An Honorable Thief (34 page)

She had not been unaware of the slights he'd faced in society, because of his mother's background, his own years of menial labour and his current activities in trade. Even if he managed to keep her from prosecution by the law
—and she trusted he could do it—the scandal would still be whis-pered about. She was sure that by now, Lady Marsden would have informed all her friends of that frightful scene in the green room at Woodsden Lodge; the
ton
would be gossiping about how Rose Singleton introduced a thief into society.

Bad enough the damage Kit had done to Rose. Rose would eventually be seen to have been duped. But there would be no question of Hugo Devenish being duped. If she married him, all she would be doing is giving the cats of society just one more weapon to wound him. She could just imagine it:
Devenish? In Trade, you know
—
well, blood will out, my deah. And married to a thief—yes, really. The Chinese Burglar turned out to be a woman. And he married her. Well, my deah, all tradesmen are thieves at heart, are they not?
Accompanied by genteel, spiteful tittering.

"No," she said and stepped away from him. "I will not marry you." She fumbled at the phoenix pin, but her hands were shaking and she could not undo it.

"Keep it," he growled. "If you try to give it back to me again, I will not be responsible for my actions." A small nerve twitched in his clenched jaw.

There was a silence as she finished dressing. He watched her with bleak, angry eyes. She ought to have been embarrassed by putting on her stockings with a man watching, but this was the first, the last, the only time it would happen, and she was storing up the memory. There was something wonderfully intimate in putting on a pair of stockings in front of the man who had earlier removed them, stroking down her legs with warm, shaking, rough-skinned hands. She shivered as she thought about it. Even if he was now hurt and furious.

"What if we made a child today?" His deep voice broke into her thoughts.

She stilled, then touched her belly, wonderingly. "Then I shall love it with all my heart."

"And yet you would deny it a name, a father, a heritage. And you would deny me my child."

She was mute, unable to answer him. What he said was true. Which would be worse, the shame of a mother who was a known thief, or
—?

"This is nonsense!" he exploded. "I shall have Captain

Patchett marry us here and now and that will be an end to it!"

"No, Hugo, I won't marry you. I mean it."

He clenched his fists. "But you said you loved me, dammit. Was it a he?"

She shook her head, miserably. "No. I do love you. Too much to see you shamed by a wife who is known to be a thie
—"

"Known to be a thief! What rubbish! Nobody knows. The
ton
loves a mystery and what better than that of the Chinese Burglar who mysteriously appeared on the scene one year, stole a series of fabulous treasures, returned them just as mysteriously and then
—pouff! He disappeared!"

"Nobody knows, you say? What of Sir William and Lady Marsden?"

"They will say nothing."

"Oh, indeed, even though Sir William is a magistrate and Lady Marsden despises me!"

"She doesn't
—" Kit gave him a disbelieving look and he added, "Or if she does, she'll come around."

"And what of Rose and Mr Cranmore?"

"Rose will say nothing of
—"

"And the butler who tied me up?"

"A sum of money will shut
—"

"And will you also bribe the footmen who locked me -way and the maidservants and
—?"

"Enough, dammit! None of these people will blab!"

"How can you know that?"

"Because they
like
you, you thick-headed, stubborn little mule! You don't believe me? Very well, let's put it to the test! Let us return to Woodsden Lodge and see exactly how everyone there reacts to you."

"And when Sir William has me arrested?"

"Confound it, Kit, he won't. I know him." Hugo held up his hand to stop her flow of argument. "And if he does

look like doing any such thing
—which he won't!—I'll get you away and onto the nearest ship. I'll have one waiting at the closest port. But he
won't
have you arrested!"

Kit took a deep breath and glanced out at the sullen grey sky beyond the porthole. There was only one way Hugo would accept that a marriage between them was impossible. She would have to prove it to him. But the thought of going back, back to where she had betrayed her friends, back to where they had stared at her with hurt and contempt... The thought of doing that chilled her to her bones.

"Very well, I agree to return to Woodsden Lodge and...and face whatever happens."

"What will happen, my stubborn little love, is a wedding! And I'll have your promise on that, if you don't mind."

"I...I..."

"Your promise, Kit, or I fetch Captain Patchett to wed us here and now!"

"Very well, if the scandal has not spread and Rose and the Marsd&is forgive me, I will marry you." She knew it was impossible.

"Aha!" he began triumphantly.

"But if they react as I know they will, with anger and disgust..." she closed her eyes, recalling the scene in the green room "...if they despise me, and... Then I shall leave England immediately and you'll not stop me. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

She was a little stunned by his easy capitulation. And a little suspicious. "So you'll allow me to leave without argument?"

"Yes, of course. We shall depart the instant you feel the slightest discomfort. We shall men be married by Patchett and sail away to live in
—Italy, was it? Or Ireland? Whichever you prefer."

Kit gasped at the generosity of his offer, but shook her head. "I lived with an exile all my life, Hugo. I could not bear to watch you become more and more embittered as the years passed. You might agree to it now, but in the end you would come to resent it. And to blame me for it."

He gestured to the ship surrounding them. “You forget, I have already been an exile. I was sent far away from this country as a young boy. And my loving family certainly hoped I would never return."

"But you did return."

He inclined his head.

"And you carved a place here for yourself and against all odds found acceptance in society. I have some idea of how difficult that must have been. Do you think I would let you throw it all away
—for me?''

