Davien found Charlotte in the back room at The Lion’s Share. She was bent down, searching through the numerous bottles of ale stored there. He stopped in the middle of the doorway. “Where is she, Charlotte?” he asked huskily. “I know you can tell me.”
She immediately halted what she was doing and rose to her feet. She wiped her hands on her apron as she turned around to face him. “Aye, I know.”
When she didn’t say anything more, he demanded, “Are you going to tell me or not?”
“That depends.” She crossed her arms, and he knew that meant a battle of stubborn wits was about to ensue.
“On what?” he ground out.
“Wot exactly are ye planin’ t’ do with her?”
He snorted. “After everything that we’ve been through I can’t believe you would even ask that of me.”
Those green eyes remained steady on his face. “Tha’ wasn’t an answer t’ my question,” she pointed out.
He couldn’t help it. He threw back his head and laughed. “Unbelievable,” he muttered. “It’s no wonder that Cosette considered you her best friend. Men could cross mountains and conquer nations and not be as determined as you are.”
Finally, her lips twitched. “I’ll take tha’ as a compliment, Yer Grace.”
“It was meant as one,” he returned in all sincerity. He had come to respect this bold, Scottish woman in the short time that he’d known her. He’d already decided that she would make a wonderful ladies’ maid for Cosette, if he could survive it.
Then again, he’d lived most of his life cursed with the soul of an aswang. He was rather confident he could manage two, strong-willed females under his roof.
“In answer to your earlier query,” Davien said evenly. “I love Cosette, and I plan to marry her at the earliest opportunity.” He lifted a brow. “Now does that satisfy your curiosity enough to tell me where she is?”
“Aye.” Charlotte nodded. “But I’m afraid tha’ it’s not goin’ t’ be as easy t’ convince her.”
“Why not?”
“Because she thinks tha’ bein’ a half-breed, tha’ ye won’t want her.” Charlotte rolled her eyes, as if she didn’t understand her friend’s reasoning any more than he did.
“Did I give any indication to that affect?” he asked.
“Not tha’ I could see, but then Cosette thinks she’s savin’ ye by runnin’ off t’ Scotland an’ disappearin’.”
“Scotland?” Davien ran a hand through his hair and uttered a curse. “How long ago?”
“Aboot a couple hours. She took th’ public coach up th’ Great North Road.”
He turned to go, but paused and handed Charlotte a card with the address of the townhouse on it. “This is a townhouse that I’ve been renting out, but I’ve it made my temporary residence. Tell the housekeeper, Mrs. Sundry, that I have recently employed you as a ladies’ maid. She’ll see that you’re properly settled.”
She snorted. “An’ who is it tha’ I’m supposed t’ be servin’?”
He clenched his jaw and then said, “My future wife. Even if I have to throttle some sense into her first.”
He thought he caught a glimpse of a smile on her face, as he turned on his heel and walked out.
~ ~ ~
Cosette woke with a start, palms damp, and her heart pounding. She feared that she’d suffered another blackout, but . . . nothing. There was no disembodied voice instructing her to wreak havoc, no carnage strewn about where she was to blame.
So what had disturbed her sleep?
As if reading the confusion on her face, a gap-toothed woman sitting across from her, probably in her mid-fifties, said in a cockney accent, “It’s fine, dearie. We just hit a rut in th’ road, we did.”
Cosette managed to nod, offering the woman a reassuring smile.
A moment later, the conveyance listed sharply to the left. Cosette put her hand out to steady herself as she heard the coachman give a shout, followed by a rather obscene curse. The entire coach came to a shuddering stop.
