Page 35 of Trouble

‘Miss Laurence.’

Akia was wrong. Emily didn’t care how shapely his chest was under that shirt; it could not even go part way towards making up for being so wholly, incurablyvile.

Chapter Thirteen

The next day was Saturday, and Emily was granted the afternoon off.

She intended to keep her appointment at the Rose and Crown.

She was glad to be out of the house, regardless of her destination. If she bumped into Aster, she would be forced to drag her kicking and screaming – or, more likely, limp and unimpressed and heckling Emily with cutting remarks – to lessons, and if she had the misfortune of crossing paths with Captain Edwards, he might treat her to another few verses of scolding about her inability to transform Aster into someone punctual and pleasant.

Meera had offered the gig, but the weather was fine, and Emily wanted to walk. There was only so much pent-up frustration that one could vent while pacing circles around the rooms of Fairmont House; a proper stomp along the coast was just what she needed to prevent her from skipping around sprinkling something flammable and then batting over a candle.

Thegallof Captain Edwards, to blameherfor Aster’s exploits, when anybody could see that the girl was completely out of control! Theaudacityof placing all the responsibility on her shoulders, simply because he did not want to face up to the fact that he had produced such a monster! Every conversation she’d had with this man provided more proof that she should not feel an ounce of regret for selling him out to the highest – well, theonly– bidder. If only he knew that he was digging his own grave every time he opened his mouth.

She was so caught up in elaborate violent fantasies that she had almost forgotten what she was looking for when she walked through the door of the pub, but the sound of the bell announcing her arrival brought her back to reality.

She found Charles in one of the strange dead ends on the other side of the bar. He was sitting at a tiny table that could barely fit two chairs around it, smoking his pipe; when he saw her, he removed it from his mouth and smiled as if he were genuinely pleased. He looked slightly out of place in this pub, halfway between a regular patron and a lost gentleman, his coat expensive but worn at the sleeves and lapels; perhaps he had fallen on hard times. Emily could certainly understand that.

‘Governess,’ he said slowly. ‘I was almost starting to think I had dreamed you.’

‘Real, unfortunately,’ said Emily.

Charles laughed. ‘Not real enough to have a name.’

‘You may call me whatever you like,’ said Emily.

Charles lifted a finger to signal the barmaid, and a moment later there was a pint next to Emily’s hand. ‘Then I shall call youMiss Laurence.’

Emily was momentarily taken aback before her faculties kicked in. Her last name was not so much a secret as to cause concern; he might have heard it from anybody who knew a member of staff at the house.

‘As you wish,’ she said evenly.

‘And I suppose you may continue to call me Charles.’

‘Is it not your name?’

‘Oh, no, it is. Should I have come up with another? I quite like Charles.’

‘Charles is fine,’ said Emily, confused by the meandering route this conversation was taking when they had something serious to discuss. ‘Look – I have some information for you.’

Charles took up his pipe to take another puff, and then watched her over the plume of smoke.

‘Do go on.’

‘There was some sort of rift between Captain Edwards and the Royal Navy,’ Emily said, lowering her voice to a whisper. ‘A naval officer came to the house the other night for dinner, and the servants were discussing the possibility of .?.?. tension between them.’

‘Ah,’ said Charles. ‘Yes. Well. Therein lies the question.’

‘What question?’

‘Whathappened,’ said Charles, ‘between Edwards and the navy?’

‘Oh,’ said Emily, deflated. ‘So you knew already?’

‘I did,’ Charles said, watching her thoughtfully. ‘But I am grateful to you nonetheless for telling me. It builds trust, you know? And how are we to go on without trust.’ He flashed Emily another leonine smile, as if she had truly impressed him. ‘Well. Have two sovereigns for your trouble, to start.’

He slid the coins across the table towards her and Emily stared down at them. It was close to a month’s wages, and he’d given it to her as if it was nothing.