The Lady Seals Her Fate (The Langley Sisters #5) (17 page)

“Yes, I know that, and I shall use whatever tone I wish. Furthermore, I do not need your help.”

“Who has taught you the streets are dangerous?”

“Stop trying to confuse me, Alex, please, and just leave me alone.” Her words had lost their bite. “I can take care of myself, I promise you, and have been walking these streets for many years. I have my m-maid with me, and thus far have remained unharmed.

“Your father should not allow it.” Alex still retained a firm grip on her arm. He had a feeling if he released her she was not above running from him.

“He has no say in the matter, and never has had. I-I am a grown woman who has been making her own decisions for years. Not to mention the fact that you have no say in what I do, Alex Hetherington. Release me at once.”

“I shall take you home— Damn, I have my horse not my carriage.”

“I do not need a lift and after the morning I have endured the walk is what I need.”

“I will walk with you.”

“You bloody well will not!” Hannah’s whisper was fierce.

“Walk.” Alex placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her, then propelled her forward, and she had to move her feet or end up flat on her face.

“Maid!” His voice carried to where a woman lurked a safe distance away. “Please follow.”

“Unhand me, and d-don’t use that lofty tone with Mary.”

“Mary, if you would be so kind as to accompany us, please.”

Hannah looked over her shoulder at the silly look Mary now had on her face. “And another woman falls under your spell.”

“You, however, are immune.”

“Alex, this must stop. The entire business is getting out of hand, and I must b-bring it to an end for both our sakes.”

He adjusted his long strides to match hers. Releasing her, he then held out his arm, and with a sigh, she curled her fingers around it. They tucked into his sleeve and he felt them clench, almost as if she were holding on to him. Something was very wrong with her; he could feel the tension in her body.

“What happened to make your day turn sour, Hannah?”

Her laugh bordered on hysterical. “Just a small matter from my past has reared its ugly head.”

“A bad matter?”

“I-it is not important, and I should not have mentioned it. I will t-tell you no more, so do not ask me.”

“Can I help you?”

She was looking off in the distance, her eyes settling on the park where people strolled.

“No, but thank you for the offer. I know it is in your nature to be chivalrous, but I am able to sort this problem myself.”

“You’re lying again and that concerns me greatly, Hannah, because you are one of the most honest people I know. Therefore, whatever this is, it’s serious.”

“Alex…”

Just his name, one word only, and it held a wealth of emotion.

“Come, we shall take tea.”

“No.” She tried to pull her hand free, but he grabbed it and held it in his. “I need to return home, Alex, my father shall be worried for me.”

“You just said your father allows you to make your own decisions and walk about London unescorted.”

“We should not be seen together in such an intimate setting; it will only make it more difficult when I put an end to the charade.”

He stopped, turning her to face him. His eyes ran over her pinched features. “It’s just tea, Hannah, surely nothing too taxing.”

“I-I cannot.”

“Cannot or will not?”

“There’s a difference?”

“I’ll kiss you right here in the street if you do not enter.” He looked up at the little blue sign above their heads. “The occupants of Truttles Tea Shop will be all agog over Miss Wooller’s fast behavior.”

“You would not dare to kiss me here on the street!”

He didn’t move, just looked down at her. His eyes took in the pallor, the smudges beneath her eyes, and the fact that the usually indomitable, immaculate, and self-contained Miss Hannah Wooller was unraveling. Something was threatening her existence, and she would not tell him the cause. But he would find out.

“Fine, we shall take tea and then and it will serve you right if I make you pay.”

“Do you honestly think I would let you pay for our tea?” Shaking his head, he muttered something unflattering and marched her inside.

They were seated minutes later, with Mary insisting on a table behind them.

“So this problem from your past, care to share the details?”

“No, and I believe I said I had no wish to discuss it further.”

“So you did, but tell me anyway because I will continue to ask you until you do.” He looked out the window and whatever he saw had him rising from his seat.

“What?”

“That man is following me again, I’m sure of it.”

