Page 40 of A Scandalous Proposition
‘Don’t distress yourself,’ he said with infinite gentleness. ‘We can talk about the rest later.’
She mopped her eyes and blew her nose. ‘I blame myself,’ she said, determined now to tell it all. ‘My parents were frail. I should have stopped playing the avenging angel and stayed at home to care for them.’
‘What could you have done against a band of determined ruffians?’
‘That’s what I keep trying to tell her,’ Christine said. ‘I shudder to think what would have happened if those louts had got their hands on her.’
‘Where was your elder brother when all this happened?’ Adam asked.
‘He’d been sent somewhere else by the British. I had no way of contacting him and know not to this day if he’s alive or dead. If he’s alive, I don’t know if he’s aware of what happened to our parents, or where we are now. I worry about that.’
‘Can you not get word to him through Horse Guards?’
‘No, I can’t risk doing that. You’ll understand why when you hear the rest of it.’
‘How did you manage to get to England if you had no way of paying for your passage?’
‘Well, that’s what I need to explain.’ She bit her lip without feeling the ensuing pain. ‘It seemed like fate at the time but I can see now that I was incredibly naïve. The responsibility for Sophia and Ramon hung heavily on my shoulders, you see. Our neighbours did what they could to help but we were all much in the same boat. And then, one day, out of nowhere, an English sea captain appeared. He spoke excellent Spanish and offered the three of us passage back to England. It seemed too good to be true, which is perhaps why I didn’t reveal that I could speak English. Even so, I had to take the chance. Simon’s aged aunt does live in Kent,’ she said, with a defiant smile, ‘and I thought that if we reached her she would be bound to take us in.’
‘And so you accepted this captain’s offer.’ Adam scowled. ‘Didn’t you ask yourself why he was prepared to go to so much trouble if you weren’t able to pay him?’
‘Yes, of course I did! He said his wife had been killed by the French. He hated them as a consequence and was prepared to do whatever he could to help their allies.’
‘Oh, Florentina!’
‘I know I was stupid. But we were desperate and hewasvery convincing.’
‘At least you didn’t speak English in front of him. Presumably, being able to understand what he said alerted you to the fact that he wasn’t trustworthy. But before you explain about that, tell me how you got to the French coast.’
‘We covered the distance to Tarragona in easy stages and his boat was waiting there.’
Adam frowned. ‘Then you had a long sea voyage.’
‘Yes, indeed.’ She pulled a face. ‘There were the three of us and two other young girls. At the time it didn’t occur to me to wonder why the captain had only taken the younger people. If I thought about it at all, I suppose I reasoned that we were the strongest and therefore the most likely to survive the rigours of the journey.’ She noticed Adam and Christine share a wry glance. ‘We discovered when we got to the port that Captain Dawson ran cargo in both directions. He transported gold guineas and, for some reason, English newspapers in one direction. As well as us, his hold was full of textiles, brandy and gin on the return journey.’
‘And what did Captain Dawson require from you in return for your safe passage once he got you on board his ship?’
‘I know what you’re thinking, but it wasn’t like that. I heard him give the rest of his crew strict instructions to leave us be.’ She took a deep breath. ‘But when we reached Portsmouth I soon found out why. We were transported to a warehouse on the docks, and I heard Dawson boasting about his good fortune. He said that he’d get an excellent price for all of us. Especially Sophia and me.’
‘The devil he did!’ Adam paced the room, scowling. ‘He was planning to sell you all into prostitution, I collect.’
‘Yes, he was.’ Christine took up the story. ‘But thankfully business took me to Portsmouth that particular day. An acquaintance, someone I thought I could trust, told me a new girl had arrived whom I might like to take a look at. You know something of my history, Adam.’ He clasped his hands behind his back and nodded. ‘I had little choice but to enter this profession, coming from the workhouse as I did and having been molested by the overseer when I was younger than Sophia is now.’ She sighed. ‘I’ve made the best of it, remained in the business through choice and built up a good reputation. But I’ve never employed a girl who doesn’t wish to grace the profession of her own free will, and nor will I.’
‘I overheard Christine contemptuously refusing to take any of us,’ Florentina said. ‘Being desperate, I decided she was our only hope. We had the clothes we stood up in and little else, not even enough money to get to Simon’s aunt in Kent. Dawson had taken what few valuables we did have for safekeeping, you see. I heard Christine say she was going to be at a particular hotel for the rest of the day and decided to throw myself on her mercy.’
‘How did you escape from the warehouse?’
‘Well, I’d learned a few tricks of my own whilst scouting for the army and had no difficulty picking the lock when we were left unguarded. By great good fortune we found our way to that hotel before we were missed and the alarm was raised. We concealed ourselves until Christine emerged, told her what had happened to us, and that’s why you find us here today.’
*
Adam stared at her, making no effort to keep the admiration out of his expression. She made it all sound so straightforward, but the entire episode must have been terrifying.
‘And now you two ladies make it your business to rescue others who were in the same situation as Florentina.’
‘How did you know?’ they asked together.
Adam smiled. ‘Nothing could be simpler. I followed you to the cottages on the estate yesterday.’
