“I hate cows,” the maid glumly replied.
Sabrina ignored her as she gazed at the sign above the door of a three-story building—one that had seen better days, approximately two hundred years ago.
The oldest part of Edinburgh meandered in a downward, antique sprawl from the castle on its high promontory. The buildings were crowded together and unusually tall, looming over the alleyways and narrow streets that made up Old Town. They cast gloomy shadows even on a bright summer morn.
Historic, yes, but Old Town offered endless opportunities for people to stumble into trouble. Poverty and desperation lurked in the warren of alleys, and so did crime.
You should have told Graeme about this.
She kicked that unwelcome thought to the back of her mind. Tilly’s note had been quite clear: come alone, and quickly. Yesterday, the girl had refused any help. Something had obviously changed quite drastically overnight.
“The sign is very faded,” Sabrina said. “But I think I can see Wee and probably Dog, so this must be it.”
Tilly had asked to meet at a coffeehouse named the Wee Black Dog. Unless there was a Wee White or a Wee Yellow Dog, this was the spot.
“But, my lady—”
“I cannot go in there by myself.” Tilly had said to come alone, but wandering about Edinburgh without even her maid would be truly foolhardy. “Please get out of the coach.”
Sabrina sounded a bit testy, but the morning had been a challenge. First, she and Hannah had had to sneak out of the house, and then they’d been forced to walk several blocks before finding a hackney stand.
“Lady, are ye goin’ to pay me,” the driver asked, “or do I have to call me a constable?”
Mustering an apologetic smile, Sabrina dug into her reticule.
The disreputable-looking fellow suspiciously counted the coins she’d handed him. “Yer not exactly spilling it out, are ye? Jest like a nob. Tight in the fist.”
She struggled to keep hold of her patience. “I am paying you exactly what we agreed upon, sir. Besides, your carriage is rather shabby. If you thought a bit more about the comfort of your passengers, you might find your business improved.”
When the driver made a growling comment about what she should do with her suggestion, Hannah let out a faint shriek and clambered out.
Sabrina refused to be cowed by vulgarity. “Might I also point out that addressing a customer in such crude terms will hardly encourage future business.”
The driver gave her a hard look. “Yer daft, lady,” he finally said. He snapped his reins, and the coach lumbered off.
At the moment, Sabrina could not disagree with his assessment.
Hannah stared glumly after the hackney. “We should’ve brought one of them strapping footmen for protection. That Davey is awfully nice.”
Sabrina had also been second-guessing herself from the moment they’d left Heriot Row. Hearing from Tilly had been a surprise, and she’d not been prepared with any sort of plan.
Just after dawn, a grubby boy had appeared at the kitchen entrance with a note for Sabrina. The boy had probably been Tilly, which begged the question as to why she hadn’t simply asked to speak with Sabrina. Instead, she’d handed over the note to the scullery maid, who’d passed it to the kitchen maid, who’d then handed it off to Hannah.
“We’re here now,” said Sabrina, “so we just have to make the best of it.”
Two laborers brushed by them and went into the coffeehouse. The men cast them curious glances as they passed, but looked perfectly respectable in their smocks and breeches—ordinary workers looking for breakfast on a quiet street before starting their day.
“But we’re smack in the middle of a slum, my lady,” Hannah protested. “As like we’ll end up dead, or worse.”
Sabrina steered her toward the door. “Hannah, do not address me as my lady when we get inside. In fact, don’t say anything. Just look like the stout-hearted Englishwoman I know you to be.”
“If you say so, Lady Sabrina.”
“Don’t call me that, either.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Hopeless.
Several steps led down from the street into a dim, low-ceilinged room. The vision that greeted Sabrina, while certainly uninspiring, was neither threatening nor particularly grim. The Wee Black Dog seemed exactly what Tilly had said in her note—a decent coffeehouse near Edinburgh’s cattle markets. Under the enticing scent of coffee lurked the same faint smell of manure that permeated the entire neighborhood. The tables and benches were rough-hewn but clean, and the floor neatly swept. There were small windows set high in the outside wall, but most of the light came from spirit lamps and two large branches of candles on a service counter.
