Lord Runthorne's Dilemma: A Regency Romance by Sarah-Jane Steele Page A

her true essence.
    She dipped her head to murmur something to the child, and Runthorne smiled. She looked so natural. He wondered if she would ever have a child of her own and felt a burning hope that she would. The child giggled and gazed up at Elizabeth with such trust that he felt his heart clench.
    She was a pretty child with hair perhaps a shade darker than Elizabeth’s and a sweet, heart-shaped face. Her clothes were shabby, but appeared clean and well mended. Heavy, ugly shoes hung from her skinny ankles, but at least she was shod. Many poor children went barefoot in all weathers.
    She was about five or six years he judged, although it was often hard to tell with peasant children as so many of them were undernourished. This one seemed better fed than most, so perhaps he was not too wide of the mark. She, Alice he reminded himself, clutched a bulky sack to her chest, as though it contained precious jewels.
    He shook his head, and met Elizabeth’s curious gaze. “I was just wondering how far to the town,” he said, which was no explanation, he knew.
    “ And that made you shake your head?” Her smile warmed him. He had missed that.
    “ Not exactly. I was considering if there was a haberdashery there,” he improvised.
    “ So it was that that made you shake your head?”
    Was there just a hint of laughter in her eyes , he wondered? “I shook my head, because I decided that it was highly unlikely that there would be,” he said, hoping that that would be the end of the matter.
    “ Please, Miss, what’s a haberdashery?” The child had a soft voice and, although she stumbled over the unfamiliar word, was better spoken then he would have thought.
    “ A place where you can buy ribbons,” Elizabeth answered.
    “ Oh we have one of them,” Alice said with pride. “It’s down Cock Street, along from the doctor’s house.”
    Elizabeth laughed. “So it is. There, my lord, your journey will not be in vain. I am sure Miss Lacey will be delighted with a length of ribbon.”
    Privately, Runthorne thought Aurelia would be disgusted with the merchandise available in a provincial shop, but he nodded.
    “ So, is it much farther?”
    Elizabeth shook her head. “If that rise were not in the way, you would be able to see it,” she said. “I think you will be a little surprised.”
    She was correct. They paused for a moment on the brow of the hill. A substantial town bustled below them, and the sounds of healthy commerce rose on the still air.
    “ It appears to be an affluent community,” he said.
    “ For some,” Elizabeth nodded. “My apologies, Alice,” she said to the child before her, “we will not delay you any longer. I know you have many chores.”
    “ Thank you, Miss.”
    At first they rode through wide, pretty streets lined with many little shops but, gradually, those streets grew narrower, darker, until they became a warren of alleyways and bolt holes.
    “ Do not worry, my lord, I know where I am going.” Elizabeth said and Runthorne realised she had noticed his increased scrutiny of their surroundings.
    “ Then I leave my safety entirely in your hands.”
    “ Your trust is well placed,” Elizabeth said. “We are here.”
    A slim woman stood in the street, one hand on her hip, the other supporting a small baby. Her scowl melted into a relieved smile when she saw them. Like Alice the woman was poorly dressed, but clean. She dropped an absent minded curtsey.
    “ Alice Turner, how many times have I told you not to wander too far away? I have been out of my mind with worry over you.”
    “ Mrs Turner, please do not be too hard on Alice,” Elizabeth said, lowering the child to the ground. “We would have been back long since, but I was somewhat delayed.” The glance she shot him informed him where the blame lay.
    “ Indeed, Mrs Turner,” Runthorne said, “had I not intercepted them, I am sure Miss Hampton would have been here a great deal sooner.”
    “ Well as to that, sir,” Mrs Turner said,