“L-London?” Pamela’s spoon stopped midway from the bowl of the delicious soup to her mouth.
“Yes. But before I tell you about what I’ve learned today I want to know why you spent your day getting run over by a carriage.”
Pamela gasped. “You m-a-make it sound as though I planned m-m-my day around the accident. Although, it w-w-was not an accident.”
“I think we have established that.” Nick studied her. “Tell me how that came about.”
She took a deep breath and began her tale. “Early th-this afternoon I found the d-d-door to Lizbeth’s r-room open. Since n-no one was around, I went inside—”
Loud groan from Nick.
She frowned at him. “—Th-there was a paperboard b-b-box on the floor across the r-room in front of the window. I opened the b-box and found m-m-many of Lizbeth’s things in th-there.” She shifted a bit, almost spilling the soup. “There were th-things like her hairbrush, toothbrush, h-hairpins. Things that n-no woman would leave b-behind if she m-moved.”
She stopped to take a sip of tea. “Unfortunately, Mrs. O’Leary f-f-found me th-th-there.”
“Of course, she did.” Nick nodded at Dorothy as she placed a tray of food on the table next to the bed. “What did she say?”
“She was qu-quite angry and l-let me know I h-had no right to be in that r-room.”
“Which was correct. You had no right and, based on your suspicion about that room and its inhabitants, very foolish to even be there.” He shook his head and took a deep breath. “Go on.”
“Right after th-that I left to join Addie and Lottie for t-t-tea one last t-t-time at Addie’s b-bookstore since she has s-s-sold it and wanted to retrieve a few personal items from th-there.” She laid the spoon down alongside the now empty bowl and took another sip of tea.
“When I r-r-returned to my b-b-boarding house I had expected another lecture fr-from Mrs. O’Leary, but instead she was quite pl-pleasant and asked me to make a tr-trip to the gr-greengrocer to pick up things she n-n-needed for dinner.”
He frowned. “Does she usually do that?”
She shrugged. “Not many t-t-times, but I have done her a f-favor or two like that since I’ve lived th-there.”
“All right. What happened then?”
“As s-s-soon as I walked out of the house, I n-n-noticed a man I’d never seen before st-standing on the pavement a f-few houses down.”
Nick’s muscles tightened, and even though he already knew the outcome of her trip to the greengrocer it still had him ready to punch the wall. Another man to put on his list of people to pay for Pamela’s injuries.
“It w-was obvious fr-from the time I left the house th-that he was following me. I became very n-nervous.” She stopped and took a deep breath. Nick moved to sit on the edge of the bed and took her hand. “Go on.”
She glanced sideways at him, a flush rising to her face. “I d-d-decided th-then th-th-that I had t-to …”
“What?”
He blew out a deep breath. “Come to your cl-club. I knew if anyone c-could keep me s-safe it was y-you.” Her face turned a bright red at her confession.
His heart soared and despite the sad tale she was telling, and the agony he felt over her injuries, a sense of male satisfaction flowed through him. “I’m glad you knew the right thing to do—at least at that point.”
She glared at him and raised her sweet chin. “At th-that point I decided to go to m-my friend Lottie’s house which was cl-close by and tell her th-that I would be unable to see h-her or Addie for a while. I knew I h-had to leave the b-b-boarding house and possibly even B-bath, or else do s-something so I could n-not be found, and m-my friends would worry when I d-disappeared on them without a w-word.”
She took her last sip of tea and he removed the tray from her lap and brought it across the room to place it on the small desk next to the wardrobe. When he returned to her, he sat on the bed again and took her both of her ice-cold hands. “What happened next?”
“I left Lottie’s house and d-d-decided to look for a hack to t-t-take to your club. But b-before I could reach the rail st-station where I could f-find a hack I was hit by the ca-ca-carriage.”
Nick squeezed her hands so hard he was afraid he was inflicting further damage on her. The thought of what might have happened to her brought a combination of rage and heartbreak. Despite the short time he’d known Pamela his heart told him they were meant to be together.
“Do you remember anything after that?”
