The suspicion was back on his face now and he frowned. ‘No, you wait here. I promise I shan’t be gone too long and I’ll leave the candle for you so that you’re not in the dark.’
He collected the money up into the bag again and tossing the rucksack over his shoulder he headed for the stairs. ‘I’ll be back before you know it!’ Then he climbed the stairs and was gone, but not before she heard him shut the door and place something against it on the other side.
Now that there was at least some light she began to search about the cellar amongst the rubbish strewn everywhere and eventually she found what appeared to be the leg of a broken chair. It was heavy and solid and she quickly hid it beside the bottom of the stairs. Then, heart pounding, all she could do was wait for his return.
At last she heard the sound of something scraping across the floor on the other side of the door and with her heart in her mouth, Emmy quickly blew out the candle and lifted the chair leg, concealing it in the folds of her skirt.
‘Emmy .?.?. where are you and why are you in the dark?’ From the faint light that issued from the doorway she could see him descending the stairs.
‘I’m down here waiting for you .?.?. The candle burnt out a while ago.’
She was crouching to one side at the bottom of the stairs and she knew that she must succeed. She was painfully aware that she would only get this one chance and if her plan didn’t work, goodness knew what would happen. She tried to stay calm as he continued towards her. The closer he got the worse the stale smell of him became and then he was there at the side of her, just an arm’s length away. She knew that his eyes wouldn’t have had time to adjust to the light – it was now or never!
‘Ah, there you are, darling.’ He could just make out her outline and as he stretched his hand towards her, she raised the heavy chair leg and with every ounce of strength she had left she swung it towards his head.
There was a sickening thud as it connected with his ear and for a second he just stood there before dropping like a stone. Emmy had no way of knowing how badly hurt he was or even if she had killed him and she was too panicked and terrified to find out, so lifting her skirts she stumbled up the stairs, sobbing and whimpering with fear.
When she emerged into the large room at the top of the stairs, she saw people lying about, most of them with bottles in their hands. Not one of them so much as glanced at her as she raced for the door and emerged into the filthy alley beyond. She had lost all sense of direction and just stumbled ahead. Every second she expected to feel Jasper’s hand on her shoulder and this lent speed to her feet. Then at last she saw the glimmer of street lights in front of her and soon she emerged on to a main road where she almost fell into the path of a hackney cab that was passing.
‘P-please, take me to my aunt’s house.’ She quickly mumbled the address as she flung the door open and fell on to the grimy leather squabs. For a moment she feared that the driver was going to refuse but then thankfully he geed up the horse and they were moving again as she tried to catch her breath and pressed her hand to the stitch in her side.
At last the cab drew up outside the house and as Emmy stumbled down from the carriage she told the driver, ‘Wait there and someone will come out to pay you.’
She dragged herself up the steps with the last of her remaining strength and hammered on the door. It was opened almost immediately by Aggie with a grim-faced Jake close behind her. She was sure she had never been so happy to see anyone in her entire life and as she fell into his arms she muttered, ‘Can you pay the cabbie?’ Then darkness closed about her and she knew no more.
The next time she opened her eyes she was lying on the sofa in her aunt’s drawing room with Jake anxiously hovering over her and she managed a shaky smile for him. But as everything rushed back, she began to sob.
Taking her in his arms he tried to soothe her. ‘Where have you been? We’ve been scouring the streets for you along with almost every constable in London!’
Taking a deep breath, she began to tell him everything that had happened, until she got to the bit where she admitted that she’d injured Jasper.
‘I .?.?. I think I might have killed him,’ she gabbled. ‘But I was too afraid to wait about to find out.’
His jaw set. ‘It would be good riddance to bad rubbish if you did,’ he ground out. ‘But there are two constables in the hallway. Can you tell them where the warehouse is?’
‘I think so.’ She heaved herself up on to her elbow as Jake went to fetch the two young officers waiting in the hallway and haltingly, she gave them directions as best she could.
‘I think I know where you’re talking about, miss,’ one of them said when she was finished. ‘We’ll go there now and try to catch him.’ They touched their helmets and left as her aunt appeared, leaning heavily on Aggie’s arm.
‘That was quite a fright you gave us,’ she said shortly and Emmy had to resist the urge to hug her. Trust her aunt to get right to the heart of the matter.
‘It gave me quite a fright too,’ she answered wryly as Aggie hurried away to fetch her a hot drink. It was then that Emmy noticed the state she was in and she blushed with embarrassment. Her gown was creased and filthy, her hair had escaped its pins and hung in rats’ tails about her shoulders and she didn’t smell very nice either. But it didn’t seem to bother Jake, for the next minute he threw his arms about her, regardless of their aunt, and said chokily, ‘Thank goodness you managed to get away .?.?. I don’t know what I would have done if anything had happened to you. If I could get my hands on that no-good brother of mine at this minute, I’d strangle him, IswearI would.’
‘Oh, Jake .?.?. I wassofrightened. I thought I was never going to see you again.’ Emmy’s hand unconsciously rose to stroke his cheek as it finally began to sink in that she was safe again. But then she realised what she was doing and she quickly withdrew it. It really wouldn’t do to let him know how she felt about him. He was her cousin and nothing could change that.
‘Right, I’m going to leave you here with Aunt Imogen and Aggie now while I go and get the doctor.’
‘Butyou’rea doctor,’ she reminded him and shamefaced he grinned.
‘Yes, I know I am, but I don’t think it would be right for me to examine you.’
She opened her mouth to object but he shook his head and smiled at her. ‘Those wrists need looking at for a start, and your ankles will too, no doubt. We don’t want them getting infected. But don’t worry, you’re back and you’re quite safe now.’
When he’d gone, Imogen moved to sit on the chair beside her.
‘So, it’s as I thought then.’
‘What do you mean?’ Emmy raised an eyebrow.
