Page 54 of His Unforgettable Bride
She sidled closer to him. “I’m unsure anybody can.” Silence gathered for a minute or two as she mustered her courage. “She’s still accusing me of taking jewelryshestole. In particular, there was a brooch that once belonged to the Queen. Her man wants it and is threatening her over it. So now she’s threatening me…and said next time she comes back, I need to have the jewels or the money they’re worth. If not, she intends to steal from the sisters. She even threatened to burn down the tearoom.”
Gray pinched the bridge of his nose. “You have to tell the local constable.”
“Ruby warned me not to. But…” Juliet sighed. “You know how I feel about the law. Besides, the constable would probably take her word over mine.”
“You do not know that.”
In her gut, she did. Juliet loved that Gray believed in her innocence. But her association with Ruby left behind a dirtiness, something Juliet had tried to banish since her pickpocketing days. “I’m afraid you think less of me now, although you may not realize it yet.”
“Absolutely not.” Gray reached for her hand and clasped it firmly.
Warmth spread through her insides. From their first touch, he had awakened something inside her. It was almost an invitation to be vulnerable. And oddly, she nearly wanted to comply.
“If I am Alex Gray Sherwood, I am a criminal. Will you change your opinion of me after my identity is revealed or confirmed?”
“Of course not.”
“Exactly, and you have not done anything wrong, Juliet.”
The warm sting of tears hit the backs of her eyes, and she blinked them aside. But she had done a million things wrong in the past.
The stray cat returned and crept closer until it rubbed against Juliet’s shins. Then leaped into her lap. Its rotting rubbish scent twitched Juliet’s nose. Still, she petted the animal’s mangy fur, a patch missing on her hindquarters. Was the cat unkempt because nobody had cared enough to shelter her?
Between not enough sleep—due to Gray waltzing through her thoughts after their dance—and the confrontation with Ruby, fatigue swept over her. She released another weary sigh. “I feel stuck. I try to improve myself but can’t get a good footing.”
“Until my amnesia abates, I am stuck as well, trapped between the past and present. Maybe I shall dwell there forever.”
Now that he mentioned his dilemma, Juliet realized she had wedged herself into a similar slot—between long ago and the future. “I’m sorry.”
He raised her hand and kissed her knuckles.
Hard to miss tingles climbed her arm.Calm down. Everyone knew gentlemen kissed the back of ladies’ hands regularly. The intimacy probably meant nothing to him, yet it meant nearly everything to her.
“And I am sorry Ruby is trying to draw you into her troubles.”
“Troublehappens to be my old friend.” She absently rubbed the cat that now purred. “After my grandfather died, his landlord shooed me away. I slept in an alley at first, then in someone’s cellar, though the owners didn’t notice for months. In time, I moved to a church.”
“A wise decision, was it not?”
“You’d think so, with the Bible preaching to help the downtrodden, but they forbade me from staying there.”
Gray winced, then cupped her hand in both of his. The tenderness was like a healing ointment to her scarred soul. He was thoughtful, caring, and perhaps the type of man she could fully bare her soul to.
“Always I scrounged for food. Then one day, I stole an apple from an old merchant’s full cart. In my mind, he had plenty to spare. Like most folks, he paid me no mind and didn’t notice.”
“You had to eat.” His tone was matter of fact, not judging in the least.
“I told myself that same thing. Soon I met a girl who introduced me to a Mr. Lanker, who offered shelter and safety.”
Gray stiffened. “In exchange for what?”
“Pickpocketing. I had a knack for nicking things, big and little—everything from food to jewelry. The night that ended my career, I’d chosen an elderly lady as my mark, and for a good reason. Her flashy necklace sparkled like a million stars at midnight. I could almost hear Mr. Lanker praising me after I handed him the goods.”
Juliet’s muscles tensed as she pictured the incident. A dusting of midsummer moonlight. Guests moving like cattle toward the street after a night of dancing. A kindly woman smelling like apple blossoms. “I pretended to fall and cry, and the gentle lady bent to assist me. It was sweet of her, really.”
“Indeed.”
“I snagged her emerald in two seconds flat. As I dodged the crowd, a fistfight broke out. One man’s right hook sent his opponent hurling against my shoulder, knocking me into a constable.”
