“Mr. Wilkes,” Piper called, and he paused by the door. He’d have to duck his head to exit. She swallowed hard. “How many children do you have?”
“Three, mum,” he admitted. “Another on the way this winter.”
The answer rang with honesty and he seemed entirely in earnest. Sympathy washed over her.
Jane must have sensed it as well. “How much did my father owe you?”
Hope flared in the man’s eyes and a twinge of shame poked at Piper for having doubted his tale.
“Six pounds, miss.”
A reasonable amount for four horses.
“And you work for a farrier in Amersham?”
He squared his shoulders. “Own the shop, miss. There’s but one in town, if you’re meaning to check on it.”
“It is not my father’s habit to leave a debt unpaid, Mr. Wilkes. I’d like to reassure you of that.” Jane shook her head and opened her beaded reticule. “I’ve no more than four pounds with me at present. I beg you to take it and I will see that my father forwards the balance as soon as I return to London.”
“Thank you, miss.”
He stepped forward and this time, Mrs. Hughes held out a hand for him to stop. She took the money from Jane, transferred it to her spouse, and motioned for him to meet Wilkes. “Don’t you dare think to accost another person in my establishment, Mr. Wilkes. I’ve a mind to call the constable on you.”
“My apologies, mum.” Wilkes nodded at Jane. “My apologies, miss, for my unseemly behavior. I’m normally a decent sort of bloke, I assure you.”
He dipped his head and disappeared through the door. A surge of relief weakened Piper’s knees. However benign his mission in coming to Aylesbury, she was glad to see him go. The flood of paranoia his approach stirred merely served to remind her of how precarious her position in Aylesbury and at Dinton Grange truly was. Disguise or not, she’d become too comfortable here when she most assuredly ought not perceive any measure of safety. This was the single place in England other than her mother’s townhouse in Victoria Square where each step should always be taken with caution. She’d gotten sloppy in her efforts. Did she truly believe she could have lived the remainder of her life here without discovery? Without a misstep to reveal her? Without a slip of the tongue from someone at the Grange to betray her?
She was safe at the moment, but Connor was right. If she didn’t want to show herself to Harry, she needed to leave Dinton Grange, her home.
For good.
The couple also rose from their table, paid, and departed with the comment that they’d had enough excitement for one day.
Piper couldn’t agree more.
“We should leave,” she whispered in Jane’s ear.
“We haven’t had our tea,” Jane protested. “And don’t forget the pound cake.”
Piper relented. A while longer in a closed parlor wouldn’t hurt. Besides, she could use some tea to calm her nerves. Perhaps, as she’d joked before, a wee dram of something more in it would be even better.
“I must apologize for the upset, Miss Langston. For a young lady to be accosted like that? And in my establishment!” Mrs. Hughes gestured to the adjacent hall. “Come. I’ve your parlor ready and a plate of cakes awaiting you.”
Jane smiled, the tension in her posture relaxing. “Thank you, Mrs. Hughes.”
“Miss Jane Langston.”
They turned to the sole remaining occupant of the pub. The narrow man in his tidy suit drew a neatly folded handkerchief from his pocket and removed his spectacles. Polishing each lens, he smiled at them benignly.
“You seem a popular young lady, Miss Langston.”
While he dressed like a gentleman and spoke with an educated accent of perhaps Manchester or Liverpool, the hard light in his myopic gaze gave Piper a chill.
This is what staying had garnered her. A ludicrous obsession of every stranger she met. It was equally absurd to live each day of the rest of her life in such a manner when a new start could relieve her of the burden.
It was, as Connor said, no life at all.
“Perhaps you might welcome my invitation to join me instead?” the man asked. “You see, I should also enjoy a brief word with you.”
