Chapter Sixteen
The bare wood floor creaked in protest as Tina slowly walked along the narrow hallway toward the door at the end of the abandoned factory. She shrieked and stopped in her tracks as a rat scampered past.
Robbie, who was following behind, laughed and nudged her gently forward. “Come on, love. It ain’t gonna hurt you.”
Tina took in a shaky breath as she resumed walking toward the far door. “I don’t like this, Robbie. Why would he want to meet us in an abandoned, boarded-up old factory?”
“Don’t know and don’t care,” Robbie replied. “We just gotta give him the letters, and we’ll get our money.”
“I still don’t think it was right that you had to beat up that old footman that worked at Lady Sophie’s.” The matter had weighed heavily on Tina’s conscience ever since she’d learned of what Robbie had done.
“We’d fled the Crowleys’ remember? And how I else was I to get a position in Lady Sophie’s blooming household if I didn’t beat up one of her footmen?” Robbie bristled. “It created the perfect opening for me to obtain a position there and quickly, too. I’m doing this for us, Tina. Or have you forgotten?”
“I’m sorry, Robbie,” she quickly apologized. He was right. After all, he was only doing any of this to create a better life for the two of them. She should never have doubted his actions.
They came to a stop outside of the door of what appeared to be the old manager’s office. Tina looked at the brass knob but couldn’t bring herself to reach out toward it.
Robbie leaned over her and twisted the door handle. “It’ll be all right, love,” he reassured her as he pushed on the door and let it swing open.
It was unlocked, as the man’s instructions had said it would be. Carefully, she peered into the dusty gloom of the office within.
The windows were boarded shut, allowing only thin shafts of light to penetrate into the dank depths of the sparsely furnished room. There was an alcove at the far end with a tattered and dusty desk and chair, and a few other chairs were scattered throughout. The floor had an inch of grime covering it with small marks scattered across, which Tina highly suspected were rat footprints.
She shuddered slightly. “I don’t have a good feeling about this,” she said to Robbie, who was gently nudging her from behind to go further inside.
“I’ve told you there ain’t no need to worry.” He pushed her more firmly into the room. “We got all the mail she’s received in the last couple of weeks. That’ll surely reassure this blighter, and then the money’s as good as ours.”
He made a lap around the room. “He ain’t here yet.”
“Robbie, this don’t feel right.” She hurried across to him and grabbed his shirt with her free hand. “Let’s just go and forgot all about this. We can go to the country and start afresh.”
He jerked away and grabbed the letters from her other hand. “If you wanna leave, then leave,” he huffed, waving the envelopes in the air. “But I’m staying here and getting the money. These here are my ticket to a better life, and they can be yours, too.”
Tina wrung her hands together. “The man scares me, he does. He got soulless eyes, Robbie. Ain’t no good will come of this, I fear.”
“Tina, you ain’t got nothing to be scared over.” He took a hold of her chin and gently stroked it with his thumb. “I won’t let nothing happen to us both, all right?”
Inhaling deeply, she squared her shoulders. “Okay, Robbie, I trust ya. If you say it’ll be okay, I’ll believe ya.”
He grinned at her and gave her a quick hug. “That’s me girl.”
“You two really are very sweet.” The man’s voice echoed from the doorway, causing Tina to gasp. Once again, he was dressed all in black with a twisted smile etched onto his face. All of her senses were screaming at her to get out as fast as she could.
Robbie took a step forward, edging his body in front of hers. “This time you better have our money.”
“Oh, I have your reward,” the man’s voice purred. “Do you have the letter?”
His breath hitching slightly, Robbie gestured with the mail he held. “I was able to take all the letters delivered from the last few weeks, and I searched her room and writing desk.”
The man slowly entered the room, his movements deliberate and precise as he closed the door behind him. “That is not answering my question, now is it?” he drawled.
“Look, I got a pile of letters that were on Lady Sophie’s desk, and I got the letters she’d already opened.” Robbie flattened his mouth in consternation. “Can’t read good, can I, so don’t know if one of them is from this Jane or not.”
“Give them here then so I can see,” the man demanded, motioning with his hand for Robbie to pass them.
Her fiancé got too close to the man for Tina’s peace of mind, thrusting the envelopes into his chest. “Now give us our money.”
The man rifled through the stack of letters. “Are you sure this is everything?”
“Yeah, it is,” Robbie said.
“What about you?” The man zeroed in on Tina, his flat gaze nearly making her jolt. “Did you have any luck finding out if Lady Sophie got the letter or not?”
She felt her heart slam in her chest at the close scrutiny. “I went there and, well…” She licked her lips. “Lady Sophie didn’t know nothing about no letter from her. She didn’t even know Jane had left the Crowleys’.”
The man walked over to the alcove and around to the desk. He dropped the envelopes onto its surface and then pulled open the drawer. “That is very good indeed.” He motioned to them both. “I have your money in here.”
