circumstances do not allow such a thing to be. You do understand, don’t you? But we can always be friends, even if we are far away from each other.”
“Yes,” Bobby replied quietly. “But faraway friends aren’t much good when it’s dark and little boys wake up in the night.”
Prudence hugged the child to her. “You’ll always have me.”
Yet her heart broke as Bobby turned his face into her coat and wrapped his hands tightly around her neck. She was only a governess, hired just months before. She had no real claim on little Lord Dunraven and no right to make such a promise. For all his wildness, Hal might prove kinder in the long run than she.
Hal walked restlessly away for a moment, but then he turned and grinned at her again.
“Do you really have a king’s ransom in gold coin in your purse, angel?”
Pushing aside her worry and disappointment, Prudence nodded. She had no shortage of cash. Lady Dunraven had announced that the public flyer was the fastest, safest way to get from Glasgow to England, if she was discovered at the MacEwens’ house. Unless the pursuit was very hot on her trail, she would then be far from Scotland and in safety before Lord Belham’s minions could begin to catch up.
Now, instead, she was trapped like a pig in a poke at the Cock and Ninepins with this mysterious rogue. Every time she looked at him, her heart beat faster. Should she be afraid of him?
The rogue was still grinning. “Then why don’t I see whether there’s a private chaise for hire, with a driver. Would you want to pay for it, if I can find one? Then the journey to England may be made in style.”
“Mr. Hal,” Prudence said, looking up at him. “I am grateful for your assistance, but my funds are supplied by Bobby’s grandmother. I do not think she would approve if I used them to pay for your expenses to England. I am very sorry, but that’s how it is. I hope you will understand?”
“I understand and you misunderstand. I wouldn’t dream of imposing on your employer’s charity, angel.”
“But I want Hal to come with us,” Bobby said.
Hal stooped down and met Bobby’s eyes. “No, Miss Drake is right, sir. She is in honor bound to use your granny’s blunt for you. I can’t expect to come along unless I can pay my own way. There will be costs at every inn, and for fresh horses, and pay for the driver, and it would not sit very well with my honor, would it, if I did not provide a fair share of funds of my own? No gentleman would ever take such unconscionable advantage of a lady.”
Bobby looked very earnestly into Hal’s eyes, and nodded slowly. “But I would very much like you to come, all the same,” he said quietly.
Hal reached out as if to brush his hand over the boy’s shoulder, but instead he turned and walked away, leaving Prudence to face her confused thoughts. Of course she did not want him to come! But she had hardly expected that he would agree so easily, and now she felt oddly and absurdly bereft.
Nevertheless, it would never do to sit here in the coaching office like a ninny and fret about it, so after a moment she stood up with what she hoped was decision.
Taking Bobby by the hand Prudence led him into the warm parlor, where she ordered hot chocolate and breakfast. When Hal came back, she would at least insist on buying chocolate or coffee for him. Then she would ask him to convey the horse and cart back to Mr. MacEwen. Hal could stay on at the Manse, helping to test the new pistols and thus earning his keep, until he finally remembered who he was.
Perhaps her intense desire for an answer to that question was only the most ignoble curiosity! Meanwhile, her duty lay clear.
With a clatter of hooves and a blast of the horn, the overloaded Carlisle Flyer left the yard. The bustle died away, and the Cock and Ninepins became quiet. Prudence walked back and forth in the almost empty inn parlor, every once in a while peering from the window into the coach yard.
Bobby studied a
“Yes,” Bobby replied quietly. “But faraway friends aren’t much good when it’s dark and little boys wake up in the night.”
Prudence hugged the child to her. “You’ll always have me.”
Yet her heart broke as Bobby turned his face into her coat and wrapped his hands tightly around her neck. She was only a governess, hired just months before. She had no real claim on little Lord Dunraven and no right to make such a promise. For all his wildness, Hal might prove kinder in the long run than she.
Hal walked restlessly away for a moment, but then he turned and grinned at her again.
“Do you really have a king’s ransom in gold coin in your purse, angel?”
Pushing aside her worry and disappointment, Prudence nodded. She had no shortage of cash. Lady Dunraven had announced that the public flyer was the fastest, safest way to get from Glasgow to England, if she was discovered at the MacEwens’ house. Unless the pursuit was very hot on her trail, she would then be far from Scotland and in safety before Lord Belham’s minions could begin to catch up.
Now, instead, she was trapped like a pig in a poke at the Cock and Ninepins with this mysterious rogue. Every time she looked at him, her heart beat faster. Should she be afraid of him?
The rogue was still grinning. “Then why don’t I see whether there’s a private chaise for hire, with a driver. Would you want to pay for it, if I can find one? Then the journey to England may be made in style.”
“Mr. Hal,” Prudence said, looking up at him. “I am grateful for your assistance, but my funds are supplied by Bobby’s grandmother. I do not think she would approve if I used them to pay for your expenses to England. I am very sorry, but that’s how it is. I hope you will understand?”
“I understand and you misunderstand. I wouldn’t dream of imposing on your employer’s charity, angel.”
“But I want Hal to come with us,” Bobby said.
Hal stooped down and met Bobby’s eyes. “No, Miss Drake is right, sir. She is in honor bound to use your granny’s blunt for you. I can’t expect to come along unless I can pay my own way. There will be costs at every inn, and for fresh horses, and pay for the driver, and it would not sit very well with my honor, would it, if I did not provide a fair share of funds of my own? No gentleman would ever take such unconscionable advantage of a lady.”
Bobby looked very earnestly into Hal’s eyes, and nodded slowly. “But I would very much like you to come, all the same,” he said quietly.
Hal reached out as if to brush his hand over the boy’s shoulder, but instead he turned and walked away, leaving Prudence to face her confused thoughts. Of course she did not want him to come! But she had hardly expected that he would agree so easily, and now she felt oddly and absurdly bereft.
Nevertheless, it would never do to sit here in the coaching office like a ninny and fret about it, so after a moment she stood up with what she hoped was decision.
Taking Bobby by the hand Prudence led him into the warm parlor, where she ordered hot chocolate and breakfast. When Hal came back, she would at least insist on buying chocolate or coffee for him. Then she would ask him to convey the horse and cart back to Mr. MacEwen. Hal could stay on at the Manse, helping to test the new pistols and thus earning his keep, until he finally remembered who he was.
Perhaps her intense desire for an answer to that question was only the most ignoble curiosity! Meanwhile, her duty lay clear.
With a clatter of hooves and a blast of the horn, the overloaded Carlisle Flyer left the yard. The bustle died away, and the Cock and Ninepins became quiet. Prudence walked back and forth in the almost empty inn parlor, every once in a while peering from the window into the coach yard.
Bobby studied a
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