“Perhaps I did not make myself clear, Miss Knight. I am not asking you; I am telling you. If you do not do this, your brother will pay the price, and after him there are many more you care for. Take that sweet little girl, Ella.”
“No!”
“Then you have no choice but to do as I ask.”
She would have to betray them. The people who had been so good to her. The thought made her sick with fear and worry.
“Do this, and I will not harm your brother. If you fail, it will go worse for you and those you care for. Miss Knight is ready to leave.” His voice rose slightly, and the door opened seconds later.
“I will be watching. Do not fail me.” He handed her a letter and a piece of paper. “The note has your instructions. The letter must not be opened, or I will know. We will make contact again soon to find out what you have learned from the Deville household.”
A hand tugged her from the carriage, and the man who had first approached her climbed inside and it rolled away.
Ruby slumped against the side of a building and tried to force air into her lungs. A warm body pressed to her legs, and she heard a soft woof.
“Walter?” She dropped to her knees and wept into his fur. “What am I to do?”
Frustration, fear, and the hopelessness of what she must do gripped her. Rising, she stuffed the envelope and note into her bodice and then rested her free hand on the dog’s head and started walking home.
It was only then she realized she still held the biscuits. Hysteria welled up inside her, but she swallowed it down. She still had at least an hour to go before she reached Nobby Lane.
Head whirling with thoughts of how she must do what that vile man had asked of her, she walked toward home. Walter stayed pressed to her leg and it was wrong of her not to tell him to leave, but she wanted the comfort his presence gave her.
Ruby tensed as a carriage rolled to a stop beside her. Had the man come back? The door opened, and she saw Lady Raine.
“Miss Knight, I nearly missed you in this light,” she said.
“Can I be of assistance, my lady?”
“Are you stealing my dog, Miss Knight?”
“Oh no! He followed me home.”
“Did he? Well, he must have thought you needed him.”
“Hello, Miss Knight.”
Miss Bethany Carlow and Miss Freya MacDougall were also in the carriage, she realized.
Ruby dropped into a curtsey and wondered when this day would end.
“Are you heading home?” Lady Raine asked through the window.
“I am, my lady.”Act calm, and they will know nothing.Cannot know anything, she amended, as she was to spy on those she respected and who had given her so much. She swallowed down the nausea that rose again inside her.
“Then in you get. We’ll take you, as we are on the way to visit our friend, Miss Mary Blake.”
“Ah, I can walk as it is not far, but thank you.” She raised a hand and headed off.
The carriage rolled along beside her.
“It’s about to rain,” Miss MacDougall said. “In you get.”
She looked skyward, but as the sky was darkening it was hard to tell if Miss MacDougall was right.
“I will be quite all right, but thank you. Your offer was extremely generous.” As if the fates were all joining forces to make her life horrid, the first fat drop of water fell on her bonnet.
“I insist you get into this carriage at once, Miss Knight. Ella loves you, and if you fall sick due to a dousing, then she will not be pleased. Plus, I’m sure Adam would like you to remain hale and hearty and for whatever you are carrying in your hand to reach him in one piece.” These words came from Miss Carlow.
