Read Online Medicine and Manners #2 by Paula Paul - Free Book Online Page B

qualified for a discussion of that nature and insisted I wait until a constable is in office.”
    “That’s an odd way of putting it,” Alexandra said. “One would think he’d say something about waiting until Constable Snow returns. Waiting ‘until a constable is in office’ makes it sound as if he doesn’t expect Constable Snow to return.”
    “ ’Tis beginning to look as if that’s the case,” Nancy said. She had just entered the parlor where Alexandra was speaking with Nicholas.
    “Not like you to have such a negative attitude, Nancy,” Nicholas said. “I hope you’re not equally as doubtful of the plan.”
    “We shall see,” Nancy said. “Perhaps it will work. Stranger things have happened.”
    Alexandra was growing more and more uneasy about the matter.
    “Are we to assume you’ve had no response to the telegram you sent to Scotland Yard?”
    Nicholas shook his head. “None. Perhaps later today. Have to give the fellows a little time, you know.”
    —
    That evening, Nicholas returned as planned. A few minutes later, Nancy brought Judith to him from where she waited in the kitchen.
    Nicholas greeted her with a little bow and said, “Miss Payne, I presume.”
    “My lord,” she answered. Her voice was barely audible.
    With the aid of Artie and Rob, Judith was whisked to the carriage under the cover of night and positioned so that she could be hidden under a dark blanket. Nicholas then escorted Alexandra to the carriage so, in the unlikely event that anyone was watching, it would appear that his driver was taking the two of them for an evening drive.
    The driver left Alexandra and Lord Dunsford at the front door, and the plan seemed to be going well until he made his way to the kitchen entrance in the back where Judith was to be moved, once again under cover of darkness, into the house. The deputy had not yet arrived, but Alexandra was sitting in the large receiving room with Nicholas, waiting for both Judith and Deputy Poole, when Stokes, the butler, appeared at the door with the driver behind him.
    “Osmond wishes to speak with you, my lord,” Stokes said.
    “Come in, Osmond.” Nicholas stood to greet the driver.
    “Forgive the intrusion, my lord,” the driver said, “but the young lady is refusing to leave the carriage.”
    Nicholas frowned. “I don’t understand. Why would she refuse to leave the carriage?”
    “Says she’s afraid, my lord.”
    “Afraid? Afraid of what?”
    “I’m sure I don’t know, but she refuses to move from the carriage.”
    “I’ll speak to her.” Alexandra maneuvered her way around both Nicholas and the driver. When she’d hurried through the house and out the door, she found Judith just as they’d left her, huddled on the floor of the carriage with the dark blanket still draped over her head and shoulders.
    “Judith,” Alexandra said, going to her, “there’s no need to be frightened.”
    “You’re wrong. There is every need to be.”
    “You’re safe here. I can assure you of that.”
    “I wish I could believe that.” Judith’s voice trembled as she spoke. “But I can’t. Already someone else knows I’m here—the carriage driver. Next, my father will find out what I’ve done, and he’ll have no mercy on me.”
    “My dear Judith, you must come inside. Leaving yourself exposed out here in the carriage offers far more opportunity for someone to discover you. You must be strong and stick to your convictions. As strong as any man. No, as strong as any woman.”
    For a moment Judith didn’t speak, but Alexandra saw that she had persuaded her when she slipped the blanket from her head and stood up in a crouched position, as if she were trying to make herself smaller. Alexandra led her into the house and all the way to the parlor, where Nicholas waited. He’d had tea as well as brandy brought in and offered it to both of them. Alexandra accepted a cup of tea while Judith asked for brandy. Her hands shook as she held the glass.
    “I