Chapter 22
CHAPTER 22
M ichael had no care if they were found together in bed come morning, yet Adelaide had still shooed him out when dawn appeared.
They already had a child together outside of wedlock. What more scandal could they cause?
After they had made love last night, when they had voiced their true feelings for one another, he had wanted nothing more than to ask her once again if she would marry him.
But he didn’t want to push.
Not when they had come this far.
“Adelaide,” he said as they sat around the breakfast table, the baby held on her shoulder, “I will be leaving for London today.”
“For London?” She stopped eating, setting her fork down next to her plate. “Because of Rawlins?”
“Yes,” he said. “I need to find him; the sooner, the better, for it will not be long until the authorities will take him in, if they haven’t already.”
“When do we leave?”
“You do not have to accompany me.”
Truthfully, it would be best for her to stay here, away from any potential danger from Rawlins or authorities who might decide to come after her.
But the thought of separating from her again caused him great misery.
The look she gave him told him that she felt the same.
“I know I do not have to. You have never made me feel as though I have to do anything. But I want to.”
Edward and Dot entered the room in time to hear the last of their conversation.
“You are leaving?” Edward said as he pulled out Dot’s chair for her, and she settled in.
“I think it is best to see this through and finish it,” Michael said. “Otherwise, Adelaide will never feel safe.”
“I’m not certain that it is a good idea for Adelaide to return to London,” Edward said with a frown. “If she stays out of sight, she cannot be tried.”
“I cannot hide forever,” Adelaide protested. “If I do, I will always be living in fear of being found. I think Michael is right. Our best option is to have Rawlins speak for me.”
“Would you consider staying, Adelaide, just while Michael seeks him out?” Dot asked gently, and Michael looked at her, giving her the choice.
Their eyes met as they spoke without words.
“I think I should stay with Michael,” she said, her lips then curling as though she held a secret. “After all, we would not want a husband and wife to be separated.”
He blinked a couple of times, his face blank.
“Could you repeat that, please?” he said.
“I said that a husband and wife should not be separated.”
He pointed a finger from himself and then back to her.
“Do you mean… you and me?”
“Do you have someone else in mind?” Her slight smile had turned into a full-on grin as she laughed. “Yes. IF you’ll still have me.”
Michael let out a whoop of glee that he quickly subdued when he saw how it made Mabel jump.
Dot wisely took the baby from Adelaide before Michael swooped in and picked her up out of her chair, swinging her around in glee.
“Oh, Adelaide, you do not know what that means.”
“I think I do,” she laughed, and Michael wasn’t sure that he had ever felt such joy, even with the threats that still hung over their heads.
“Are you sure?’ he asked, finally setting her down. He almost didn’t want to ask it for fear that she might change her mind, but he also didn’t want to raise his hopes only to have them dashed once more. It almost seemed too good to be true.
“Absolutely,” she said, her arms still looped around his shoulders. “I know that, come what may, I cannot live without you, and my impression is that you feel the same.”
“You know I do.”
“I don’t know that I will ever completely understand your complete and sudden willingness to offer me everything you have to give, but I think I have finally come to accept it.”
“That is a very easy question to answer,” he said, his gray eyes staring intensely into her. “Because I realized there would never be another woman like you, and I couldn’t risk the chance you might walk away from me.”
“But I did anyway,” she said softly.
“You did. But you returned to me, and that is all that matters.”
“I love you.”
“And I you.”
They had both forgotten that they had an audience until Mabel let out a little squeal, and Edward cleared his throat before Michael could kiss Adelaide again.
Michael looked over at Edward, finally acknowledging his brother’s presence.
“How soon can we marry?”
“I believe the banns need to be read for three weeks.”
“Do you not have some connections to make it sooner?”
Edward shifted from one foot to the other. “I suppose I could make some inquiries.”
He jumped suddenly when Dot smacked his arm.
“Where were those connections when we were to be married?”
Edward rubbed his arms. “We did not need to expedite our marriage. I would not have wanted to bother the archbishop. Besides, if I had used that favor for our marriage, I couldn’t be using it now for Michael and Adelaide, could I?”
Dot frowned as she looked at him over Mabel’s head but finally gave him a nod.
“I suppose that makes sense.”
“I’m glad you agree,” he said with a smile. “Now, allow me to send that message and then we will help you prepare – for London and for this wedding of yours.”
“I have been in a carriage more in the last month than I have my entire life,” Adelaide said as they settled on the plush squabs to return to London.
“If Mabel sleeps, I can think of some ways we can pass the time,” Michael returned with a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows.
“In here?” she said, her eyes widening until Michael began to laugh.
