Wedded in Sin (6 page)

So she stumbled, jostling Tommy and stubbing her toe at the same time. Samuel caught her quickly. A hand beneath her elbow to steady her. And then when he looked at her face, he released a soft but heartfelt curse.

“I wasn’t thinking,” he said by way of apology. “My mind, you know, it runs on. But you needn’t worry about any of it. We have a wager, you know, and I shall take care of it all. I swear.”

“But how,” she whispered. How did one go about finding justice in this world? It simply wasn’t something she’d had any reason to expect.

He flashed her a smile that was half shrug, half apology. “By being me, of course. I know I’m odd, Miss Shoemaker. But when I set my mind to something, I am rather excellent at it. I shall see things set to rights.”

“Will you?” she asked, wondering not about his promise but his mouth, of all things. His lips were nicely formed and his teeth marvelously straight. In his whole face, his mouth was most appealing, though his eyes took a very close second. They were warm and honest as they looked at her. And she had the strangest desire to do more than look at him. He sensed it, too, for she saw his eyes darken and his nostrils flare. She was used to noticing when men found something attractive. It was usually the sign for her to disappear. But for the first time in years, she didn’t want to run. She wanted to learn more. And she wanted to touch and be touched in return.

But that was a ridiculous thing to do with this odd gent. He wasn’t even all that physically attractive, though he did make her smile. He was too gangly, his clothing too shabby, and his hair really did need a comb. And most important, she needed him to help her, not be distracted into other thoughts.

And yet, his mouth was right there and he was looking at her with a surprised kind of interest. As if he, too, had no intention of being attracted to her, and yet found himself suddenly interested.

Then, thank heaven, they were saved. Tommy woke up and began to cry. The mood was broken and she had to readjust her hold on the child to comfort him. That meant that Mr. Morrison let go of her elbow and took a step back.

All over. No more unwanted attraction. Everything sorted itself back to where it ought to be. Or so she told herself.

Except that when she looked over Tommy’s shoulder at Mr. Morrison, she saw that indeed everything had changed. He was looking at her with alarm that he quickly tried to cover by staring blandly at a storefront window. Tommy had settled again, having found his thumb to soothe himself. While Penny was holding her breath, wondering if things were about to become very awkward indeed, Mr. Morrison changed. He squared his shoulders and lifted his chin. Then he slowly, carefully turned back to look at her. And she saw as clear as day that he wanted her as a man wants a woman.

Penny licked her suddenly dry lips, and then roundly cursed herself for doing so. His gaze riveted on her mouth.

“Mr. Morrison,” she began, wondering all the while what she intended to say.

“Never fear, Miss Shoemaker,” he returned, “I shall sort things out to end up just how they ought to be.”

She raised her eyebrows at his arrogance. He truly believed he was that powerful. And yet, everything she’d seen of him so far proved him to be an extraordinary gentleman. “But what if I think your arrangement is completely wrong?”

“Well, then,” he said with a wink, “I expect we will have a jolly good row. But eventually you’ll come around. Everyone always does.”

She snorted. Really it was hard not to laugh at such vanity. “Do you know, Mr. Morrison, I believe you are every bit as managing as your sister-in-law, but in your own way.”

He reared back. “Now you are being needlessly insulting.”

“No, sir, I don’t believe I am. But as our wager has you working toward my ends, I think I’ll let you have your head, so to speak. Go on,” she said, waving airily at him. “Manage my home back.” Then she began to walk away, her back prickling the whole time with an awareness of him watching her.

He didn’t stay behind her for long. His longer steps easily caught up to her. But what made things all the more disconcerting was that he never said a word. He just matched pace with her. And when she glanced his way, she found him watching her with a rather intense expression. The kind of expression that made her breath catch as shivers slipped down her spine. It was part awareness, part terror, and wholly disconcerting. And it didn’t help in the least that he seemed as unsettled as she was.

Good God, the woman was whip smart! Samuel could
barely keep his pace steady as he thought on that remarkable fact. Miss Shoemaker was perhaps one of the top twenty females of his acquaintance for intelligence. It wasn’t her education, of course. Like most females, she was sorely lacking in that area. As the daughter of a successful merchant, she probably had the equivalent training of a vicar’s daughter or a forward-thinking cit. That was deplorable, given her natural talents, but the way of things for a female. He did not fault her for it. Far from it, actually, because it made her abilities all the more impressive.

He tallied up her accomplishments in his head. First, as a woman alone with a child, she had still managed to find a way to ply her trade—shoemaking—without anyone realizing their foot ware was being made by a woman. Second, when armed thugs appeared at her door, she had not lost her head to hysterics, but had grabbed the most valuable thing she owned—the foot molds—and staged a drama such that she could escape with her booty intact.

Third—and this was most significant in his mind—she had quite accurately read his character regarding his sister-in-law. He roundly hated Georgette for the exact reason that Miss Shoemaker stated: his sister-in-law was immune to his usual mixture of flimflam and cool logic. Georgette’s stubbornness stemmed from a marked arrogance. She simply could not understand that her way was not always the best. Miss Shoemaker, on the other hand, accurately saw right through his charm and his logic, then coolly manipulated things to
her
liking.

He was both horrified and horribly impressed. And that led to a
situation
. Whenever he was horribly impressed, two completely separate things happened. The first was that his mind rapidly went about searching for a way for him to become
less
impressed. Like a boy searching for the magician’s trick, he scrambled for some way to explain away the magical and replace it with something terribly mundane.

And the second, at least where females were concern, was that he became completely and totally infatuated. Rock-hard infatuation complete with heart palpitations and myriad schemes intent on bedding the woman.

