“It will be soon.” Netta took several deep breaths before setting her shoulders. She had a plan in place, and the means to implement it would soon be in her possession. Everything was under control. “I’m staying at Lord Summerset’s home on Grosvenor Street. If an engagement should be announced, send me a note at once.”
Dollie nodded. “Take care, child. I have faith everything will turn out right in the end.”
Netta embraced the woman then turned and slipped out of her family’s yard. She made her way back to the street, a pit of dread opening in her stomach. This job of John’s was now the only thing to stand between her and disaster. And the job remained too uncertain to bring any comfort.
She skirted a house and popped out on Wimpole Street. She looked left and right but the carriage was nowhere in sight. The blasted driver must have accepted another fare.
She blew out a breath. Well, it wasn’t overlong of a walk. Head down, she set her boots to the ground and hurried for the earl’s home.
She didn’t see the man peel out of the shadows at the next cross street, only heard his footfall a moment before he grabbed her arm.
“Wot’s your rush there, lovely?” He stood several inches above her, his lank hair scraping his dirty collar. He leered. “How about you and I become better acquainted?”
“No, I thank you.” She tugged her arm free. “That idea holds no appeal.” She should have kept her Bardolph costume on. No man would want to molest her in that. But it was easier sneaking back into the earl’s home as herself. There would be less explanations required if she were caught.
“Oy, so proper you are.” He stepped closer. “Makes no mind to me if yer friendly or not. I’ll just take your bag and be done with it.” He reached for her reticule.
Fury swelled within her, making her chest grow tight. Another man trying to take what he wanted from her. “You want my bag? You can have it.” And with all her strength, she swung the reticule between his legs.
He gargled, clutched his hands to his groin, and dropped to his knees.
Another form melted from the shadows, and she jumped back, arm aloft, ready to swing again.
“Nice shot, miss,” Wilberforce said. He toed the man’s shoulder, a smile crossing his face when the man crumpled to his side and curled into a tight ball. “What do you keep in that satchel?”
The tension between her shoulders eased and she lowered her arm. “A stocking full of ha’pennies.” She shook her reticule, the clinking of the heavy coins loud in the night air. “I find it makes a most efficient deterrent.”
“I’d have to agree.”
The man on the ground sputtered, coughing up something foul, and she turned her back and strode away.
Wilberforce was only a step behind her, his footfalls uneven, his soft tread distinctive with his limp.
“Did he ask you to follow me?” she asked.
“No, miss.”
“So you did so on your own initiative. Why?” Was he looking for a bribe to keep quiet? She didn’t know if she could take another impediment to her new life.
“I didn’t think a woman should walk about at night unattended. It isn’t safe.”
No, nothing in life was safe. Not walking about London at night, nor conversing in a sitting room with the wrong man. She pressed her fingertips to the protrusion at her wrist. Safety was but an illusion. “As you see, I’ve learned to take care of myself.”
“Yes, miss.”
She whirled on him. “What are you going to tell your master, and how much do I need to pay to keep you silent?”
“No one is my master,” he said with quiet dignity.
She couldn’t argue that. Having her own taste of freedom these past years, she knew she could never subjugate herself to society’s hierarchy ever again.
“Summerset. Will you tell him where I go?” Had he already done so? The earl did like to toy with her. It would be just like him to keep such knowledge to himself until he could use it against her with most effect.
Wilberforce looked away, down the street. They were only a block from the earl’s home. A newly-installed gas lamp made his black hair appear almost midnight-blue. “When I was young, he helped me out of a bad situation.” His words were quiet but hung as heavy as mist. “I don’t want anyone to face the trouble I did. So I’ll walk you home if I’m able.” He stared down at his feet. “I don’t know which house you visit if that’s your worry, and it’s not my business. I only want to make sure you make it home safe.”
“And you won’t tell Summerset?” she repeated. It was a rare person who wasn’t looking for an advantage at every turn. He sounded sincere, but she’d been fooled before.
He lifted his shoulders. “I don’t think he needs to know right now.”
