll both manage,” he whispered to himself. When hell freezes over.

. . .

Eleanor put on her cloak and bonnet, then left the manor house. The carriage was waiting, and Willie was already on the driver’s bench.

It was Thursday night. This was the second time she’d have to go to London without Captain Parker. She should have been relieved that he wasn’t well enough to go and she wouldn’t have to guard her emotions, but after the lecture he’d given her when she went last Thursday without telling him, she knew she was treading on thin ice.

She couldn’t count the number of times she’d relived the kiss they’d shared. She couldn’t recall the number of dreams she’d had about him. She couldn’t remember how often she’d ached to find herself in his arms.

She tied her bonnet beneath her chin with a firm tug. When she lifted her head, her eyes locked with the captain’s. “You’re not strong enough to travel to London,” she said.

He smiled. “Thank you for your concern, my lady.”

“You’re going to ignore me, aren’t you?”

“Actually, I’m going to assist you into the carriage so we can be on our way.”

He held out his arm, and Eleanor took his hand as he escorted her outside. She stepped into the carriage, and he stepped up behind her. Without the aid of his cane. The carriage lurched forward as soon as the door closed behind them.

They were both silent for several moments, but Eleanor knew it was only a matter of time before he brought up the kiss they’d shared. She only hoped that when he did, it wouldn’t be to apologize.

“I’m not going to apologize for kissing you, duchess. Because I don’t regret it. And because I don’t think you do, either.”

Eleanor felt her cheeks warm. “No, I don’t regret it. I only realize that nothing can come of it.”

She expected him to argue with her. Instead, he surprised her by saying, “You’re right, of course. Nothing can ever come of it. I would never presume anything so preposterous.”

His words confused her. “Preposterous? Why preposterous?”

“Even if you are able to forget our stations, I cannot.”

“You mean because I’m a countess?”

“And the granddaughter of the Duke of Hampstam. And I’m the son of a common laborer. You would forever be ridiculed if word of an association between us ever reached Society’s ears. I would be accused of pursuing you for your title and your wealth.”

“And you could not abide that,” she said, not as a question, but because she already knew the answer.

“No, I could not abide being labeled a fortune hunter.”

“Then it’s good that I’m not interested in finding another husband,” she said, knowing that it was a true statement. Even if it was a painful one to make.

They sat in silence for several minutes before he spoke. He changed the subject as though deciding not to dwell on the disheartening topic.

“She fell asleep in my lap, you know.”

Eleanor started, then turned a curious look on Caleb.

“Mistress Molly. She fell asleep. Right there in my lap.”

Eleanor blushed. She’d left the babe with him and returned to the house, so embroiled in the emotions their chat had unleashed that she had never even thought about the child. Not once. She’d left him there to get the babe back to the nursery on his own.

“Ah. I suspected she might.”

“That’s why you left her?”

“Oh. Oh yes. I knew . . .” She cleared her throat. “I knew it would be good for her to take some air. And to . . . to—”

“You forgot her, didn’t you, duchess.” His statement shattered the response she was struggling to make.

“What!”

“You forgot her. It was so hard for you to sit there next to me in the shade, trying so hard not to kiss each other, that you just walked away.”

“Captain Parker!”

He grinned. “But you’re over that now, aren’t you. I can see that.”

She turned her face toward the street, refusing to look at him. He shouldn’t have been so free with his thoughts. But how could she reprimand him when every word he spoke was the wicked truth?

“The two little sisters you rescued last week seem to be adjusting very quickly,” he commented.

Eleanor sighed. His ability to change the subject was second to none.

At last she spoke past the lump in her throat. “There were three, actually. A baby boy at Mary Warren’s and two little sisters at Dora Stafford’s. They’re just five and three, and they’ve already seen far too much of the kind of world Blackboot would groom them for.”

“No wonder Blackboot wants to shut you down. He has to be noticing a difference in the number of available children at the rate you’re taking them from his bailiwick.”

“What do you think his next move will be?” she asked.

He hesitated. “To discover how you’re able to take the children without him noticing.”

Eleanor felt a stabbing of fear for Mary and Granny and Dora.

“I’ve hired men to guard them,” he said, as if he knew what she was thinking. “They’re safe so far.”

“I can’t allow them to put their lives in danger. There’s no telling what Blackboot will do if he discovers that they’re helping me. Those dear women will just have to stop collecting the children.”

“Then Blackboot wins,” he answered.

A painful knot formed in the pit of her stomach. “Then what will we do?”

“We have to stop Blackboot.”

“How?”

“I’m not sure yet,” he said. “But this won’t end until he’s stopped.”

Eleanor didn’t have a chance to ask more. They were in London and nearing Mary Warren’s. There was a light in the window. The carriage slowed, then stopped, and the captain dismounted to help Eleanor. Instead of waiting for her to return with the child, he walked in with her.

The child was a girl of about ten named Peggy. She had several scratches and bruises on her arms and face.

“This one’s lucky to be here,” Mary said. “Blackboot’s men nearly had her, but she fought them and got away. She’s a quick one, she is.”

Eleanor wrapped a shawl around the girl’s shoulders and gathered her into her arms.

“Where were you when Blackboot’s men grabbed you?” the captain asked the girl.

“On Whitechapel and Mile End,” she answered shyly. “Most times I don’t go there ’cause all of us know it ain’t safe. Blackboot’s men hide in the alleyways and grab you.”

“Well, you’re safe now,” Eleanor said, giving the girl another hug.

“How did you know to come to Mary’s?” the captain asked.

“One of the older girls told me. Her name’s Sophie. After Blackboot’s men grabbed me, she told me I needed to come here.” The girl lifted a tearful gaze to Eleanor. “I wanted her to come with me, but she said it was too late for her.”

Caleb settled the girl in the carriage while Lady Grattling informed Mary that they’d make their collection on Wednesdays for a few weeks, just to keep Blackboot guessing. “Let’s get you to Southern Oaks and get you settled in, Peggy. Maybe later you can help me find Sophie, and we’ll see if we can’t talk her into coming home with us.”

They stepped into the carriage and made the rounds to Granny Carver’s and Dora Stafford’s, but the windows were dark.

The captain was silent on the return trip to Southern Oaks. Eleanor guessed that was because he was formulating a plan to eliminate Virgil Blackboot.

. . .

Caleb knew it was only a matter of time until Blackboot discovered one of the three places Eleanor used to rescue the children. And when he did, something terrible would happen to the women. And Eleanor would never forgive herself for putting them in danger. He had to eliminate Blackboot and do it quickly.

That prompted him to return to London the next day and pay a visit to the authorities. The inspector became quite interested when Caleb mentioned Virgil Blackboot’s name. The dark-hearted fellow was known to him as having been involved in several heinous crimes the force was investigating. But his men hadn’t been able to capture Blackboot and prosecute him. As Caleb revealed his plan, the inspector became more than eager to work with him.

“This is just the break we’ve been looking for,” Inspector Jeffers said. “But I want you to work closely only with me.” Jeffers pushed out of his chair and walked around his desk. “I’m afraid there’s a double-dealer in my office.”

“What makes you think that?”

Jeffers looked mystified. “I only know that every time we go after Blackboot, he’s already gone. It’s as if he knows what we’re going to do before we do it.”

“Can you be sure he won’t hear of our plan?”

“I’m going to tell only two of my most trusted agents. I’ll keep everyone else in the dark until the plan is afoot.”

Caleb nodded. This would work. It had to.

Now he needed to explain the ploy to Eleanor and convince her to go along with it. Her lovely face flashed before him, rich with concern for her children. She’d go to any lengths to keep them safe. But this plan might just be more than even she could agree to.