Stay calm. His family didn’t know he and Samantha had kissed. Didn’t know that he couldn’t stop thinking about her.
“You’re probably right. After all, she is taken with Zach Deville, and perhaps she does not have to wed a Sinclair,” Rose said with a meekness she was not known for. “I’m having an orange blossom. Daisy, what ice are you having?”
Harry smiled, Rose chatted with the girls, and Maddie looked out the window. Warwick bit his tongue to stop the words he wanted to say. Samantha would not be marrying Zach. Just as she would not be marrying Warwick.
She was not his Raven.
CHAPTERFIFTEEN
Samantha sat on her bed and reread the note that had been delivered to her earlier today.
I have proof of your father’s betrayal to his country. Proof that before his death he sold English secrets to a French spy that cost the lives of many. Meet me at Duck and Goose in Potter Lane at midnight tonight. Walk to the rear where there are two booths. Sit in the empty one. Come alone, and I will hand you the proof and tell you my demands. Tell anyone, and I will make this information public, and your family will then be ridiculed and shamed.
Her family had retired for the evening many hours ago, as they had no social engagements tonight. The hour was late, and she still sat on her bed, her mind going through every scenario as she reread the note over and over.
There was no option open to her but one. She had to go to the meeting. Had to protect her family. The people she loved and owed so much. If this was just a matter of money, she could pay and then it would be over.Could it be over?
She wasn’t foolish enough to think it would be that easy, but perhaps if she gave him enough money, it could be? She had to try. If not for the older members of their family, then for the younger who would be tainted when they stepped into society, when it came out they were related to a traitor.
I loathe you, Father.
Loathe what you did to me and James but most of all what you can still do to this family when we’d believed you no longer had the power to hurt us.
Rising, Samantha walked into the next room and retrieved her black lace-up walking boots. Next, she selected the heavy black velvet cloak she wore in the winter months.
Should she carry all the money she had with her?
No. He had not asked for money, so she would leave it here and take only enough for a hackney. But Samantha knew the demand for it would come.
After lacing her feet into boots, Samantha collected her reticule and put enough money in there for the hackney to and from the Duck and Goose. Holding the cloak, she left her room quietly. Walking as silently as she could through the dark, still house, she headed for the front door.
Samantha knew this house well. The day she’d entered it had been the day her life changed. Coming here with James had taught her to love. Of course, the Sinclairs had played a large part in that too. This was a home that was now filled with love and light, where once it had been dark.
I will not allow anything to change that.
The front door would be locked, so she made her way to the small ground floor parlor. Closing the door behind her, Samantha raised the window and climbed out. She and the twins had done this enough as children simply because it had been fun. James and Eden had pretended to be unaware, but they’d known. They always knew what she’d been up to.
Because they love me.
Pushing that thought aside, she ran to the street. Donning her cloak, she raised the hood and headed right, passing some of her family’s homes. Samantha didn’t check if there were any lights on.
Keep moving, don’t look back.
Patting her thigh, she felt the edge of her knife sheath. She might appear like she could be easily subdued, but her family had ensured that was not the case. Samantha knew how to fight using her feet and her fists and throw her knife if need be.
She kept walking until a hackney came toward her. Stepping into its path, she waved a hand for it to slow.
“The Duck and Goose please, sir.” She kept her face averted.
“Are you sure, miss?”
“I am, thank you.”
She climbed inside the hackney. Her nerves were stretched tight as it rolled through the dark London streets. She’d do this for them, her family. Had to do this for them, as they would for her.
It seemed they were slowing only a short time later. Opening the door, she stepped down and paid the driver.
“I will return shortly. Would you… could you be here? Can I pay you to do that?”
