Free Reckless Angel by Jane Feather

send a wench to help the young lady with ’er tiring, sir?”
    Daniel glanced at Henrietta, who was unusually silent, her face set. “Yes, do so by all means,” he said. “I would have a privy word with Mistress Ashby first.” Taking her elbow, he eased her into the chamber allotted her. The door clicked shut behind them.
    â€œHarry,” he said quietly, “I would have your promise that you will not leave this place without telling me first.”
    She studied a knot of wood in the broad oak boards at her feet. “But I believe we have come to the parting of our ways, Sir Daniel.”
    â€œAye, I rather thought your mind was running upon those lines,” he said a little grimly. “Well, it will not do, my child. Ye cannot coerce poor Will into taking responsibility for you. He is barely able to take responsibility for himself. You have no monies of your own—”
    â€œBut I am strong. I can work,” she declared, raising her eyes to meet his directly. “If Will refuses to wedme and I cannot find employment as a governess, then I will be a servant.”
    â€œSleeping on straw in some kitchen, I suppose. Do not be foolish.”
    â€œI will not go home,” she said fiercely. “There is nothing ye can say or do to make me.”
    Daniel tapped his chin thoughtfully with a long forefinger, wondering whether now was the time to tell her that when they passed through Reading the previous day he had dispatched a letter to Sir Gerald Ashby of Thame, telling him that he would find his daughter, safe and unmolested, at the sign of the Red Lion in the borough of Aldersgate. He had agonized long and hard over the decision, eventually deciding that an honorable man, the father of daughters himself, had no choice. He still intended to keep his promise that he would permit no hurt to come to her, but her future must be decided in proper fashion in consultation with her father. He had a suggestion for her future, but how he presented it would depend upon his assessment of Sir Gerald. He had no reason to believe that the man was more than a very severe parent, but he could not know until he met him. Perhaps now was not the moment to enter such a discussion with Henrietta.
    â€œTrust me,” he said instead. “Give me your word that there will be no further flights.”
    Henrietta walked to the small mullioned window, which looked out onto a garden of hollyhocks and delphiniums, a mulberry tree in the middle. What choice did she have but to trust him for the moment? What reason did she have to mistrust him? If the truth were told, finding herself without resources was quite terrifying. She felt as if she had an empty space inside her, a hollow void, where before she had been filled with energy and plans, never at a loss, smoothly adapting to circumstances. But matters had taken a turn that she had not envisaged when she set off so blithely in the back of the carrier’s wagon all those weeks ago. She had been so certain that Will would require only a little forceful persuasion to elope, but he was proving mostamazingly intransigent. Mayhap, now that they were back in London and the war was over, she could work upon him a little more.
    â€œI cannot remain a charge upon your purse for much longer, Sir Daniel,” she said gruffly. “You have been kindness itself, but—”
    â€œOh, Harry, such nonsense!” he exclaimed. “If it had not been for you, I would probably have been languishing in a Roundhead prison by now. On that score we are even.”
    Color crept into her cheeks and she smiled at him. “’Tis kind in ye to say so, sir.”
    â€œâ€™Tis but the truth.” He took a step toward her, touching her cheek with his finger. “Come now, give me your word.”
    His caressing finger, the warmth in his black eyes, the gentle amusement in the depths of his voice, had the strangest effect. She felt as if she had