Page 40 of Anastasia and the Duke
"Lord Ingleby, Miss Hillcrest! Whatever are you doing?"
The other pair of lovers in the garden had been discovered. Hannah took a step back from him and glanced nervously towards the house.
"I must return," she said, running a hand over her hair to smooth it.
"You look perfect," Oliver assured her, though his eyes lingered on her lips. They looked like they had been thoroughly kissed, but there was very little they could do about that. "Allow me to escort you back to Lady Lansdowne."
"No," she said quickly, "I mean, no thank you. It is best if I return alone; we don't want to cause another scandal in less than five minutes."
Oliver, who could see merits to involving himself in a scandal with her, managed to hold his silence.
"I shall call on you tomorrow," he said firmly, to which she simply replied with a look of anguish.
"Good night, your Grace," she finally said, before slipping away, so quietly that her slippers did not make a sound upon the path.
Oliver returned himself to the bench, to wait a few minutes before following her back inside. His knees were like jelly after their embrace, as though he were a green-lad and not a hardened rake of two and thirty.
His proposal had not gone the way that he had planned, for Hannah had not accepted his offer. But he had hope that she might; a woman who responded with such innocent passion could not be completely devoid of feelings for him--could she?
Chapter Eleven
Hannah was a coward. She had always known it but now, as she faced into the third day since the duke's proposal, she knew her cowardice was a certainty.
His Grace had called not once, but twice, since Lord and Lady Keyes' ball, and both times that he had called, Hannah had not been "at home" to receive him.
He had left his card on both days, and Hannah had taken each of them from the silver tray in the hallway and ripped them to pieces, lest Lady Lansdowne query them.
If the staff thought it peculiar that Hannah was refusing the attention of a duke, they did not say it. Old Gareth, the butler, had simply accepted Hannah's refusal with a quiet nod and wheeze, each time he had come to tell her that His Grace was standing at the door, waiting for her to bid him enter.
Today, rather than face the agony of knowing that he was so close, Hannah decided to take it upon herself to actually be out when he called.
After breakfast, Lady Lansdowne took off on her own round of morning calls, leaving Hannah alone in the house. The previous two days, she had spent that time searching for the safe where the countess' treasures might be, but to no avail. Today, she would not waste time on such a fruitless endeavour--for she knew that she would not find it unless the countess told her its location--and so she aimed to put another part of the plan in motion.
Her escape.
For all Sidney's talk of helping Hannah and Nan find their way to America, there was no plan set in stone. Hannah guessed that once she gifted the odious man with what he wanted, that he would cast her aside to fend for herself. It was best, she decided, that she and Nan have their own plan hatched, so that they might make off with their share of the spoils without having to rely on Sidney.
And they would have their share, Hannah thought, determinedly. She would not allow Sidney to dupe her into handing over the whole haul of jewels to him, only for him to renege on his promise at the last minute and keep them all for himself.
Hannah's plan was to steal whatever it was that was in Lady Lansdowne's safe, secret some of it away with Nan, then approach Sidney with what was left. If he did offer her a cut of what she stole, then all the better, but Hannah wouldn't be holding her breath.
With a feeling of grim determination in her bones, she changed from the day-dress she had put on that morning, into the more sombre dress that she had first arrived in. On her head she wore her old bonnet, still drab but festooned with a pretty green ribbon. When she looked in the mirror, she decided she looked just as she had before her arrival at Grosvenor Square, albeit with plumper cheeks and a healthier glow about her skin. No one in St Giles' would remark her, though, which was the point of her costume change. She wanted to get in and out of Nan's without any of Sidney's minions spotting her.
Hannah creaked open the door of her bedchamber and cast a glance out into the hallway; the coast was clear. She darted to the servants' stairs and crept, quiet as a mouse, down to the kitchens. She could hear cook whistling a tune as she worked and, after a few minutes of agonising waiting, she finally bustled off to the larder to fetch something. Hannah then dashed across the flagstone floor, to the door which led out to the gardens and freedom.
With her head down, Hannah ran along the mews alleyway, to the busier Audley Street, where she allowed herself to relax. She was just another face in the crowd now, dressed as she was in her plain clothes and slightly battered bonnet.
The walk to St Giles' took nearly an hour and brought Hannah along St James' Street, and the grand shops and gentlemen's clubs which filled it. She could not help but glance at the famed Bow Window of White's, to see if Hawkfield was holding court there, but, to her disappointment, he was not there.
At Covent Garden, the farmer's market was heaving with stalls and livestock, and Hannah was glad of the cover the crowds afforded her. She was on Sidney's patch now, and there was always someone watching. She walked quickly towards Henrietta Street, breathing a sigh of relief as the boarding house came into view. She did not knock on the door, for she knew it would be unlocked, instead she pushed it open and made her way silently down the hall to the kitchen.
"Nan," she called quietly in greeting, and Nancy, who had been stirring a pot of something on the stove, jumped in fright.
"Bless my heart," she cried, as she turned and sighted her. "Hannah! It's you. Oh, if I'd known you were coming, I would have had something prepared. I'll make something now, just sit yourself down at the table."
"There's no need, Nan--but, oh, it's good to see you," Hannah replied, rushing across the kitchen to hug her. It felt so good to be with someone who truly knew who she was.
"Oh, my child," Nan fretted, as Hannah pulled away, revealing her tear-stained cheeks, "What's happened? Has someone hurt you?"
