The Rebellious Rake (The Notorious Nightingales #4)

Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

“ W hy did you kiss me?”

“To reassure you,” Ram lied. He’d wanted to taste those soft, pouting lips since he’d first seen them. Even that chaste kiss had told him the lips and the woman they belonged to could be trouble for him if he got too close.

She fell silent again, and they walked… and walked.

“Why did you come to London, Flora?” He hadn’t heard the thud of feet in a while, and talking would help her with the panic.

“To visit my family.”

“I don’t believe you,” Ram said. “Try again.” She huffed out a little agitated breath that made him smile.

“Some things happened, and it was considered best for all parties that I leave Willow Hill.”

“What things?”

“I don’t know you well enough to tell you that.” Her voice was back to the prim Miss Thomas now.

“If we die here or are abducted, I may be the last person you ever speak to. I think if you are going to bare your soul, now is the perfect time. ”

“Telling someone they may die or be abducted is not conducive to making them feel in any way safe.”

“I try to always speak the truth, no matter the situation, but you’re right. I’m sorry. I should not have said what I did. I promise we are not going to be murdered and those men won’t find us. But…,” he added as he heard her indrawn breath, which was an indication she was about to speak. Strange how he knew that about her. “I want to know what brought you to London when no one knew you were coming back.”

She was silent for a while.

“I am the soul of discretion, Flora.”

“Who told you that?”

“I just know it for the truth.”

She huffed out a breath. “That is hardly a recommendation.”

“Well, as there is no one else down here but the dog, I’m not sure how to convince you. But I will say that a man’s word is his bond, and I give you my word that what you tell me down here will never be spoken aboveground when we reach it shortly.”

“You tell me something first.” It was so very her to expect something in return.

“I had to leave India,” he found himself saying.

“So you didn’t just decide to return home after the death of your father? Which I’m very sorry about, Ramsey.”

“Thank you, and no.”

“Just ‘no’? No elaboration?”

“Now you, and I’ll see if your answer deserves elaboration.” No one but his mother knew what had taken place in India. He’d not even told Gray.

“My reasons for coming to London are more than one.”

“Tell me the least scandalous one,” he said to make her laugh .

She squeaked, and he turned to grab her. “What?”

“Nothing. I—ah, drat.”

“Drat?”

“I took off my glove because it’s filthy and wet and touched the wall. Are you happy that the sticky substance beneath my fingers made me squeak?” The words were snippy.

“So happy. In fact, I think it’s the happiest I’ve been all day.”

“Sarcasm is the sign of a small mind.”

“And yet we digress. You have something to tell me, and evasion will not work,” Ram said, navigating them around a bend as the dog walked on, wearing the most expensive collar in the entire length and breadth of England.

She inhaled, and he braced himself. “My fiancé was not a nice person.”

“I already knew that,” Ram said. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

“How do you know that? I never told anyone but my brother, and you have never met him.”

“Any man who broke off an engagement to you is an idiot. Therefore, he’s not a nice person either.”

She was quiet again and then said, “Thank you.”

He grunted something unintelligible.

“I can be quite managing and not very malleable.”

“No, really? I hadn’t realized.”

“Very amusing.”

“Continue with your story, Flora.”

“I thought I loved him, and he loved me. But what he loved was the adoration of women… many women. He wanted to wed me because I would give him children and be the gentle, sweet wife he could leave at home.”

“He does know you, right? ”

She snuffled a laugh. “Clearly not. I found him with one of them.”

“You found him with another woman?”

“Yes.”

The rage was so swift, it robbed his breath. After he’d hauled in a lungful of fetid air, Ram said, “Bastard.”

“Very much so.”

“What did you do to him?”

“Nothing.”

The reply came far too quickly, so Ram stayed silent, waiting for her to elaborate, which he had a feeling she would.

“Oh, very well. I may or may not have started a rumor in my village, which is very easy to do because I simply had to speak to Mrs. Hagglebottom, as she’s the biggest gossip in Willow Hill, and I knew the news would spread.”

“Did you make up that name?”

“Absolutely not. There are six Hagglebottoms: Mr. Hagglebottom, Mrs. Hagglebottom, Fred, Nell, Simon, and Cyril.”

Ram laughed. “What did you tell her?”

“That even though I was deeply sorry to have ended my relationship with Julian, I do still care for him and hope he finds relief soon. Mrs. Hagglebottom of course asked, ‘Relief from what?’ I was able to inform her that he suffered terribly from an affliction affecting so much of his life. I added that had I become his wife, I would have ensured he was cared for properly during the times his rash was at its worst and would think no worse of him for not being able to perform his marital duties.”

Ram snorted and then started laughing loudly. So loudly, he was soon snort laughing.

“Shh,” she hissed .

He tried to muffle his laughter behind a hand, but that produced more snorts.

“In no time at all, people were turning up on the Lockwood doorstep with all kinds of potions and creams,” she said in a serious little voice that had him continuing to laugh.

“Well played, Flora.”

