Julius looked at them both and said, “We won’t need to visit all the sisters. I know exactly which one is the guilty party.”
“How do you know?” Calvin asked.
“Hugh told me before he dozed off last night. That man can find a needle in a haystack.”
Calvin agreed since Hugh had found the bullet. “Which girl?”
“The eldest. Mrs. Albina Steen. Her husband was part of the Royal Navy.”
“Doesn’t mean it’s her,” Calvin said.
Julius smiled. “Her husband is not British but American. He was stolen and forced to fight for us.”
The Royal Navy was known for impressing men to join, or rather forcing the hand of any sailor they found at sea.
“An American sailor would have an American gun,” Francis said with a smile. “Hugh found all of this?”
Julius nodded then turned to Calvin. “Shall we?”
CHAPTER THIRTY=TWO
“Mrs. Albina Steen,” Sudworth announced before departing.
Alice and Maura looked up as the woman entered. Alice had told Maura everything about the previous day and felt them getting closer by the minute. It seemed that once Maura spoke her secret, she could be quite chatty.
So, when Albina came into the room, Alice knew exactly who she was but neither woman knew why she was there or why she wore the anxious expression on her face. Albina was shorter than Alice and built small. She was a brunette with gray eyes.
Albina’s gray eyes fell on Alice and she asked, “Hello, you must be Ralph’s daughter. You look much like him. He’s told me so much about you. I’m terribly sorry to come to you this way.” Then she paused and asked, “Have we met before?”
Alice sat up at the informal use of her father’s name and her heart began to beat rapidly as worry grew. She stared at Albina’s face and shook her head. “I don’t think we’ve met before. What did you say about my father?” It was all she could think about at the moment.
“You must come with me quickly. He needs you.”
Alice’s worst fears seemed to be becoming a reality. Her father had been hurt and she’d lose him. She and Maura stood and started for the door.
Albina looked at Maura and said, “I’m so sorry, but my hack only fits two.”
Alice looked first at Maura and then Albina. “We’ll make do.”
Albina frowned but nodded. “Let’s hurry.”
Alice followed, grabbing her bonnet and shawl. “What happened to my father?”
“I’ll tell you on the way,” Albina promised.
“Where are you going?” The question came from Sudworth and since he was a butler, it was obvious that Albina was quite confused that he’d had the audacity to ask.
Alice looked at her and asked, “Where are we going?”
“The dock,” Albina said quickly. “Hurry.” She started for the hack at the curb.
Alice turned to Sudworth and said, “Make sure Calvin is told.”
“Of course,” he said.
Alice and Maura squeezed into their seat and the curricle was quickly on its way.
Albina started speaking before they turned the corner. “Your father had come to visit my home when he fell and hit his head. Dr. Hanford says it could be very serious.”
Alice’s throat constricted and her body went cold.
Maura asked, “You live by the docks?”
Albina leaned forward and nodded at her. “Yes. My husband is a dock worker.”
“Mr. Wilkins visited your home, you say?”
“Yes.”
“What for?”
Alice’s head moved back and forth between the women and was amazed at how much Maura was speaking to someone she didn’t know. She’d never heard the girl speak this much to Lorena or anyone else.
Albina seemed to struggle for a reply. “Well, to see my children, of course. To make sure all is well. He feels very guilty about killing my father.”
“My father didn’t kill your father,” Alice told her. “He fell from a ladder all on his own. There was no one around at the time. The club wasn’t even open.”
Albina smiled. “Of course he didn’t kill my father, I only meant that my father’s death resulted from him working for yours.”
Alice narrowed her eyes. She didn’t like that reply either but any reply she’d been ready to give was cut off by Maura.
“You blame Mr. Wilkins for your father’s death?”
Albina blinked and smiled. “That’s a silly question. Of course not.”
Maura stared at her for a long time then sat back.
Alice sat back as well, deciding she simply wished to get to her father and quickly.
Maura whispered in a voice that only Alice could hear, “We must get away.”
Alice turned to her and gave her a looked that asked, “What?”
Maura’s hand slid over and grabbed hers.
The traffic grew thick and the hack rolled to a stop but before it could completely, Maura was up and moving, yanking Alice along with her.
“Maura, what on Earth—”
“Run!” Maura shouted.
Alice’s feet hit the pavement just as she heard the unmistakable crack of a gun. She turned around and saw Albina had a gun trained on her. Horses whinnied and men and women began to shout.
“Run!” Maura shouted.
Alice picked up her skirts and ran.
A few seconds later, another shot rang out.
Maura pulled her between two buildings and they continued on. Alice had no idea where they were going but she didn’t stop. The alleys of London were filthy but Alice kept her eyes ahead and didn’t turn back. She allowed Maura to lead the way, making multiple turns until, somehow, they made it to Pall Mall and slipped into a book shop.