“What man?” Hannah stood, and what color was left in her face drained away, Alex reached for her as she seemed to rock back on her heels. “Hannah, sit.” He urged her down into her seat.

“I am all right.” She waved him back to his seat. “It is the fish.”

“It’s not the bloody fish! Stay here and I shall talk with that man, because by your reaction you do know him, even though the other night you said you did not.”

“No!” Her cry had every eye in the place on them. “No, you will not go after that man. Y-you have no idea what type of creature he is! No idea if he is bent on nefarious deeds!”

“All right, calm down, Hannah.” Her fists were clenched, body tense. He could not leave her in such an agitated state.

“I will not calm down; I want you to promise me!”

“I promise,” Alex soothed. “Settle down, sweetheart.”

“No more, Alex, please, I can take no more.”

“I can see you are upset, Hannah, will you tell me why?”

She shook her head but said nothing further as their tea arrived. Picking up her cup she swallowed several mouthfuls.

“I don’t want you to talk about this anymore, Alex. I don’t want to hear any more of this nonsense about men following you or you going after them. What p-possible reason could anyone have to follow you?”

What indeed, Alex thought, however he said nothing further.

“What have you b-been doing today, Alex?” Hannah said, as if the last few minutes had not occurred. Only Alex knew they had, just as he knew she was scared, more scared, he guessed, than she had ever been before.

“I had a business meeting.”

“With whom and what business?”

“With Ace, Will, Ben, Luke, and Finn. Your father will also be involved.”

“What is the business you were addressing?”

“Just business.” Alex picked up the cup and took a mouthful then winced. Lowering it, he added sugar.

“Is it a secret or do you believe I will not understand as I am a brainless woman?”

Her fears had not stifled her cutting tongue, it seemed. “It is in the early stages, Hannah, and therefore not ready to be discussed as yet.”

“Yet you have no qualms about questioning me about something I have no wish to discuss with you.”

“Slightly different, don’t you think, my sweet?” Alex said to annoy her and hopefully get some color in her pale cheeks. “My news is not of the distressing kind.”

“We have moved on from me,” she said, but Alex saw her eyes dart to the window. She may think they had moved on, but her problems were very much in the forefront of his mind

“Can you not just accept I have no wish to discuss this business matter further?”

“Because I am a woman and therefore would not understand.”

It seemed she was now spoiling for a fight. Just being with the woman was exhausting; she went through so many differing emotions in such a short time.

“That mouth of yours should come with fastenings, so I could just reach across and close it when I felt the need, such as now.”

Hannah folded her arms and looked at him.

“All right,” he conceded. “Ace has purchased a small plot of land, and is going to build one large, long building on it that will house several different fashion establishments. They will be two stories, with lodgings above, and a walkway down the middle.”

“Really?” She gave him a wide-eyed look. “Good Lord, what a marvelous idea.”

“I thought so; in fact, I thought it bloody amazing,” Alex said. “Excuse me, Hannah.”

“So a woman could find a milliner there, and also someone to make her boots?”

“Yes, that’s what I was led to believe by Ace.”

“Could I invest, do you think, Alex?”

That threw him. “Well, I-I, um…”

“No, because I am a woman! Well, I am sure I did not respond that way when you wanted to become my business partner in a women’s clothing establishment, Alexander Hetherington.”

“It is not my business venture, Hannah,” Alex said, scrabbling to come up with words to appease her.

“I shall approach Oliver Dillinger, then; surely he is a fair and just man.”

“I am just and fair!”

“Apparently not.” She got to her feet. “And on that note, I am leaving. Come, Mary, we need to return home.”

After slapping some coins on the table, Alex followed. He caught her a few minutes later. Taking her hand, he placed it firmly on his arm. “I did not get to eat my cake,” he gritted out, to which she remained silent, and stayed that way until he had delivered her to her door.