He would succeed. He always did, but it never lasted. Eventually his mind would find a way to dismiss the woman’s brilliance. No person—male or female—could withstand critical scrutiny for long. In time, flaws would appear, and his mind would gleefully seize upon them, holding them up like dirty laundry. The infatuation would fade, and he would once again return to his normal world filled with trivialities and soul-eating boredom.

But that was for the future. In the present, he was flush with his infatuation, both for the woman and the rather weak mystery of her evil solicitor. And even more fortunate was her position in life. She was unmarried and of a class that would allow him to dally with her without repercussions. Perfect!

So while he went about solving her problems with the solicitor, he could bed her to their mutual satisfaction until his mind ferreted out her flaws. And then, the interlude would be over. He would return to his normal life, and she to hers with the added benefit of a restored home after he brought the solicitor to justice.

An excellent plan, he decided. Suddenly the next couple weeks were looking rather exciting. Sadly, it likely wouldn’t last more than that amount of time. Possibly less than a week. He was, after all, extraordinarily intelligent, and therefore able to spot flaws very quickly. But Miss Shoemaker was also pretty and the day was rather fine. He would do his best to focus more on bedding the woman than finding her flaws. Probably as soon as tonight, after he exposed the solicitor to the proper authorities. She would naturally be grateful to him and therefore easily seduced.

It was all quite logical, and he was eager to get on with it. To that end, he pasted on his most brilliant smile and began his seduction of the pretty shoemaker with the even prettier mind.

Chapter 4

The dress shop seemed quiet, but Penny guessed that
was because all the activity was in the back workroom. Helaine’s notoriety as the new Lady Redhill had brought scores of new customers to their door. But as she was gone on her honeymoon, the rest of them were scrambling to keep up. Helaine’s mother was doing her best as the new front woman—the person who greeted the guests, talked to them about what they wanted, and in general tried to sell them things. Fortunately, she was pretty good at the task, enticing people to prepay for a special design once Helaine returned. Others accepted the lower-cost option of an existing design in the sketchbook, but with some tiny alteration in color or embellishment. That could be created immediately once the customer had been measured.

Which meant that almost all the work from the measuring, through the cutting, and on to the sewing was done by Wendy Drew, the seamstress and co-owner of the dress shop. Penny hadn’t a clue how the woman kept up. She’d been working nonstop since Helaine’s wedding two weeks ago and had even been induced to bring on an apprentice. Sadly, Tabitha wasn’t very capable, and Penny very much feared she wouldn’t last. But she was an extra pair of hands, at least, and so for now, she was welcome.

Penny hesitated on the shop’s steps, knowing that she was bringing extra work to her already overburdened friends. But there was no help for it. She had nowhere else to turn. Still she couldn’t push through the door until Mr. Morrison touched her elbow.

“Hesitation is against all logic. If you have decided, why wait?”

“I wasn’t hesitating,” she lied. “I was…I was…Oh, bother,” she snapped, then she pushed through the door.

She didn’t look behind her to see if he was following. Or smirking. She merely went through the front room to the back workroom, where Wendy was snapping orders at the sobbing apprentice and Helaine’s mother was looking on with dismay. But they all looked up at Penny as she stepped slowly into the room.

“What ’appened to you?” cried Wendy, her refined accent slipping as she turned her back on her new apprentice to look Penny up and down. “You look all twisted and angry.”

“And who is this?” asked Helaine’s mother as she turned to frown at Mr. Morrison. “I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t as a rule allow gentlemen in the workroom.”

“Of course, my lady. I’ll withdraw immediately. Miss Shoemaker, we can depart for the solicitor’s as soon as you are ready.”

Penny nodded while Helaine’s mother released a nervous titter. “My lady?” she gasped. “No, no, I’m just simple Mrs. Appleton. It’s my daughter who is the lady now.”

Penny bit her lip, damning herself for bringing Mr. Morrison here. Of all the toffs in the world, this one was sure to know “Mrs. Appleton’s” true identity as Lady Chelmorton. And his one slip had shown that he knew the truth, but apparently he chose to pretend ignorance. He nodded and flashed his too charming smile. “Of course, Mrs. Appleton. I apologize. I tend to be a little mutton-headed sometimes.”

If that weren’t a bounder, she didn’t know what was. Meanwhile, Penny stepped forward and introduced the man. She ran through everyone’s names for his benefit, and then gestured to him. “Everyone, this is Mr. Morrison,” she said as neutrally as she could manage. “He’s going to help me with a legal problem. My home was stolen from me this morning. The shop and everything!” Her attempts to remain calm failed. As she spoke, her voice wobbled and tears flooded her eyes. She tried to stop them, but she was standing with her friends after having lost everything.

“Stolen! But—”

“My God! How could—”

“Ladies, ladies, please.” Mr. Morrison held up his hand, effectively silencing the room. Even Tabby stopped crying to listen. “I’m sure Miss Shoemaker will be pleased to explain everything in due time. But I must express that the faster we get to the solicitor’s, the faster we can get everything set to proper order. We have come here, I believe, in the hopes that—”

“Oh yes! Tommy!” cried Mrs. Appleton. “Give me the lad. Set your bags upstairs. You can stay there are long as you need.”

The woman bustled forward and gently lifted Tommy from Penny’s weary arms. The boy went easily, still drowsy as he sucked his thumb. And as he knew Helaine’s mother very well, he settled into her arms with barely a whimper.

“Go on now,” Wendy said. “Wash your face and change your clothes. Best not to keep them legal types waitin’.”

Penny nodded but she didn’t move. And to her humiliation, the tears began to leak out, slipping down her cheeks in misery. And once again, it was Mr. Morrison who saved her, though his tone was gruff as he spoke.

“The thing is, she hasn’t got any bags except a few nappies. It was all taken by a Mr. Cordwain.”