“Thank you.”

“He deserved that and more. Did your brother attempt to dismember him?”

“I told Charles he wasn’t to do that because I didn’t want him fighting a duel or anything so foolish. But I think he may have spoken with Julian, because when I saw him across the village green three days later, he had a bruise on his cheek.”

“Well done, Charles.”

“I must admit to being pleased; however, I wish I’d done it.”

“So not only are you cunning, but you are also bloodthirsty. I will have to remember that.”

“It’s best you do.”

“And I’m sorry your ex-fiancé wasn’t aware of just what he had.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Ramsey?”

“Yes, Flora?”

“Are we destined to walk in this sludge and smell this air for the remainder of our lives?” The voice was small and tight once again, unlike when she’d been telling him her story.

“No. We will get out, I promise you that, but these tunnels are long and vast, so it may take time.”

“All right.”

“So what was the second thing? ”

“I’m not telling you that. Why did you come home from India?”

“My father wasn’t who I thought he was, and I had to clean up the mess he made. That forced me back to London, and I am saying no more on the matter, Flora.”

“I’m sorry that your father wasn’t the man you believed him to be, Ramsey.” Her voice was solemn. “I completely understand.”

He thought her choice of words odd. “Why do you completely understand?”

“What?”

“You heard my words, Flora. Everything echoes, even if we are speaking in whispers.”

“I understand what it is like to have your father disappoint you. But I don’t want to speak on the matter further, either, so please don’t press, Ramsey.” He thought there was a hint of desperation in her tone now.

“If at any time you wish to speak to someone when we reach the surface, I will always listen, Flora. Even after we resume our usual animosity.”

“Thank you, and I will listen too.”

They walked on then in silence, both now with a piece of knowledge from each other’s pasts that no one else but those closest to them knew. It made him feel connected to her, and Ram wasn’t sure he was entirely comfortable with that.

“I heard something,” Flora whispered what felt like hours later.

“A clop of hooves,” Ram said, listening.

The dog kept moving for a few minutes more and then stopped beside the ladder.

“What a good boy you are,” Flora said, releasing Ram’s hand to pat its head.

“I’m quite sure he took the long route, but at least we now have the means to escape this place. ”

“He’s a clever boy,” Flora said in that way people did when addressing small children and pets.

“I’m going up to remove the opening. Then I will come back down, and you can go first.”

“Why?”

“Because then I shall break your fall if you slip.”

“I won’t slip.”

“Flora,” Ram said in a dark tone, “you are cold and terrified no matter how hard you’re attempting to show me you are not.”

“I—ah, I must admit I will be glad to be out of here. Therefore, please climb, Ramsey.”

“I intend to.”

“Excellent.”

“It is. Now shut up, as I am having the last word.”

He climbed the ladder, and when he reached the top, he put his shoulder into the cover. Once he had it pushed aside, he looked out. They were in the middle of a London street. He climbed back down.

“You must be careful to look for carriages, Flora. We are below a street.”

“All right. You will carry the dog up.”

“Pardon?”

“We have to bring him with us. What if he is lost down here and has been wandering aimlessly for days? He saved us; therefore, we must save him.”

“He will weigh more than a small cow.” Ram attempted to reason with her.

“Then I shall carry him.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Ram scoffed. He noted the dog was watching them closely, his head swinging from left to right as they spoke. The weak light from above showed he was a large shaggy-haired animal in need of a thorough washing .

“I am not going up there unless you promise to bring him, Ramsey.”

She was cold and shivering—as was he—but he could see by the determined tilt of her jaw that she meant every word. He could argue further, but right then he wanted to get her out.

“Go. We shall follow.”

She climbed.

“Have a care not to stand on your skirts.” He got no answer to that.

“Right, now no biting. I’m going to pick you up, dog.” Ram bent and lifted the animal into his arms. It stiffened, wriggled, and then settled. A long tongue then ran the length of his cheek.

“What was that noise for?” Flora said from above him.

“He licked me.”

She snuffled, which Ram found cute, even considering he smelled rank and was carrying an equally smelly dog.

“Now move, woman. This dog is heavy.”

She grabbed the rungs and began to climb the remainder of the way silently. Ram followed closely with one hand, the other holding the beast. He was breathless when he reached the top.

Flora disappeared through the opening, and he pushed the dog up behind her and followed. He then dragged the cover back in place, glad to be out of the foul-smelling sewer.

“Your breathing is ragged,” Flora said as Ram bent at the waist to regain his breath.

“No, really? I wonder why.”

She muttered something he couldn’t decipher.

“We need to move,” he said when he could breathe again. Straightening, he looked around them. They were exposed now that they were up here. Ram had to get them to safety fast, and to him, the only place to go was Crabbett Close. It was Wednesday. Gray and Ellen spent time there with her siblings every week. How, he wondered, had it gone unnoticed that Flora was not in her room? That would be a conversation he’d be having as soon as they reached the Nightingale family home. But for now, they needed transport. Later he’d think about who was after him and why.