Ignoring curious glances from patrons, Sabrina made her way to the counter, where a young woman with a kind face and a wealth of red hair under a mobcap was stacking oatcakes onto a platter. Hannah, breathing out an aggrieved sigh, trudged along in Sabrina’s wake.
The woman looked up with a sharp, assessing glance before reaching under the counter for two coffee mugs.
“Good morning,” Sabrina said. “I’m looking for—”
“She’s in the back corner. Just let me get ye and yer girl some breakfast, and ye can join her.”
“Oh, thank you. But that won’t—”
“Ye’ll not stand out so much if ye have a cup and somethin’ to eat.” Her gaze flickered over Sabrina’s dress. “Right now, ye stick out like sore thumbs.”
Oh, dear. She’d worn her plainest walking dress and a simple straw bonnet in the hope she wouldn’t stand out.
“Yer quality, miss, and Sassenach to boot. No hidin’ that, no matter what ye wear.”
“My apologies. I don’t wish to cause trouble.”
“Och, dinna fash yerself.” The woman filled two cups with coffee and added thick splashes of cream, then she began stacking oatcakes and little pots of butter and jam on a battered wooden platter.
“Just coffee will be fine,” said Sabrina.
“The vittles are for Tilly, luv. She’s too proud to take charity, so ye’ll be payin’ for it.”
“You take care of Tilly?” Sabrina asked as she dug in her reticule.
“I tries to. My name’s Emmy, by the by.”
Sabrina slid a half crown across the counter. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Sabrina, and this is Hannah.”
Emmy blinked in surprise at the coin. Then she nodded her thanks and swiftly pocketed the money before picking up the platter. “The bairn needs help, ye ken. She’s in trouble.”
“I’m here to make sure she gets help.”
“She and her puir little brother.” Emmy’s friendly gaze turned grim. “The way that bas—” Then she shook her head. “Come along now.”
They followed her to a shadowed corner near the fireplace, more a cubbyhole in the wall. A table and two benches were tucked into the cramped space. Tilly occupied the bench against the wall, her cap pulled low over her eyes and her hands wrapped around an empty mug.
Emmy set down the platter. “Yer friends are havin’ a bite to eat, and there’s plenty for all of ye, darlin’.”
Tilly seemed to retreat even further into her oversized coat. “Thank ye.”
The woman nodded and returned to her work.
For several long seconds, the girl neither moved nor acknowledged them.
“May we sit down, dear?” Sabrina finally asked.
“I told ye to come alone,” Tilly replied in a tight little voice.
“This is Hannah, my maid. She can be trusted.”
Those words were met with a fraught silence. Sabrina looked at Hannah, who rolled her eyes.
“I’ll takes my coffee and go have a bit of a chat with that Emmy,” the maid said. “She seems like a proper sort.”
Sabrina gave her a grateful smile and slid onto the bench opposite Tilly.
“Goodness, this looks quite scrumptious,” she said, picking up an oatcake. “But I don’t think I can eat it
all myself, Tilly.”
“I am a bit hungry,” the child said gruffly. “No time to eat this mornin’.”
Sabrina pushed the platter closer to her. “Then you’d best have some.”
When Tilly pushed her cap up and reached for an oatcake, Sabrina choked back a gasp. The girl’s right eye was puffy and ringed with a smudgy black bruise. Her cheek sported a nasty cut, barely starting to scab over.
“Don’t make a fuss, miss,” she said in a sharp tone. “It ain’t nothin’.”
“But you’re hurt.”
Tilly snorted before shoving one of the oatcakes into her mouth. “Nae. I’ve had worse than this.”
It took Sabrina several seconds to master an upwelling of rage and sorrow. “Did Old Bill do that?”
“Who else?”
Her cynical nonchalance broke Sabrina’s heart. “Because you talked to us yesterday?”
“Aye. One of the other kids saw and grassed me out. Ol’ Bill said he needed to make an example of me.”
Sabrina gripped her mug. “But why?”
