Maria’s lips thinned and her shoulders sagged slightly, her eyes dimming with resignation.
“Very well,” she sighed. “Do follow me.”
He flipped their driver a coin and followed Maria toward a set of old bachelor apartments above a cobbler. His eyebrows lifted and he glanced at Maria’s profile in curiosity. Her jaw was set, her queued hair mussed beneath her hat, and there was a sort of determined acceptance in her gaze.
Bloody hell, whatwasthis place, and who could possibly be there to call upon?
They strode through a narrow, begrimed foyer and up three flights of stairs before turning down a short hallway. She stopped before a door and turned to him.
“I…” Her lips thinned, and she straightened her shoulders before continuing. “I need just a moment, if you please. There is something that I must do.”
With that enigmatic statement, she pressed the latch and squeezed herself through the narrow crack of the door—before she closed it in his face.
* * *
On quick feet,Maria darted from their small, open foyer and into the main corridor. “Thomas!” she hissed.
“Maria,” Thomas returned from another room. “You’ve arrived in time.” He paused to grunt several times before continuing, his voice growing louder as they drew closer. “Mrs. Fredrickson made mince pies this morning, and—oh. Whatever is the matter?”
Maria hurried toward him, her index finger extended over her lips in a gesture of silence. Guilt swam nauseatingly in her abdomen as she spoke softly, “You must hide.”
His brows drew together and his eyes flared in alarm. “Why? What has happened?”
“The Duke of Derby is just beyond our door,” she whispered. “We were attacked by Francis. He chased us through the London particular…” Maria quickly outlined the fracas with Francis, carefully omitting her tryst with Jasper. “Once we could summon a hack, we came directly here.”
Worry filled his gaze as he looked her over. “Is the duke a danger to you?”
“No!” she lied, shaking her head. The man was most certainly a danger to her heart. She cleared her throat. “Not at all, I assure you. In fact, we are engaged.”
“Engaged! But what of?—”
“I simply cannot…” She hesitated, her mind racing.
In more than eight years, no one that had metMr. Robertsonhad thought she was a woman. And it had felt…good. She’d built a life in which she could move as freely as possible, being who she was. Already, Jasper had learned part of the truth. She couldn’t have him learning the rest, and unravelling her carefully built life.
“I cannot have him know about you,” she concluded lamely.
Awareness dawned on Thomas’ face, and he paled. Maria hid a grimace, guilt swelling in her chest.
“I apologize, Thomas. It is not for the reason that you might believe. I simply cannot ha?—”
“Do not concern—grunt—yourself with me,” he said, his voice gruff and a self-deprecating smile on his handsome face. “I will lock myself in my bedchamber. You will not hear—grunt, click—anything from me. I’ve a new coat to sew.” He pressed a quick kiss to her cheek and walked stiffly down the corridor.
Drat.The guilt swirling through her increased to the point of nausea, but she swallowed it down. She must make amends with him later on, but for the moment, she would deal with Jasper.
As swiftly as she could, she raced to her writing desk, carefully tucked her current manuscript into a drawer, and locked it. She arranged the items casually on the desk’s surface before slipping the small key into her pocket.
* * *
The door swung inward,pulling with it a rush of air from around Jasper. The impatience that had filled him just moments before was swept away, replaced by fresh curiosity and admiration for Maria, whose hair was pulling from the once-neat queue and whose cheeks were flushed a delicious pink.
He wanted to taste her lips once more, but he resisted.
“Please come in.” She stepped aside, allowing him to pass into the room.
Jasper was immediately hit with the scents of ink, parchment, leather, and a hint of mince pies on the air. He could smell Maria there.
“Is this yours?” he inquired.
