Free Amanda Scott by Highland Fling Page A

is indeed responsible in any way whatsoever for her safety.”
    The magistrate grimaced, no longer in the least amused. “My dear sir, this young woman is no more than a common thief!”
    Carsley sighed. “Not common, sir, if you will permit the contradiction. Only consider how politely she speaks. In any event, the purse was recovered, so I suggest you allow Rothwell to decide what should be done with her. She can always be clapped up again later if he does not wish to claim her.”
    “Will you engage to return her to custody if you discover that she has lied to this court, Mr. Carsley?”
    “I will engage to present her to Rothwell, sir, and I can promise you that if she is lying, he will swiftly make her wish that she had chosen to allow you to hang her.”
    Maggie squared her shoulders and met Mr. Carsley’s stern look, but inside she was quaking, and whether it was at the thought of being presented to Rothwell or being returned to Bridewell, she did not know. Why was it, she wondered dismally, that so frequently persons who presented themselves to her as rescuers proved rather quickly to be otherwise?
    The next few moments passed in something of a daze, but it was all too soon that she found herself standing outside the stone archway beside Mr. Carsley, facing a canal that flowed down the middle of a wide road crowded with all manner of traffic. Despite the fact that most of the pedestrians looked like many she had seen in Alsatia, she drew a long breath of fresh air and looked around with interest, feeling her freedom as if it were her father’s strongest whisky. At last, she turned to her companion and said, “Mr. Carsley, thank you for helping me.”
    “You know,” he replied, looking shrewdly at her, “you do talk like an educated woman, but you look like something dragged out of a hedge. Who the devil are you and what were you thinking to fling Rothwell’s name at that fool magistrate?”
    “You said yourself that he had recently taken up a new responsibility. How do you know I did not speak the truth?”
    “Ned is always taking up new responsibilities, so it was the first thing I thought to say, although, in my view, it is usually his money that’s wanted, not his protection or advice. But that is all beside the point. I want to know who you are.”
    She paused. Once mentioned, Rothwell’s name had worked like magic, and having made it through the dreadful court proceeding without giving her own name, she hesitated now to reveal it. “I ought to have known your brother’s surname,” she said, choosing momentary diversion instead. “It was foolish of me to mention him without knowing even that much about him, but you see—”
    “Half-brother,” he said, taking her arm. “I think we had better repair to my house so that you can at least wash your face and tidy your hair before I take you to him.”
    Maggie dug in her heels. “Oh, no! That is, although I am most grateful to you for intervening on my behalf, sir, I cannot face your brother. And there is no need to take me to him, since you must know by now that he is not even aware of my existence.”
    “I suspected as much,” Carsley said. “Still, I promised the beak I’d take you along to Ned, so I must. What happens after that, he will decide. Can’t say I blame you for wanting to turn tail and run, though, for it won’t be a pleasant experience. Not looking forward to seeing him myself,” he added, giving her a less than friendly look. “I prefer to keep my distance if you want to know the truth of the matter.”
    “But I do have friends in London,” Maggie said, “so if you would just lend me enough money to take a hackney coach or a chair, I could go to Lady—”
    “To Lady whom?” he asked when she broke off in confusion.
    He seemed like a pleasant young man, but in view of the possible dangers involved, to reveal an acquaintance with her ladyship before speaking to her might not be wise. “Please, just believe that I do