suppose…” Emma worried the underside of her lip, trying to make sense of his argument. “It seems small enough, but—”
“Would you ignore the recommendation of Dr. Bettany?”
“No, but—”
“Sensible girl. Then I have your word on the matter.”
“Yes, but—”
“Yes is all that is necessary.”
“Yes.”
“Good. It is settled. We have struck a bargain.”
Had they? Emma knew herself to be breathless with no idea of how she came to be so. It must be how the fox felt after being run to ground. “You bullied me.”
“That is a gross exaggeration and quite unfair of you. Do you wish to reconsider it?”
“My comment?”
“No. Our agreement. Did I recently remark that you were sensible? Perhaps the fall did more damage than is immediately evident to the eye.”
Emma speared Restell Gardner with a significant glance and, lest he be oblivious to it, she added her most frosty accents to sharpen the point. “If there is damage to my thinking it is the whiskey that has provoked it.”
“That seems unlikely given the fact that you managed to arrive here under the considerable influence of laudanum. What is a dram of whiskey compared to soporific effects of that opiate?” He did not permit her time enough to form a reply. Though he was credited to have considerable persuasive powers, Restell knew very well that he hadn’t employed them with Miss Emmalyn Hathaway. He doubted that she would have been moved by his bullying in the past, but recent events made her vulnerable and he had shamelessly used that to his advantage. It wasn’t fair, but it was necessary. “I want to introduce you to Sergeant Hobbes,” he told her. “He will accompany my driver and provide additional escort so that you arrive home safely.”
“That is not necessary. I came on my own.”
“The less we refine upon that, the better.”
Emma wished she might raise a more cogent defense against his high-handedness, but in truth, she was weary to the bone. He would have his way in the end; there was no benefit to her in making him labor for it. “I will be glad of the escort,” she said. She was pleased that her tone communicated exactly the opposite.
“I hope you do not regularly mistake sarcasm for wit,” Restell said.
Emma flushed. With effort, she managed to keep her chin up and made no apology. It was not worthy of her, she reflected, but she did not allow herself to care too deeply. She had not sought out Mr. Gardner to secure his good opinion.
“Hobbes is my valet,” Restell told her, “though you should not make too much of that.”
“Is he the man who assisted placing me on the chaise?”
“Yes.”
“How did he lose his leg?”
Restell had wondered if she’d been alert enough to notice the valet’s uneven gait. The peculiar sound of the peg’s contact with the floor would have also alerted her. It may have even been that sound that brought her around to consciousness. “You will have to hear the particulars from him, but I can tell you that it happened in the final hours at Waterloo.” He waited to see if she would offer some comment as people frequently felt compelled to do. She merely nodded and kept her own counsel, though he did not believe he imagined the wave of compassion that briefly crossed her features.
“Are you entertaining doubts?” he asked. “I assure you that he will provide superior protection.”
“If you say it is so, then it is so, but I must remind you that it is Marisol who requires it.”
“Yet you are the one with the bruises.”
“I have explained that.”
Not to my satisfaction. Restell let the thought turn over in his mind without giving it voice. He pushed away from the desk and rang for Hobbes. The valet appeared so quickly that Restell suspected he had been lingering in the entrance hall.
The former sergeant impressively filled the open doorway until Restell gestured to him to enter. Hobbes uneasily shifted his weight from his good leg to his wooden one while the introductions were made, then he stood at attention waiting for further instruction.
“At ease, man,” Restell said. “Miss Hathaway is no threat to you.”
“I am certain she is not,” Hobbes said stiffly.
Restell shifted his glance back to Emmalyn. She had pulled her veil down the moment he rang for Hobbes. He did not upbraid her for wanting to obscure her face from Hobbes, though his man had certainly seen far worse on the battlefield and probably the equal in and around the pubs he frequented upon his return from the continent. “Hobbes will require your address, Miss Hathaway, and some directions as well.”
“Number Twenty-three Covington. That is not far from Saint Mary’s Church and the park.”
“I know it, sir,” Hobbes said to Restell.
“Good.” Restell addressed Emmalyn again. “Who do you expect to be at home when you arrive?” He checked his pocket watch. “It is already after the noon hour.”
“My cousin is likely to have returned from the modiste’s. Uncle Arthur, though, departed earlier than I did in anticipation of sketching by the Thames near Greenwich. It is the sort of thing that will occupy him until the light is lost.”
“What will your cousin make of your absence?”
“I don’t know. Marisol is wholly unpredictable in that regard.”
“You have some explanation at the ready?”
“She is familiar with my desire to be out of doors. It was my habit to be gone from the house most mornings, so I suspect she will want to believe that my actions are proof that I am ready to embrace my former routine.”
“That is all to the good, then.” He turned to Hobbes. “You will permit Miss Hathaway to exit the carriage at the park, then you will follow her at a safe distance. There is nothing to be gained by calling attention to your escort at this juncture.”
“My thoughts exactly,” said Hobbes.
“Afterward, I would like you to visit Madame Chabrier’s shop on Bond Street. You will be glad to hear there’s no need for you to go inside the establishment. I will do that with one or two of my sisters in tow. It is the mews behind the milliner’s that is of interest. I will want all the particulars.”
“Very good.”
Restell approached Emmalyn. “I regret that I cannot accompany you myself, but I have an appointment I must keep.”
“Of course.” In fact, she was relieved. She was glad of the veil because she did not have to concentrate on schooling her features. She had no