Robbie eagerly strode over to him. Tina started forward but stopped when her attention was caught by a shaft of light glinting off an object the man pulled out. She stood transfixed, unable to do anything but watch as she realized too slowly that the object was a silver dagger.
A scream tore from her chest when the man plunged the blade deep into her fiancé’s chest.
Robbie grunted and stumbled back a few steps, the white of his shirt quickly turning crimson from his blood. He looked down at the knife protruding from his ribs, an expression of puzzlement on his face.
Tina felt frozen to the spot.
The man stepped toward him and reached for the dagger with both hands. As he latched onto the hilt, Robbie wrapped his hands over the man’s. A hoarse cry ripped from his body as he looked up at Tina. “Run!”
The man swore violently as he grappled with Robbie.
A terror unlike any she had ever known gripped her as she whirled toward the door and ran.
“Do not make me chase you!” the man’s harsh voice yelled from behind.
She glanced back for a second before she reached for the doorknob, her heart thumping in her chest. Tears streamed down her face after she glimpsed the man pushing Robbie’s inert body from him.
She wrenched the door open and ran as fast as her legs would carry her down the hallway. Oh God, help her, Robbie was dead, and she would be next if she didn’t get away.
The heavy sounds of his footsteps pounding after her would live in her nightmares.
…
“Look, here we are,” Sophie said to Nicholas as she pointed through the carriage window to the orphanage. She looked toward the sandstone building and smiled. It was simple and clean, and besides her family’s country estate Cranbrook, probably her most favorite place in the world.
Nearly eight years had passed since she had helped restore the dilapidated building into a fully functioning orphanage, and unlike most of the other orphanages in London, Grey Street actually felt like a home to the fifty orphaned children that lived there. If marriage to the Duke was what would ensure that the children’s safety and sanctuary was kept secure, then she was more than willing to enter into it.
Sophie saw both the headmistress of the orphanage, Mrs. Maggie O’Halloran, and Mr. Baker were already waiting for her at the entrance to the building. If the worry lines etched on their faces were anything to go by, they both looked as if sleep had eluded them the night before.
“Mr. Baker has just told me of the terrible news,” Maggie called out as she rushed forward toward the street where the carriage had pulled up. “Are the children to be thrown out into the streets then?”
Sophie lifted the hem of her skirt slightly and stepped out onto the footpath. Maggie halted a few feet from her, with Mr. Baker following closely behind.
“There is nothing to fret over,” Sophie quickly reassured them. “You will both be overjoyed to learn that Grey Street is safe.” She raised her hand toward the carriage door. “Come, Nicholas,” she said. “I shall introduce you to the headmistress of the orphanage and to my man of affairs.”
Nicholas stood at the top of the carriage entry and raised an eyebrow. “Now yer remember yer promise not to leave me here, don’t ya?”
Sophie regarded him solemnly. “Of course I do, and I hope you remember my promise to you.”
“Yep, I do.” Nicholas bobbed his head. “All right then, let’s go.”
He reached for her hand with his right, his left hand already tightly gripping his wooden sword. He stepped down the two small carriage steps to the cobblestones beneath.
“Sophie,” Maggie said, “what do you mean that Grey Street is safe? How can you be sure?”
“Yes, Lady Sophie,” Mr. Baker added, “the Duke is not known to be a bleeding heart.”
She felt her heart squeeze at the sight of both of them twisting their hands together into knots. “Truly, I have sorted it all out with the Duke. The orphanage will be fine. In fact, better than fine.”
Maggie placed both of her hands on her hips. “Mr. Baker told me of you visiting the Devil’s Lair last night,” she said, her Irish brogue thicker than normal.
“Mr. Baker! I considered that a private matter,” Sophie admonished, sending him an accusatory stare.
“I am sorry, Lady Sophie,” Mr. Baker said. “I simply did not know what else to do.”
“Don’t you apologize for telling me, Mr. Baker,” Maggie scolded him before returning her attention to Sophie and jabbing an indignant finger in her direction. “We might not be related by blood, lass, but your dear mother was my dearest friend in the entire word, and after all these years, you know I consider us to be like family! Of course Mr. Baker was right to tell me of such an occurrence.”
Sophie could not help but feel slightly guilty. She had known Maggie O’Halloran since she was a little girl, when she had first visited the orphanage with her mother over twenty years ago. Every season when they were in London, Sophie would spend most of her time with Maggie and her mother, playing with the children and then later helping to teach them to read and write.
Then when her mother had passed away and her father had moved Sophie’s brother and her to London permanently, every chance Sophie had gotten, she would spend her time at the orphanage with Maggie and the children. Maggie O’Halloran really had been a rock in her life after her mother had died.