“J-just waking up in h-hospital. I tried to tell the n-nurse and d-d-doctor what happened, but I was v-v-very confused and as you know, m-my words d-don’t come out v-v-very clear when I’m anxious.” She grinned. “Like n-now.”
He reached out and tucked her loose curls behind her ear. “And then you sent for me.”
“Yes.” She ducked her head and he grinned.
“I’m glad you did.”
“Me, t-too.”
They smiled at each other just as Dorothy returned to the room to retrieve the trays of food. Right behind her was Mrs. Fletcher, glowering at him sitting on the bed. “Mr. Smith, I assume there are chairs in the room?”
He hopped up like a recalcitrant lad caught with one of his hands up a maid’s skirts. “Yes, ma’am.” He winked at Pamela. “We have more to discuss, but I think for now I need to give you some of the pain medication the doctor left and allow you to get some sleep.”
“Wh-what about L-london?”
“We will discuss that in the morning as well.” He pulled the small jar of laudanum and the spoon he’d stuck in his pocket before he came upstairs. “You won’t want to take this for too long, but it will help you sleep.”
She eyed the bottle “Wh-what is it?”
“Laudanum.” He unscrewed the top of the bottle and poured a little bit into the spoon.
“I agree. I d-don’t want to take it f-for long. I understand y-you can b-b-become too de-dependent on it.”
He held the spoon to her mouth, and she took the medication and swallowed.
“Mr. Smith. I believe it’s time for you to take your leave and allow this young lady to get some rest.” Mrs. Fletcher stood not two feet from him, her arms tucked under her impressive bosom, a look on her face that almost had him laughing. She apparently had no intention of leaving the room until he did.
When he’d told Pamela that Mrs. Fletcher would guard her virtue he hadn’t been joking. The woman was a stalwart of moral behavior.
“Yes, indeed, Mrs. Fletcher.” He leaned over and kissed Pamela on her forehead. “Good night.”
Pamela watched Nick leave the room and had to smile at how he had kowtowed to his housekeeper. When she’d first learned about his background, she had been a bit frightened and decided what he must be like. A man brought up on the streets of London had to be coarse and vulgar. Uncaring and aggressive.
Now she was finding out differently. He might be able to fool her, since she hadn’t known him for long, but his housekeeper had no qualms about chastising him, and she certainly knew him quite well. Also, he’d known the name of the maid who brought his dinner. Pamela was willing to bet her sister-in-law did not know the names of her staff.
He’d been very patient with her when she tried to tell him what had happened to cause her injuries. She could tell by his expression that he was quite annoyed with her for going into Lizbeth’s room, but not once did she consider he might turn that anger on her.
Could it possibly be that he really did care for her enough to overlook her deficit?
Mrs. Fletcher had remained behind once Nick left, and now she puttered around the room, straightening things that did not need to be straightened. It was obvious she wanted to say something.
“Mr. Smith is a fine man.” She stopped what she was doing and studied Pamela. “I know all about his dark years, but he is a kind, generous person. I had been dismissed from my last position because I refused to become part of my employer’s plan to hide his comings and goings to his mistress from his wife.
“He wanted me to lie and I would not do it because his wife was a wonderful woman who certainly deserved better than him.” She sniffed, the gesture saying precisely what she thought of the man.
“Even though I had no references, Mr. Smith believed my story and gave me this job. I’ve been with him for six years now and would not stand by and watch someone hurt him.”
Pamela did not have to be brilliant to understand the unspoken words from Mrs. Fletcher.
“I agree, Mrs. Fl-fletcher. I f-find Mr. Smith to be the no-no-noblest of men. I have no idea if h-he is in a position to be hurt by m-me, but I would never d-do that.” She hoped her words softened the woman’s expression.
Mrs. Fletcher smiled. “Oh, yes, my dear. You are definitely in a position to hurt him.” She walked to the bed and smoothed over the covers. “Now it is time for you to rest. And I will speak to Mr. Smith and let him know there will be no sneaking into this room.”
Pamela shook her head. “D-do not concern yourself with th-that. I am not that s-s-sort of woman.”