The next note came one week after the murder of Lionel Jacobs, while Hannah sat on her bed sorting through her finances. She had been waiting for the blackmailer to contact her, and the wait had played on her nerves until she had been unable to sleep. Fear gnawed at her, visions filled her head, as she wondered if such a man would keep his word to her, or strike at her again and harm someone she loved.

Opening the note, she braced herself for what it would say.

I hope you enjoyed your tea at Mrs. Fletcher’s house with your dear friends. I wonder if the child will be born healthy? And of course you had that lovely episode with your beloved, I hope his head is quite improved?

Hannah bit back the moan that wanted to escape.

We will meet tomorrow at midday at the same place as our last rendezvous. You will bring with you two of your most expensive pieces of jewelry plus the money you would have paid Jacob’s. Come alone.

Hannah saw the lifeless body of Lionel Jacobs lying in a pool of his own blood. She had to meet his demands. Getting off the bed, she collected her jewelry box and turned out the contents onto her bed. There were plenty of things she had bought herself; those she would give him first. The others had been her mother’s, or things her father had given her; those would be harder to part with. She lowered her pearls back into the black velvet interior slowly.

“He will never stop,” Hannah said to herself, realizing that she could never hope to escape this beast of a man. “Nothing will stop him, and he will destroy me and everything I hold dear if I do not find a way to end this myself.” He had tried to kill Alex, and she knew he could easily do so again if he chose, just to keep her under his control.

A plan had been forming in her head since the day Jacob had been murdered, and now she realized she had no other choice. “I must implement it tonight,” Hannah whispered, knowing she was right. If she did not do it this very day, she would have doubts and find a way to put it off.

The plan involved her leaving London for places unknown, but before she did, she would leave notes for her father and Alex, telling them part of the reason why she had gone. She owed them that much. It was the only solution she could come up with. She was to meet the blackmailer at a location tomorrow, but she would package up her jewelry and send it and a note, explaining that it was all she had, and had left London for somewhere he would never find her. Surely that would work and he would move on to his next victim, especially as she was going to give him a great deal of money and jewelry.

The jewels would fetch him a tidy sum and Hannah believed he would settle for that, prayed he would, and that her loved ones would be safe.

It was the best she could come up with. With her gone, Alex was free to marry whom he wished. This thought was a painful one, but the best for everyone, especially him. She had no right to do what she had to him, and thrusting him into danger had already resulted in him being knocked to the ground. She could not allow him to end up the way of Lionel Jacobs.

She sat in her room for another hour, revising her plan until she had it set in her mind, and then began to prepare for her evening at the theater. This would be the last time she saw her friends and family for some time, but she would not allow herself to believe it would be forever.

The Woollers had been invited to the theatre by Viscount Levermarch. Hannah dressed with care, choosing a gown that Alex had insisted no woman but she could wear. It was the color of peppermint and trimmed with ivory satin.

“You look lovely, Hannah. I wish I could come.”

Bridgette wandered in, looking young and sweet in her white nightdress and dressing gown. Hannah had to turn away to blink back the tears. When would she see her little sister again?

“You would be bored silly, sister. Most of the people only go to be seen and strut about the place; the play is rarely all it is made out to be.”

“I think you should wear the pearl necklace with the emerald in the front. It would go wonderfully with that dress and father would be pleased.”

She and her father had established an uneasy truce since their argument over her increased dowry. Both stubborn, neither had taken the steps to get their relationship back to where it had once been. Hannah would see that changed this night. She would not leave her father unless there was peace between them.

“I think you could be correct, Bridgette. Would you fetch it for me, please?”

Once she was dressed she stood so her sister could inspect her, before hugging her hard.

“You are squeezing me, Hannah!”

“You know that I love you don’t you, Bridgette?” Hannah cupped her sister’s rosy cheeks as she memorized every detail. They would be together again one day, but she knew not when.

“Of course, as I love you. Why are you saying this to me now?”

“It never hurts to remind those we love of our feelings upon occasion.” Hannah ran a hand over her sister’s fiery curls, then reached for her wrap and reticule. “Now you need to get into bed, and do not give the staff any trouble. Is that understood?”