The Regency Season: Gentleman Rogues. Margaret McPhee

      ‘It is what they call me here.’

      She gave a small smile. The smile faded as she passed the letter to him. ‘Maybe I should not have brought it here, but I thought...’ She stopped as her father scrutinised the address penned upon it. ‘The writing is not of Kit’s hand, but even so... Someone might have seen him. Someone might know his whereabouts.’

      Her father said nothing, but she saw the slight tremble in his fingers as he broke the red-wax seal and opened the letter. He held it at arm’s length to read it since his spectacles were long gone.

      She swallowed, her throat suddenly dry with anticipation. Rubbed her clammy palms together and waited. Waited until she could wait no more.

      ‘Is it good news?’

      Her father finished reading and looked up at her. ‘It is the best of news, Emma...’

      The breath she had been holding escaped in a gasp. Her heart leapt. The terrible tight tension that held her rigid relaxed.

      ‘...but it does not concern your brother.’

      The warm happiness flowing through her turned cold. She glanced up at her father. ‘I do not understand.’

      ‘The letter is from Mrs Tadcaster, who was second cousin to your mama. She writes to say that the Dowager Lady Lamerton’s companion has run off with one of the footmen.’

      ‘Why is that good news?’

      ‘Because, my dear—’ he smiled ‘—the dowager is in need of a new companion, a woman of gentle breeding who would understand what was required of her and might start in the position with immediate effect.’

      The penny dropped. Emma suddenly realised why her mother’s cousin had written to impart such trivial gossip. She knew where this was leading. And she should have been glad. Indeed, had it been only a few weeks ago she would have been. But much had happened in those weeks and the feeling in the pit of her stomach was not one of gladness.

      ‘Mrs Tadcaster had spoken to her ladyship of you and Lady Lamerton has agreed to take you on as her companion.’

      Emma could not say a word.

      ‘Such sudden and surprising news after all this time. Little wonder you are shocked.’

      She was shocked, but not for the reasons her father thought.

      We need to talk when I return.

      That sounds serious.

      It is. Will you wait for me?

      Ned’s words and all they might mean had not left her mind since yesterday. Her stomach felt hollow.

      ‘I cannot go.’

      ‘Why ever not?’ He stared at her

      How could she tell him about Ned? Not a gentleman, but a Whitechapel man. A man who was tougher and more dangerous than all he had warned her against. A man who could best five men in a tavern fight and who had worked on these same docks. A man who made magic somersault in her stomach and passion beat through her blood. Whose kiss she wanted to last for ever...and who had implied he wanted a future with her.

      ‘I could not possibly contemplate leaving you here alone.’

      ‘Nonsense. It would be a weight off my mind to know that you were living a safe, respectable life with the Dowager Lady Lamerton. Do you not think I have enough to worry over with Kit?’

      ‘I understand that, but you need not worry over me.’

      ‘You are a serving wench in a tavern.’

      ‘It is a chop-house, Papa,’ she corrected him out of force of habit.

      ‘Emma, chop-house or tavern, it makes no difference. Do you think I do not know the manner of men with whom you must deal? Do you think there is a night goes by I am not sick with worry until Tom sees you safely home and I hear you coming through that front door?’

      She felt guilt turn in her stomach at the thought of him worrying so much while she enjoyed being with Ned.

      ‘Were you with Lady Lamerton, I could find lodgings closer to the docks. There are always fellows looking for someone to share the rent on a single room. It would be easier for me. Cheaper. More convenient. And they are a good enough bunch in here. Tease me a bit, but that is the extent of it.’

      ‘Lady Lamerton will see this as an opportunity to glean every last detail of our scandal from me. You know she is chief amongst the gossipmongers and has a nose like a bloodhound.’

      ‘Clarissa Lamerton likes to be queen of the ton’s gossip, not its subject. She will grill you herself, but protect you from all others. What is this sudden change of heart, Emma? This argument is usually the other way around. You have always been so strong and committed to returning to society and tracing Kit.’

      Emma glanced away.

      ‘Lady Lamerton’s ability to discover information is all the more reason to accept the position. You would be well placed, in one of the best households in London, to hear news of Kit. Lady Lamerton’s son has an association with Whitehall. Rest assured young Lamerton will hear if there is anything to be heard and thus, too, his mother. You have to take this opportunity, Emma, for Kit’s sake and mine, as well as for your own. You know that without me telling you.’

      She did. That was the problem. She understood too well what he was saying and the truth in it.

      ‘If you stay here, you are lost. It is only a matter of time before one of these men makes you his own. Indeed, it is a miracle that it has not already happened.’

      She glanced down at the floor beneath their feet so that he would not see the truth in her eyes.

      But he reached over and tilted her face up to his. ‘You are a beautiful young woman, the very image of your mother when I met and married her. I want a better life for you than that which a husband from round here could offer you.’

      She wanted to tell him so much, of Ned and all that was between them, but she could not. Not now, not when her duty was so pressing.

      ‘As if I would have a husband from round here.’ Her forced smile felt like a grimace.

      Will you wait for me? In her mind she could see that soul-searching look in Ned’s eyes.

      And hear her own reply. I am not going anywhere, Ned Stratham...I will wait.

      ‘I am glad you have not forgotten your vow to your mother, Emma.’

      ‘How could I ever forget?’ She never would, never could. Family was family. A vow was just that, even if it was at the expense of her own happiness. She felt like her heart was torn between her family and the man she loved.

      She told herself that Ned might not love her, that she might have misunderstood what it was he wanted to talk to her of. After all, he had made no promises or declarations, and despite all those late-night conversations and all their passion, they knew so little of each other. But in her heart, she knew.

      She knew, but it did not change what she had to do.

      ‘You know you have to take this chance, Emma.’ Her father’s eyes scanned hers.

      ‘Yes.’ One small word to deny the enormity of what was in her heart.

      ‘I will go past the mail-receiving office on the way home, pay for paper and some ink and write to Mrs Tadcaster.’

      She gave a nod.

      ‘Let me escort you from this place.’

      Emma placed her hand on his arm and walked with him, without noticing the shirtless men who stopped working to watch her pass with silent appreciation.

      She was thinking of all the days and nights she had worked so hard to escape Whitechapel, of all the times she had prayed for just such an opportunity. And now that her prayer had finally been