Maura continued to pull Alice along, grabbed a book from the shelf, and pressed them close to the window while keeping the book in front of them.
They stood silently and Alice watched the people who passed on the other side of the glass while listening to the others who walked around the shop.
After a moment, she asked, “How did you know?”
“She was lying,” Maura whispered while keeping a keen eye on the road. “I’ve met many people who’ve lied to me over the years. I know when someone is lying and she was lying.”
Alice sighed and shook her head. For a moment, she’d thought she didn’t know her father at all. It was one thing to have kept his charity a secret but quite a different matter for him to have been visiting another family and never once introducing them to Alice.
“Why did we get into the hack if you knew her to be lying all along?”
“Because she wasn’t lying all along.”
“Why do you mean?” Alice asked.
Maura turned her head slowly toward her and held her eyes. “Your father is in danger.”
Alice took in a deep breath but felt her knees ready to give up from under her. “I need to find him.”
“We’ll go to Genie’s. Albina might not be alone. If we return to Lorena’s, she might find us before we can get aid.”
Alice stared at her. “You’ve done this before?”
Maura smiled. “I tried to run from Bedlam many times. I knew when the guards took breaks and where every man stood. I never made it out but each time I made it further until they chained me to the bed.” She touched her neck again.
Alice touched her arm and looked out the window. Pall Mall was one of the busier streets of London, housing many of the best residences along with the best shops. Alice’s father had once bought a watch from the shop next door and Alice had been in this very bookshop on a number of occasions.
“Alice?”
She turned around and was stunned to see Isaac standing before her.
He smiled at her with warm brown eyes as though they’d not had words just days ago, as though she’d not turned down his offer of marriage. He was still very handsome and since he’d opened her eyes to the very male part of him, she noticed even more
and hoped one day he found someone who loved him just as much as she loved Calvin.
“How are you?” he asked as he took her hands and held them between them.
“Lovely,” she told him, though inside her heart ached with fear. She knew she sounded slightly breathy but there was nothing she could do about it at the moment. “How are you?”
He sighed. “I feel terrible that I’ve wronged you, Alice. It was not right of me to buy you from your father, no matter how much I wished you for myself.”
Alice smiled brightly at him. “Isaac, you always gave the very best apologies.”
He smiled and lifted a brow. “Do you forgive me?”
“Of course,” she whispered, squeezing his hands. “And I must say that your book is magnificent.”
“Truly?” he asked, studying her face. “Did you enjoy it?”
“My friends and I fought over it. It’s the best adventure novel I’ve ever read, Isaac. What are you planning to call it?”
“I’m not sure, but your words give me hope toward my success.”
“Oh, you’ll be successful, Isaac. Of this, I have no doubt.”
He lifted a hand and touched her cheek and his eyes filled with sadness. “I can’t believe you didn’t know. I simply should have told you.”
Alice looked down.
He lifted her chin and his expression was serious. “Had I asked for your hand two years ago, would you have accepted?”
Alice bit her lip and said, “I don’t know, Isaac, but it no longer matters. I’m to marry Calvin.”
He caressed her cheek and said, “Of course.” Then he dropped his hand and gave her a small smile. “Perhaps one day I’ll write a book about a beautiful girl named Alice who doesn’t understand the world around her.
Alice grinned. “I love it already.”
He lifted her hand and placed a kiss. Then he looked over at Maura and said, “Good morning.”
“Good morning,” Maura said with a small smile.
“What are you reading?” he asked.
Maura glanced at the book and her cheeks reddened before she turned back to Isaac. “Fanny Hill.”
Isaac stilled.
Alice gasped and looked at the book Maura held and found that it truly was Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure.
Maura whispered, “I like your book as well.”
Isaac seemed to come undone and nodded before putting on a tight smile and leaving.
“Let’s go.” Maura placed the book back on the shelf and started to the road. They were in a hack and off to Genie’s house quickly.
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CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
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Calvin tapped his foot against the carriage floor and wondered if he could make it back to the house on foot faster than the pace of the horses.
“Calm down, Calvin,” Julius said. “She’s probably sitting in a chair in Lorena’s sitting room, drinking tea and laughing with Maura.”
Calvin shook his head and ran his hands down his face and leaned forward. “This changes everything. When she hears about her father…” He looked down at the carriage floor and wondered what he would do and how he would get her through this. He’d told her that everything would be all right and he’d failed her.
“You’ll make it,” Julius told him.
Calvin didn’t agree. They’d gone to Albina’s home only to find her husband, Mr. John St. George, eating his breakfast and with enough energy to tell them exactly what he’d done with Mr. Ralph Wilkins. The worst of it was that there was nothing either Calvin or Julius could do about it. Their only hope was William but even they knew that William’s military power only extended by so much.
Ralph Wilkins had gone to Albina to speak to her about leaving Alice alone, but before he could get many words passed his lips, he was drugged, taken to sea by boat, and transferred to another until he’d been impressed and was now somewhere at sea fighting for king and country. John called it justice for what had happened to him.