He shrugged. "I am a man with a reputation for knowing a good bargain when I see one. How did the poet put it?
— 'To count the world well lost for love.' If it was a choice between you and the world, my dearest, stubborn love, I would take you every time. For the world is fickle and faithless and cares not the snap of its finger for Hugo Dev-enish. But Kit Singleton, ahh, she loves me. She told me so, and she is not a liar."

"No. Only a thief," she said in a desolate voice.

He smiled, took her face in his hands and said in a deep, soft voice, "Make up your mind to it, my love. You cannot tell me you love me one moment, take me to paradise the next and think I will just tamely let you walk away afterwards. One way or another, you're going to marry me, my girl, and you have
my
promise on that!" And he kissed her. a hard, possessive kiss.

And he called her stubborn! Surrendering temporarily, she kissed him back, twining her hands into his short cropped hair, for there was a limit on how much you could reject a man for his own good and Kit had reached it.

She would regain her strength of purpose later, at Woodsden Lodge.

Chapter Thirteen

Kit's heartbeat quickened as the travelling carriage turnec off the road between the stone-mounted gates of Woodsder Lodge. She felt ill; she had been able to eat nothing all day She listened to the wheels crunching the gravel of the long winding drive which led to the house, carrying her ever closer.

She had always assumed she had at least a little courage She knew better now. The risks she had taken so light heartedly in the past were not courage, but foolishness She'd always been able to run away from the consequences before. This time, the consequences had faces
—beloved faces. And feelings. Feelings which she had trampled on.

She did not want to face them.

The carriage turned a curve and there stood the beautiful old Elizabethan house. The late afternoon sun glinted or the mullioned windows and the waters of the lake. Kit shivered. The dark stone of the house, the walled stone terraces and the deep, shadowed valley looked more and more like a prison to her.

She had decided what she would do.

There was no possibility of the Marsdens and Aunt Rose forgiving her betrayal of their friendship. She would never marry Hugo Devenish. She would face them, apologise and be off out of the country as quickly and stealthily as she could manage it, leaving Hugo behind in the world he had fought so hard to find a place in.

It was all very romantic to count the world well lost for love, but Kit
knew
what an exile's life was like. She knew what it was like never to belong, never to be able to mix freely with English visitors for fear that they would learn she was the child of an outcast. Even the locals knew they were not welcome in their own country. And once you had been thrown out of your own country, you could be tossed out of any country. Kit had experienced it often.

She did not want that life for him; she did not want it for their children.

The carriage drew into the courtyard. Her palms felt clammy. She did not want to face Rose, Sir William, Lady Marsden and the little girls. Especially the little girls...

"Please do not make me do this, Hugo," she said in a low, shaking voice.

He looked at her white, set face. He reached across and took her hands in his. They were cold and shaking. "I am not making you do anything, love. This was your choice. I will marry you, no matter what, you know that."

"I do not know if I can bear..." She bit her lip agonizingly. "The little girls."

His face softened and his warm grip on her hands soothed. "Have faith, love."

This time no servants ran out to greet them as the carriage pulled up at the front entrance. Griffin stepped down and lowered the carriage steps. Hugo held out his hand to assist Kit down. She shook her head. "Griffin, would you please inform Sir William and Lady Marsden that we
—that I have arrived." Hugo made a small sound and she whirled on him. "I will not gain entry to their home on false pre-

tences again. They must know I am here. They may invite me in, or not. Then I will know how I stand."

Griffin headed off, and Kit slowly descended from the carriage. She would not allow Hugo to come with her; she made him wait in the carriage. "I must do this by myself." The sweet scent of the roses wafted to her on the evening breeze. She felt sick. Her legs were trembling. She stiffened her knees and waited.

Sir William came out first. He saw her standing alone in the paved courtyard and stopped still. His wife followed a moment later. There was no sign of Rose.

Sir William and Lady Marsden stared across at Kit. Kit lifted her chin and waited. Sir William was a magistrate: it was his clear duty to have her arrested. Kit braced herself.

There was a sudden flurry at Lady Marsden's skirts, and three small heads peered around their mother's body. "Miss Kitty-cat" she heard Sally say. She was quickly hushed.

"Go back inside, children," said Lady Marsden coolly. "It is chilly out here."

It certainly was. Kit swallowed. She knew what she faced now; they had made their decision. But now that she had come, she was determined to apologise to them, even if they refused to listen. She opened her mouth to speak.

"Kit, my dear, whatever are you standing out there for?" called Lady Marsden. "Come in, child, before you catch your death."

Kit blinked. It didn't sound like the sort of thing a woman would say if her husband intended to hang you.

Lady Marsden hurried forward. "My dear, I'm so glad you've come back to us. And I am so sorry about that dreadful misunderstanding. Come inside. We have been up in the nursery, making toast, and the children have missed you."

Kit blinked harder.

Sir William strode forward and put an arm around her. "You're frozen solid, girl. Let's get you inside and get you in front of a fire. I'm very cross with you, you know."

Kit braced herself again.

"We were all so worried when you ran off like that. For Heaven's sake
—why did you not explain that you were putting the wretched chess-set back?''

"Not now, William," said Lady Marsden.

Kit stopped. "Yes, now, please. I need to explain, and to know."

"Yes, my dear, and so you shall. But first you must come inside and warm yourself
—poor child, you are shivering." Lady Marsden and Sir William escorted her inside. Kit glanced back and saw Hugo descend from the carriage, a faint smug smile hovering about his mouth.