She nodded. “Good. I thought so.” With those words she turned and left the room, closing the door quietly.
What a strange conversation. But it was nice to speak to someone who thought so highly of Nick. Especially since she was now counting on him to help keep her safe and to find Lizbeth. But she wasn’t too sure if she could keep her heart safe from him.
The laudanum had worked quite well because the sound of the maid, Dorothy, opening the drapes and wishing her a good morning was the next thing she knew after closing her eyes the night before.
“Milady, Mr. Smith would like to know if you are feeling well enough to join him for breakfast downstairs.” Dorothy grinned and shook her head. “Mrs. Fletcher has given him orders not to enter this bedroom again as long as you occupy it.”
Pamela couldn’t help it. She burst out laughing at the thought of Mrs. Fletcher again giving orders to her employer. But at least she had no worries about her reputation being sullied.
“I am a b-b-bit sore and will need h-help in dressing, but I b-b-believe I can manage to m-m-make it downstairs.” At least she hoped she could. She really needed to talk to Nick and if he was banned from coming to her, then she would have to go to him.
Unfortunately, she had no clothing with her since the dress she’d been wearing when she was hit with the carriage had been left behind in hospital. “I’m afraid I d-d-don’t have anything to w-w-wear, however.”
“Mrs. Fletcher has clothing for you. The items belonged to her daughter. They are things she left behind when she married and moved to Dorchester with her husband,” Dorothy said.
“That would b-be w-w-wonderful.” She’d never worn anyone else’s clothes before, but right now she couldn’t afford to be fussy. The nightgown she wore was given to her at hospital. “Do you know if m-my shoes arrived w-with me fr-from hospital?”
The maid thought for a minute. “I am not sure, but if not I’m certain Mrs. Fletcher has something.”
It sounded to Pamela as though Mrs. Fletcher was not only a guardian of young ladies’ virtue, but a veritable miracle worker. “Thank y-you.” Pamela used her good hand to toss the covers aside and slid to the edge of the bed. She stopped for a minute, hit with an attack of lightheadedness.
“Why don’t you wait, milady, for me to help you? I will be back in a moment with the clothing Mrs. Fletcher has.”
While the maid was gone, Pamela examined every part of her body to see what hurt the most. It turned out, everything. She must have been pretty banged up and bruised when she was tossed to the ground. Yesterday, the sprained wrist and head injury had blocked out all the aches and pains in the rest of her body that she was now feeling.
She reached out to the headboard and used that to stand. More swaying and then black dots that had her sitting back down. How would she make it downstairs if she couldn’t even stand without passing out?
Dorothy returned to the room with articles of clothing draped over her arm. “I have everything you need here. Do you want to try to make it to the bathing room? Or just use a pitcher and bowl?”
“Actually, I d-d-do need to m-make it to the t-toilet.” She dreaded the idea of using the chamber pot again.
“I can help you. It’s at the end of the corridor, not too far.”
Since she really wanted to join Nick downstairs, it was best if she at least tried to make it to the end of the corridor without fainting. “Yes, if y-you would, pl-please.”
Dorothy wrapped her arm around Pamela’s waist, helped her up with a grunt on Pamela’s part.
“Are you all right?” Dorothy eyed her with concern.
“Yes. I n-need to do this, or I will be st-stuck in this b-bed for days.”
Between the two of them they got her to the toilet, and since she was up, she used the bathing room to wash and brush her teeth—with a small piece of linen since she had no toothbrush.
That little bit of effort tired her out, but at the same time raised her spirits. Dorothy helped her dress and once she was ready, Pamela sat on the bed to await Nick to carry her downstairs.
Just as she had expected, Nick arrived with Mrs. Fletcher in tow. He crossed the room and the way his eyes lit up warmed her insides.
“Good morning, Pamela. I must say given what you went through yesterday, you are looking beautiful.” He grinned as he bent to scoop her into his arms.
Knowing how she looked when she viewed herself in the mirror in the bathing room, she was certain Mr. Nicholas Smith must be Irish because he was full of blarney.