Tilly’s pale blue eyes glittered with hatred. “I’m supposed to give everythin’ to him, but I kept the money yer bloke gave me.” The anger in her gaze suddenly turned into a shimmer of tears. “Now I can’t get Charlie out.”
“He’s holding your brother over your head.”
“I’m his best earner, miss. He don’t want me leavin’ him.”
Sabrina stared at Tilly’s pinched, bruised face. These last few months were teaching Sabrina a hard lesson. For too long, she’d lived in a charming but utterly useless world. Now she intended to change that.
“We’ll finish our breakfast, and then we’re going to the Courts to speak with a constable or a magistrate. Then we’re—”
Tilly’s hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. “No! I ain’t no snitch.”
Sabrina covered the girl’s hand. “I understand you’re afraid, but you cannot let that horrible man continue to abuse you. He’s a criminal, Tilly. He belongs in jail.”
“I’m bent too, miss. They’ll put me in jail, or the workhouse.” She grimaced. “And how long do ye think I’ll last once it gets out that I snitched on Bill?”
Sabrina fought down a rising sense of frustration. She was in completely over her head. If only Graeme were—
No. She would take care of this. She would make a difference in this child’s life.
“Tilly, what exactly do you want from me?”
The girl didn’t hesitate. “I need ye to help me spring Charlie from the orphanage. We need to do it this mornin’, afore Bill gets wind of it.
“He’ll take my brother, if we’re not quick about it,” the girl added. Her thin fingers tightened around Sabrina’s wrist. “I’ll pay ye back, miss, I promise. And . . . and I’ll pay for that hanky I stole, too.”
“Tilly, I don’t care about the money or the kerchief. But will they give Charlie to you? You’re just a child.”
“That’s why I need ye to come with me. They’ll spring him if yer with me.”
Sabrina doubted the process would be that simple. Nothing about this so far had been simple. Still, she had to try.
“Very well, although I’m not quite sure how to go about such things.”
And what would happen to the children afterward. She’d like to take them back to Heriot Row, but doubted Tilly would agree.
The girl smiled, then winced a bit and touched her cheek. “Never fear, miss. I has a plan.”
“Which is?”
“I’m takin’ Charlie to London. We’ll lay low for a day or two, then head south.”
Sabrina could feel her eyes bugging from her sockets. “Absolutely not.”
“Keep yer voice down,” Tilly hissed.
Sabrina leaned across the table. “I am not tossing you from the frying pan into the fire. We’ll get Charlie out of that orphanage, and then we’ll go back to Heriot Row. Mr. Kendrick will know what to do.”
Tilly shook her head. “Nah, I gots my own plan. Don’t need any nobs.”
Sabrina tapped her chest. “Apparently you need this nob.”
The girl winced.
“Why were you so insistent in your note that I not tell Mr. Kendrick about our meeting?” Sabrina asked.
Tilly’s silver gaze flickered away for a moment. “Don’t know him.”
“Well, you don’t know me, either.”
“You ain’t a bloke, miss.”
Sabrina had to repress the urge to put her head into her hands and start sobbing. That, however, would do nothing to solve their current dilemma.
She dredged up a smile. “Then I suppose we’d best be on our way. Poor Charlie has been in that orphanage long enough, don’t you think?”
Tilly’s smile blazed to life as she jumped to her feet. “That’s grand. It’s just off—”
The words died on her lips as she stared toward the front of the room.
Sabrina turned to see a familiar figure looming in the doorway. And she could feel his masculine ire radiating across the room.
“Drat,” she muttered.
Hannah scurried over to join them. “Oh, my lady, it’s Mr. Kendrick, and he looks right stormy-like.”
The heavy weather was coming straight for them.
Chapter Thirteen
Graeme stalked down the steps, glaring at the woman whose sole purpose apparently was to drive him into jabbering idiocy. And damned if she didn’t look annoyed at his appearance, as if he were the one engaged in a harebrained rescue mission.
A young woman came out from behind the counter and quickly stepped in front of him. She held up a large wooden tray like a shield. “Ye’d best think twice before chargin’ in here like a bully-boy, mister.”