“There are many options besides a bed.”
“I know,” she said, feeling the flush steal up her cheeks. “I had just never really considered how that might work.”
“I am happy to show you anytime you would like,” he said with a cheeky grin. She loved that grin, especially the dimples that appeared when he was truly happy.
As it appeared he was now.
“What is our plan, then?”
“To return to London, announce our wedding, and find Rawlins.”
“And when you find him?”
“I will convince him that it is in his best interests to ensure that you are exonerated.”
“What if he doesn’t agree?”
Michael’s features settled into a hard look that she had only seen after the confrontation with her brother. “I should have killed Jack.”
“Michael!” she couldn’t help but gasp, and he ran a hand over his face.
“I know it’s awful to say, but if I had, then he would not be a threat upon you any longer. You would never have to worry about what he might do or say.”
“But then you would have that on your conscience. Would you be all right with that?”
He frowned as he considered her query for a moment. “I suppose not.”
“It wouldn’t have been worth it,” she said, shaking her head. “As much as it might have eased our fears, it would have stayed with you for the rest of your life.”
“Having you with me the rest of my life is the most important thing.”
“I agree,” she said, closing her eyes and leaning back against him, never having felt so content before. “With all of my heart.”
Michael worked as quickly as possible once they returned to London.
Edward had asked the hired men to watch over Adelaide and the baby. Adelaide was rather put out at her inability to move about London as much as she wished, but she understood, thank goodness. Even if she were not interested in looking after herself, she would never put Mabel at risk.
In the meantime, Michael set about trying to find Rawlins. He asked around at a few taverns and from men he knew he could rely on but was met with little information. No one had seen him. The Red Lion was closed, with Jack now sitting in Newgate.
Michael next went to the print shop, hoping to talk some sense into Rawlins’ partner, if he couldn’t find Rawlins himself.
When he knocked on the door, it finally opened a crack, a wary voice within.
“Can I help you?”
“I am looking for Rawlins.”
Michael managed to wedge his boot in the door just as the printer tried to slam it shut.
Finally, a head emerged around the door. “I do not know anyone by that name.”
“No?” Michael said, raising a brow. “I have evidence showing otherwise.”
He lifted the written page with Rawlins’ name, and the man opened the door and pulled Michael into the shop before he even realized what was happening.
“Where did you get that?”
“Does it matter?”
“I cannot be associated with that man anymore,” the printer said, cursing, and Michael rolled his eyes. Why did people think it was fine to act but they would never be caught?
“Then you must help me find him,” he said. “I have no ill will toward him. I am just trying to protect someone, and I need his help.”
“Well, I cannot help you,” the printer said, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against the counter. “I haven’t seen him in a couple of weeks.”
Michael reached into his jacket and pulled out a card.
“If you see him, can you have him call upon me? Please tell him that I can make it well worth his while.”
“Very well.”
Michael handed over five guineas to the surprised printer before letting himself out of the dark room and back into the sunlight.
His next stop was Rawlins’s home. He had been trying to avoid it, not wanting to put the man’s family at risk, but he had no choice. All of his happiness centered on finding this man.
He took one wrong turn, and he wished he had Adelaide still with him to guide the way, but soon, he located the coal yard and then the house he remembered, noting the peeling green shutters that covered the doorway.
He knocked, surprised when a nervous young woman opened it with a baby on her hip.
“Can I help you?” she said, looking behind him and down the street as though she was afraid of who might have accompanied him.
“I am looking for a man named Rawlins,” he repeated, and she bit her lip.
“That would be my husband.”
“Splendid,” Michael said, pleased he had found who he was looking for.
Then her face darkened. “I’m looking for him as well. He has not been home in two weeks.”
Michael’s elation fell.
“Do you think something has happened to him?” the young woman asked, concern etched into her features.
“I couldn’t say,” Michael said, even though he had a sick feeling in his stomach that Rawlins was gone – in one way or another. “Do you have any idea what he was involved in?”
It wasn’t his place to share the information with the man’s wife, but he no longer had the luxury of addressing such concern.
“He owns a print shop.”
“I see,” Michael said, tapping his finger against his chin. She likely knew far more than she would ever say, but he didn’t blame her for her omission.
He reached into his pocket, finding another card before holding it to her.
“If you hear from him, please ask him to call upon me? I promise, I only have a favor to ask him, and I am willing to reward him handsomely for carrying it out.”
“Very well,” she said, taking the card with trembling fingers before darting back inside.
Michael sighed as he started back toward home.
It seemed they would have to rely on luck and any commitment Jack felt toward the woman he called his sister.
Neither were opportune.
But it seemed they didn’t have much other choice.