Page 24 of The Lady Glass
Chapter 12
Rolland exited the carriage first.He scanned the length of the Roma camp. At least a dozen tents sprawled across the meadow bordered by the moors, and the sound of larks chirped in the distance. He’d seen the crude makeshift homes in passing from a distance but never up close. Some were domed with bent branches, and a few fire circles dotted between the flimsy shelters sent faint waves of woodsmoke into the air.
He’d traveled to many unique coastal villages in the navy—many poor and humble—so the only discomfort he felt here was that this was where Theresia was staying. He offered his hand to her and assisted her from the carriage. Her dainty steps were yet another testament to her refined upbringing. At least once she had been of some social standing. She clearly did not belong here. And yet that was the way of things for the impoverished. Her family must’ve fallen on hard times or left her with no resources or proper connections after their demise. Whichever it was, he was sorry for her.
An older woman with a large shawl and her hair pulled back under a scarf stirred a pot hanging from a spit over the fire nearest them. A yellow dog lay near her feet. Or was it orange? The woman had glanced at him before, but when she saw Theresia step out of the carriage, she wiped her hands on the apron over her skirt and rushed over to them, the dog on her heels. Her short legs made her progress slow, and her expression was most displeased.
“My foolish dívka! Who is this man? And why do you travel alone with him?” She clucked her tongue and pulled Theresia away from his side.
He felt oddly protective of Theresia and wanted to pull her back, but this was her friend, was she not?
“Mrs. Bedrich, this is Captain Reese. He is staying at AshburyCourt and has promised to help me find Papa’s vase.”
The older woman squinted at him. “How do you know you can trust him?”
“Because I knew him before I came here.” Theresia lifted her gaze to him. “He stopped a thief and returned a purse to an old man.”
He blinked. So she did remember their first meeting? Neither of them had acknowledged that day to each other. The image of that morning came racing back: her brave spirit in going up against a full-grown man to help someone in need and his arms tugging her tight to his chest to protect her from harm. He’d been drawn to her then and was undeniably so now. Was it because she needed his help? Was that all this was?
Mrs. Bedrich clucked her tongue again. “So he followed you here, did he?”
“Not at all,” Rolland said quickly, but he could not answer for fate and why they were together again.
Mrs. Bedrich lifted her chin and examined him more thoroughly. “I do not like the ones who are too prideful to be forthright with their feelings.” She shook her head. “You cannot always trust the handsome ones, my zlato. I will decide whether he is worthy or not. Come, Captain. One meal is all it will take.”
He shifted his weight from one side to the other. Worthy or not, he had not the time to please this suspicious old woman. “I thank you for the invitation, but I must return to Ashbury Court right away.”
“I thought you were a gentleman, sir.” Mrs. Bedrich’s condemning gaze raked over him again. “If you want to see my niece again, you had better join us.”
The dog barked once in agreement.
His mouth parted to defend himself. He wasn’t courting Theresia—just keeping her out of trouble.
“You had better listen, Captain,” Theresia inserted before hecould argue to the contrary. Mrs. Bedrich moved back toward the fire, and Theresia stepped in front of him, one hand on her hip. “After all, we know each other’s secrets. We’re friends now, and friends take meals together.”
The saucy way she said it made him forget his arguments about leaving. He was curious to see more of the camp, too, needing to reassure himself that no harm would come to these two women. His feet followed Theresia away from the road into the Roma camp, the dog falling into step beside him.
“You too?” he asked the dog. Were they both trying to protect the same impulsive woman and instead ended up following her wherever she went?
They stopped at Mrs. Bedrich’s fire. Rolland’s eyes took in the layout of the other tents and searched for any possible threats. Speaking of threats, Mrs. Bedrich made good on hers, and before he knew it, he was sitting on a stool, holding a steaming bowl of spicy, reddish bean stew with chunks of rabbit in it. Mrs. Bedrich referred to it as goulash and added to it a steamed dumpling sliced like bread called knedlíky.
The unique dishes were more appetizing than at first appearance, and he ate silently while Mrs. Bedrich prattled on. Apparently her way of testing his trustworthiness was by doing all the talking. He didn’t mind. It allowed him to learn a great deal about Theresia in a short amount of time, like the way she’d mastered her male cousin’s schoolwork before he could as a child when she was supposed to be mastering her needlework. She’d pushed through every task like nothing was impossible. He could well imagine both.
He’d long believed the best way to conquer an enemy was to study them. In this case, if he wanted to get Theresia from his thoughts, he had to learn about her first. Just as he studied the sizes of French ships and the number of men and guns they held in preparation for meeting them, he would apply the sameprocess here. Only then could his mind be at ease. And with her in his direct sight, sitting prettily on a stool across the fire from him, it was no arduous task.
“Theresia was only eight when she came to England with her papa. Several families from Bohemia followed him with the promise of greater fortune, including us. Mr. Dvorak was a generous employer, investing in my son as if he were his own. No one else was like him. Everything Mr. Dvorak touched turned to gold. Until he died. Nothing has gone well for us here since, I am afraid.”
So her surname was Dvorak, not Smith, and she was from the Austrian Empire. Rolland would send some inquiries to London about her and Miss Stone’s seminary she had attended when he returned to Ashbury Court. It would take some weeks to receive a response, but his curiosity was mounting. Despite his better judgment, he could not believe she was working with their elusive traitor. But he did wonder if he could use her to lure the man in. He would have to speak with Marcus and Lewis about his farfetched idea before he dared apprise her of it.
When he finished his goulash, he thanked Mrs. Bedrich and stood. “I had best be off.”
Mrs. Bedrich set his bowl aside and stole his arm. “You cannot think I am finished taking my measure of you yet. Besides, you came all the way to a Roma camp and did not have your fortune read.”
“Another time, perhaps.”
“It won’t cost you a farthing.”
“Mrs. Bedrich,” Theresia argued. “Let him be. You have already taken an hour of his time.”
