Chapter 3 #2
Not that she would have enjoyed it in other circumstances.
Yes, the solid heat of Mr. Corbyn’s body beneath her hands had been oddly satisfying, particularly when he’d slipped his hand down the small of her back.
(She hadn’t been expecting that part.) And yes, he’d tasted nice, and he smelled of fresh linen.
And there had been a very intriguing shift in his reaction, when he moved from shock to, well, she wasn’t exactly sure what had replaced the shock, but there had been a moment where he seemed to be doing something encouraging with his lips.
She hadn’t gotten the chance to find out what it was before she’d been wrenched away.
It was the only time she’d ever kissed a man. She would’ve liked a little more time to figure out what she was doing.
Never mind any of that. Hannah would be glad when all this fuss was over with and they sent her back to Devonshire. That was the point of the thing.
She waited upstairs for what felt like ages for both callers to leave. When the house returned to a peaceful silence, she tiptoed down to face her sister-in-law. There was no sense in postponing the inevitable, and she needed to find some way to reclaim her winnings if she was to pay Mr. Corbyn.
“Come in,” Jane said, spying Hannah where she lingered in the doorway. She sounded exceptionally tired, but not as angry as Mama and Eli. “How are you?”
“I’m sorry about upsetting everyone,” Hannah began. It couldn’t hurt to open on a conciliatory note. “I hope it won’t cause too much trouble.”
“I just don’t understand what possessed you to do such a thing. Did he frighten you? Put any sort of pressure on you?”
“No. It was my decision, I promise.”
“But you don’t even know the man.”
In the chaos of her return to the town house last night, no one had been particularly interested in letting Hannah explain herself. Not that she’d thought far enough ahead to formulate a script.
Might they consider that she wasn’t truly ruined if they knew it had been planned?
Safer to play the part of a fallen woman as best she could.
“He’s very handsome.” This had the benefit of being true, at least. “I simply couldn’t resist him when we found ourselves alone in the office.
In fact, I–I asked him to meet me there.
” Though Hannah felt a bit nervous stretching the truth like this, it made for a very damning confession.
Jane certainly appeared horrified by it. “Don’t you see how dangerous this is? Your entire future is ruined over one kiss. You can’t believe it was worth it.”
“It was.” Hannah raised her chin proudly.
This, too, was true. Despite the fuss everyone was making, she felt at peace for the first time in years.
It had been so awful living in constant fear that the next caller would be the one that finally trapped her.
At least now it was over. She’d taken the portrait they’d painted of her future and smashed it into kindling.
Jane sighed and rubbed her temples. “I won’t try to lecture you. You and your mother will have to sort out what’s next. But seeing as you caused a scandal at my club, I think it’s only fair that you help make amends for the extra work this has caused us.”
“I can help at your club?” Hannah perked up instantly. This was even better than she’d dreamed!
“Not when the guests are there. It’s for the best if you aren’t seen out and about for now, but we can always find work for you in the mornings before we open.
Besides which, Eli and I are going to be taking most of the evening responsibilities over from Della for the next few days while she recovers from the shock, so you can also help your mother mind Gloria while we’re out. ”
That wasn’t so bad. Even if Hannah’s niece was too young to do more than cry and soil herself, she was still more amusing than an evening being pushed toward an unwanted match. She was also quite adorable.
“I’ll take excellent care of her,” Hannah said warmly.
Maybe if she was agreeable enough, they would forgive her sooner.
“But speaking of the club, would you be able to tell me what happened to my winnings? Mama dragged me away so fast I didn’t have time to collect them. They were at Mr. Corbyn’s table.”
A furrow appeared between Jane’s eyebrows. “Della brought the money over, but I don’t see how I can give it to you after this. You had no business placing such a high wager. We have a policy that family can’t place bets, or people will suspect cheating when you win.”
“But it’s mine! You can’t just take it. That’s stealing.”
“I’m not planning to keep it,” Jane protested. “I’ll give it to your mother. The two of you can discuss what to do with it.”
How unfair! Hannah could endure everyone’s condemnation, but she couldn’t abide thievery. “I’m not a child!”
“I’m sorry, but you can’t put me in the middle like this. We’re all worried about you, Hannah. What were you planning to do with that kind of money, anyway?”
I’ll pay Mr. Corbyn, that’s what I’ll do.
“I was only going to add it to my pin money.” Lying was getting easier every time she did it. Hannah might have stopped to worry about that, if she didn’t have more pressing concerns.
“No one needs sixty pounds of pin money.”
Jane’s expression said she would never relent, but Hannah had to get her hands on those funds. After she’d cost Mr. Corbyn his employment and caused Eli to go after him, the only proper thing to do was to pay him what she’d promised. Otherwise she would be no better than a thief herself.
Mama still hadn’t emerged from her bedroom after her night of sobbing, which meant that Jane couldn’t have turned over her winnings yet. If she didn’t want to carry such a large sum on her person, it might still be somewhere in this room!
If only she would leave for a minute. Hannah sent a fervent prayer up to heaven. Couldn’t she have one little bit of divine assistance in her efforts to destroy her reputation and spite her mother?
At that moment, Gloria began to wail, the sound as beautiful and welcome as birdsong.
Thank you.
“Oh dear. She’s woken up again.” Jane jumped to her feet without a second thought for Hannah. “We’ll talk about this later.”
“Of course.”
What luck!
