Gramma squeezed her hand. “Of course you have.”
Prue gasped, aware she’d been holding her breath. “You approve, then, Gramma?”
An amused smile lifted her lips. “It is just as well that I do. You would marry him, anyway.”
Prue laughed. “I love him.”
“He’s a good man, Prudence, and has certainly proven himself worthy of you. I will go to my grave with no concerns about your future.”
Prue frowned. “Please don’t speak of such things. I cannot bear it.”
“My dear girl. It happens to us all. But I shall certainly be there for your wedding. And, I hope, the birth of your first child.”
Prue leaned forward and kissed Gramma’s powdery cheek. “I pray you will, Gramma.”
*
When Jack walkedinto Darby’s holding cell awaiting trial at Bow Street Magistrate’s Court, Will had lost all his cockiness. His face looked gray, and fear darkened his eyes. “Will it help me, my lord? If I tell you what I know?”
“No one can save you from the gallows if that is the decision of the court,” Jack said, unwilling to whitewash it. “You’re up on more than one murder charge. But I will do what I can to see that you’re fairly treated in Newgate.”
Will stared at Jack with hope in his eyes. “Maybe I won’t hang.”
“Tell me about the man who hired you to kill the Earl of Sedgewick.”
“I met him at a tavern near the docks. Never told me his name.”
“Describe his appearance.”
“A toff. Tall, fair.”
It isn’t enough.“Nothing else?”
Will shrugged. “Mean eyes, a yellow-brown color, like an agate Ifound once.”
Likely stolen, Jack surmised. “Why were you hired to break into Lady Aldridge’s home?”
“To snatch a woman he said he wanted. I tried once, but when I couldn’t find her, I barely made it out with the footmen on the alert. Told him I wouldn’t do it again.” Will scowled. “Found someone else to do his dirty work, didn’t he? Now he won’t pay me the blunt he owes me.”
That hardly seemed a concern for him now, but Jack had to ask. “What could you do about it?”
Will narrowed his eyes, and a trace of the old cockiness returned. “Got some great mates. He’d better watch his back.”
“That’s if they can find him.”
“I know where he’s likely to be.”
“Where?”
“Had to pick up the blunt he owed me once from his bit ’o muslin’s rooms in Russell Square.”
“Know her name?”
“Ruby…” He shrugged.
Jack stood and put on his hat.
Will stared up at him. “What happens now?”
