Page 83 of Of Fate and Phantoms
I swapped seats to sit beside her and put my arm around her shoulders. "You're beautiful. Look in the mirror. Everyone says so."
"Who?"
"Seth, for one." Too late, I realized my mistake. I'd hoped to cheer up Harriet, since she seemed to hold a torch for him. But Seth wouldn't want his name connected to Harriet's, or any woman's, in front of Alice.
Alice's spine stiffened, but I couldn't be sure if that meant she cared or she was simply adjusting her posture. "You are the prettiest, most elegant woman I've ever met," she said to Harriet. "Indeed, your face and figure are so feminine that I'm sure no one even looks at your hands."
"Oh." Harriet dabbed at her eyes and gave Alice a watery smile. "You're very sweet."
I smiled at Alice and mouthed, "Thank you."
"Perhaps Mr. Gawler didn't realize how important it was to me to meet the others in his pack," Harriet said. "I know he only wanted to protect me, but if he knew what it was like to never have met another, he would have invited me to do so, I'm sure."
"The East End really isn't for ladies," I said, patting her hand. "Perhaps I shouldn't have brought you."
"No, Charlie, don't think that!" She grasped my hand in hers, enveloping it almost entirely. "I feel so much better for having met Mr. Gawler. I do, honest. I don't care that he's from the slums. Indeed, he wasn't the violent, debauched sort I was expecting. He was quite civilized."
"You sound as if you were expecting a barbarian."
"It's what I've always been led to believe about men who live in the East End."
"They're not all criminals. Some are, but most are poor working men trying to earn enough to feed their families. It's a wretched existence, I'll give you that, but that doesn't mean they're wicked people."
"I see that now. If only he'd taken me to visit his friends, I wouldn't have minded walking through the streets at all. Look, my hem is dirty and I don't care a whit."
I eyed Alice opposite and she bit back a smile. Harriet was as silly and innocent as a child, sometimes. Gawler had done the right thing in refusing her. I'd hoped she'd have been satisfied simply to meet him, but it seemed I'd miscalculated. She wanted to speak to a woman. Perhaps after this was over, we could ask Gawler to negotiate a meeting with one. I wouldn't mention it to Harriet until I was sure it would go ahead. I didn't want to disappoint her if it didn't.
We deposited Harriet at her home and I was thoroughly grateful that Lord Gillingham was still out. I didn't want to battle with him.
"Will you be able to persuade your butler not to talk?" I asked as she stepped down from the carriage.
"Unlikely," she said. "I expect Gilly will lecture me on the dangers of associating with you when Owen tells him."
"Will he insist on locking you in your room again?"
"Not if I tell him I'll simply climb out while all the neighbors are watching and cause a scandal. I've seen you and Mr. Fitzroy do it, and I'm sure I can too. Gilly hates scandal."
I kissed her cheek through the window. "Good luck."
We didn't have to wait long after our arrival at Lichfield for Lincoln, Seth and Gus to return. I didn't need to ask how their afternoon had been. Frustration was written all over Seth and Gus's faces. Lincoln's was as unreadable as ever.
"Cook is putting together something for supper," I told them. "We'll take it in the parlor in front of the fire. Alice and I have news."
They'd been about to head upstairs to wash up, but they paused at my announcement.
"You've been out," Lincoln said. I tried to gauge his thoughts so I knew how to answer, but couldn't quite read him. I suspected he was holding back on something but I couldn't tell what or why.
"How do you know?" Alice asked.
"Your hems are dirty. Some of it's blood."
"Blood!" Gus and Seth cried.
Gus knelt and inspected my hem. "Bloody hell, Charlie, what've you been up to?"
Now I understood why Lincoln was holding back. He'd noticed the blood and had been waiting for me to broach the subject rather than asking me outright, or demanding that I tell him, which he would have done in the past.
"We could have simply gone for a walk around the garden," I said.