Some of the customers rose from their tables. “Ye’ll nae be causin’ a ruckus with Emmy, ye ken,” one particularly burly fellow threatened.
“It’s all right, Emmy,” Sabrina piped up from the corner. “He won’t hurt anyone.”
The sturdy young woman eyed Graeme with no less disapproval. “He looks a right ugly customer to me.”
He could hardly quarrel with her assessment, since he’d been forced to roll out of bed and pull on whatever clothes came to hand. He gave the lass a placating smile, hoping to look as harmless as possible.
A derisive snort was her response.
“I promise it’s fine,” Sabrina said. “He’s with me.”
Emmy reluctantly lowered her tray, still scowling. “Verra well, but dinna try any funny business with miss, or ye’ll find yerself with a bloody great headache.”
“I already have a bloody great headache, thanks to miss,” Graeme replied. “But I’m a Kendrick, if that makes any difference. The lady is staying with my family and is under our protection.”
Understanding dawned on Emmy’s face. “Och, yer one of them Kendrick twins, ain’t ye?”
Apparently, his old reputation was still intact. “Guilty as charged.”
The woman snorted. “I’ll bring ye a cup of coffee.”
“Thank you.”
“But no bustin’ up my furniture,” she added.
The denizens of Old Town obviously had long memories, not that he blamed her for the dig. He and Grant had brawled in more than a few pubs back in their Edinburgh university days.
“What was that about?” Sabrina asked.
“You don’t want to know.”
She gave him a remarkably cheeky smile. “Actually, I do.”
He stared at her in disbelief. “That’s what you want to talk about, not this mad scheme? If anyone gets wind of this little escapade, your reputation will be thoroughly shot.”
“I did bring Hannah with me,” she replied with a hint of apology.
Her maid was currently working hard at trying to fade into the wall.
“Sabrina, this is a very dodgy part of town,” he said, getting exasperated. “No respectable lady would come here with only a maid as escort.”
She looked down her elegant little nose
at Graeme. Since he was looming over her, he found it a neat trick.
“This establishment is perfectly respectable. Besides I’m on an errand of mercy.” Her glare was defiant. “I cannot refuse to help this poor child.”
Said child had pulled her cap down as soon as she’d spotted him, and had yet to say a word. Embarrassed, probably, and trying to figure out the best way to bolt. Graeme hoped like hell that Tilly wasn’t trying to pull a con, taking advantage of Sabrina’s kind heart.
“It’s all right, miss,” the girl said in a muffled voice. “I’ll go.”
“Stay right there, Tilly,” Sabrina replied.
“No, miss. I gots to go now afore it’s too late.” She started to slide out from behind the table.
Graeme pointed a finger. “Stay.”
When the girl froze like a startled fawn, Sabrina scowled at him. At the same time, Emmy thumped a coffee mug down on the table, also giving him the evil eye.
You’re making a hash of things, laddie boy.
Summoning his patience, he swung a leg over the bench and sat next to Sabrina. “It’s all right, Tilly. Whatever it is, we’ll get it sorted.”
The child finally lifted her head. Graeme’s heart slammed into his ribs when he saw her bruised face, and he had to struggle to control an upwelling of fury. For a moment, he wanted to break not just every piece of furniture in the place, but in the entire damn city of Edinburgh.
“Mr. Graeme is a Kendrick, dear,” Sabrina quietly said. “They always keep their word.”
Emmy nodded. “Lord Arnprior and his kin are honest and true, even the wild ones like this bloke. Ye can trust Clan Kendrick.”
Graeme threw her a sardonic glance. “Thank you.”
The woman shrugged and returned to her work.
“I will help you, sweetheart,” he said to Tilly. “My word on it.”
The girl blushed, embarrassed by his term of endearment, but he also caught her shy smile.
Sabrina patted Tilly’s hand. “I told you.” She glanced at him. “By the way, how did you find us? We were quite careful not to be seen.”
“Ainsley was up with the baby. She caught a glimpse of you and Hannah scampering down the street.”
Sabrina frowned. “But how did you find us here, specifically? We had quite a good start on you, even with the warning.”
The Highlander's English Bride Page 18