It seemed that no amount of money was enough for Albina to forgive what Ralph had done. Her mother had had no clue that she’d been bothering Ralph for months, telling him that blood would be required for her father’s death.
Now that he knew what was happening, Calvin began to rethink his plan. He should have sent Hugh to find Ralph, though at the time, he’d not known the man was missing. Who would have thought it possible? He should have stayed while Alice spoke to her father. If he’d been there for the conversation, he could have made sure Ralph was followed and could have saved him before he’d been put on a boat. His only hope now would be to believe that Ralph would return from war in the Americas alive, though nothing was ever for certain. The British Army was already pulled thin, fighting wars in both France and the New World.
He lifted his head. “I don’t think we’ll survive this.”
Julius had a leg crossed and his arms resting on top. His face was expressionless. “You’ll survive because she actually loves you.”
“She could change her mind,” Calvin admitted to the last man he wished to admit it to. It would be easy for Julius to pounce on his weakness and strike. He’d seen the man do it to others but never to one of the Men of Nashwood. Still, if Julius wanted to insert himself between him and Alice, the chance had come.
Julius sighed. “Then we’ll have to remind her of all the reasons she said yes in the first place.”
Calvin looked up at him. “You’d help me?’
His friend looked out the window. “Vowed to, didn’t I? The woman is yours and we both know the rules. We don’t take women who belong to another.”
It was a vow they’d made, a vow every Nashwood brother had taken, one of many.
Calvin leaned back and watched as the carriage finally stopped in front of Francis’ house.
He hopped down and walked to Lorena’s front door. It opened before he could knock.
“They’re not here,” Sudworth said and his expression did not bode good things. “A Mrs. Albina Steen came and said Alice’s father needed her at the dock. Maura left with her.”
Calvin took a breath and cursed before he covered his face, not believing what was happening. First Ralph and now his daughter. If something happened to Alice, he’d never survive it. He would live with her hating him so long as she remained breathing. He ran to Francis’ house, ignored the gentlemen who were in the public areas of the club floor and searched every room until he opened a door and found the men he was looking for.
Calvin walked in just as Julius started to take a seat. “Albina has them.”
Julius popped back up.
Morris, Will, Hugh, and Francis all turned to him.
They were in the private parlor. When the doors were closed, club members knew that they weren’t allowed inside.
Everyone stood.
“Start from the beginning,” Morris said as he started from the room.
Calvin did, walking through his and Julius’ visit to Albina’s.
Will said, “I’ll go talk to someone and see what can be done about Wilkins.” As a major general, he was likely to have a connection in the Navy who could help.
“Thank you,” Calvin told him.
They walked outside.
Julius said, “I’ll return to the docks and see if they were actually heading that way.” He left swiftly.
“I’ll go see what I can find,” Hugh said before he started down the street on foot.
Francis said, “Someone needs to alert Lorena to what is going on and make sure she and Genie stay safe.”
“Yes,” Calvin agreed. “The last thing we need is for more women to go gallivanting off.”
Calvin stood by the door, unsure of what to do.
A hand landed on his shoulder and he turned around to see his brother standing there.
“We’l
l find her,” Frank said. “And it’s time we alert the police to what is going on.”
Calvin agreed and watched Frank leave like the others. Then he decided to go to the hospital and see what he could uncover from Albina’s mother. He prayed it would lead him to Alice.
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CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
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Calvin pushed aside Dr. Hanford, make his way through to Mrs. Louisa St. George’s room and paused.
Sitting in a chair by his mother was a young woman, grasping her mother’s hand with tears in her eyes. With a surety that laid in in the depths of the belly, he knew that she was Mrs. Steen. He also knew the tears were associated with Alice and a knife sliced through his heart at what those tears could mean. Were they tears of guilt?
The possibility inflamed him and the hostility must have shown on his face as he strolled across the room because her eyes widened with his every step. Before he could think, he grabbed her by her arm and started out of the room.
There was the sound of his name being called, one of them surely his brother, another Dr. Hanford but all Calvin could see was Alice, helpless and afraid. His mind could only register the people in his way as he strolled from the hospital, yanking the evil woman at his side behind him. He heard shouts for the police but not even the fear of prison or something far worse could stop his stride.
“Where is Alice?”
“I don’t know.” Albina’s feet tripped over one another.
“Then we’ll simply have to help you remember.”
Outside, he threw the woman into the hack and said nothing as his brother climbed in behind him. He instructed the carriage driver to go toward his house, and the carriage fell into silence.
Frank stared at him and while he’d expected his brother to say something about the matter of the woman and what he planned to do with her, he didn’t. He simply stared at Calvin with a look of confliction, both anger and agreement. For once, they were in unison.
Alice’s Shameless Spinster’s Society Page 19
