Page 44 of Charmless
“No, of course not,” I said, drawing away from him. “But to be fair, Horatio, how many times have you told me you have sworn an unbreakable oath to enforce the king’s laws?”
I did not want to renew the discord between us, but I could not help reminding him. “It was only a month ago that I watched you arrest that poor farmer whose only crime was trying to evade that ridiculous tax on working dogs.”
“I kept Farmer Gray locked up for one night in gaol and let him off with a light fine. No matter how much I disagree with many of the king’s laws, I must be seen to enforce them, or the king will appoint someone who will. Do you wish to see me dismissed from my post?”
I shook my head, but I could not help thinking how much less complicated our romance would be if Horatio were not a Scutcheon commander. “I understand that your position means everything to you.”
“Hardlyeverything,” Horatio said, caressing my cheek. “I admit it is important to me. You know my background, Ella. Becoming commander of the Midtown Garrison is no small achievement for someone who spent their early years in the Foundling Asylum. If I had not had the good fortune to beadopted by the Crushingtons, who knows where I would be? Likely slaving away in the silver mines.
“There are not many people who would have risked accepting a scruffy boy of unknown ancestry and raising him as their own. I was determined to prove myself worthy to be their son. I only wish they had lived long enough to see me attain the rank of commander. My father especially would have been so proud, but sometimes… ” Horatio trailed off, lapsing into a troubled silence.
He moved away from Loyal’s stall and sank down upon one of the tack benches. I settled myself beside him.
“Sometimes?” I prodded gently.
“Sometimes I wish I had not been so ambitious. When I first came here, I was bursting with enthusiasm to make Midtown the safest part of the kingdom, free from all lawlessness and disorder. I never imagined that would involve arresting downtrodden farmers and impudent small boys. Perhaps I would have been better off staying out of the military. It was certainly not what I dreamed of when I was a foundling lad.”
I tucked my hand around Horatio’s arm and rested my head against his shoulder. “I remember. You told me all you desired was to become a stable hand so you could always be near horses.”
Horatio entwined his fingers through mine. “I might have been happier leading such a simple life if I had never come here to Midtown.”
I lifted my head to regard him with consternation. “And never met me?”
He smiled sadly. “No, I can never regret that. I love you, Ella. I always will even if I do not foresee a happy ending to our story.”
“Wewillbe happy,” I insisted. “I know right now the prince is being a royal pain. Who would have ever imagined Florian could be so persistent?”
Horatio stopped my protestations with a light kiss. “My dear, you know as well as I, that the prince is not our real problem.”
I wanted to deny it, but I couldn’t.
“Mal.” I sighed.
“Mal,” Horatio agreed grimly.
I slumped against his shoulder, and he wrapped his arms around me, resting his chin atop my head. “You never asked me how I recognized Hawkridge today.”
“With everything happening so fast, I didn’t think about it. Mal’s disguise was quite good. I hardly recognized him myself, so, how did you?”
“It was you who gave him away.”
“Me?” I shifted my head so I could look up at him in puzzlement.
“The expression on your face,” Horatio said. “From the first day that I arrived in Midtown, I noticed you, Ella, though I don’t think you ever looked twice at me. You were always so intent upon getting on with your marketing. You often seemed tired, burdened with cares, but not when I saw you with Hawkridge. You looked happy and relaxed. You smiled and laughed more.
“Your face lights up whenever that man is around,” he added wistfully. “And it makes me jealous in a way that the prince never could.”
“Silly!” I gave a lock of Horatio’s hair a playful tug. “You needn’t be jealous, just because Mal knows how to amuse me. We have been friends since we were children.”
“Forgive me, but it is a friendship I don’t understand. Hawkridge strikes me as being an unconscionable scoundrel, a man who has no regard for anyone or anything beyond his own selfish interests.”
“That is because you don’t know him!” I pulled out of Horatio’s arms and stood up. My hands fluttered in agitatedgestures as I struggled for a way to explain the complicated man that was my friend Malcolm Hawkridge.
“I admit that Mal can be reckless and exasperating. He has little respect for the law and no faith in the king’s justice. There have been many times I have wanted to strangle him myself. But he can also be tender-hearted and compassionate, although he would scoff and jest and never admit it, even to me.
“He does what he can to help his neighbors in Misty Bottoms. Most of them are too poor to afford a doctor, but Mal freely distributes his herbal potions. He would make an inept wizard, but he is a very skilled apothecary.”
“If he would confine his activities to dispensing medicine, I would have no problem with him,” Horatio said.