The moment she was gone, Hannah began rummaging through every hiding place she could find.
It didn’t take her five minutes to fall upon the little envelope tucked inside a drawer in the nearest end table.
She opened it quickly to confirm it was all there.
Sixty pounds. Things were turning in her favor.
Though her heart was hammering at the threat of discovery, Hannah didn’t feel too bad about taking the funds. It was her own money, after all. Now all she needed to do was devise how she would get it to Mr. Corbyn.
* * *
“How could you take advantage of my sister?” Williams looked ready to punch Silas.
It must be a stroke of good luck that he hadn’t done so yet.
He’d woken him bright and early from a poor night’s sleep on a lumpy mattress by pounding on the front door of the boardinghouse where Silas had been staying.
“I trusted you. I thought we were friends.”
We were, until your sister set my life ablaze.
Williams was a good man, and they’d gotten along well when they’d served on the Libertas together, before that ship had wrecked and Silas was reassigned to the Echo. This was poor thanks for everything Williams had done to help him when he’d heard about Silas’s discharge from the navy.
“I’m sorry,” Silas said, meaning it.
“Sorry isn’t going to un-destroy my sister’s reputation.”
No. It wouldn’t.
A creak on the floorboard alerted the men that they had a spectator.
It was Thomas, the welp who belonged to the woman renting the second floor.
He was in the habit of slipping downstairs to visit old Mr. Kurtz and his son, the other renters who split the first floor with Silas.
Though he’d only taken the room five days ago, Silas had already seen the boy skulking about a half-dozen times.
“Go back up to your mother,” he scolded. “We’re having a private conversation.”
Thomas obeyed swiftly. He must have been frightened by the shouting, for he normally wasn’t this obedient.
“You’ve got an illegitimate son here in town?” Williams exclaimed. “Just how many ladies do you have on your strings?”
“He’s not mine. He belongs to the woman upstairs. His father died a few years back, I understand.”
At least that was what the renter, Mrs. Taylor, had told him. Silas wasn’t sure if the story was true or just a way to hide her indiscretions, for he heard a string of visitors going up and down the stairs most evenings. But it was none of his business how she paid the rent.
This seemed to mollify Williams somewhat, or else the sight of the little boy had simply reminded him that his shouting would attract attention he didn’t want.
He kept a more civil tone when he spoke again.
“Why would you do it? After I recommended you to Miss Danby and gave you work. How could you hurt an innocent girl that way?”
Silas didn’t want to insult Williams’s sister, but this accusation was too much to endure. He’d never hurt a woman in his life.
“She kissed me,” he said coldly. “I didn’t pursue her.”
“Hannah wouldn’t do such a thing.”
“Believe me or don’t.” Silas shrugged, with an indifference he didn’t quite feel. “But I’m telling the truth.”
Williams wrestled with this for a moment, his conflict written on his face. Finally, he retorted, “Even if she did kiss you—which I’m not saying is true—she’s only a girl. You should have known better than to let her do such a thing. It was your responsibility to behave like a gentleman.”
“But I’m not a gentleman, am I?” Silas couldn’t keep the bitterness from his tone. “Anyway, she looked old enough to make up her own mind. How old is she?”
“One-and-twenty,” Williams replied grudgingly. “But only just. And she’s had a sheltered life. She’s the baby of the family.”
“Sounds to me like she wanted a bit of freedom. Maybe you shouldn’t have tried so hard to keep her under glass.”
Silas knew he wasn’t helping matters, but he’d never been able to tolerate a dressing-down where it wasn’t warranted. Everything he’d said was true. The chit had only kissed him because she felt trapped, not because he’d seduced her. Someone like him could never be a match for a gently bred lady.
“Don’t presume to criticize my family.” There was a warning note in his friend’s voice. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Silas tipped his head in acknowledgment. “As I’ve said, I regret what happened and I didn’t go looking for any of it. Tell me how I can make amends.”
He would have accepted any punishment Williams doled out, if it would set things right. Even though he didn’t believe for a minute that the man’s sister was an innocent maiden, he still wished he hadn’t been the instrument of her downfall.
But Williams wasn’t charitable enough to grant him any sort of atonement. “There’s nothing you can do. You’ve ruined her and she’ll never be able to marry now.”
At least Miss Williams would be happy with that outcome.
“Then why have you come here? To call me out?” One didn’t pull a member of the working classes into a duel, but Williams might have judged it worth the breach to get his revenge. Silas wasn’t sure what he would do in that case. He could hardly shoot his own friend.
“No.” The swift reply let Silas breathe again. “I don’t want to fight you, though you probably deserve it.”
“What then?”
“To give you a piece of my mind, I suppose.” Williams looked more than a little frustrated by the question, the dark lines of his brow coming together in a frown.
“I could hardly let this pass without saying something. I’ve never had someone compromise my sister, all right?
I don’t quite know what I’m supposed to do about it. ”
“Right. Sorry.”
They both stood there uneasily for a few seconds, before Williams seemed to decide he’d run out of insults and said awkwardly, “Well, that’s that then. Don’t ever go near Hannah again. Or I’ll… Well, just don’t do it, understood?”
His total inability to be menacing would have been comical, if only Silas could find the humor in the situation.
He was about to lose one of the only friends he had left. Not many people had stood by him after his discharge.
“You have my word.”
“Humph.” Williams’s sullen grunt as he turned and left the boardinghouse made it abundantly clear how little Silas’s word was worth.