“Maggie, I am sorry,” Sophie admitted, “but I did not wish for Mr. Baker to tell you, as I knew you would be concerned and react just so.”
“React just so?” Maggie said, sounding highly incredulous. “Lass, what were you thinking visiting that Devil alone? You could have been compro—”
“Before you say too much,” Sophie quickly interrupted, “perhaps now would be an appropriate time to formally introduce you both to Nicholas Delaney, the Duke of Huntington’s ward.” She looked down at him and smiled in reassurance. “This is Mrs. O’Halloran and Mr. Baker.”
He looked at them both and narrowed his eyes, then pointed his sword toward Mrs. O’Halloran. “Lady Sophie wouldn’t visit no Devil last night! You take them words back right away!”
Sophie pressed her lips tightly together to stop the laughter that was about to emerge. She cleared her throat. “Nicholas, a gentleman does not point his sword at a lady, regardless of the provocation.”
“But she’s telling lies about ya!” he grumbled as he slowly lowered his sword toward the ground.
“Well, she’s not exactly telling lies, she was—”
“I was wrong,” Maggie interrupted as she bent down to Nicholas’ height. “My apologies, lad.”
Nicholas slanted a somewhat skeptical look at the woman. “All right then.”
“Good,” Sophie said. “Now that that is sorted, let us go inside.” She gave his hand a small squeeze. “You might like to play with the kittens the orphanage cat gave birth to only a month ago; they are delightful and very little.”
“I ain’t never seen kittens before,” he exclaimed with a sudden spring in his step.
“Well, you shall have an excellent time then,” Sophie replied as she led Nicholas down the short path and through the front doors. She looked back over her shoulder at Maggie and Mr. Baker, who were following them toward the entrance.
A few minutes later, the adults were ensconced around Maggie’s desk, while Nicholas played with the kittens in the far corner.
“You cannot agree to such a thing,” Maggie blurted aloud after Sophie had recounted, in somewhat limited detail, the deal she and the Duke had struck.
“I can, and I have,” Sophie replied, quickly looking over to the far side of the room where Nicholas was happily playing with the kittens, ensuring he was out of earshot.
“I agree with Mrs. O’Halloran. Lady Sophie, you cannot marry the Devil,” Mr. Baker implored.
“Why does everyone persist in calling him that?” Sophie said, throwing her hands up in the air.
“Well, if the shoe fits,” Maggie said, “it fits. Now, Mr. Baker, would you kindly give Lady Sophie and me a moment?”
“Of course, Mrs. O’Halloran, of course,” Mr. Baker replied as he headed across to the other side of the room to where Nicholas was.
The woman returned her full attention to Sophie, tugging on her thick red braid as she analyzed the situation. “Is the boy the Duke’s?” she whispered, though loudly enough that Mr. Baker probably could still hear her. There was nothing quiet about Maggie O’Halloran.
“No, he is not. He is the son of a very good friend of the Duke’s who passed away recently.” Sophie exhaled. “Devlin is actually doing a very noble deed by becoming his guardian. Why do people continually think the worst of him?”
“Well, Lassie, if it quacks like a duck and waddles like a duck, it generally is a duck.” Maggie stated. “The Devil Duke has had a notorious reputation for far too long for people to simply think the best of him.”
Sophie crossed her arms over her chest. “Need I remind you, Maggie O’Halloran, that the Devil Duke, as you persist on calling him, is going to sign over the deed to the orphanage to me, along with agreeing to donate one thousand pounds per month to Grey Street! That is a phenomenal amount of money. It will allow us to fully implement the trade school. Surely those are not the actions of a devil?”
“Don’t you Maggie O’Halloran me, my girl! Marriage to such a philanderer is an awfully steep price to pay for the deed and a trade school,” she protested. “Marriage is for a lifetime, and not just anyone’s lifetime, but for your lifetime, Sophie. It is a very long time to be shackled to a rake.”
“If you must know, he promised to try to be faithful.” Her voice sounded small, even to her own ears.
“Try to be faithful?” Maggie’s voice was laced with incredulity. “You don’t actually believe that, do you, girl?” she asked, pity radiating from her kind eyes. “Not after seeing how poorly your father treated your dear mother, lording his conquests of other ladies over her, caring naught for how deeply she loved him and how much his affairs cut her to her very core?”
Sophie felt her stomach tighten as she remembered the haunting look on her mother’s face the last time she had learned of another of her husband’s affairs. The next day, when her brother had told her that her mother had succumbed to a terrible fever, Sophie had known that what Elizabeth Wolcott had actually died from was a broken heart.
She shook away the memory. Her mother may have fallen hopelessly in love with a rake, but Sophie would not make the same mistake. Not matter how much she was attracted to one.
“I know how much you loved my mother,” Sophie said. “But trust me, I learned my lesson from her. I have absolutely no intention of falling in love with a rake.”